The Texas Senate Higher Education Subcommittee will consider DEI on Monday

The Senate Higher Education Subcommittee will meet on Monday for its third preliminary hearing to hear the preliminary charges filed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is breaking new ground: the role of faculty senates, carving out “discriminatory” diversity, equity and inclusion policies from programs and certificates aimed at strengthening the Texas workforce and expanding advanced placement and dual-credit courses for High school students.

The subcommittee, chaired by Senator Brandon Creighton, will meet at 9 a.m. in Capitol Extension, Room E1.028. Anyone can register to testify publicly.

Here’s what you should know about fees:

Is Texas setting its sights on DEI again?

In the 2023 legislative session, the subcommittee introduced Senate Bill 17, legislation to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, training, programs, and staff at institutions of higher education. Lawmakers approved the law and it took effect in January. Dozens of former DEI employees lost their jobs at the University of Texas and students lost access to the Diversity and Community Engagement Department and the Gender and Sexuality Center.

SB 17 provides exceptions for academic purposes and research. A separate proposal in the last session to discipline faculty members who “coerce or attempt to coerce a student enrolled in the institution to adopt the belief that race, gender, ethnicity, or social, political, or religious belief is inherently superior.” “, failed in the Texas House of Representatives and was not considered.

Preparing students to enter Texas’ growing workforce was a key focus of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board after lawmakers passed House Bill 8, which rewards community colleges for each “credential of value.” So students receive a certificate or degree with a likely positive return on investment.

As the next legislative session approaches, some lawmakers and groups have targeted courses focused on race, LGBTQ+ studies or social justice as contradictory to such credentials. And changes are already happening: After months of increasing pressure from conservative lawmakers, Texas A&M University announced its plan to stop offering its LGBTQ+ minors and 51 other certificates or minors — a decision from the top that appeared to circumvent a mandated process in which Changes are made to minors and certificates are initiated by departments.

Texas A&M said the inactivations were initiated because of low enrollment, although faculty members said there were never any enrollment standards for minors. In a statement, the provost said the deactivations were “one step in this process” of further investment in valuable credentials.

Patrick’s interim order directs the committee to “examine programs and certifications at higher education institutions that have discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.” “Exposing how these programs and their curriculum are harmful and inconsistent with the needs of the state’s workforce.”

The Texas A&M Faculty Senate Executive Committee voted to reject inactivation of minors in an “emergency measure” before the system’s Board of Regents met Wednesday through Friday, although the board ultimately directed the university to eliminate the programs, The Texas reported Tribune.

“As a representative body of our faculty, the Senate and its EC are deeply concerned about our university and the reputational risk posed by the Provost’s proposal,” Faculty Senate spokeswoman Angie Hill Price said in an email to Faculty Senate members Tuesday . “The EC (Executive Committee) is concerned that the Board of Regents may not be fully aware of the deeply flawed process and impact of the Provost’s decisions.”

Texas Subcommittee on the Review of University Faculty Senates

This is not the first time that a faculty senate, also under fire in the preliminary charges, has rejected university actions, particularly of a conservative nature.

Faculty senates have largely symbolic power, but they can issue a vote of no confidence in university administrators – an action that is becoming increasingly common across the country and expresses a department’s formal disapproval of a leader and, if passed, often a review of the administrator’s position by the board requires. The West Texas A&M Faculty Senate initiated a vote of no confidence in President Walter Wendler last year after he canceled a campus drag show, a decision that was widely criticized by free speech groups and students.

Although a similar body at UT never initiated a formal vote, more than 500 faculty members signed a letter saying they had no confidence in UT President Jay Hartzell after his police response to pro-Palestinian protests in the spring responded by laying off about 60 members, many of them in former DEI-related positions, on April 2.

The injunction on Monday directs the committee to “review and analyze” faculty senates and recommend “guidelines for the role” of such groups.

The UT Faculty Council website states that the council is “the guardian of the institution’s commitment to the academic principle of shared governance.” The Council is elected by faculty members and students and holds monthly open meetings to represent UT’s 3,700 faculty members, conduct discussions, and make recommendations to administrators in the best interests of employees.

The American Federation of Teachers and the Texas chapter of the American Association of University Professors, in collaboration with other groups, held a “call to action” event before the interim hearing to encourage people to testify.

“If the state of Texas were to impose regulatory burdens on faculty senates, it would result in a weakening of the quality of education for our students and the advancement of knowledge in Texas. It is a matter of public interest,” Brian Evans, president of the Texas AAUP American-Statesman, said in an email. “The resulting micromanagement of faculty senates could silence the voice of faculty on matters of their expertise, including curriculum, teaching methods, research, and hiring and promotion of faculty members. Faculty senates are currently governed by the regulations of their campus administration and their Board of Regents and follow standards of professionalism collectively articulated by boards of directors, presidents, and faculty in Texas and across the country.

Evans said he hopes the public will gain a better understanding of how faculty senates improve the quality of education for students and advance knowledge in Texas.

“Faculty Senates bring together faculty, students, staff and administration to create environments and opportunities for learning and growth for students,” he said in the email. “The faculty senates, in turn, make recommendations to the president on how to promote curricula, teaching methods, research and faculty of the highest quality.”

Why double credit?

According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s strategic plan, “Building a Talent Strong Texas,” the state aims to have 60% of Texans ages 25 to 64 graduate with a valuable degree by 2030.

The interim mandate is to charge the subcommittee with identifying ways to simplify K-12 pathways to postsecondary education and credit transfer challenges.

Public testimony is limited to two minutes, and the subcommittee also asks participants to bring seven written copies of their testimony to committee members.