This post was originally published on this site.
A Republican-backed bill that would put Kentucky public universities and colleges under a uniform approach to firing faculty members for financial reasons advanced from a House committee Tuesday morning.
Opponents view the proposal as another attempt by the General Assembly to get around tenure protections in higher education.
House Bill 490 contains language allowing the boards of Kentucky public universities and colleges to dismiss faculty for financial reasons, such as financial exigency, low enrollment in a program or major misalignment of revenue and costs. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Aaron Thompson, R-Russell, said in the House Postsecondary Education Committee the measure would let higher education board members “make sound fiscal choices” when it comes to removing faculty members.
Asked by Rep. Sarah Stalker, D-Louisville, if some universities already have such a process, Thompson said some do and it is outlined in faculty handbooks.
“It is generally not the same across all the universities,” Thompson said. “So, this would have the same set of rules across all comprehensive universities.”
The process for removing a faculty member because of finances shall be established by each university board by July 1, and must allow a faculty member an opportunity to respond to a notice of removal, says the bill.
Though no members of the public spoke in opposition to the bill during the committee meeting, some Democrats and Republican Rep. Bobby McCool, of Van Lear, passed on the HB 490 vote. Several Republicans voted in favor of it.
McCool said he believes the policy should be left to the boards of each university or college while explaining why he passed on the vote.
United Campus Workers of Kentucky, a union for higher education employees, told the Lantern in an email that it opposes the bill “because it is yet another attempt to weaken faculty job protections” and it could pave the way for “further politicization of our universities.”
Last year, the General Assembly passed a law that academics warned would erode tenure at the state’s public universities. It allowed university boards to remove faculty members and presidents for not meeting performance standards set by the board.
“Institutions are constantly facing some form of financial pressure, and this bill creates a ready-made pretext for arbitrarily removing faculty — either for political reasons or under the guise of budgetary concerns,” the union said of HB 490.
The union added that the bill would increase pressure on faculty to teach, research and publish on topics that “‘maximize revenue’ for the university.” For students, the bill could mean that higher education moves toward a “corporate model” that focuses on return on investment, which could include prioritizing large classes over courses that attract fewer students.
The bill now awaits a floor vote in the House.