From the Austin American-Statesman: Faculty senates — a long-standing advisory body of elected members that helps university leadership on curriculum, policy and programs — will no longer exist at University of Texas institutions starting Sept. 1, after the UT System Board of Regents on Thursday approved compliance with Senate Bill 37. Chairman Kevin Eltife said the board will "take their time" deciding if faculty senates compliant with the law will be reinstated to university campuses, and may not be needed at all 14 campuses. "The Legislature spoke very clear through the legislation that governing boards are responsible for deciding if and when faculty senates will be established on campuses," he told regents... "That is a responsibility that this board takes very seriously."
...Lawmakers had cast faculty senates as powerful voices that should be curbed last legislative session. Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, authored SB 37 to give regents more control following complaints from conservatives that the institution's faculty have become too liberal or "woke."
...Faculty advocates warned during the legislative session that shared governance is a hallmark of university operations, and weakening faculty senates jeopardizes that work...
Full story at https://www.statesman.com/news/education/article/university-texas-system-faculty-senate-abolish-20822502.php.
From Higher Ed Dive: ...With the passage of the new legislation, also known as SB 1, Ohio lawmakers made deep inroads into the academic operations of public colleges, asserting new state controls over decisions historically left to faculty and administrators. The law bans diversity, equity and inclusion training, requires post-tenure review, prohibits full-time faculty from striking and even requires certain questions in student evaluations of professors. SB 1 also created a policy that could wipe out dozens or even hundreds of academic programs if the experience of Ohio’s neighboring state is any gauge.
In Indiana, a similar policy with programmatic graduation thresholds — inserted into the most recent state budget bill — has already put 75 degree programs on the chopping block. The state’s public colleges also moved to suspend another 101 programs and consolidate 232. As in Ohio, Indiana state colleges only had months to review their portfolios for cuts. That created uncertainty for many. “Even tenured faculty are wondering, am I going to have a job in two months?” one faculty governance leader in Indiana told local media, describing “chaos and confusion” on campus...
Full story at https://www.highereddive.com/news/ohio-university-program-cuts-comply-SB1/758788/.
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