To reach out to faculty to help develop DEI and tenure policies with their campus and system administrations in light of the DEI bill (SB 17) and tenure bill (SB 18), Brian Evans (Texas AAUP VP) presented the Webinar

“Faculty Roles in Developing Policies for the New DEI and Tenure Laws”, June 23, 2023, with slides and videorecording

He summarized SB 17 and 18, and proposed several campus and system policies to implement them. He gave the presentation to the Texas Council of Faculty Senates to ask its members — Faculty Senate Presidents and Presidents-Elect of the four-year public universities in Texas — to work with their campus and system administrations to develop policies for SB 17 and SB 18 and encourage other faculty members to do so. Faculty Senates should already be integral in campus and system decision-making related to faculty and the institution as a whole.

Time is short:

• Tenure.  SB 18 specifically requires each governing board to “seek advice and comment from the institution’s faculty”.  Each governing board must submit its updated policies on tenure, post-tenure review, and dismissal of tenured faculty under SB 18 by Sept. 1, 2023, to the Texas Higher Ed Coordinating Board.  Prior to that, the new policies policies would have to be developed in conjunction with each component institution and approved by the Board of Governors.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).  The State Budget forbids the use of State Funding for DEI offices and officers as of Sept. 1, 2023, so all DEI offices and positions at public universities and community colleges would have to be discontinued by Sept. 1.  Under SB 17, university systems and community college districts, as well as individual institutions, would have to create new policies concerning the ban on DEI and fully implement them before Jan. 1, 2024.

As part of shared governance at our public universities and community colleges, faculty and administrators at all levels should reach out to the Faculty Senate President, Provost Office, and Chief Academic Affairs Officer in their university system or community college district to make sure faculty and administrators have a voice in the development of policies and the implementation for SB 17, SB 18, and other new State laws.   Students and staff should also have a voice.