DeSantis claims that "the dominant view of higher ed is to impose ideological conformity & political activism" rather than providing a foundation for students to think for themselves.
DeSantis: dominant view is manifested in #DEI & #CRT & constitute a drain on resources...
2/
DeSantis claims:
-requiring diversity statements is akin to taking a political oath.
-Professors that vow to treat everyone the same are punished.
-a lot of money is spent on #DEI in higher ed despite schools reporting less than 1% of budget spent on diversity initiatives.
3/
DeSantis just proposed a core course requirement for FL #highered grounded in "the actual philosophy that has shaped western civilization."
"We are also going to eliminate all DEI & CRT bureaucracies in the state of FL...No funding."
"This is gonna make a difference."
4/
DeSantis says he is empowering admin to call post-tenure review at any time claiming unproductive tenured faculty are the most significant cost to universities...
5/
In direct violation of AAUP recommended standards, DeSantis is now saying he is empowering university presidents to make hiring decisions by "reestablishing authority over the hiring process."
DeSantis is now proposing mandatory annual resource expenditures on STEM "or business partnerships."
👀🧐
Says we need to offer more courses that fortify students understanding of western tradition & the American experiment...
7/
DeSantis went on to demean @NewCollegeofFL for several minutes justifying his appointment of Christopher Rufo & 6 others to the school's Board of Trustees.
Obviously, the AAUP has A LOT to say about these announcements today.
As #DeSantisDestroysFlorida is trending (again), it behooves us to chronicle the many ways higher education in the state is under attack.
1: In 2021 @UF barred 3 professors from serving as expert witnesses in a voting rights case against the state ... aaup.org/news/universit…
@UF The case targeted legislation strongly supported by DeSantis that inhibited access to the ballot. After the university's accreditor announced an investigation, UF reversed their decision & allowed the professors to testify. npr.org/2021/11/05/105…
When the attempt to use the power & pressure of the state to silence scholars w/ expertise failed, a new plan was hatched: change accreditors.
“These accreditation agencies have an inordinate amount of power to shape these universities,” DeSantis said.
🧐 insidehighered.com/news/2022/12/1…
BREAKING: The AAUP has authorized an investigation into the extraordinary summary dismissal of 33 faculty members at @emporiastate, most of them long-serving professors with tenure.
🧵 1/ aaup.org/media-release/…
These termination decisions were apparently made w/out any meaningful faculty participation & w/out affording faculty members academic due process – both severe violations of widely accepted principles of #academicfreedom & tenure. 2/
As the AAUP wrote to the chair of the Kansas board of regents & the president of @emporiastate on 9/29, “It is difficult not to construe what has happened at ESU as a direct assault on tenure & #academicfreedom..." aaup.org/sites/default/…
3/
President Biden’s long awaited announcement of a plan to alleviate the student debt of roughly 20 million Americans has ignited a national debate about the fundamental role of higher education in our society.
The AAUP would like to weigh in...
🧵
1/
From the AAUP’s perspective, higher education exists to support the common good. An education should be accessible & affordable as a human right to anyone willing to seek it.
Biden’s action on student debt relief is a vital first forward…
2/
toward reaffirming the purpose & promise of higher education in our democracy. This transformative plan will go a long way toward narrowing the racial wealth gap exacerbated by the student debt crisis
3/
In response to the announcement of AAUP’s investigation into @BORUSG’s removal of due process protections, the acting chancellor responded that “it will not be necessary for an investigation into the removal of due process as it clearly has not been removed.” 🤔
🧵
To clarify: the due process being referred to is the procedure the AAUP requires to dismiss a tenured faculty member. It consists essentially in an adjudicative hearing of record before an elected faculty body in which the burden of demonstrating… /2
…adequate cause for dismissal rests with admin. This academic due process is essential for tenure as the AAUP defines it: an indefinite appointment that can be terminated only for cause as demonstrated in such a hearing. /3
🧵: The executive director of the AAUP has authorized an investigation of the @BORUSG regarding their adoption of a post-tenure review policy that makes it possible to release a tenured faculty member without a dismissal hearing. /1
Prior to the @BORUSG’s vote, AAUP president Irene Mulvey characterized the board’s potential action as “an attack on tenure and #academicfreedom” & warned that, if the board acted to decouple tenure protections from post-tenure review, the AAUP would investigate. /2
The purpose of tenure is to protect #academicfreedom indispensable for the quality of teaching/research in higher ed. In order to ensure that dismissals are not based on considerations that violate this, most colleges/universities require admins to demonstrate adequate cause…
/3
1. 🧵 Tomorrow, the @BORUSG is expected to vote to end tenure for Georgia's public universities. The AAUP has warned that this move will destroy protections for academic freedom, which is indispensable for the quality of teaching and research in higher education.
2. if the board votes to approve the changes, tenure & the academic freedom it is designed to protect will be severely compromised at the 25 tenure-granting institutions in the system. Given the severity & scope of this attack on tenure and academic freedom, AAUP will respond…
by taking action similar to the 1974 investigation & censure of the governing board of the Virginia Community College System for abolishing tenure. In service of the common good, tenure allows faculty members to pursue research & innovation & to draw evidence-based conclusions…