‘Academic freedom is on life support,’ say professors surveyed on tenure, censorship

Florida professors remain concerned about the effects of post-tenure review a year after it was put into effect. A survey gathering their sentiment around recent policies shows a negative outlook on the future of hiring in higher education. (Credit: Getty Images)A survey of professors at Florida universities found that new state government limits on tenure and academic freedom, plus the state’s political climate, have prompted many of them to apply for jobs outside the Sunshine State.

Of approximately 350 faculty working almost exclusively in Florida public institutions, 135 — 39% — reported that since 2022 they have applied for a job in higher education in another state. Popular destinations include California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York.

Mathew Boedy via University of North Georgia

The survey, headed by Georgia branch of the American Association of University Professors Conference President Matthew Boedy, asked professors across the South how political interference like tenure limits and political vetting of course materials have affected their career outlooks.

More than 2,900 professors answered across 12 states from Aug. 12-30. Responses to the Faculty in the South Survey came from Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

Professor profess

Topics driving Florida professors to apply elsewhere were largely listed as “tenure issues,” as well as academic freedom, DEI, and the overall political climate.

In a free-response section, professors anonymously provided examples of how changes in tenure, contracts, and academic freedom affect their work.

Florida professors consistently highlighted post-tenure review. Approved by the Board of Governors in 2023 at the Legislature’s direction, the practice puts tenured professors under review every five years to determine their “productivity.” If deemed unsatisfactory, a professor can be terminated.

A report compiled by POLITICO shows that 91% of the 861 public professors who underwent tenure review met or exceeded expectations laid out for them. Some earned bonuses. Professors who did not meet expectations, 64 of them, must show improvement during the next year or face termination. More severe, 10 faculty members statewide had “unsatisfactory” performance and were terminated.

Professors spoke out forcefully against the reviews before they took effect last year, and this year’s survey results reflect that sentiment hasn’t shifted.

“Though I am not in direct danger from [post-tenure review], I am now eying the door,” one professor wrote.

“I traded off a higher salary and choice of where I wanted to live, among other things, for academia and its promise that I would be allowed to use my expertise to the best of my ability for my students and the good of society. But this bargain doesn’t hold anymore. The governor and university leaders hold their own faculty in suspicion and contempt. They are actively working to destroy lifelong careers. Tenure is definitely gone, and academic freedom is on life support. It’s time to go.”

‘Anti-woke policies’

Another professor said Gov. Ron DeSantis brags about Florida’s top ranking in higher education by U.S. News & World Report but neglects other topics.

“Rather than working on real problems … the governor keeps looking for more unconstitutional ‘anti-woke’ policies he can implement. Morale among faculty at my institution is the lowest I have seen in more than two decades of working in higher education.”

The Wall Steet Journal released its annual rankings of public universities Monday and it showed Florida’s institutions tumbling in the rankings, including the University of Florida losing its #1 spot.

More than two-thirds of respondents to Boedy’s survey said the effect has been a reduction in applications to join their departments or institutions.

One professor said she recently left a “BIG FL state school in Orlando” because the school “did not defend academic freedom” and did not give a pay raise for the 2023-2024 school year.

“My institution also allowed for post-tenure review to go into effect. I am a new scholar (PhD earned within the last five years), and, frankly, there was no viable reason to stay at that institution,” she said.

“No raise? No tenure (post-tenure review effectively nullifies some of the more important tenure protections)? Not being allowed to teach things from a “non-Western” point of view? My administration cowing to politicians? For real, what incentive is there to stay in FL in higher ed?”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

SUBSCRIBE

Touting tenure review

DeSantis claimed during the Republican National Convention that Florida universities are “bringing in huge amounts of talent.” Something “maybe even more important” that, he added, is that Florida was “the first state to eliminate DEI” and was implementing post-tenure review.

DeSantis said the rule “is now allowing us to kind of get academia focused on the classical mission of pursuing truth, preparing students to be citizens of this republic, high standards, not be some type of an indoctrination camp.”

