Texas bill seeks more oversight of universities

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State lawmakers introduced on Thursday sweeping legislation that would create a new office to police higher education institutions, currently under fire by conservatives who claim they are not complying with a statewide ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The bill also proposes giving universities’ governing boards more power to hire administrators and oversee curricula. The boards have traditionally allowed the institutions they oversee to manage some of those affairs in the spirit of respecting their academic independence.

Senate Bill 37 would create an Office of Excellence in Higher Education within the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The new office, led by a governor appointee, would be responsible for investigating claims that universities and colleges have broken state laws or their own policies.

Universities and colleges would be required to respond to the office’s requests for information within 30 days. The new office would forward its findings to the Attorney General’s Office and the university’s board of regents, make recommendations based on the investigation, share its findings with state leaders and publicize them.

State Sen. Brandon Creighton authored the bill. The Conroe Republican filed it two weeks after sending a letter to the governing boards of every public university in Texas, claiming to have found “numerous violations” of the state’s ban on DEI programs, offices and training in higher education. The letter threatened to freeze higher education funding if schools did not demonstrate compliance with the ban.

SB 37 would also let governing boards vet and veto universities’ courses and curricula. It would require boards to create committees, made up of local industry partners and tenured faculty at the institution, to ensure courses prepare students for the workforce and “do not endorse specific public policies, ideologies or legislation.”

Governing boards would also have the power to hire anyone in a leadership role at their universities. Right now, they only appoint chancellors and university presidents. Under SB 37, they would have the final say in hiring vice presidents, provosts and deans. They would also regularly evaluate those employees to ensure they are meeting goals, which include “making efforts to ensure a variety of perspectives are represented among administration and faculty.”

SB 37 proposes minor degrees and certificate programs meet certain thresholds to avoid being consolidated or eliminated. At the undergraduate level, at least five students must be enrolled in each of those programs and at least five students must have completed them at the time of each review. For graduate programs, at least three students must be enrolled in each and at least three students must have completed them. Programs could also be eliminated if data indicate there is no demand for them in the workforce. Programs that have only been operating for six years would be exempt.

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Creighton said he wants to maintain Texas’ reputation for producing world-class graduates, groundbreaking research and innovations that fuel the economy.

“Achieving this requires accountability, and efficiency — ensuring students receive a high-quality education while safeguarding taxpayer investments,” he said.

SB 37 is part of an effort to curb faculty’s influence on campuses. That push can be traced back to 2023, when the leader of the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, sought to eliminate tenure, a longstanding status of continuous employment granted to some faculty to shield their work from political interference. He started targeting faculty after the University of Texas at Austin’s faculty council passed a nonbinding resolution reaffirming their right to teach on issues of racial justice.

He and some Republican lawmakers have framed the effort as a way to hold professors who they believe are indoctrinating students with liberal ideas accountable to the public. This year, they turned their attention to faculty councils and senates.

These bodies, made up of professors from across a university, make recommendations on academic policies, curriculum design, faculty hiring and evaluation, and other issues relevant to academics.

Texas having more top-tier research universities “happens because we have top-notch faculty” who “win billions of dollars in competitive external research grants each year and advise, train, and graduate the doctoral students,” the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors said in a statement. “Why are lawmakers messing with higher ed when we are leading the nation?”

Under SB 37, only the governing boards can establish faculty councils, and the university president could appoint members to those bodies.

Faculty senates would be required to conduct open meetings and post their agendas seven days in advance. They would be required to broadcast their meetings live over the internet if more than half the members are present. The names of members present when a no-confidence vote is taken or when they conduct any business related to curriculum would have to be recorded.

SB 37 is not the only bill targeting faculty senates this session. Last month, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, filed a bill that would eliminate faculty councils unless regents consented to them continuing.

Joey Velasco, president of the Texas Council of Faculty Senates, said lawmakers risk weakening the very institutions they claim to support by restricting faculty’s input. He said faculty councils play a crucial role in developing curriculum, and some are already open to the public.

Both the University of Texas at Austin Faculty Council and Texas A&M’s Faculty Senate share the time and location of their meetings and an agenda in advance. Texas A&M’s livestreams its meetings.

Velasco said it’s important that some meetings, like those in which a faculty council recommends a professor for tenure, be closed to the public so the group can have a candid conversation about the candidate’s performance. He said those professors who are being considered for tenure also expect confidentiality.

“This is a very important quality control function at universities to make sure that the best teachers are in the classrooms and the best researchers are maintained as well,” Velasco said.

He said eliminating faculty councils could also jeopardize Texas universities’ accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges because the agency requires institutions to give faculty primary responsibility for the content, quality and effectiveness of the schools’ curriculum. Students at an unaccredited institution aren’t eligible to receive federal financial aid.

On Wednesday, state Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, filed legislation identical to SB 37 in the House, where it’s unclear if it will garner support. State Rep. Terry Wilson, chair of the House Higher Education Committee, did not list faculty governance as one of his top priorities when he convened its first hearing this legislative session on March 4.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

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