\n<\/p>\n
Faculty may include a preferred name policy on their syllabi, but they are advised against mentioning pronouns, the FAQ said.<\/p>\n
Photo illustration by Justin Morrison\/Inside Higher Ed | menonsstocks\/E+\/Getty Images | snorkulencija\/iStock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
After a confusing week, Texas Tech University officials offered the first written clarification on new university policies that prohibit faculty members from speaking or teaching about transgender identity. On Sunday, the provost\u2019s office posted a lengthy frequently asked questions page that, among other things, addressed the definition of \u201cnoncompliant language,\u201d explained how the new policies impact research and answered whether faculty can write on their syllabi that they are an ally to transgender people. <\/p>\n
But after three days, the FAQ was taken down. Faculty have not been told why the information was removed, and health-care instructors are concerned students will not be trained in care for transgender patients, as required by certification exams. <\/p>\n
A university spokesperson did not respond to Inside Higher Ed<\/em>\u2019s questions on the matter. Some faculty suspect that Brandon Creighton, who was officially named the Texas Tech system\u2019s next chancellor on Tuesday, may have orchestrated the removal of the FAQ. Creighton was the lead author of the Texas Senate\u2019s sweeping ban on diversity, equity and inclusion in 2023, and of the recent bill giving control of faculty senates to university presidents and boards. He will assume the chancellor role on Nov.\u00a019. <\/p>\n While it was the first and most comprehensive written guidance Texas Tech has posted on its anti-trans policies, the FAQ left a lot of questions unanswered. The word \u201ctransgender\u201d wasn\u2019t included in any of the written answers. In one answer, officials wrote that noncompliant language \u201crefers specifically to outdated or inaccurate syllabus content (i.e., COVID-era statements or statements referring to offices or units that no longer exist at Texas Tech.),\u201d but said nothing about gender identity. <\/p>\n In response to a question about academic freedom, officials wrote, \u201cFaculty may include course content that is relevant to a student\u2019s program of study and post-graduation opportunities, including workforce and additional education. Faculty are encouraged to be thoughtful about including content that is described in the Chancellor\u2019s memo.\u201d <\/p>\n The new directives do not impact research, the FAQ clarified. Officials advised against including a \u201cpersonal statement of student support\u201d or a statement professing LGBTQ allyship, writing that \u201csuch a statement could attract unwanted attention.\u201d They also wrote that faculty could include a preferred name policy on their syllabi, but that \u201cuntil further clarification is available, it is advisable to omit personal pronoun language.\u201d When relevant, instructors are permitted to facilitate classroom discussions in which students examine the state\u2019s position on gender alongside other views, but the instructor may not advocate for any particular view. <\/p>\n In a later question about government censorship and faculty retention, officials wrote, \u201cWe recognize that faculty recruitment and retention may be affected. At present, the issued guidance applies only to instructional activities, not a faculty member\u2019s independent research.\u201d <\/p>\n The Texas conference of the American Association of University Professors has pushed back on the anti-trans policies at Texas Tech and other public universities in the state. <\/p>\n \u201cColleges and universities have an obligation to develop campus policies that protect the constitutional rights of their faculty to teach and research the subjects in their areas of expertise without intimidation or censorship,\u201d said Brian Evans, president of the Texas conference of the AAUP. \u201cBy ensuring that teachers can speak freely, campus administrators should enable students to explore and learn the widest set of topics for civil engagement and successful careers. Campus policies related to academic freedom and free speech should be devised with the full participation of faculty in the spirit of a shared commitment to excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n The FAQ\u2014as short-lived as it was\u2014only applied to Texas Tech\u2019s flagship campus. The four other campuses in the public system, including Angelo State University, where faculty have received a profusion of conflicting verbal information, were not included. <\/p>\n A faculty member at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution confirmed to Inside Higher Ed<\/em> that faculty at their campus have been told not to use certain terms in their course content, including \u201ctransgender\u201d; \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d; \u201cdiversity, equity and inclusion\u201d; and \u201caffirmative action.\u201d Health Sciences Center faculty have not received any written guidance, and the deans don\u2019t have clarifying information, either, the faculty member said. It is an especially troubling policy to enforce for health-care students, because care for transgender patients is included in some certification exams students must pass to be licensed, they said. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are certainly many things that our government has [outlawed]\u00a0\u2026 but\u00a0I can\u2019t think of another thing that we\u2019ve been told we can\u2019t talk about,\u201d the faculty member said. \u201cSex trafficking is illegal, but we can talk about how to care for people who have been victims of sex trafficking. Drunk driving\u2014there\u2019s about a million examples.\u201d<\/p>\n It is unclear how much information students have about these new policies, according to the faculty member. Some students are bringing up transgender care in classroom discussions, and instructors are unsure how to respond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Faculty may include a preferred name policy on their syllabi, but they are advised against mentioning pronouns, the FAQ said. Photo illustration by Justin Morrison\/Inside Higher Ed | menonsstocks\/E+\/Getty Images | snorkulencija\/iStock\/Getty Images After a confusing week, Texas Tech University officials offered the first written clarification on new university policies that prohibit faculty members from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[7857,15631,15632,2082,9039,812,1010],"class_list":{"0":"post-25928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-antitrans","9":"tag-clarified","10":"tag-faqthen","11":"tag-policies","12":"tag-removed","13":"tag-tech","14":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}