“Return to Work” bill misunderstands faculty responsibilities

In 2025, the legislature passed Senate Bill 2615, a “return to work” bill codifying Governor Abbott’s telework ban for employees at public institutions of higher education. SB 2615 requires that all full-time faculty must be on campus for 40 hours a week, and grants several exemptions including illness, disability, off-site research duties, prior approval for distance learning, and telehealth services. Despite these clear exemptions, campuses across Texas are taking drastically different approaches to the bill’s implementation.  

Texas A&M Victoria announced a new policy this June requiring all employees to work in person 40 hours a week, 5 days a week, from 8am to 5pm. Although this seems like a typical work schedule, higher education faculties’ day-to-day often exceed traditional 8am – 5pm windows and combine in-person and distance learning responsibilities. Faculty teach night classes, host evening labs, and fulfill research duties well past 5pm, and the schedule flexibility historically offered to faculty has prevented burnout from spending 12 hour days on campus.  

A&M Victoria’s policy requires all faculty to be present on campus, even if they are teaching an online course. However, most faculty members at the university were designated and approved to live and teach remotely from Katy, which is about a two-hour drive away from campus. This designation was so engrained that Katy-based faculty members were reimbursed for mileage on the occasions they traveled to Victoria for work duties. In fact, nearly 72% of faculty employed by A&M Victoria live two or more hours away from the main campus.  

Prior to taking office, A&M Victoria President Christian Hardigree stated that 31% of the university's faculty were in the college’s zip code. Many A&M Victoria students are also fully remote and chose the programs at the university because of the flexibility for working students. With the new policy, faculty living two or more hours away from the main campus will now be forced to commute and teach a remote course from campus, even if all their students are tuning in online.  

Faculty at A&M Victoria have not received raises since 2019 and  now have to carry the financial burden of daily hours-long commutes. Faculty have also expressed that the sudden change makes it difficult to accommodate family responsibilities. Professors with young children or elderly family members have quit, citing the loss of their ability to prioritize both their family and career. A week before classes started, as many as half of all faculty resigned from their positions, unable to meet the last-minute changes now imposed by the university. A graduate student at A&M Victoria stated that most of the professors she had gotten to know had resigned, and when she started classes, two of her courses had no faculty assigned.  

When colleges over-comply with state law, students suffer. Texas faculty want to prioritize their students’ success over all else, but that can only be achieved when educators are properly supported. It’s why Texas AFT launched an open letter demanding state leaders to properly fund, protect, and respect our faculty members. This year, the union is tackling SB 2615 and other issues that prevent faculty from doing their job, and our members drive that work forward. Learn how to take action here by signing onto the letter and letting us know how you want to get involved with your union.