National and State Legislation Texts

Indiana House Bill 1531

May 23, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Introduced Version

HOUSE BILL No. 1531
_____

DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL

Citations Affected: IC 20-12-76.

Synopsis: Academic bill of rights at state universities. Requires the board of trustees at public colleges and universities to develop guidelines and implement an academic bill of rights.

Effective: July 1, 2005.

Messer

January 18, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on Education.

Introduced
First Regular Session 114th General Assembly (2005)

PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type, additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts between statutes enacted by the 2004 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
HOUSE BILL No. 1531

    A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SOURCE: IC 20-12-76; (05)IN1531.1.1. –>     SECTION 1. IC 20-12-76 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2005]:
Chapter 76. Academic Bill of Rights
    Sec. 1. The board of trustees of each state educational institution (as defined in IC 20-12-0.5-1) shall develop academic guidelines based on the principles identified in section 2 of this chapter.
    Sec. 2. The guidelines required by section 1 of this chapter must be based on the following principles:
        (1) Students should be graded solely on the basis of their reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects and disciplines they study and not on the basis of their political or religious beliefs.
        (2) Curricula and reading lists in the humanities and social sciences should respect the uncertainty and unsettled character of all human knowledge in these areas and provide students with dissenting sources and viewpoints. While facultymembers are and should be free to pursue their own findings and perspectives in presenting their views, they should consider and make their students aware of other viewpoints. Academic disciplines should welcome a diversity of approaches to unsettled questions.
        (3) Exposing students to the spectrum of significant scholarly viewpoints on the subjects examined in their courses is a major responsibility of faculty. Faculty shall not use their courses or their positions for the purpose of political, ideological, religious, or anti-religious indoctrination.
        (4) The selection of speakers, allocation of funds for speakers programs, and other student activities must observe the principles of academic freedom and promote intellectual pluralism.
        (5) An environment conducive to the civil exchange of ideas is an essential component of a free university, and the obstruction of invited campus speakers, the destruction of campus literature, or any other effort to obstruct this exchange shall not be tolerated.
        (6) All faculty shall be hired, fired, promoted, and considered for tenure on the basis of their competence and appropriate knowledge in the field of their expertise, and, in the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts, with a view toward fostering a plurality of methodologies and perspectives. A faculty member shall not be hired, fired, or denied promotion or tenure solely on the basis of the faculty member’s political or religious beliefs.
        (7) No faculty member shall be excluded from tenure, search and hiring committees on the basis of the faculty member’s political or religious beliefs.
        (8) Knowledge advances when individual scholars are left free to reach their own conclusions about which methods, facts, and theories have been validated by research. Academic institutions and professional societies formed to advance knowledge within an area of research, maintain the integrity of the research process, and organize the professional lives of related researchers serve as indispensable venues within which scholars circulate research findings and debate their interpretation. To perform these functions adequately, academic institutions and professional societies shall maintain a posture of organizational neutrality with respect to the substantive disagreements that divide researchers on

Tennessee House Bill 432

May 23, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

HB0432 00347113
-1-
Filed for intro on 02/03/2005

HOUSE BILL 432
By Campfield
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
Chapter 7, relative to higher education.

WHEREAS, the General assembly of the state of Tennessee recognizes students’ rights to academic freedom and rights to freedom from discrimination on the basis of political or religious beliefs; and
WHEREAS, students enrolled in state postsecondary educational institutions have the right to information concerning grievance procedures for the protection of their academic freedoms; and
WHEREAS, it is determined to be in the best interests of the state to direct the governing board of state postsecondary educational institutions to adopt a grievance procedure for use in enforcing students’ rights; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 7, Part 1, is amended by adding the following as a new appropriately designated section:
49-7-1(__).
(a) Students enrolled in state postsecondary educational institutions shall
have the following rights:
(1) The right to expect that their academic freedom will not be
infringed upon by instructors who create a hostile environment toward
their political or religious beliefs or who introduce controversial matter into the classroom or course work that is substantially unrelated to the subject of study;

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(2) The right to expect that they will be graded solely on the basis
of their reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects
they study and that they shall not be discriminated against on the basis of their political or religious beliefs;
(3) The right to expect that their academic institutions shall
distribute student fee funds on a viewpoint neutral basis and shall
maintain a posture of neutrality with respect to substantive political or
religious disagreements, differences, and opinions; and
(4) The right to be fully informed of their institutions’ grievance
procedures for violations of academic freedom by means of notices
prominently displayed in course catalogues, student handbooks, and on the institutional web site.
(b) State postsecondary educational institutions shall publicize the
statewide institutional grievance procedure by which a student may seek redress for an alleged violation of any of the rights specified in this section in course catalogues, student handbooks, and on the institutional website.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-7-202(c), is amended by adding the following as a new appropriately designated subdivision:
(__) Develop, monitor, and enforce a statewide institutional grievance procedure by which a student may seek a redress of grievance for an alleged violation of any of the rights specified in this act.
SECTION 3. The commissioner of the Tennessee higher education commission is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act. All such rules and regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with the provisions of Tennessee
Code Annotated, title 4, chapter 5.
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SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming law, the public welfare requiring
it.

