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