Dr. Larry Walker, assistant professor in the department of educational leadership and higher education at the University of Central Florida.
The bill calls for many adjustments to higher education across the state of Florida, including classroom materials be submitted to the state Board of Governors; that institutional accrediting bodies must change every five years, and the Board of Governors can review tenured faculty accomplishments, productivity, research, and evaluations every five years. The controversial bill passed the Florida legislature early this month and is now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk.
Walker’s not panicking—yet.
“I have a wait and see approach, not just in terms of seeing the bill passed but how state higher education and universities glean from it, what they believe is the intention of the policy,” said Walker.
But Walker is concerned that this bill will make it harder for institutions in Florida to remain competitive by recruiting and retaining leading academic voices as faculty. Higher education scholars in Florida agree with Walker, and some express concern that this bill could portend greater government control over academic freedom.
“When you think about why tenure exists, it’s not just academic freedom and job security, but the idea that faculty are involved in shared governance of a university,” said Dr. Frank Fernandez, a tenure-track assistant professor of higher education administration and policy at the University of Florida (UF). “If you want [faculty] to take a role in making the university stronger, they need skin in the game and can speak out without being fired for it.”
The consequence of the five-year review may make it more difficult for places like the University of Florida to maintain its status as a leading public university, said Dr. Justin Ortagus, an assistant professor of higher education and policy, and the director of the Institute for Higher Education at UF.
