HB 0837

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to student and faculty academic freedom in
3	postsecondary education; amending s. 1002.21, F.S.;
4	providing student rights to academic freedom; creating s.
5	1004.09, F.S.; providing a postsecondary student and
6	faculty academic bill of rights; specifying student,
7	faculty, and instructor rights; requiring the
8	dissemination of copies of the act to state universities
9	and community colleges; providing an effective date.
10
11	WHEREAS, the principles enumerated in this act fully apply
12	only to public postsecondary institutions, and nothing in this
13	act shall be construed as interfering with the right of a
14	private postsecondary institution to restrict academic freedom
15	on the basis of creed or belief, and
16	WHEREAS, the central purposes of a postsecondary
17	institution are the pursuit of truth, the discovery of new
18	knowledge through scholarship and research, the study and
19	reasoned criticism of intellectual and cultural traditions, the
20	teaching and general development of students to help them become
21	creative individuals and productive citizens of a pluralistic
22	democracy, and the transmission of knowledge and learning to
23	society at large, and
24	WHEREAS, free inquiry and free speech within the academic
25	community are indispensable to the achievement of these central
26	purposes which reflect the values of pluralism, diversity,
27	opportunity, critical intelligence, openness, and fairness that
28	are the cornerstones of American society, and
29	WHEREAS, the freedoms to teach and to learn depend upon the
30	creation of appropriate conditions and opportunities on the
31	campus as a whole as well as in the classrooms and lecture
32	halls, and
33	WHEREAS, academic freedom is indispensable to American
34	postsecondary education and, from its first formulation in the
35	General Report of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure
36	of the American Association of University Professors, the
37	concept of academic freedom has been premised on the idea that
38	human knowledge is the pursuit of truth and that there is no
39	humanly accessible truth that is not in principle open to
40	challenge, and
41	WHEREAS, academic freedom is most likely to thrive in an
42	environment that protects and fosters independence of thought
43	and speech and, in the words of the general report, it is vital
44	to protect as "the first condition of progress, [a] complete and
45	unlimited freedom to pursue inquiry and publish its results,"
46	and
47	WHEREAS, because free inquiry and its fruits are crucial to
48	the democratic enterprise itself, academic freedom is a national
49	value as well, and
50	WHEREAS, in Keyishian v. Board of Regents of the University
51	of the State of New York, a historic 1967 decision, the Supreme
52	Court of the United States overturned a New York State loyalty
53	provision for teachers with the words, "Our Nation is deeply
54	committed to safeguarding academic freedom, [a] transcendent
55	value to all of us and not merely to the teachers concerned,"
56	and
57	WHEREAS, in Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957), the Supreme
58	Court of the United States observed that the "essentiality of
59	freedom in the community of American universities [was] almost
60	self-evident," and
61	WHEREAS, academic freedom consists of protecting the
62	intellectual independence of professors, researchers, and
63	students in the pursuit of knowledge and the expression of ideas
64	from interference by legislators or authorities within the
65	institution itself, meaning that no political or ideological
66	orthodoxy should be imposed on professors and researchers
67	through the hiring, tenure, or termination process or through
68	any other administrative means by the academic institution nor
69	should legislators impose any such orthodoxy through the control
70	of postsecondary institution budgets, and
71	WHEREAS, from the first statement on academic freedom, it
72	has been recognized that intellectual independence means the
73	protection of students as well as faculty from the imposition of
74	any orthodoxy of a political or ideological nature, and
75	WHEREAS, the General Report of the Committee on Academic
76	Freedom and Tenure of the American Association of University
77	Professors admonished faculty to avoid "taking unfair advantage
78	of the student's immaturity by indoctrinating him with the
79	teacher's own opinions before the student has had an opportunity
80	fairly to examine other opinions upon the matters in question,
81	and before he has sufficient knowledge and ripeness of judgment
82	to be entitled to form any definitive opinion of his own," and
83	WHEREAS, in 1967, the American Association of University
84	Professors' Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students
85	reinforced and amplified this injunction by affirming the
