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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 840
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING AC ADEMIC FREEDOM AT PU BLIC
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 administrative faculty member; and 7
(2) "Adverse personnel action" means any action that has a negative 8
impact on a faculty member's eligibility for promotion or tenure, 9
compensation, ability to provide scholarship, conduct research or 10
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
Education and the Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut 14
shall ensure that the policies adopted by said boards to protect 15
academic freedom in accordance with subparagraph (B) of subdivision 16
(1) of subsection (b) of section 10a-6 of the general statutes and 17
subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of section 10a-72 of the general 18 Substitute Bill No. 840
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statutes, include protections for the content of course and degree 19
programs for public institutions of higher education within their 20
jurisdiction. Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, such 21
policies shall (1) protect faculty members from adverse personnel 22
action resulting from such faculty member's public or private 23
expression related to (A) his or her scholarship, academic research or 24
teaching, or (B) any matter of public concern, including, but not 25
limited to, matters of political, social, or economic significance or 26
critical of institutional policy or administration, and (2) provide (A) a 27
process for faculty members to challenge adverse personnel actions on 28
the grounds of violation of academic freedom, and (B) a list of 29
objective criteria to determine whether an adverse personnel action 30
violates a faculty member's right to academic freedom. 31
(c) Notwithstanding the policies to protect academic freedom 32
established at public institutions of higher education, any faculty 33
member may be subject to adverse personnel action for an expression 34
that (1) is disruptive of the academic and instructional purpose of the 35
institution to an extent that would outweigh the faculty member's right 36
to academic freedom, (2) constitutes plagiarism, fraud or misconduct 37
in the context of such faculty member's academic research, (3) 38
substantially or materially interferes with the faculty member's bona 39
fide job performance, or (4) deliberately misrepresents the faculty 40
member's academic expertise. 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 and the protections included 47
in such policy regarding the content of course and degree programs 48
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. 49
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) Any faculty member who 50
believes his or her academic freedom was violated by an adverse 51 Substitute Bill No. 840
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personnel action of the public institution of higher education in which 52
he or she provides scholarship, conducts academic research or teaches, 53
may pursue the process provided in the policy to protect academic 54
freedom established at such institution pursuant to subsection (b) of 55
section 1 of this act or may seek damages from such institution in 56
accordance with section 31-51q of the general statutes. 57
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
HED Joint Favorable Subst.