\u201cInstructors must not attempt to coerce, indoctrinate, harass, or belittle students, especially in addressing controversial subjects and areas where people of good faith can hold differing convictions,\u201d the proposed policy reads. <\/p>\n
It also directs professors to \u201cadhere faithfully to the contents of the syllabus\u201d when teaching and \u201cavoid introducing undisclosed material that is not clearly relevant.\u201d If a course includes \u201ccontroversial and contested\u201d issues, instructors must \u201censure a broad and balanced approach\u201d to discussing the topic. <\/p>\n
The Education Lab<\/p>\n
By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n The proposal comes amid intensifying political pressure to roll back what Republican lawmakers say is liberal bias on state campuses, including concerns about civil discourse and ideological content. College professors have called the increased restrictions an attack on academic freedom. <\/p>\n The policy proposal does not define what is considered a \u201ccontroversial\u201d or \u201ccontested\u201d topic. It also does not explicitly restrict what topics can be taught, as other university systems have done. <\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n The proposed policy charges the UT System\u2019s 14 institutions, including UT Dallas and UT Arlington, with building \u201cbreadth and balance\u201d in the faculty body and curriculum to ensure a variety of viewpoints. <\/p>\n If approved, officials at each university would have to determine whether \u201ccontroversial material\u201d is required for a degree during its curriculum reviews. They would also have to tweak required general education courses so that students do not have to \u201cstudy unnecessary controversial subjects.\u201d <\/p>\n The face of Texas higher education is transforming under a new law that gives regents, who are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, more power over the day-to-day functions of universities<\/a>. Among other things, the law requires regents to ensure core courses students take are \u201cfoundational and fundamental\u201d and \u201cprepare students for civic and professional life\u201d and \u201cparticipation in the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n Scrutiny of universities increased in September after a state lawmaker posted a video on social media of a Texas A&M professor discussing gender identity in her course. The incident, which A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar referred to as \u201cindoctrination,\u201d led to the professor\u2019s firing and President Mark A. Welsh III\u2019s resignation.<\/a><\/p>\n Regents and university leaders, including those at the Texas A&M<\/a>, UT and Texas Tech<\/a> systems, subsequently instituted policies and reviews on how topics like gender and race are taught in classrooms.<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n The UT System\u2019s review of its courses<\/a> was meant to ensure \u201ccompliance and alignment\u201d with state and federal guidance. Any courses taught on its campuses must be \u201caligned with the direction and priorities of the Board of Regents,\u201d according to a statement sent to The Dallas Morning News in September. <\/p>\n A UT spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the review, which was still underway in December. <\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n Individual institutions across the system are also conducting reviews of courses, programs and departments. <\/p>\n UT Austin, the system\u2019s flagship institution, moved to consolidate its ethnic and gender studies departments<\/a> this week following a review of overly \u201cfractured\u201d departments <\/a>that began last fall. <\/p>\n UT Arlington is currently conducting a review of its 180 undergraduate and master\u2019s degree programs. Some of the programs have been identified for possible cuts, according to university spokesperson Jeff Caplan.<\/p>\n The review, which started last year, is designed to ensure the school\u2019s academic offerings align with student demand, workforce needs and institutional sustainability. <\/p>\n \u201cNo specific program has been targeted for closure or elimination,\u201d Caplan said in a statement, adding that no decisions have been made yet. <\/p>\n A separate working group is working to reimagine the core curriculum and ensure full compliance with state law, Caplan said. <\/p>\n The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.<\/p>\n The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab\u2019s journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Professors at University of Texas System institutions could soon see new standards they must adhere to for teaching…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":588425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,76159,140441,407,65389,7371,7372,8734,358,5524,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-588424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-america","tag-ed-lab-college-careers","tag-ed-lab-politics-policy","tag-education","tag-education-lab","tag-fort-worth","tag-fortworth","tag-higher-education","tag-texas","tag-texas-politics","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IVOGMKEMQRAYDIPK5VXTLTFEYY.JPG\")
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