SENATE BILL 83

​Summary of Senate Bill 83
​​

SPONSOR
Sen. Jerry Cirino, District 18
​
​TARGETS
State and private higher education 
Boards of trustees, faculty, staff, unions 
Courses and majors centering historical or lived experiences
DEI training and controversial topics
Chinese partnerships

​​​DESCRIPTION​
Educational gag order for higher ed institutions
Prescriptive annual training for all boards of trustees
Mandates "intellectual diversity rubrics" and the posting of curriculum for every course
Prohibits universities and colleges from any "relationship with an academic institution located in China"
Bans diversity, equity, & inclusion programming and professional development
Prohibits broad swaths of public employees, including educators, from collective bargaining and striking

COMMITTEE
Senate Workforce and Higher Education
​
INTRODUCED 
March 14, 2023

HEARINGS
Read Testimony | Watch Hearings

BILL 
General Info | Bill As-Written | Analysis Pending

​What does Senate Bill 83 do?​

Senate Bill 83 is a higher education bill impacting public and private colleges and universities, faculty, staff, and students. 

Mission Statements
State institutions must include the following in their mission statements:

• The institution will educate students by means of free, open, and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth
• The institution affirms that its duty is to equip students with the intellectual skills they need to reach their own, informed conclusions on matters of social and political importance
• The institution will ensure that "no aspect of life at the institution, within or outside the classroom, requires, favors, disfavors, or prohibits speech or action to support any political, social, or religious belief"
• The institution affirms its dedication to "an ethic of civil and free inquiry, which respects the autonomy of each member, supports individual capacities for growth, and tolerates the differences in opinion that naturally occur in a public higher education community"
• The institution affirms that "its duty is to treat all faculty, staff, and students as individuals, to hold them to equal standards, and to provide them equality of opportunity"

Policies
State institutions must adopt a policy that requires the following, within 90 days of passage of the bill:

• Prohibits any mandatory DE&I programs or trainings
• Affirms that the college or university's "primary function" is "to practice, or support the practice, discovery, improvement, transmission, and dissemination of knowledge by means of research, teaching, discussion, and debate"
• Affirms a commitment to intellectual diversity
• Affirms that every student, faculty, or staff member is encouraged to form their own conclusions about "controversial matters"
• Establishes an "intellectual diversity rubric" to be used in all course reviews and student course evaluations
• Affirms that the institution will not make public statements "regarding public policy controversies or any ideology, principle, concept," and that it will not require any student, faculty, or staff member to publicly express any particular viewpoint
• Guarantees diversity to all invited speakers on a campus, and requires institutions to post all speaker fees in excess of $500 on the institution's website, accessible by no more than 3 clicks
• Institutions are prohibited from engaging in "boycotts, disinvestments, or sanctions"
• Institutions are prohibited from "political and ideological litmus tests in hiring and promotion," including diversity statements
• Institutions must implement a range of disciplinary measures for interference with "intellectual diversity rights," and must inform all students, faculty, and staff members of their protection under these policies
• Institutions must release an annual report of any violations of "intellectual diversity rights," and this report must be posted on their website no more than 3 clicks away from the home page

Online posting of course syllabi

• Syllabi for all undergraduate courses must be published online, no more than 3 clicks away from the home page of that college or university
• All syllabi must be searchable by keywords and phrases
• All syllabi must contain the instructor’s name and biographical information, description of course requirements and major assignments/exams, required and recommended reading, and a description of each lecture or discussion
• All institutions must submit an annual report to the chancellor of higher education detailing compliance with these requirements, which the chancellor must then submit to the governor, House Speaker, Senate President, and Chairs of the Higher Education committees in the House and Senate

Academic relationships with China

• No institution of higher education can accept gifts, donations, or contributions from China or any organization or individual who may be acting on behalf of China
• No institution of higher education may enter into any academic partnership (including study abroad programs) with an academic institution located in China, or located in another country but associated with China
• No institution of higher education with a current or existing academic partnership with an academic institution located in China may renew that agreement

