Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation into law on Monday that would allow the removal of tenured faculty and limit the authority of faculty-led governing bodies, effective October.
House Bill 580 (HB58) by State Rep. Troy Stubbs (R-Wetumpka) moved relatively swiftly through the House and Senate, passing on the final day despite vocal pushback from Democrats in both bodies.
The new law, which goes into effect on October 1, would require a university that establishes a faculty senate to develop policies on the body's membership and responsibilities. A faculty senate would serve only an advisory role, thereby negating any "final decision-making authority on any matter of representing institutional positions." It would also require policies that would include periodic post-tenure reviews and authorize the removal of tenured professors after due process.
While most schools were publicly silent during the bill's negotiations, preferring to work with Stubbs behind the scenes on the details, the University of Alabama's chapter of the American Association of University Professors took a vehement public stance against it.
Democratic lawmakers claimed the bill was an effort to target faculty for political reasons and further attack Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, which the legislature banned from schools in 2024.
The law does not apply to schools like the University of Alabama and Auburn University, which are established under the Alabama Constitution and therefore require a Constitutional amendment to enact lawful changes. However, Stubbs contended that, since the legislature doles out massive funding to the schools, the implication of changing that state of affairs is sufficient to induce compliance.
The University of Alabama System is Alabama's largest higher education enterprise and largest public employer, comprising the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and the UAB Health System. Auburn's systems include Auburn University in Montgomery (AUM).
The bill defines a faculty senate as "any representative faculty organization at a public institution of higher education." All previously formed faculty senates would be abolished by Oct. 1, unless the body was established in line with HB580's provisions or is changed to do so and ratified by a university's governing board. The bill also prohibits accrediting agencies from taking adverse action against a public university for enacting the policies.
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