TALLAHASSEE — Unions representing college faculty members have challenged a state Department of Education plan that would expand requirements for professors to post syllabi and other course material online.
The Florida Education Association and the United Faculty of Florida filed the administrative challenge last week, contending that state education officials overstepped their legal authority in moving forward with the plan.
The Department of Education proposed a rule that included the changes to the State Board of Education, which approved it Nov. 13.
The challenge, which seeks a decision by an administrative law judge, contends that nothing in state law authorizes the Department of Education “to regulate course syllabi with such minutiae as to make them unworkable and inflexible to those preparing and utilizing them.” The information would have to be posted at least 45 days before the start of academic terms.
“While the department is authorized by statute to promulgate rules necessary to effectuate statutes it administers, there is no authority granted whereby the department may either subvert legislative intent or expand statutory language to create conditions or impose requirements not stated plainly in the statute or even alluded to when similar statutes are read in conjunction with each other,” the challenge said.
During the Nov. 13 meeting, Kathy Hebda, chancellor of the department’s Division of Florida Colleges, said the plan would expand on requirements that have been in place for general-education courses. Describing it as increasing “transparency” for students, Hebda said the plan would require posting syllabi for all courses and posting assignments for the courses.
“Now, we want to make sure that students prior to signing up, prior to enrolling for these courses, and all courses, really know exactly what’s going to be expected of them, what they’re going to be expected to read, major readings in the course, before they ever enroll in the course,” Hebda said.
The United Faculty of Florida is an affiliate of the Florida Education Association. The Department of Education and the State Board of Education oversee the state college system — but not state universities.
The plan, in part, would require publicly posted syllabi to include information about such things as the curriculum, required and recommended textbooks and instructional materials and assignments “including at a minimum, the assignment title, a brief narrative description of the assignment, and, if applicable, any required readings.”
The challenge contends the plan exceeds the department’s rulemaking authority, is vague and is “arbitrary and capricious.”
In a prepared statement issued Monday, Robert Cassanello, president of the United Faculty of Florida, said the “latest rule from the Florida Department of Education points to a continued attack on academic freedom from the state of Florida” and said colleges have responsibility to protect professors “both from physical harm and intellectual theft.”
“Through this rule, the Department of Education has overstepped its statutory legal authority and is forcing professors to comply with the use of a public-facing platform that serves to place a target on the backs of our professors and students,” Cassanello said. “More than being an overreach, it is flat out dangerous.”
