Academics and experts on academic freedom who spoke to NR disagreed on whether the new policy would harm academic freedom.
The Florida Board of Governors unanimously passed an amendment this month that requires faculty and universities to make public a list of instructional materials for each course, including the syllabus.
The new policy, which will take effect ahead of the upcoming spring semester, requires professors to publish their syllabi, curriculum, required and recommended reading lists, student expectations for the course, and grading scale at least 45 days before the first day of the class. Forms of instruction exempted from the new requirements include individualized courses (such as one-on-one tutorial lessons designed for a particular student), internships, theses, and dissertation defenses.
The policy applies to the Florida University System’s twelve public universities.
Academics and experts on academic freedom who spoke to National Review disagreed on whether the new policy would harm academic freedom on campuses, and some raised concerns that publishing syllabi can facilitate pressure campaigns against faculty members or their institutions.
“The amendment will provide greater transparency for students to make informed decisions as they select courses prior to registering,” reads a document from the Florida Board of Governors.
Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute, agreed that the policy can equip students to make better decisions about their education.
“When it comes to teaching, academic freedom encompasses professors’ right to select appropriate course materials, determine best pedagogical methods, and discuss matters pertinent to their subject. Academic freedom does not and should not extend to a supposed right of professors to conceal their syllabi from all but those who enroll in their classes,” Berkowtiz told National Review. “Indeed, professors — whose job it is to promote inquiry, advance knowledge, and cultivate a love of truth — should welcome rules that enable students to make more informed decisions about their studies.”
Keith Whittington, a professor at Yale Law School and Founding Chair of the Academic Freedom Alliance’s Academic Committee, told National Review that “as a general matter, there is no conflict between academic freedom and a requirement that professors post their syllabi,” and he mentioned that he has a personal practice of publicly posting his syllabi.
“Academic freedom protects an instructor’s ability to teach controversial materials, not hide what they teach,” Whittington told National Review in an email.
However, Whittington noted that publicity available course materials can become a “tool” weaponized by external actors for “harassing professors.”
“The assignment of a controversial text can become an excuse for targeting a professor for personal abuse and threats and become the basis for pressuring university officials and politicians to punish a professor. University leadership should take that reality into account when thinking about how to design any transparency measure,” Whittington wrote to National Review. “At the very least, that means that universities should be prepared to defend their faculty when they become targets of unjustified and inappropriate campaigns of abuse and to defend their academic freedom to continue to teach controversial materials.”
He suggested that a potential “transparency measure” to prevent “pressure campaigns” would be making syllabi available to the campus community but not the general public.
Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union and current senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, warned that the new policy in Florida might hurt academic freedom by prompting professors to consider the political climate and potential criticisms as they design their courses.
“Subjecting syllabi to public scrutiny is likely to undermine academic freedom, which protects a faculty member’s expert judgment about course design. Perhaps this policy is intended to reinforce faculty members’ incentives to design syllabi that are consistent with the highest pedagogical and scholarly standards,” Strossen said in an email to National Review. “In practical effect, though, the policy will induce many faculty members to design syllabi that are consistent with political considerations, recognizing that politicians and members of the public will view them through a partisan lens.”