86	inseparability of "the freedom to teach and freedom to learn"
87	and, in the words of the joint statement, "Students should be
88	free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in
89	any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of
90	opinion," and
91	WHEREAS, the academic criteria of the scholarly profession
92	should include reasonable scholarly options within the areas of
93	discipline, and
94	WHEREAS, the value of the life of the mind was articulated
95	by Thomas Jefferson when he stated, "We are not afraid to follow
96	truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as
97	reason is left free to combat it," and
98	WHEREAS, the education of the next generation of leaders
99	should contain rigorous and balanced exposure to significant
100	theories and thoughtful viewpoints, and students should be given
101	the knowledge and background that empowers them to think for
102	themselves, NOW, THEREFORE,
103
104	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
105
106	Section 1.  Subsection (7) is added to section 1002.21,
107	Florida Statutes, to read:
108	1002.21  Postsecondary student and parent rights.--
109	(7)  STUDENT ACADEMIC FREEDOM.--As detailed in s. 1004.09,
110	students have rights to a learning environment in which they
111	have access to a broad range of serious scholarly opinion, to be
112	graded without discrimination on the basis of their political or
113	religious beliefs, and to a viewpoint-neutral distribution of
114	student fee funds.
115	Section 2.  Section 1004.09, Florida Statutes, is created
116	to read:
117	1004.09  Postsecondary student and faculty academic bill of
118	rights.--
119	(1)  Students have a right to expect a learning environment
120	in which they will have access to a broad range of serious
121	scholarly opinion pertaining to the subjects they study. In the
122	humanities, the social sciences, and the arts, the fostering of
123	a plurality of serious scholarly methodologies and perspectives
124	should be a significant institutional purpose.
125	(2)  Students have a right to expect that they will be
126	graded solely on the basis of their reasoned answers and
127	appropriate knowledge of the subjects they study and that they
128	will not be discriminated against on the basis of their
129	political or religious beliefs.
130	(3)  Students have a right to expect that their academic
131	freedom and the quality of their education will not be infringed
132	upon by instructors who persistently introduce controversial
133	matter into the classroom or coursework that has no relation to
134	the subject of study and serves no legitimate pedagogical
135	purpose.
136	(4)  Students have a right to expect that freedom of
137	speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom
138	of conscience of students and student organizations will not be
139	infringed upon by postsecondary administrators, student
140	government organizations, or institutional policies, rules, or
141	procedures.
142	(5)  Students have a right to expect that their academic
143	institutions will distribute student fee funds on a viewpoint-
144	neutral basis and will maintain a posture of neutrality with
145	respect to substantive political and religious disagreements,
146	differences, and opinions.
147	(6)  Faculty and instructors have a right to academic
148	freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects, but they
149	should make their students aware of serious scholarly viewpoints
150	other than their own and should encourage intellectual honesty,
151	civil debate, and critical analysis of ideas in the pursuit of
152	knowledge and truth.
153	(7)  Faculty and instructors have a right to expect that
154	they will be hired, fired, promoted, and granted tenure on the
155	basis of their competence and appropriate knowledge in their
156	fields of expertise and will not be hired, fired, denied
157	promotion, or denied tenure on the basis of their political or
158	religious beliefs.
159	(8)  Faculty and instructors have a right to expect that
160	they will not be excluded from tenure, search, or hiring
161	committees on the basis of their political or religious beliefs.
162	(9)  Students, faculty, and instructors have a right to be
163	fully informed of their rights and their institution's grievance
164	procedures for violations of academic freedom by means of
165	notices prominently displayed in course catalogs and student
166	handbooks and on the institutional website.
167	Section 3.  The Chancellor of Colleges and Universities
168	shall provide a copy of the provisions of this act to the
169	president of each state university. The Chancellor of Community
170	Colleges and Workforce Education shall provide a copy of the
171	provisions of this act to the president of each community
172	college.
173	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.