Florida temporarily halts political bias survey in HEIs

Orlando Sentinel 15 September 2023

After only one year, Florida has temporarily suspended a highly controversial, state-wide survey required under a new state law compelling public colleges and universities to ask students and faculty annually to identify political bias in college classrooms, writes Sandra McDonald for the Orlando Sentinel.

The executive vice-chancellor of the Florida College System, Clifford Humphrey, confirmed that the mandatory “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” surveys were being suspended for 2023 and would be distributed again in the spring.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers ordered annual surveys of nearly two million students, faculty and staff across 12 universities and 28 colleges state-wide as part of a new law in 2021, amid concerns about what they worried was anti-conservative sentiment on college and university campuses. Asked the reason for suspending the surveys this year, the Florida College System noted a law passed last year that pushed back the annual deadline for reporting results of the surveys from 1 September to 31 December, starting next year. But the newer law didn’t explicitly allow agencies to skip a year and the new deadlines do not take effect until next year.
Full report on the Orlando Sentinel site

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