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The report, "In Defense of an Independent and Representative Faculty Voice: The Case of Faculty Senates," produced by the AAUP's Committee on College and University Governance, examines recent legislation in Indiana, Ohio, Utah, and Texas that has relegated faculty senates to advisory roles and curtailed their traditional decision-making powers over curriculum, personnel, and other academic matters.
"Such actions go against long-standing principles of academic governance and, in doing so, erode the ability of higher education institutions to carry out their mission," the report states.
The most dramatic example cited is Texas's Senate Bill 37, signed into law in June and implemented this fall, which declares that "a faculty council or senate is advisory only and may not be delegated the final decision-making authority on any matter." The legislation goes further by authorizing university presidents to appoint presiding officers and up to half of senate members, while limiting elected faculty representatives to two-year terms followed by mandatory two-year breaks.
In August, the University of Texas System Board of Regents and the University of Houston System Board of Regents voted to abolish existing faculty senates and establish advisory bodies consistent with the new law.
Similar measures have emerged in other states. Indiana legislation decreed that "faculty governance organization actions are advisory only," while Ohio's sweeping anti-DEI bill clarified "that all feedback and recommendations by the faculty senate, or comparable representative body, is advisory in nature." Utah law states that "a president may, in the president's sole discretion, seek input from the institution's faculty."
The report also highlights federal intrusion into faculty governance, noting that in July the U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into George Mason University's faculty senate for passing a resolution defending the institution's first Black president and diversity programs. The Justice Department demanded drafts of the resolution and communications among faculty members who drafted it.