Tennessee Senate Bill 1117

May 23, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

SB1117 00347113
-1-

Filed for intro on 02/03/2005
HOUSE BILL 432
By Campfield
SENATE BILL 1117
By Finney

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
Chapter 7, relative to higher education.

WHEREAS, the General assembly of the state of Tennessee recognizes students’ rights to academic freedom and rights to freedom from discrimination on the basis of political or
religious beliefs; and WHEREAS, students enrolled in state postsecondary educational institutions have the
right to information concerning grievance procedures for the protection of their academic freedoms; and
WHEREAS, it is determined to be in the best interests of the state to direct the governing board of state postsecondary educational institutions to adopt a grievance procedure for use in enforcing students’ rights; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 7, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new appropriately designated section:
49-7-1(__).
(a) Students enrolled in state postsecondary educational institutions shall
have the following rights:
(1) The right to expect that their academic freedom will not be
infringed upon by instructors who create a hostile environment toward
their political or religious beliefs or who introduce controversial matter into the classroom or course work that is substantially unrelated to the subject
of study;

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(2) The right to expect that they will be graded solely on the basis
of their reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects
they study and that they shall not be discriminated against on the basis of their political or religious beliefs;
(3) The right to expect that their academic institutions shall
distribute student fee funds on a viewpoint neutral basis and shall
maintain a posture of neutrality with respect to substantive political or
religious disagreements, differences, and opinions; and
(4) The right to be fully informed of their institutions’ grievance
procedures for violations of academic freedom by means of notices
prominently displayed in course catalogues, student handbooks, and on
the institutional web site.
(b) State postsecondary educational institutions shall publicize the
statewide institutional grievance procedure by which a student may seek redress for an alleged violation of any of the rights specified in this section in course
catalogues, student handbooks, and on the institutional website.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-7-202(c), is amended by adding the following as a new appropriately designated subdivision:
(__) Develop, monitor, and enforce a statewide institutional grievance procedure by which a student may seek a redress of grievance for an alleged violation of any of the rights specified in this act.
SECTION 3. The commissioner of the Tennessee higher education commission is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act. All such rules and regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with the provisions of Tennessee
Code Annotated, title 4, chapter 5.
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SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming law, the public welfare requiring it.

Ohio Senate Bill 24

May 23, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

As Introduced

126th General AssemblyRegular Session2005-2006

S. B. No. 24

Senators Mumper, Jordan, Cates, Wachtmann
A BILLTo enact sections 3345.80 and 3345.81 of the Revised Code to establish the academic bill of rights for higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:Section 1. That sections 3345.80 and 3345.81 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3345.80. The board of trustees of each state institution of higher education, as defined in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code, and the board of trustees or other governing authority of each private institution of higher education that holds a certificate of authorization issued under section 1713.02 of the Revised Code shall adopt a policy recognizing that the students, faculty, and instructors of the institution have the following rights:(A) The institution shall provide its students with a learning environment in which the students have access to a broad range of serious scholarly opinion pertaining to the subjects they study. In the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts, the fostering of a plurality of serious scholarly methodologies and perspectives shall be a significant institutional purpose. In addition, curricula and reading lists in the humanities and social studies shall respect all human knowledge in these areas and provide students with dissenting sources and viewpoints.(B) Students shall be graded solely on the basis of their reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects and disciplines they study and shall not be discriminated against on the basis of their political, ideological, or religious beliefs. Faculty and instructors shall not use their courses or their positions for the purpose of political, ideological, religious, or antireligious indoctrination.(C) Faculty and instructors shall not infringe the academic freedom and quality of education of their students by persistently introducing controversial matter into the classroom or coursework that has no relation to their subject of study and that serves no legitimate pedagogical purpose.(D) University administrators, student government organizations, and institutional policies, rules, or procedures shall not infringe the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom of conscience of students and student organizations.(E) The institution shall distribute student fee funds on a viewpoint-neutral basis and shall maintain a posture of neutrality with respect to substantive political and religious disagreements, differences, and opinions. The selection of speakers, allocation of funds for speakers’ programs, and other student activities shall observe the principles of academic freedom and promote the presentation of a diversity of opinions on intellectual matters. Except as provided by law, the institution shall not permit the obstruction of invited campus speakers, the destruction of campus literature, or other efforts to obstruct a civil exchange of ideas.(F) Faculty and instructors shall be free to pursue and discuss their own findings and perspectives in presenting their views, but they shall make their students aware of serious scholarly viewpoints other than their own through classroom discussion or dissemination of written materials, and they shall encourage intellectual honesty, civil debate, and the critical analysis of ideas in the pursuit of knowledge and truth.(G) Faculty and instructors shall be hired, fired, promoted, and granted tenure on the basis of their competence and appropriate knowledge in their field of expertise and shall not be hired, fired, promoted, granted tenure, or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of their political, ideological, or religious beliefs.(H) Faculty and instructors shall not be excluded from tenure, search, and hiring committees on the basis of their political, ideological, or religious beliefs.(I) The institution and its professional societies shall maintain a posture of organizational neutrality with respect to the substantive disagreements that divide researchers on questions within, or outside, their fields of inquiry recognizing that:(1) Knowledge advances when individual scholars are left free to reach their own conclusions about which methods, facts, and theories have been validated by research;(2) Academic institutions and professional societies formed to advance knowledge within an area of research, maintain the integrity of the research process, and organize the professional lives of related researchers serve as indispensable venues within which scholars circulate research findings and debate their interpretations.Sec. 3345.81. The board of trustees of each state institution of higher education, as defined in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code, and the board of trustees or other governing authority of each private institution of higher education that holds a certificate of authorization issued under section 1713.02 of the Revised Code, shall adopt a grievance procedure by which a student, faculty member, or instructor may seek redress for an alleged violation of any of the rights specified by the institution’s policy adopted under section 3345.80 of the Revised Code. Each board of trustees or other governing authority shall provide students, faculty, and instructors with notice of the rights and grievance procedure by publication in the institution’s course catalog, student handbook, and web site.

