LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Former Texas Tech professors say system leaders are harming the future of the university by what they believe is stifling academic freedom in the classroom.<\/p>\n
They claim the recent system-wide change is forcing Tech to take a step backward. The professors told KCBD they need to talk about this since current faculty are afraid to do so.<\/p>\n
The Texas Tech Board of Regents imposed the changes on April 9. Since then, critics of the new standards have come forward against the changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked to some of my colleagues who are Republican, independent, and Democrats. All spectrums are frightened by what\u2019s happening at Texas Tech,\u201d said Gary Bell.<\/p>\n
He helped create the Texas Tech Honors College in 1998. He says the new standards are limiting academic freedom and will jeopardize the future of the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very strongly about Texas Tech. I love Texas Tech,\u201d Bell said, \u201cand I think what the Chancellor is saying, quite frankly, threatens the entire purpose for why universities exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chancellor Brandon Creighton wrote the state law imposing these changes when he was in the Texas Legislature, building off of the state restrictions on DEI in the classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the next iteration of addressing governance reforms and how our regents and our top level university leadership would have more say in traditional governance sense over upper level hiring and over course content that would match expectations for today\u2019s economy that\u2019s quickly evolving,\u201d Creighton said.<\/p>\n
Creighton said the new changes are meant to be efficient for students in the labor market.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur curriculum should match for an immediate hire for a position with a company that would pay a very good starting salary, extremely competitive or greater,\u201d Creighton said. \u201cThat\u2019s what our students expect. Our students are working so hard day in and day out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retired professor Ted Reid said the \u201cefficiency model\u201d created by Chancellor Creighton under Senate Bill 37 removes a university\u2019s learning environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to be the most efficient possible, you would just give the student a book or four books and say, read these books,\u201d Reid said. \u201cThis is what you need to know and you can be prepared for a job. Period. Why go to a university? What\u2019s the point?\u201d<\/p>\n
The former professors are concerned with academic freedom. Chancellor Creighton said it was protected throughout the review process of the 14,000 courses in the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI teach history. What happens if someone decides that it\u2019s not efficient, it\u2019s not necessary information for me to teach about because someone has determined a different perspective than I happen to have,\u201d Bell questioned. \u201cThis is the danger. This is the horrific outcome of what the chancellor\u2019s saying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Bell and Reid said current faculty members are afraid of critiquing the new plan, fearing backlash for any comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard, I had just retired from the medical school, and I heard that they told the people in the medical school, you cannot talk about these things, period. There was an uproar, but it had to die down because, what are you going to do? These are the rules. And that\u2019s censorship, pure and simple,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n
Bell believes these changes will impact the future of the entire state.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, this is going to throttle academic freedom and future progress coming out of Texas Tech University,\u201d Bell said. \u201cIt\u2019s also incidentally going to prevent a whole lot of brilliant minds from coming into Texas. It\u2019s quite literally going to stifle Texas\u2019s ability to attract the best and brightest people to teach our students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Courses flagged by the Academic, Clinical, and Student Affairs committee will be phased out of the Texas Tech system. Of the 14,000 courses offered by the system, less than 5 percent of the courses offered were pulled.<\/p>\n
A freeze is now in place for admissions into degree programs and classes deemed to \u201ccenter on\u201d sexual orientation and gender identity.<\/p>\n
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