He added: “Some of these professors that were unproductive and had their other agendas, they’ve gotten processed out. The media will be like, ‘These professors are fleeing Florida.’ Wait a minute — if Marxist professors are leaving Florida, that is not bad for Florida, that is good for Florida.”

Former lawmaker Ray Rodrigues, now Chancellor of the State University System. of Florida. Credit: Florida House

The legislative changes implementing post-tenure review were led by two state senators who now serve as Florida Department of Education officials: public schools Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. is pictured whole serving in the Florida Senae. (Screenshot via Florida Channel)

During implementation of post-tenure review, DeSantis asserted that “unproductive” tenured professors are the “most significant deadweight costs” for Florida universities, the Phoenix previously reported.

More than 80% of professors said in the survey that they would not recommend a graduate student or out-of-state faculty seek employment in Florida.

“The governor of the state of Florida and his university oversight (BOG) have purposely misled the public about higher education,” one professor wrote.

“They are deceiving the public about what is taught, the implications of how ideas are communicated, and the outcomes of higher education. Their desire is for a college degree to simply be vocational education to prepare students to be ‘cogs in a machine’ rather than employees who understand social, political, and economic factors that have affected the ways employee rights have changed over the years.”

The state Legislature passed the Stop WOKE Act in 2022, which the state argues allows it to forbid college professors from criticizing the governor or teach concepts surrounding race, racism, and privilege.

Uploading a different syllabus

The effects of that law and related efforts by the state government have left professors bowdlerizing their courses.

“We literally upload a different syllabus to the public system than we distribute to our students in class just to avoid having to explain every single detail of it to some draconian maniac from the state legislature,” one professor submitted in the survey.

Another professor pointed out that the Math for Liberal Arts course name was changed to eliminate the word “liberal” to comply with state requirements.

“I no longer feel safe teaching works about Jewishness (I am Jewish) because my university is datamining our Canvas courses for mentions of words like Jew, Jewish, Palestine, Israel etc.,” one professor wrote, referring to an August order from Rodrigues to universities, asking them to review courses that may contain antisemitic material.

One professor said he is being censored from “telling legitimate truths,” and that “what we are seeing from our state government is deeply hegemonic and antithetical to the purpose of higher education.”

He said: “Even though I have been highly successful in a major state university in Florida, I am actively seeking faculty, administrative, and nonprofit jobs in other states. Florida has become toxic to anyone who believes in freedom of inquiry, freedom of speech, and the need to expose students to critical inquiry and a diversity of viewpoints.”

Another professor said she feels “hampered” in teaching contentious issues. “Respect for education to teach critical thinking skills is tanking,” she wrote.

“I can’t advocate safely for students and human rights. I worry my ‘Freedom of Speech’ isn’t so ‘free’ now,” another professor wrote.

During the post-tenure review policy approval process, professors warned that universities might struggle to recruit faculty if it were approved. Now, professors responding to the survey report, that prediction has come true and pools of candidates for many positions are mere fractions of what there were before the political focus on education intensified.

One professor said educators’ work is more relevant than the governor’s and that noise about Florida education seems to come more from outside the state.

“People outside the state seem to have more negative things to say about the state of higher education in Florida than those who actually work and live here,” he wrote.

“Judging a university by whether one likes the governor or not is both short sighted and politically biased in its own way. This is why we have elections and term limits in this country. The most relevant and important work happens in the classroom not the governor’s mansion.”

Across all states surveyed, a majority of respondents said they were deeply dissatisfied with the state of higher education, and 48.9% have noticed a decrease in the number of applicants for professor jobs. 

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST.

DONATE

Investigating impacts

Education policy in recent years drove Boedy, an associate professor at the University of North Georgia, to research the effect on those who teach.

“I wanted to do this survey of faculty in the South because I wanted lawmakers and policymakers and those who attack higher education to understand the impacts of those attacks,” Boedy said in an interview with the Phoenix.

“As you can see from the results of the 12 states, many faculty are feeling not just attacked but are feeling that they can’t do their jobs well and many are considering leaving their state. Those attacks from outside of higher education and within higher education have real impacts and I wanted the survey to show that.”

Boedy said the range in salary and experience in responses provides a “good picture of faculty across the 12 states.”