Watch What You Say Online, Profs
The new policy says that faculty and staff of the state’s six universities, 19 community colleges and six technical colleges may not say anything on social media that would incite violence, disclose confidential student information or release protected data. But it also says staffers are barred from saying anything “contrary to the best interests of the university.”
The Kansas Board of Regents have given final approval to a new policy limiting what faculty and other employees may say on social media. Details here.
It is a good thing I don’t work at a university in Kansas, as I am pretty sure that merely sharing this news would be “contrary to the best interests of the university.”
This is bad enough, but it could just be the entering wedge. Saskatchewan recently fired a Dean for publicly disagreeing with higher administration. And when a right-wing law passes in Kansas or some Southern state, it often starts moving through other states’ legislatures. I live down here. It’s frightening.
Very disappointing. I’m a native Kansan and I’ve always had the hope that a position would someday open up for me in one of the universities there. But decisions like this certainly make me wonder whether I really want to click the heels of my ruby red slippers together or not. Hopefully a test case will soon come along.