Florida faculty say morale has dropped due to a new state law

Faculty across the state are feeling the fallout of a law passed last year that, according to opponents, gutted tenure protections and undermines academic freedom.

Professors who earn tenure, gain a certain level of job protection. But under the new law, they must undergo more frequent evaluations that are signed off by the university president without the opportunity to appeal through arbitration.

After the first round of post-tenure reviews, about nine USF professors out of the 189 evaluated did not meet expectations, according to a report obtained by USF's chapter of the United Faculty of Florida. The rating calls for a performance improvement plan, which, if not fulfilled, can lead to termination.

The state's flagship school, the University of Florida, saw more startling numbers. About 34 faculty didn't meet expectations and five were unsatisfactory, the lowest rating, which results in termination, according to a report from Inside Higher Ed.

The new tenure requirements, combined with the law's (SB 266) restrictions on topics about race and identity and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives (DEI), has created a culture of fear, according to some University of South Florida faculty members.

"Morale has dropped significantly," said Dana Thompson Dorsey, a tenured professor in USF's College of Education.

Proponents of post-tenure review see it as a way to continue holding tenured faculty accountable. But its opponents say the law grants "politically appointed university presidents final decision-making authority" and puts educators with differing viewpoints at risk.

Thompson Dorsey said without the traditional tenure protections, instructors feel like they're "walking on eggshells" as they try to follow the state's vague restrictions on DEI, race and identity. Genuine classroom discussion is being stifled, she said.

"You have students who are not getting particular types of instruction they had hoped to get. Even professors may have had advisors or mentors telling them to back off of certain research topics or frameworks," said Thompson Dorsey, "it's a disservice to the students and faculty."

An erosion of trust

Karin Braunsberger a tenured professor in USF's Muma College of Business said that the law's ban on arbitration in personnel disputes has created a "power imbalance" and eroded trust between faculty and administration.

Arbitration uses a neutral third party to settle personnel disputes outside of the court. Without it, the university gets the final say on matters like post-tenure review results and grievance cases, unless the employee decides to take it to court. But that can be slow and expensive, said Braunsberger, who handles grievance cases for the faculty union.

"There's no accountability anymore. I can grieve, and I still grieve — but since I can't go to arbitration, I mean what good is that going to do in the long run?" she said. "We have faculty members who just upped and left."

A survey conducted by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and faculty organizations last year showed that hundreds of tenured and untenured educators were seeking employment outside of Florida.

It's hard to calculate the exact number of USF employees leaving and their reasons, said Steve Lang, the president of USF's chapter of UFF. But, he said he's noticed the turnover is "more than usual."

"The question is, will the University of South Florida be able to hire and keep faculty?" said Lang, who noted that salary plays a major role as well and has not kept up with inflation.

Changes in the evaluation process

Prior to the new post-tenure review procedures, tenured professors were evaluated every seven years through the "sustained performance evaluation program." The program states employees who received satisfactory annual evaluations in the last six years cannot be rated below satisfactory or be subject to a performance improvement plan.

It's a cumulative look at performance that protects employees by considering their track record, but the new policy disregards that, said Lang. Among the faculty who did not meet expectations, Lang said some had not received a single below-average annual evaluation before.

Richard Denbo, a criminology professor of over 40 years, said the erosion of tenure protections and state-sanctioned limitations on ideology puts the state of higher education on a bad path.

"You really can't understand phenomena by having a restricted lens. You do a disservice not only to yourself intellectually and ethically, but you do a disservice to the students," said Denbo, "because they only see a segment of the world. That is what higher education is not for."

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis championed SB266 as a way to curb what he calls "woke indoctrination" in academia. But Denbo said diminishing tenure harms scholars across the political spectrum.

"Students are enriched by those understandings. They don't have to accept the beliefs, but at least to be aware of the efforts to make sense of what's going on in the world," said Denbo.

Braunsberger said she's afraid that if attacks on higher education continue, it could lead to a "cheapening" of the degree earned in Florida. Valued faculty members are leaving the state and taking their research grants with them, she said.

"These students cannot compete with people who have a 'real' education outside of Florida, and that is why we're so concerned," she said.

Braunsberger added that the union has filed Unfair Labor Practice complaints with the state on the university's application of the law.

Several lawsuits are also playing out in state and federal courts. One filed in early August includes a USF social science professor as a plaintiff.

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