Texas AAUP-AFT members, faculty, and students wait to testify against Senate Bill 37 in a committee hearing of the 89th Legislature.
After Senate Bill 37 was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 20, university and community college leaders were given only two months to completely restructure long-standing faculty senates. SB 37 has two implementation deadlines:
- systems have until Sept. 1 to ensure compliance with the new faculty senate and shared governance provisions
- the rest of the bill takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026
Many university and college boards meet quarterly, often in February, May, August, and November, making their most recent meetings their last opportunity to make changes to their faculty senates.
Except for the systems at Texas Woman’s University, University of Houston, University of North Texas, Texas Tech, and a few community colleges, faculty senates across other campuses have been abolished.
The University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas State systems have effectively dissolved faculty senates as we know them, replacing the representative body with toothless “faculty advisory groups.”
Robert Albritton, chairman of the Texas A&M system, says these groups “will provide direct input to leadership in a manner that is transparent, forward-looking and aligned with our priorities.” However, the Texas State system seems to be moving in a direction to re-establish faculty senates during their November meeting. The new faculty advisory groups established at the Texas State system were elected in early August: “Once officially approved by the Board of Regents, this advisory group will become the 68th Faculty Senate of Texas State University.” The University of Texas system says, “the Board will thoughtfully consider policy recommendations for the re-establishment of faculty senates and councils,” but otherwise does not signal that these bodies will return any time soon.
Our Texas AAUP-AFT members have continued to monitor the implementation of SB 37, offering guidance and recommendations to their system chancellors when possible. Despite the uncertainty of the future of shared governance in Texas, and what the next wave of implementation will bring in January, we will continue to fight on the ground for our higher education members.