“These types of bills are often vague by design,” she said. They also expressed concern that the reasons listed as acceptable to terminate a professor in the House version are vague and could easily be weaponized to fire faculty who say or do something state or university leaders disagree with - the very threat that tenure is designed to protect faculty from.ĭominique Baker, a professor who studies higher education policy at Southern Methodist University, says vague language is especially concerning because some lawmakers have publicly stated their intent to eliminate tenure protections. University regents would have to clearly lay out how they grant tenure, how they evaluate tenured faculty and the reasons a tenured professor can be terminated, such as professional incompetence, “conduct involving moral turpitude” or unprofessional conduct that adversely affects the institution.įaculty from across the state warned lawmakers in committee hearings that universities already have rigorous systems in place to grant and revoke tenure. Under Kuempel’s bill, much of how universities currently award tenure would remain intact. John Kuempel, R-Seguin, defines tenure in state statute as “the entitlement of a faculty member of an institution of higher education to continue in the faculty member’s academic position unless dismissed by the institution for good cause in accordance with the policies and procedures adopted by the institution” - a definition that reflects the common definition of tenure in higher education. The House version of the bill, proposed by state Rep. Throughout the debate over tenure this session, Republican lawmakers have inaccurately defined tenure as a “lifetime appointment.” All universities have policies in place to remove tenured faculty in certain instances, such as malfeasance, sexual harassment or plagiarism. “This is a productive and necessary improvement that will benefit Texas students and taxpayers,” Creighton told his fellow senators Saturday as they considered the House version of the legislation. Brandon Cre ighton, R-Conroe, the bill’s sponsor, called Senate Bill 18 “a strong step forward … that will improve accountability and create true guardrails against faculty that are not in good standing with the university. On Saturday, in a surprise move, senators backed off their position and accepted the House’s counterproposal, which solidifies tenure in state law and places more power to make future changes to tenure in the hands of state lawmakers rather that individual university system boards. Faculty members around the state, some university leaders and House Speaker Dade Phelan panned it as a bad idea that would hurt faculty recruitment and retention, reduce protections for conservative faculty who might have unpopular opinions, and damage the prestige of Texas’ research universities. Last month, the Texas Senate passed a bill to kill tenure. Previous: Texas professors petition for keeping tenure system
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