The board’s new policies permit faculty to teach controversial topics when they are relevant to a course’s content in the interest of free and open discussion. But the revisions, which build on existing policies, say instruction shouldn’t be one-sided.
“Instruction should be presented in a manner that fosters critical thinking and avoids indoctrination of one perspective,” one of the revisions states.
They also direct each of the state's public universities to implement procedures that ensure coursework meets the new requirements and allow the board to audit those policies every two years.
“Students’ grades must reflect their mastery of course content and skills, not their agreement or disagreement with particular viewpoints expressed during instruction or in their work,” another revision reads.
The proposed changes, which the board approved 7-1, follow broadly disputed claims among leading conservative voices that students within higher education institutions across the country are being indoctrinated by their left-wing professors.
"This policy is not about censoring. It’s not about saying there is anything that shouldn’t be taught. It’s that things should be taught in a balanced manner.”David Barker, Iowa Board of Regents member
Recently, videos were posted to Fox News, Townhall and Accuracy in Media — all conservative-leaning news sites — showing faculty at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University describing ways they are circumventing the state’s guidelines on programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“I think it’s clear that at least until very recently, a culture existed to some extent that was in conflict with board directives, state and federal policy, and that that culture was intent on subverting these policies,” said Regent David Barker, who voted for the revisions.
The board proposed the changes after receiving pushback against an earlier draft revision that would have limited teaching on topics related to DEI and critical race theory (CRT) — both of which had definitions written in the proposal.
The new revisions do not specifically mention DEI or CRT, after the board received feedback from a wide range of constituents. State Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, wrote a letter to the Regents in June arguing against the earlier proposed revisions related to DEI and CRT.
“Such interference would be a violation of the faculty’s academic freedom to choose the content of their courses and of a student’s academic freedom to receive a full treatment of the topics of a course he or she wishes to take,” stated Quirmbach in the letter.
At its meeting Tuesday, Regents opted for a more comprehensive policy than the one introduced in June by swapping out limitations on teaching topics related to DEI and CRT with a mandate on encouraging open and respectful inquiry.
“If some controversial policy is taught, students should be informed that this is controversial and they should have an understanding of both sides of it,” Barker said. “But this policy is not about censoring. It’s not about saying there is anything that shouldn’t be taught. It’s that things should be taught in a balanced manner.”
Pushback against the new policies
But the new revisions raised questions for Regent Nancy Dunkel, the only Regent to vote against them. She said the revisions act as restrictions on academic freedom and raise questions about what can be considered controversial.
“If a professor has to present both sides to an issue, does that mean a marketing professor must also include anti-capitalist arguments to students? Do anti-evolution arguments have to be presented in biology classes? How do we present both sides of the Holocaust?” Dunkel said.
Iowa State University Faculty Senate President-elect Michael Olsen also had questions about the policy’s language, particularly about the specific point at which teaching becomes indoctrination.
“We should not have our personal views dictate or affect the education that our students are having,” Olsen said. “But where is that line drawn between personal views and scholarly truth? Where is ‘indoctrination?' I don’t know, and I can’t read that from this policy.”
Olsen said he agreed with most of the revisions since they codified what many already considered to be best teaching practices.
“[An instructor] should not be presenting their side of the scholarly debate as what’s correct — you should present both sides,” Olsen said. “But what strikes me as the problem with ‘indoctrination’ is that there are topics which, at least in the scientific community or the scholarly community, they’re not controversial.”
Professor sees revisions as promoting discussion
Craig Just, faculty senate president at the University of Iowa, said there aren’t always two sides to a story when asked whether the revisions were essentially a mandate on teaching relevant controversial course matter.
“It is possible to say that those [conspiratorial] viewpoints exist, and I do think it’s important to bring those types of narratives into the classroom,” Just said. “Because if they’re just ignored, much like a virus, they take hold and they start to move throughout the population.”
Just said the policies approved by the board do not limit academic freedom, but rather encourage public discussion and civic responsibility.
“With respect to a conspiracy theory, fine, bring it into the classroom. I’m not against that,” Just said. “But then test it. Have your hypothesis be that this conspiracy theory is true, then find evidence, test the hypothesis and figure out if it holds up or not.”
The revisions went into effect immediately after the board’s vote.
