Professors want to leave Texas because of tense political climate, survey says

(The Texas Tribune) — Many Texas professors are looking for jobs in different states, citing a climate of fear and anxiety on their college campuses due to increased political interference, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Association of University Professors.

The survey interviewed nearly 4,000 faculty across the southern U.S., including more than 1,100 from Texas. About a quarter of the Texas professors said they have applied for higher education jobs in other states in the last two years, and more than 25% said they soon intend to start searching for out-of-state positions. Of those who aren’t thinking of leaving, more than one-fifth said they don’t plan to stay in higher education in the long-term.

“Morale is down,” said one Texas faculty member at a public four-year university in a written response. “Friends have lost contracts for no discernable [sic] reason. We live in fear of using the wrong word. We self-censor. We do not have academic freedom.”

The top reason faculty cited in the survey for wanting to change jobs was the state’s broad political climate. In Texas, faculty have criticized new state laws banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in universities; requiring university governing boards to establish policies on granting and revoking tenure; and limiting faculty’s role in crafting courses and hiring colleagues. Other reasons included salary and academic freedom concerns, the survey found.

“It is certainly a combination of factors of people wanting to leave Texas. But the ability to do your job without attacks from politicians and the ability to participate in your campus voices is always [at] the top of faculty minds,” said Matthew Boedy, the president of Georgia’s AAUP chapter.

Texas had the highest percentage — more than 60% — of respondents who said they wouldn’t encourage graduate students or colleagues to seek employment in their state. The survey reached out to faculty from other southern states, including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

“As the survey says, there’s a broad political climate in Texas that is seen as anti-higher education,” Boedy said. “And many faculty, if they can, they don’t want to put up with it.”

The AAUP’s state conferences conducted the study throughout August. Over half of the Texas respondents said they are tenured at their institution, and about 40% have been employed at their university for 16 or more years.

The results come as universities across the U.S. have faced increasing political pressure both at the state and national level.

About one in 10 Texas faculty said they had contracts cut by the Trump administration, according to the survey. Federal agencies have limited and cut funding to research at many universities, such as a policy change at the National Institutes of Health in February that threatened to cost Texas universities hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds. A federal judge blocked the change after a coalition of states sued the NIH.

Many public university systems have also disbanded their faculty senates, groups that advise leaders on curricula, hiring and other academic matters, after state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 37 earlier this year. The legislation gave more control over those decisions to Texas university systems’ regents, who are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

In recent years, lawmakers passed laws banning DEI initiatives in higher education, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spearheaded an effort two years ago to limit tenure at public universities, which opponents argued would cause a brain drain in Texas.

An analysis by PEN America in July found that state legislators have introduced more than 70 bills across 26 states that “censor” higher education in one form or another, whether through restrictions on what can be taught or policies that undermine academic freedom.

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