Purdue outlines interim policy updates to comply with Senate Enrolled Act 202

As evidenced by an email to the Purdue community dated Feb. 27, 2024, and as Purdue’s Board of Trustees subsequently reinforced, Purdue’s commitment to academic freedom and faculty tenure is second to none.

With Senate Enrolled Act 202 taking effect July 1, Purdue Provost Patrick Wolfe and Vice President for Ethics and Compliance Alysa Christmas Rollock have discussed with University Senate leadership the need for interim policy documents, to comply with a request from the Indiana Commission on Higher Education (ICHE) while also serving the best interests of the university and its commitments to academic freedom and faculty tenure.

The following interim documents are available and can be read alongside SEA 202, with summary language specified by SEA 202 indicated in italics below:

• The Interim Standard of Freedom of Expression references Purdue’s 2015 Commitment to Freedom of Expression, and notes that employees, students, student organizations and contractors may be subject to appropriate discipline should they materially and substantially disrupt the protected expressive activity of another, as stipulated by SEA 202.
  
• The Interim Standard on Intellectual Diversity cites language directly from SEA 202 in indicating that Purdue endeavors to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression and intellectual diversity; to employ instructors who expose students to scholarly works from a variety of discipline-applicable frameworks while refraining as a matter of instruction from opining on subjects not related to the discipline or the course; that tenure and promotion as well as post-tenure/performance review evaluations include criteria meant to assess the likelihood of same; and that nevertheless, such criteria will take into account the appropriate exercise of academic freedom — this being a standard substantially stronger than First Amendment protections.
  
• An accompanying Operating Procedure reflects the SEA 202 stipulation that students, faculty and staff may file a complaint in writing to Human Resources should they feel an instructor or contractor has failed to meet the standard above, or otherwise failed to adequately perform their academic duties and obligations. Even if such a complaint is dismissed outright with regard to its consideration in employee reviews and tenure and promotion decisions, instructors will receive a copy and may, at their option and if warranted, choose to provide a written response. Further, SEA 202 stipulates a process overseen by ICHE for reviewing institutional decisions under this procedure.

Multiple conversations have been held with University Senate leadership about these interim documents and the protections afforded by academic freedom and tenure at Purdue. Together with the University Senate and with input from Purdue faculty, staff and students, Provost Wolfe and Vice President Rollock and their teams look forward together to shaping and refining these interim policies and procedures over the coming year.