The Texas Tech System released a series of documents Monday establishing new standards and restrictions on course content and outlining a formal review process for faculty.
Tech leadership described the move as a first step in expanding curriculum oversight, with compliance to be effective immediately.
In the Monday memorandum issued by Tech System Chancellor Brandon Creighton to System presidents, faculty are barred from promoting concepts related to race or sex-based prejudice. This includes teaching that individuals are inherently oppressive or responsible for the actions of other members of their race or sex or presenting a “strong work ethic as a construction of oppression.”
Faculty may analyze such ideas academically, but cannot endorse them or require students to affirm them, according to the December memorandum.
Alongside the announcement, the System released a formal Course Content Review Process. Course content must be reviewed at multiple levels to check for relevance to the course and alignment with regulation.
This process formalizes curriculum overview, putting a defined pathway to a process that has been unspecified for faculty since Sept.
If a faculty member believes any of their course content might fall into conflict with new standards, it must be submitted for review. Review processes can take content all the way from a department head to the chair and vice chair of the Academic, Clinical and Student Affairs Committee.
The directive builds on an earlier memorandum from September which stated only two sexes — male and female — are recognized under state and federal law, and instructors are required to submit any course materials involving gender identity through a review process supervised by the System Board of Regents. Additionally, faculty will now be required to submit all content related to sexual orientation for review.
System leaders say the new framework is part of the Tech System Board of Regents’ expanded oversight authority under Senate Bill 37, which affirmed the board’s role in curriculum review Sept. 1.