Measures to protect intellectual and political diversity on university campuses have increased in the Senate after the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, said a National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities spokesman.
The Senate committee has improved the bill by removing controversial issues, like references to grading and evaluation of students' work and intellectual pluralism, said spokesman Tony Pals.
Legislation regarding academic rights has also appeared in 13 different states. The American Council on Education along with 30 other higher education associations released a statement on academic rights and responsibilities in late June.
The proposed revisions would help prevent inflammatory disputes on campuses, if the Higher Education Act passes in Congress, Pals said.
Jeffrey Reiman, a philosophy and ethics professor at AU said he doesn't think there is a problem with bias in the classroom.
According to Reiman, it is important to maintain an open classroom where students can question the professor, but it's not possible or desirable for professors to keep their personal opinions out of lectures.
"Bias can have a negative effect on students, but I also think that students' education should prepare them to deal with people's biases," Reiman said.
Jamie Herr, a junior in the Kogod School of Business, said she thinks a bill of rights would be a good idea as long as professors are still able to play "devil's advocate" during discussions without fearing repercussions.
Matt Larson, a sophomore in the School of Communication, feels that an academic bill of rights should only have jurisdiction in public schools. The government should not be controlling what a private university wants to do, Larson said.
Ashley Mushnick, a junior in the School of Pubic Affairs and College Democrats president said a free speech code at the university level would be improper and insulting to professors who are leading experts in their fields.
"I am of the firm belief that universities seek to employ professors who have demonstrated expertise and leadership in their fields of study, regardless of their ideological opinions," Mushnick said.
Sara Dogan, national campus director of Students for Academic Freedom, disagreed, saying the academic bill of rights is based almost entirely on existing academic policies.
The bill of rights is a set of guidelines that try to keep classroom discussions open and stop professors from presenting unrelated and controversial subjects in class rather than a rigid set of rules telling professors how to do their job, Dogan said.
Although some students said their professors have been open and accepting, others would like AU to have a system for reporting bias in the classroom.
The College Republicans sent a letter to the university last April requesting that questions about political bias in the classroom be added to the professor evaluations that students fill out at the end of the semester, said Mike Inganamort, a senior in SPA and former College Republicans president.
"We want to see if a problem exists before we look for solutions," Inganamort said. "Through the evaluations, we can have actual data."
Inganamort said the Provost's office was the only office to acknowledge the letter and its 50 student signatures, but they were very cooperative. No specific changes to professor evaluations have been made at this point.
