Texas Professors Wary of New Controversial Law

Aug. 14, 2010 — -- A new Texas law going into effect this September will offer students unprecedented amounts of information about college classes, but professors across the state have labeled it an attack on their academic freedom.

Passed unanimously in 2009, Texas Legislative House Bill 2504 is the first of its kind in the nation. Under the new law, all public Texas universities will be required to provide an array of free, detailed and public information on their websites about courses, professors and the cost of attending school. It aims to help students make informed decisions what college to attend, what classes to take and which professors they want to study with which would, in theory, reduce the cost of attending school.

"The cost of higher education is constantly rising for students," said Republican State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, who authored the bill. "If we can provide students and parents with more information before they pick a class, a major or a school, hopefully they will be able to spend their money more efficiently."

Professors say that the new law attempts to turn state universities into businesses and will limit a student's experience to a strict regimen of "perfect courses," cheapening the academic experience.

"Faculty believe that earning a degree at a major research university is not simply an issue of taking courses for which students need consumer information of the sort that this bill attempts to secure," said Janet Staiger, a professor in the Radio-Television-Film department at the University of Texas.

Under the provisions of the new law, universities must post a detailed syllabus of each class by the seventh day of class each semester. The syllabus must provide a detailed description of the course requirements and subject matter of each lecture as well as all the required or recommended readings.

Students will also be able to view the course professor's curriculum vitae as well as previous semesters' student evaluations of the professor, which every student fills out at the end of the term, rating the class and the professor's performance on a scale and providing additional comments. If students are able to see exactly what a course or a professor is expecting of them, they may be less likely to drop the class during the semester, saving them money.