by Guzi He
Three Florida professors have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2023 state law that requires public university faculty members to undergo tenure-track review every five years.
Scientists to argue the bill “endangers academic freedom” and allows the Florida Legislature to “assume the exclusive powers and duties” of the Board of Governors of the state university system granted to it by the Florida Constitution.
While two of the three plaintiffs are left-leaning academics, the third is a Christian professor who said the bill could have unintended consequences.
Steven Willis, a professor at UF’s Levin College of Law, expressed concerns that weakening tenure protections could expose conservative faculty to punishment for their political views.
“I support Governor DeSantis,” Willis (pictured above) said College Repair in an interview. “But I think this law exceeded the powers of the legislature.”
“Without permanent employment, I will have a huge target on my back, as do all conservative and Christian scientists.”
Willis said he sees merit in post-tenure review, but the new law “fails to provide due process” and “applies vague rules retroactively.”
“It gives the power to judge us to administrators who have historically been hostile to Christians and Republicans,” said Willis, who added that he has been investigated for his beliefs in the past.
SB266 Requires the board to implement a post-tenure review at state universities to assess the productivity and teaching performance of faculty members.
The law also states that decisions regarding “grades, promotions, tenure, discipline, or termination of employment are not subject to appeal beyond the level of the university president or designee” and that disputes over such matters are not subject to arbitration.
These two provisions “reduce important tenure protections from a tenure-track position (subject to just cause) to a five-year renewable contract at the discretion of university presidents,” the plaintiffs claim.
Complaint quotations Florida State University’s Office of the Provost has stated that when it comes to removing tenured faculty, “each community of scholars creates its own definition of ‘appropriate cause,’ specifically misconduct or incompetence. No single individual may exercise this authority.”
Tenure reform has been a priority for Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called unproductive tenured faculty members the “biggest financial burden” on state universities during a July speech at St. Petersburg College.
“There are people who believe that you have the right to taxpayer institutions without any accountability. That they should be able to do whatever they want,” DeSantis also said. he said earlier this year at the State College of Florida.
Former University of Florida President Ben Sasse and Vice Chancellor J. Scott Angle also supported the exploit of post-tenure review to address degenerating productivity among faculty who have “quietly retired.”
“We have a lot of people who are incredibly productive, but we also have a significant number of people who stop being productive researchers after hours,” Sasse said at a UF faculty senate meeting in August 2023.
Angle advocates for control measures that prioritize corrective action.
“The first step should never be, ‘You’re done, time to move on.’” – Angle he said at the same meeting.
How College Repair reported Earlier this month, 34 professors fell brief of expectations and five were deemed unsatisfactory under the tenure-track review process implemented at the University of Florida. The 39 academics were among 262 criticized during the first wave of reviews.
The plaintiffs also argue that faculty who can be dismissed at will “will be less likely to develop bold, controversial new ideas that might challenge prevailing orthodoxy.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Adriana Novoa, a professor of history at the University of South Florida, and Sarah Hernandez, a professor of sociology at New College of Florida.
Novoi’s biography on the USF website says she is writing a book on masculinity and Darwinism in Argentina.
He writes that “naturalistic literature of the overdue nineteenth century introduced and used many [sic] scientific analogies related to mating and sexuality,” and her work “will help us understand the naturalization of ideas about race and gender in the texts of science-inspired writers.”
bride previously sued In 2022, she successfully filed a federal district court motion seeking an injunction to halt Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, which prohibits the teaching of essentialist and discriminatory theories about race and gender in public institutions of higher education.
Hernandez teaches a course titled “Race and Ethnicity: An Interdisciplinary Exploration” and serves as co-director of the Diversity and Equity in Education Initiative at NCF.
In August 2023, Hernandez sued to overturn parts of SB 266 that prohibit funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, as well as the teaching of identity politics in general education courses. The court negative court order due to lack of legal standing.
In both cases, Hernandez was represented by the nonprofit NCF Freedom, formed in response to DeSantis’ appointment of conservative academics to the board of New College of Florida in early 2023.
The NCF Freedom website states that the organization’s goal is to “avoid unethical, inappropriate, or illegal actions by the state, board of trustees, or administration that will harm the mission and future of New College.”
NCF Freedom did not respond to the request College Repair please comment.
NCF Freedom attorney Gary Edinger, who states that “my personal political views are decidedly progressive,” represented Novoa in her 2022 case against the Stop WOKE Act.
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Guzi He – American University School of Law in Washington.
Photo “Steven Willis” by UF Law. Background Photo “Courtroom” by Clyde Robinson. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.
