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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 840
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3775
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATI ON AND
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT
Introduced by:
(HED)
AN ACT CONCERNING AC ADEMIC FREEDOM AT PUBLIC
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) As used in this section 1
and section 2 of this act: 2
(1) "Faculty member" means any person who provides scholarship, 3
conducts research or teaches at a public institution of higher education, 4
including professors who are tenured, nontenured or adjunct, visiting 5
lecturers and graduate student instructors. "Faculty member" does not 6
mean any administrative staff or faculty; and 7
(2) "Adverse personnel action" means any action that would have a 8
negative impact on a faculty member's eligibility for promotion or 9
tenure, compensation, ability to provide scholarship, conduct research 10
or teach, or that results in transfer, termination, suspension or other 11
discipline of the faculty member. 12
(b) Not later than October 1, 2019, the Board of Regents for Higher 13 Raised Bill No. 840
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Education, in accordance with subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of 14
subsection (b) of section 10a-6 of the general statutes, and the Board of 15
Trustees of The University of Connecticut, in accordance with 16
subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of section 10a-72 of the general 17
statutes, shall each establish a policy to protect academic freedom and 18
the content of course and degree programs for public institutions of 19
higher education within their jurisdiction. Except as provided in 20
subsection (c) of this section, such policy shall (1) protect faculty 21
members from adverse personnel action resulting from such faculty 22
member's public or private expression related to (A) his or her 23
scholarship, academic research or teaching, or (B) any matter of public 24
concern, including, but not limited to, matters of political, social, or 25
economic significance or critical of institutional policy or 26
administration, and (2) provide (A) a process for faculty members to 27
challenge adverse personnel actions on the grounds of violation of 28
academic freedom, and (B) a list of objective criteria to determine 29
whether an adverse personnel action violates a faculty member's right 30
to academic freedom. 31
(c) Notwithstanding the policies to protect academic freedom 32
established at public institutions of higher education pursuant to 33
subsection (b) of this section, any faculty member may be subject to 34
adverse personnel action for an expression that (1) is disruptive of the 35
academic and instructional purpose of the institution to an extent that 36
would outweigh such faculty member's right to academic freedom, (2) 37
is false or demonstrates unprofessional conduct, (3) substantially or 38
materially interferes with the faculty member's bona fide job 39
performance, or (4) is not reasonably germane to such faculty 40
member's subject area. 41
(d) Not later than January 1, 2020, the Board of Regents for Higher 42
Education and the Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut 43
shall each submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 44
11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the 45
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher 46
education on its academic freedom policy established pursuant to 47 Raised Bill No. 840
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subsection (b) of this section. 48
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) Any faculty member who 49
believes his or her academic freedom was violated by an adverse 50
personnel action of the public institution of higher education in which 51
he or she provides scholarship, conducts academic research or teaches, 52
may pursue the process provided in the policy to protect academic 53
freedom established at such institution, pursuant to subsection (b) of 54
section 1 of this act, or may seek damages from such institution in 55
accordance with section 31-51q of the general statutes. 56
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To protect the freedom of expression of faculty members at public
institutions of higher education in their scholarship, research and
teaching and regarding matters of public interest.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]