DEI, new degrees, tenure: What’s the status on higher education bills filed in Kentucky?
Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have filed several bills relating to higher education so far in the 2024 session.
Some take aim at diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, practices on college campuses. Others look at establishing new academic, doctorate-level programs at universities in the state.
Here’s where seven bills related to higher education stand, and what the conversation around the proposed bills has been.
New bills must be filed by the last week of February this legislative session, and the session ends on April 15.
Senate Bill 6: ‘Divisive concepts’ at universities
Senate Bill 6, sponsored by Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, would limit DEI practices and initiatives at public universities and colleges. That includes “non-credit classes, seminars, workshops, trainings and orientations.” It also prevents any instruction that promotes “divisive concepts” like “race or sex scapegoating,” the belief that certain individuals are “inherently privileged,” and any teaching that suggests that all Americans “are not created equal.”
It’s similar to laws passed in states with Republican majorities in recent years, including Florida and Texas. After Wilson’s bill was filed, public universities in Kentucky said they would remain committed to diversity on campus. Several said they do not use practices mentioned in the bill, such as “diversity statements” where a student or employee is asked to sign a statement affirming their belief in or work toward a diverse and inclusive campus environment.
The bill was filed on Jan. 2 and sent to the Senate Education Committee the following day. On Feb. 8, it passed out of the Senate Education Committee.
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House Bill 9: Removing DEI offices
House Bill 9, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, is the second DEI bill related to higher education filed this session. It would require Kentucky’s public colleges and universities to defund all DEI offices and trainings, eliminate race-based scholarships and end administrative promotion of those “discriminatory concepts.”
Decker’s bill primarily targets university administration. Professors would have freedom over their curriculum under this bill.
The bill was filed on Jan. 19 and sent to the House Education Committee on Jan. 25, though no further action has yet been taken.
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Senate Bill 70: ‘Donor intent’ protection
Senate Bill 70, sponsored by Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, would require non-profit organizations in Kentucky, including universities, to “abide by the terms of the endowment agreement.”
During a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Wheeler said the bill intends to make sure universities use donations and endowments as the donor wanted, even if the donation continues beyond the donor’s lifetime. The attorney general currently handles concerns about non-profit donations.
The bill passed in the Senate on Feb. 5 and was sent to the House of Representatives on Feb. 6. It has been sent to the Committee on Committees.
House Bill 228: University employee review process
House Bill 228, sponsored by Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, would introduce a statewide performance evaluation process for all state universities and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. All faculty evaluations would have to be completed at least once every four years, and would allow university employees to be fired for failing to meet “performance and productivity requirements.”
Critics of the bill say it would eliminate tenure in the state, which protects university employees from being fired without cause. Tipton has pushed back on this criticism, saying the bill is not meant to target tenure.
It was introduced in the House on Jan. 10 and was sent to the House Education Committee on Jan. 17. The bill was discussed in the committee on Jan. 23, but no further action has been taken.
House Bill 257: Transferring CPE duties to KHEAA
House Bill 257, sponsored by Rep. Steven Doan, R-Erlanger, would disband the Council on Postsecondary Education and move its responsibilities to the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.
CPE oversees Kentucky’s public universities and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, and its duties include setting tuition ceilings, approving and overseeing academic programs and the state’s performance funding model, which distributes state appropriations to schools. KHEAA oversees and provides state financial aid, including the Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship program.
The bill was filed and sent to the Committee on Committees on Jan. 16, with no further action since then.
House Bill 400: Vet school at Murray State
House Bill 400, sponsored by Rep. Richard Heath, R-Mayfield, would make Murray State University the first state in the school to offer doctorate-level veterinarian degrees. The bill would allow Murray State to offer “doctor’s degrees required for professional practice and licensure in veterinary medicine.”
The bill comes as Kentucky is facing a veterinary shortage, especially veterinarians who work with large animals like livestock. No other college or university in the state offers a doctorate in veterinary science or studies, although some offer undergraduate and masters degree programs in the field. Kentucky has a partnership with Auburn University and Tuskegee University’s veterinary schools that allows Kentucky students to attend at in-state tuition rates.
The bill was filed on Jan. 29 and sent to the House Agriculture Committee on Feb. 2. It passed out of that committee on Feb. 7. The bill has over 50 sponsors and the support of Murray State, but during this week’s committee meeting, several members of the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association raised concerns about the “distributed learning model” proposed for the school, which would allow students and instructors to be in different locations during their courses.
The proposed learning model would “keep costs low” while allowing “instructor, students, and content to be located in different, noncentralized locations so that instruction and learning can occur independent of time and place,” according to the Murray State feasibility study done last year. The model is similar to what Lincoln Memorial University uses. LMU is based in Tennessee, but offers distance learning in the students’ clinical year where they do not need to be in Tennessee.
House Bill 407: Osteopathic medicine program at EKU
House Bill 407, sponsored by Rep. David Meade, R-Stanford, would give Eastern Kentucky University the ability to add “doctor of osteopathic medicine degrees required for professional practice and licensure in medicine.” Osteopathic medicine “considers the whole person: body, mind and spirit,” and osteopathic physicians can practice in a variety of medical fields and specialties, according to the American Osteopathic Association.
A similar program for osteopathic medicine exists at the University of Pikeville, a private college. There is not a program at a public university in Kentucky.
The bill was filed on Jan. 30 and sent to the House Education Committee on Feb. 1. It will need to be approved by the education committee before proceeding.
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