Minnesota Senate Bill 1988

May 18, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

S.F. No. 1988, as introduced 84th Legislative Session (2005-2006) Posted on Mar 29, 2005

A bill for an act relating to higher education; enacting the Free Speech for Faculty and Students Bill of Rights; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 135A.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: Section 1. [135A.145] [FREE SPEECH FOR FACULTY AND STUDENTS BILL OF RIGHTS.]

Subdivision 1. [CITATION.] This section shall be referred to as the Free Speech for Faculty and Students Bill of Rights.

Subd. 2. [DEFINITION.] For the purposes of this section, “faculty” means a person who is a member of the faculty of the institution or is an instructor at the institution.

Subd. 3. [POLICY REQUIRED.] The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities shall, and the University of Minnesota is requested to, adopt a policy recognizing the following rights:

(a) The institution shall provide students with a learning environment in which the students have access to a broad range of serious scholarly opinion pertaining to the subjects of study. The fostering of a plurality of serious scholarly methodologies and perspectives shall be a significant institutional purpose. In addition, curricula and reading lists shall make students aware of the existence of dissenting scholarly sources and viewpoints.

(b) Students shall be graded solely on the basis of reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects and disciplines studied and shall not be discriminated against on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs.

(c) University and college administrators, student government organizations, and institutional policies, rules, or procedures shall not infringe the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, or freedom of conscience of students and student organizations.

(d) The institution shall distribute student fee funds on a fair and equitable basis and shall maintain a posture of neutrality with respect to substantive political and religious disagreements, differences, and opinions. The selection of speakers, allocation of funds for speakers’ programs, and other student activities shall observe the principles of academic freedom and promote the presentation of a diversity of opinions on intellectual matters. Except as provided by law, the institution shall not permit the obstruction of invited campus speakers or the destruction of student newspapers or campus literature promoting campus events.

(e) Faculty are free to pursue and discuss their findings and perspectives in presenting views, but shall make students aware of the existence of serious scholarly viewpoints other than their own through classroom discussion or dissemination of written materials, and shall encourage civil debate and the critical analysis of ideas in the pursuit of knowledge and truth.

(f) Faculty shall be hired, fired, promoted, or granted tenure on the basis of competence and appropriate knowledge in their field of expertise.

(g) Faculty shall not be hired, fired, promoted, granted tenure, or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs.

(h) Faculty shall not be excluded from tenure, search, and hiring committees on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs.

(i) The institution and its professional societies shall maintain a posture of organizational neutrality with respect to methods, facts, and theories which have been validated by research.

Subd. 4. [GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE.] The board of trustees of each state institution of higher education shall, and the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota is requested to, adopt a grievance procedure by which a student or faculty member may seek redress for an alleged violation of any of the rights specified by the institution’s policy adopted under subdivision 3.

Subd. 5. [NOTICE OF RIGHTS.] Each board of trustees or other governing authority shall, and the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota is requested to, provide students and faculty with notice of the rights and the grievance procedure adopted under subdivisions 3 and 4 by publication in the institution’s course catalog, student handbook, and Web site.