A controversial higher education bill advanced through the Indiana House this week.
Senate Bill 202, which would regulate professor tenure, was designed to address the conservative perception that colleges are too liberal. The House voted along party lines on Tuesday, Feb. 27, with the Republican supermajority sending an amended bill back to the Senate.
The bill includes a spate of changes designed to erase the perception that colleges aren’t welcoming to conservative students. Under the legislation, universities would review faculty every five years, regardless of tenure. The legislation also requires professors to showcase a variety of viewpoints in their teaching, a concept called “intellectual diversity.”
Indiana’s legislation is part of a nationwide trend to place restrictions on tenure — similar bills have been introduced in Texas, Ohio and Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law last May.
Senate Bill 202 also instructs colleges to create a complaint system where students and faculty can report professors who they believe are not showcasing a wide enough range of views, or who are expressing political opinions they feel are unrelated to the class. Those complaints eventually would be elevated to the Commission for Higher Education and the state Legislature.
[Indiana civil rights and community leaders advocated against possible ramifications]
Proponents, including bill sponsor Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, say the bill would help foster a variety of viewpoints on college campuses, while also holding state-funded colleges and universities accountable.
But many disagree.
Before the vote on Tuesday, House Democrats expressed concern that the bill would cause faculty and college students to seek employment or education out of state.
“SB 202 makes the accusation that our universities can’t be trusted to govern themselves,” said Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie. “I trust our world-class universities. I trust our educators. I do not trust this bill will do anything except dissuade potential students and faculty from coming to our state universities.”
The bill has drawn ire from many university faculty, who say the bill would limit academic freedom and excellence in education. Professors also say they fear the complaint system would pit students against them.
IU President Pamela Whitten publicly spoke out against the bill. While other university presidents have not denounced the legislation so strongly, Indiana State president Deborah Curtis expressed concern about the legislation in a meeting of the faculty senate, according to reporting from the Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
What’s changed in Senate Bill 202?
The bill’s undergone several rounds of amendments since it was first filed in January.
Last week, the House education committee removed a section of the bill that would have replaced alumni members of university boards of trustees with political appointees from the Senate president pro tempore and House speaker, both Republicans.
The House also voted Monday, Feb. 26, to add language that college boards of trustees would have the authority to determine whether a professor’s curriculum qualifies as “intellectually diverse.” Several attempts from Democrats to remove the sections of the bill regarding tenure and the complaint system failed both in committee and on the floor.
The bill will now return to the Senate. If the changes to the bill are approved, the bill would go to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk, where the governor has seven days to either veto the bill or sign it into law.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus.
Contact Claire Rafford at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X/Instagram @clairerafford.