Enforces policies regarding the treatment of individuals of certain identities

• Institutions of higher education must affirm that “all students, faculty, and staff are to be held to equal standards and provided equality of opportunity, and will not discriminate based on membership groups such as race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression”
• Institutions must “provide no advantage or disadvantage on the basis of membership in groups defined by characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in admissions, hiring, promotion, tenuring, workplace conditions, or any other program, policy, or activity”
• Prohibits any training or professional development on concepts that relate to being advantaged or disadvantaged based on race or sex
• Prohibits the hiring of any employee who would provide instruction on these concepts
• Prohibits any policy designed to “segregate faculty, staff, or students by group identities such as race, sex, gender identity, or gender expression,” including in orientations, majors, financial awards, residential housing, administrative employment, faculty employment, student training, and extracurricular activities
• Requires each institution to implement a range of disciplinary sanctions on any employee who authorizes or engages in such a training
• Requires an annual report be produced by each institution regarding violations and associated sanctions
• Requires an annual report be produced by each institution providing information on accepted and matriculating students, including academic qualifications and retention rates, and for that report to be published on the institution’s website no more than 3 clicks away from the home page

Bans DE&I teaching and mandates protocols that protect “intellectual diversity”
Private institutions that receive any state funding must submit an "affirmation document," supplied by the chancellor of higher education, that will:

• Affirm their commitment to intellectual diversity and free speech protection
• Affirm that the institution does not require any DEI training, courses, or professional development for students, faculty, or staff
• Private institutions must also adhere to the provisions regarding syllabus requirements, and prohibitions against political and ideological litmus tests in hiring and promotions
• Any institution providing a false affirmation will forfeit state funding

The same applies to all public higher education institutions.

Mandates training for Boards of Trustees

• The chancellor of higher education must develop and deliver a training to boards of trustees
• The training includes prescribed curriculum on the trustees’ role, duties, responsibilities, and current higher education issues
• New trustees must participate in a program at least once in their first two years on the board

Requires financial reporting

• Each state institution of higher education must submit a five-year summary of its institutional costs (such as instructional, staff, or maintenance costs, and others)
• Each state institution of higher education must report any spending on DE&I initiatives or programming
• Each state institution of higher education must report tallies of faculty, staff, and administration
• The chancellor of higher education must present a cumulative report of this information to the General Assembly

Creates a “degree feasibility study”

• The Ohio Department of Higher Education must publish a study that investigates reducing requirements in a variety of fields of study to see if programs can be reduced to three years without impacting accreditation

HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENT IMPACTS

Requires a prescriptive American government or history course

• All students, beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year, must complete 3 credit hours in American government or American history as prescribed by this bill
• The course requires students to read:
  • The Constitution
  • The Declaration of Independence
  • At least 5 essays from the Federalist Papers
  • The Emancipation Proclamation
  • The Gettysburg Address
  • The Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Institutions may exempt students from this requirement if they’ve completed an equivalent course

HIGHER EDUCATION STAFF AND FACULTY IMPACTS

Requires a faculty workload policy

• Each state institution of higher education must have or update its faculty workload policy, have it approved by the board of trustees, and submit it to the chancellor of higher education every three years beginning in 2024
• The workload policy must include:
  • Teaching workload defined on a per-credit-hour basis
  • All workload elements defined in terms of credit hours, with a full-time 12-month workload minimum equal to 30 credit hours
  • Faculty not on 12-month appointments will have workload prorated based on the 30 credit hour formula
• The workload policy must define “justifiable credit hour equivalents” for activities other than teaching, research, service, or administration
• The policy must define administrative actions (including termination) that an institution may take if a faculty member fails to comply

Requires numerous changes to faculty evaluation processes
Student evaluations

• The chancellor of higher education must develop a set of standard questions for state institutions to use in student evaluations of faculty
• That set of questions must include this one: “Does the faculty member create a classroom atmosphere free of political, racial, gender, and religious bias?”
• Each institution must establish a system of peer faculty evaluations that focuses on professional development and responsibilities
• Each institution must establish a system of written faculty evaluations by students that focuses on teaching effectiveness
• Each institution must publish the “average annual numerical score” from student evaluations for each faculty member beginning in August 2024

