MBKU holds the creative process and all products from that process, including copyrighted, trademarked, or patented material, and other intellectual property, in high regard, with the expectation that all students and employees of MBKU will conscientiously uphold principles of academic integrity and respect for the intellectual property of others. MBKU believes that our community is best served by creating an intellectual environment whereby creative efforts and innovations can be encouraged and rewarded, while still retaining for the University and its learning communities reasonable access to, and use of, the intellectual property for whose creation the University has provided assistance. The University must ensure that its facilities, financial resources, and property are not used for personal profit or gain.

Therefore, it is policy of MBKU that:

1. All classes of intellectual property created on a student’s or employee’s own time, using their own resources, private property and facilities are the sole property of the owner;
2. Material created for ordinary teaching use in the classroom and in department programs, such as syllabi, PowerPoint presentations, assignments, and tests, shall remain the property of the faculty author and the University;
3. MBKU students may use course materials for their personal educational use only and may not make any of the material available to others without the express written permission of the instructor and the University;
4. A written agreement between the creator(s) and the University will occur for any form of intellectual property that was created or produced using the resources, property, or facilities of MBKU;
5. No student or employee shall realize a profit from any intellectual product sold exclusively to students at the University; and
6. All students and employees will maintain academic integrity and respect others’ intellectual property rights.

Policy developed using, in part, the Sample Intellectual Property Policy and Contract Language from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).