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‘The academic version of truth-in-advertising,’ higher ed advocacy group says
The Florida Board of Governors unanimously passed an amendment earlier this month requiring faculty to make public a list of required or recommended textbooks and instructional materials for each class, along with a complete syllabus.
One conservative higher education group hopes the transparency policy will ensure that in-class material aligns with course descriptions and gives prospective students an overall idea about what they will learn.
“Syllabus transparency is an important accountability tool,” Jenna Robinson, president of the James Martin Center for Academic Renewal, told The College Fix.
“It ensures that classroom material aligns with course descriptions: the academic version of truth-in-advertising,” Robinson said in an email Monday.
The new policy requires professors to publish their syllabi along with curriculum, required reading lists, goals, objectives, expectations for the course, and the grading scale. It affects the Florida University System’s 12 public universities, and will go into effect for the spring semester.
Board members described the change as a way to help students make informed decisions when choosing courses and increase transparency in public higher education.
“The amendment will provide greater transparency for students to make informed decisions as they select courses prior to registering,” the policy states.
The Fix reached out to the board multiple times via email within the past two weeks, but did not receive a response.
However, professors across Florida have voiced concerns that this policy might limit academic freedom.
By publicizing syllabi, some professors said they are concerned about being able to have license to assign readings and course material freely, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Another concern is safety, professor of English and president of the faculty union at the University of North Florida, James Beasley, told Inside Higher Ed.
“The most important issue related to this requirement is the safety of our faculty, both online and in person. The concern is that faculty will be exposed to external trolls of course content and that the publication of course locations will expose faculty to location disclosure,” Beasley said.
The Fix reached out to the United Florida Faculty Union several times, asking about the new policy, but did not receive a response.
“What they want is to sort of unleash the online mob on certain faculty,” Robert Cassanello, president of the union and a professor at the University of Central Florida, told Politico. “That’s what this is all about, scrutinizing what everybody is reading without context.”
Florida’s policy is not unique; Georgia adopted a similar approach to syllabi earlier this year. The policy in Florida is special in the fact that it requires professors to post syllabi 45 days in advance, which is earlier than other state policies.
Other states that have implemented a public syllabi policy include Texas and Indiana.
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