A bill under review in the Tennessee General Assembly would eradicate steps currently required by UT policy in the termination of a faculty member.
“All terminations and suspensions based on an allegation of misconduct by the tenured or non-tenured faculty must be made by the institution’s chief executive officer or chief academic officer without any recommendation or vote by another faculty member at the institution,” the bill reads.
HB 2194, proposed Feb. 2 by Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and Sen. Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun), is scheduled to be reviewed by the House Education Committee March 3 and the Senate Education Committee March 4.
“Academic tenure serves as an important safeguard for academic freedom, the advancement of knowledge, and the protection of intellectual independence in public institutions of higher education,” the bill reads. “The safeguarding of tenure must be balanced with the responsibility of institutional leadership to ensure accountability, integrity, and appropriate professional conduct within the faculty.”
The bill equates termination policies for tenure and non-tenure faculty.
“We’re simply saying that we’re removing the very difficult process it is, that only higher (education) has, to hold an employee accountable related to discipline,” Zachary said Feb. 18 in a Higher Education Subcommittee meeting.
As the policy currently stands, the chief academic officer may invoke an expedited termination procedure for certain cases of misconduct after consulting other administrative officers, including the chancellor and faculty senate leaders. The new bill would consolidate power to the university’s chief executive officer or chief academic officer.
“There are some things in there that are certainly concerning, particularly in streamlining — in, we think, a bad way — the termination process for tenured faculty in particular,” Charles Noble, president of the UT faculty senate, said in the senate’s March meeting. “We are monitoring that closely.”
Paul Gellert, professor of sociology and treasurer of UTK’s American Association of University Professors chapter, worries about the effect the new policy would have on faculty rights.
“There are two main issues for AAUP,” Gellert said. “One is that it’s an attack on the free speech of faculty at the university, and the other is that it’s going to expand the chilling effect of everything that they’ve been doing already.”
The bill comes months after the termination of anthropology professor Tamar Shirinian, who faces termination proceedings after commenting online about Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September, saying “the world is better off without him in it.” Shirinian has since filed a complaint against Chancellor Donde Plowman, President Randy Boyd and Faculty Senate President Charles Noble in both their personal and official capacities.
Shirinian was terminated directly by Chancellor Plowman in September, leading faculty members to question the legality of her termination.
“It aligns so thoroughly with what was actually done in the case that it made me wonder where the bill came from, and kind of what the motivations were behind it,” a faculty senator said. “Hearing the motivations of the representative that introduced it, it just seems that they’re targeting a way to remove discipline, you know, prevent faculty from speaking.”
The language of the bill alludes to the university’s dedication to academic freedom.
“Each public institution of higher education shall adopt policies to preserve the essential principles of institutional neutrality, free expression, and civil discourse, and to preserve a campus climate that allows for the free expression of all viewpoints with respect,” the bill reads.
Todd Freeberg, professor of psychology and AAUP president, believes the bill contradicts itself in its commitment to due process.
“The bill pays lip service to academic freedom and due process, but different parts of the law, different parts of the text, give the chief academic officer or equivalent basically unilateral power,” Freeberg said. “Faculty input and recommendations are specifically prohibited in the language towards the end of the bill.”
The bill follows more recent legislation proposed by Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) and Rep. Justin Lafferty (R-Knoxville) to end UT’s ability to grant tenure after summer 2026. The lawmakers dropped the bill after pushback from the UT community, including the UT faculty senate.
The House Education Committee is scheduled to review the new bill March 3.
