Senate Bill 1 featured prominently Oct. 1 at the second fall meeting of the Cleveland State University Faculty Senate. Faculty heard that the Ohio higher education system office of Chancellor Mike Duffey had missed a key deadline in the implementation of SB1 at CSU. The irony of a missed deadline was not lost on faculty as they continued to bring their concerns to the senate about how the law could impact their teaching.

In other news from the meeting, faculty learned of a Higher Learning Commission site visit, CSU President Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D., updated faculty on new funding initiatives ahead of budget and finance updates and Scott Vine was introduced as the new director of the Michael Schwartz Library. 

Senate president's report

Faculty Senate President Carol Olszewski, Ph.D., opened the meeting, reporting that CSU Provost, Dr. Nigamanth Sridhar, is including faculty in the development of implementation guidelines of SB1 on campus.

The faculty was asked to give feedback through college steering committees. Olszewski said that the decision to use steering committees to gather feedback was made based on "representation from all the colleges” and “different types of roles” of elected faculty representation on campus.

Olszewski then told faculty that Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) Chancellor Duffey's office had missed the Sept. 30 deadline to deliver the department's recommendations for workload.

“The irony of not meeting a deadline is not lost on me,” Olszewski said. “Hopefully those (recommendations) will be communicated soon.”

Olszewski acknowledged low faculty morale, and the sense faculty have that they’re not being heard or respected. But she assured attendees that the administration is working to navigate their concerns and will continue to advocate for every faculty member.

CSU president's report

President Bloomberg followed Olszewski, highlighting the role faculty can play in helping CSU “advance the public good.” In the midst of "difficult news," she suggested the situation at Cleveland State had not been “fully accurately portrayed” in the media. She was speaking just hours after cleveland.com reported that CSU had axed a further 22 academic programs originally suspended in May 2024, and suspended 14 more. Despite the negative press and Chancellor Duffy missing the deadline on his assignment, Bloomberg emphasized that it's not all bad news for CSU.

Bloomberg told the faculty senate that the university is “inches away” from securing the funding to build a new gallery for art students in Playhouse Square, and welcomed the $32 million capital fund investment in lab renovations on campus.

On SB1, Bloomberg emphasized that the law does not constrain student voices or organizations after CSU students criticized CSU's elimination of the Office of Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement, Women’s and LGBTQ+ centers. 

“They (student organizations) have the right to exist,” Bloomberg said. “What we cannot have is a staffed LGBTQ center, a staffed center focused on what the legislation speaks to as DEI.”

Bloomberg acknowledged that some students might direct their anger at her and Provost Sridhar after the Ohio legislature forced CSU to eliminate centers that served the university's marginalized communities and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. But she stressed that students can still form groups in line with their needs and interests, and she encouraged them to do so.

The president called on faculty members to help assure students that they still have a voice and point them to the CSU website to give them a better understanding of what “free speech” means to the university.

Concern over SB1 impacting the classroom

Students aren’t alone in their questions about freedom of speech, as several faculty members at the meeting expressed concern at how SB1 could impact what they feel they can and cannot say in the classroom.

“It would be naive of me to stand up here and say ‘You have nothing to worry about,’”  Bloomberg said.

Faculty were advised to familiarize themselves with the Ohio Revised Code, Section 3345.0215 to better understand campus free speech policy and the rights they have at the university.

The next faculty senate meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the Student Center Ballroom.