Indiana budget bill curbs university faculty power, ties tenure to new ‘productivity' reviews

Yahoo

02-05-2025

The final draft of Indiana's budget bill included last-minute changes to university tenure requirements and faculty's authority over school policy decisions. (Getty Images)
Sweeping changes to how the state's public universities manage faculty tenure and campus governance were quietly folded into Indiana's 2025 budget bill during the final hours of the legislative session despite limited lawmaker debate — and without opportunities for public input.
That's in addition to other unorthodox provisions slipped into the state's next two-year spending plan, like language to give Gov. Mike Braun total say over who sits on Indiana University's Board of Trustees.
Braun has until May 6 to take action on the budget. If he does nothing, the plan automatically becomes law and takes effect July 1.
The new postsecondary rules require faculty at public colleges and universities to post their syllabi online and mandate 'productivity' reviews for tenured professors.
Authority of faculty-led governing bodies was reduced, as well.
There's been ongoing discussion about the efficiency in higher education, and that's always a fair discussion as to how we maximize the use of taxpayer dollars.
– Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton
Faculty senates, for example, which are traditionally responsible for shaping a school's academic policy, will now be limited to an advisory role. More authority will instead shift to university trustees and administrative leadership.
Republican supermajority leadership maintained the changes are necessary and defended using the budget as a vehicle bill.
House budget architect Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, said the language was added because universities, like the rest of state government, need to slim spending.
The two-year budget cuts funding for the state's public colleges by 5%.
'There's been ongoing discussion about the efficiency in higher education, and that's always a fair discussion as to how we maximize the use of taxpayer dollars,' Thompson said. 'That's an ongoing discussion. That's one of our responsibilities.'
But Democrat Rep. Matt Pierce said the move was rushed and unvetted.
'We didn't think we needed to hear from the public, or maybe even, heaven forbid, some faculty members or people who run universities, to kind of understand how they think this provision might work or not work. Would that not have been helpful?' Pierce, of Bloomington, asked Thompson on the House floor shortly before the session concluded.
Thompson reiterated that university governance 'is a fiscal issue,' and that 'sometimes, we make these decisions based on the information we have in front of us.'
Pierce and other Democrats disagreed, noting that the higher education provisions were not previously approved by either the House or Senate chambers, nor were they introduced or debated in other bills or amendments earlier in the session.
Faculty advocates further warned that the changes could threaten academic freedom and deter top scholars from staying in or coming to Indiana.
'The public is left to wonder, who put the supermajority on this track? Who is behind the scenes that has the influence to change decades, if not centuries, of the operation of universities?' Pierce questioned.
'All this crazy stuff … undermining faculty governance, treating them like they're children, and every five years they've got to prove they're doing their job,' he continued. 'Those faculty — the best faculty, the researchers, the people who are searching for cures for cancer, the people learning about and understanding nanotechnology, the people who are going to solve the challenges of our day with science and investigation and inquiry — they're out of here. They're not going to put up with this.'
Once the budget bill becomes law, all tenured professors at Indiana's public colleges and universities must undergo formal 'productivity reviews' at least once every five years.
Bill language specifies that evaluations should 'measure' a professor's 'productivity,' which includes:
the faculty member's teaching workload;
the total number of graduate and undergraduate students taught by the faculty member;
the time spent on instructional assignments and overseeing graduate students; and
the research and creative scholarship productivity of the faculty member.
Institutions will be required to place faculty on probation if they do not meet the standards set through the review process. According to the legislation, that probation 'may result in dismissal.'
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The new review system is reminiscent of a law approved by the General Assembly and former Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2024 that seeks to promote 'intellectual diversity' on Indiana campuses.
Boards of trustees decide what qualifies as 'intellectual diversity,' although the term has been championed by Republican lawmakers who contend that conservative students and faculty members are increasingly ostracized at progressively liberal college and university settings — or at least perceive such shunning.
Under the law adopted last year, both nontenured and tenured faculty are judged on whether — and to what extent — they've delivered intellectually 'diverse' instruction. University trustees are allowed to decide punishments for professors who fail to meet their school's standards.
Boards are required to deny promotions and tenure to faculty members if, 'based on past performance or other determination by the board,' they are 'unlikely to foster … intellectual diversity.' Additionally, 'intellectual diversity' must be considered in post-tenure reviews, which are now required at least every five years.
Colleges' governance groups, like faculty senates and councils, will also be relegated to 'advisory only' roles.
Those bodies traditionally make decisions around faculty hiring and promotion processes, in addition to curricula and other academic policies.
Elected faculty groups will be able to recommend and vote on changes to key matters, but final authority will rest with university trustees and top administrators.
Indiana University alumni blast board of trustees changes slipped into state budget
Other budget provisions order public colleges and universities to regularly review their degree programs and either cut those that fall beneath a certain enrollment threshold, or get state approval to continue offering the programs.
Schools could also be required to cut degrees that fail to meet the state's standards for 'quality, viability, and productivity.'
Chris Lowery, Indiana's higher education commissioner, told lawmakers in April that his commission had already adopted provisions to 'approve and disapprove' proposed or existing credentials offered by Indiana's post-secondaries. There are roughly 3,400 programs currently offered by school statewide. Lowery wasn't sure how many programs could — or should — be cut.
'I don't know what the number is, but what we know in any sector, when you get to that high of a quantity, you should be asking and questioning, 'Are we giving value to our fellow Hoosiers?' … We have work to do there,' he said before the House Education Committee last month. 'Although our colleges are doing a great job to prepare students for in-demand career opportunities … it's clear the number is too large here, and we can simply be more efficient and effective with outcomes.'
Another section of the budget bill specifically calls out Indiana University by eliminating alumni input in the selection of university trustees. It instead gives decision-making power over the board's membership to Braun.
Under current law, Indiana's governor appoints five members to IU's board and picks one student representative with the help of a student-led committee. Three other members must be IU graduates and are elected by other alumni.
The new state budget mandates all nine members to be appointed by the governor, and gives the executive leader the ability to, 'at any time,' remove and replace a board member who was previously elected by the IU alumni.
Braun defended the policy move Wednesday, emphasizing that just a 'fraction' of IU alumni participated in past votes to elect trustees.
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