Annual evaluations

• Each board of trustees must adopt a faculty annual performance policy, submitted to the chancellor of higher education every three years beginning in 2024
• The evaluation must include “standardized, objective, and measurable performance metrics” covering teaching, research, and other categories
• The evaluation must include the parameters of “exceeds performance expectations,” “meets performance expectations,” or “does not meet performance expectations”
• The evaluation must use the student evaluations to account for at least 50% of the teaching evaluation component 
• Every faculty member compensated by that institution must be subject to its annual evaluation process

Post-tenure review processes

• Each board of trustees must adopt a post-tenure review policy, submitted to the chancellor of higher education every three years beginning in 2024
• Institutions must conduct a post-tenure review if a tenured faculty member receives a “does not meet performance expectations” evaluation within any single evaluation category in two out of the past three consecutive years
• Institutions must conduct an additional post-tenure review if any tenured faculty member receives an additional “does not meet performance expectations” assessment in any evaluation category in the subsequent two years following the initial post-tenure review
• The department chair, dean, or provost may call for an immediate post-tenure review, for cause, when any faculty member with a “documented and sustained record of significant underperformance”
• The provost must submit a recommended outcome of the post-tenure review process to the academic affairs committee of the board of trustees
• The institution’s post-tenure review process may not exceed six months, but the institution’s president can grant a one-time two-month extension

PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEE IMPACTS

Prohibits collective bargaining and striking

• Prohibits many public employees from striking, including:
  • Law enforcement officers including police, state highway patrol, and deputy sheriffs
  • First responders including dispatchers and fire department members
  • Employees in correctional facilities, including corrections officers, guards, and youth leaders
  • “Employees of any state institution of higher education”
• Forces parties into a conciliation process

What is our position on Senate Bill 83?

OPPOSE

Senate Bill 83 is another sweeping attempt by Ohio legislators to mimic the worst impulses of the Florida government by importing extremist gag orders targeting higher education. This latest attack on honest education, diversity, equity, and inclusion, worker rights, and Asian culture is an affront to all who believe in honest, inclusive education and a multiracial democracy.

Rather than cultivating learning environments that help students understand complicated aspects of our shared history, uncomfortable truths, and complex systems of power, SB 83 casts an all too familiar chilling effect on education that whitewashes history, sanitizes the truth, and perpetuates discrimination and hate.

​We call on the Ohio Senate to reject SB 83 and condemn continued attacks on a student’s freedom to learn.

What have coalition partners said about SB 83?

"[A]re big employers like Intel still going to want to be here? Are we going to be able to provide these employers with employees that can think for themselves, that can communicate, that are well-rounded, that are adaptable? That’s the things that faculty help students to hone when they’re at an institution. That’s why college graduates earn more than people that only have a high school education.... We’re putting up a big red flag to faculty around the country that you don’t want to come to Ohio.”
--Sara Kilpatrick, executive director of the Ohio conference of the American Association of University Professors​

"There are many local and specific reasons, but the orchestrated wave of attacks against ethnic studies, gender studies and the like is clearly associated with an attempt to roll back the changes in K-12 and higher education, and in society at large, that have taken place since the 1960s.... Ohio Senate Bill 83 isn’t just trying to roll back a few programs, but an entire legacy of protest and transformation. And by banning strikes at public universities and bringing greater political surveillance over faculty teaching and retention, the bill wants to undercut our very ability to resist such draconian changes in policy."
--Pranav Jani, Director of the Asian American Studies Program and Associate Professor in the Department of English at Ohio State University

"It’s essentially a gag order that would have a chilling effect on learning in Ohio’s public and private colleges and universities. It’s broad enough that if it were to pass, it would make people nervous, more nervous about what they can say and do, and it would inhibit the ability to really have honest conversations about the complex history of this country and this state.”
--Piet van Lier, senior researcher, Policy Matters Ohio