On Thursday, a bill was introduced into the 89th legislature of the Texas senate to abolish all faculty senates in the state unless they comply with the guidelines set forth by the bill. 

Senate Bill 1489, authored by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-7), proposes that faculty senates be limited in their ability to act on issues, such as investigations and approving personnel action. Any faculty senate will also report to an institution’s president or designated appointee.

“A faculty council or senate is advisory only,” the proposed bill reads. “A faculty council or senate may not … be delegated final decision-making authority on any matter.”

The proposed bill comes after professors and students across Texas testified before the higher education subcommittee on the necessity of faculty senates, which have historically been in charge of curriculum and guaranteeing academic freedom of professors.

“Many faculty like myself are bewildered as to why faculty senates have become an enemy of the state of Texas that warrant legislation or warrant legislators to create proposals that will silence and even dismantle them,” Leonard Bright, a Texas A&M professor, said during his testimony in November. “Those of us who participate as faculty senators do so out of a respect, concern and even love for our institutions.”

A&M’s Faculty Senate was founded in 1983 and states that its mission is to “facilitate effective faculty participation in academic governance … and to engage the faculty’s skills in the guidance of the university’s programs.”