SLS 22RS-91 ORIGINAL
2022 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 6
BY SENATOR CATHEY
POSTSECONDARY ED. Creates a task force to study and make recommendations relative
to tenure policies of public postsecondary education institutions.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To create and provide for the Task Force on Tenure in Public Postsecondary Education.
3 WHEREAS, the central purposes of postsecondary education are the pursuit of truth,
4 the discovery of new knowledge through scholarship and research, the study and reasoned
5 criticism of intellectual and cultural traditions, the teaching and general development of
6 students to help them become creative individuals and productive citizens, and the
7 transmission of knowledge and learning to society; and
8 WHEREAS, academic freedom and intellectual diversity, coupled with free inquiry
9 and free speech, are paramount to achieving the central purposes of postsecondary
10 education; and
11 WHEREAS, tenure policies can deeply impact the central purposes of postsecondary
12 education; and
13 WHEREAS, the granting of tenure in postsecondary education has historically been
14 aligned with fostering independent thought and the free exchange of new or controversial
15 ideas; and
16 WHEREAS, tenure policies may provide competent faculty the freedom to perform
17 scholarly research, impart their knowledge, and debate controversial or emerging issues
18 without any political influence or fear of reprisal; and
Page 1 of 3 SCR NO. 6
SLS 22RS-91 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, postsecondary education students should be confident that they are
2 being exposed to the spectrum of viewpoints, including those that are dissenting; that they
3 are graded solely on the basis of their reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge; and that
4 faculty members are not using their courses for the purposes of political, ideological,
5 religious, or antireligious indoctrination; and
6 WHEREAS, just as thoughts on academic freedom on other topics are premised on
7 the ideas that knowledge is a never-ending pursuit of truth, that there is no truth that is not
8 in principle open to challenge and change, and that no party or intellectual faction has a
9 monopoly on wisdom, the role of tenure policy in postsecondary education should be
10 routinely reviewed and discussed.
11 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
12 establish and provide for the Task Force on Tenure in Public Postsecondary Education to
13 perform an in-depth review of the merits of and need for tenure, to study public
14 postsecondary tenure policies, and to propose any recommendations regarding tenure
15 policies, including any specific proposals for legislation, by written report to the legislature
16 and to the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library as required by R.S. 24:771 and
17 772, no later than March 1, 2023.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall consist of the following
19 members:
20 (1) The president of the Senate or his designee, who shall serve as the chairman of
21 the task force.
22 (2) The speaker of the House of Representatives or his designee.
23 (3) The chairman of the Senate Committee on Education or his designee.
24 (4) The chairman of the House Committee on Education or his designee.
25 (5) Two members of the Senate appointed by the president of the Senate.
26 (6) Two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the speaker of the
27 House of Representatives.
28 (7) The commissioner of higher education or his designee.
29 (8) The president of each public postsecondary education management board or his
30 designee.
Page 2 of 3 SCR NO. 6
SLS 22RS-91 ORIGINAL
1 (9) Two members of the Association of Louisiana Faculty Senates appointed by the
2 president of the association.
3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each designating authority shall submit the
4 names of designees to the task force to the secretary of the Senate no later than July 15,
5 2022.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no later than August 1, 2022, the chairman of
7 the task force shall convene the first meeting of the task force. At the first meeting, the
8 members may elect a vice chairman and other officers as the task force deems appropriate.
9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a majority of the task force shall constitute a
10 quorum for the transaction of business. All official actions of the task force shall require the
11 affirmative vote of a majority of the members.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force shall serve
13 without compensation, except per diem or expense reimbursement to which they may be
14 individually entitled as members of their constituent organizations.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall terminate on the date of the
16 submission of its report or March 1, 2023, whichever occurs first.
17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
18 commissioner of higher education, the president of each public postsecondary education
19 management board, and the president of the Association of Louisiana Faculty Senates.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Cheryl Serrett.
DIGEST
SCR 6 Original 2022 Regular Session Cathey
Creates the Task Force on Tenure in Public Postsecondary Education to study the policies
on tenure and to submit a report to the legislature by March 1, 2023, on its findings and
recommendations.
Provides for the organization of the task force and its membership.
Page 3 of 3