A Message from OCAAUP Executive Director Sara Kilpatrick on the Passing of Dr. John T. McNay:

Ohio AAUP Members,

It is with immense personal and professional sadness that I share the news of the passing of former long-time OCAAUP President Dr. John T. McNay on October 27. He was 66 years old.

John had been a Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash for 23 years until his passing. With a focus on Cold War history, he was a prolific writer and passionate educator. His scholarship on U.S. presidential decisions for peace elicited an invitation to speak at the prestigious Nobel Peace Institute in Oslo, Norway, which he accepted in 2016. 

Prior to becoming OCAAUP President, John was an activist with his local union, UC-AAUP, and served a term as their president. During his time at the helm of UC-AAUP, he was an outspoken opponent of the infamous union-busting legislation, Senate Bill 5. John even wrote a book about the SB 5 fight: Collective Bargaining and the Battle of Ohio: The Defeat of Senate Bill 5 and the Struggle to Defend the Middle Class. After the defeat of Senate Bill 5, John decided to run for OCAAUP President and served four terms between 2012 and 2020. 

As OCAAUP President, John was a dedicated and unflappable advocate for faculty, higher education, and union rights. John lobbied and testified to the Ohio General Assembly on numerous occasions and co-wrote higher education reports with me. He had many op-eds published over the years about the plethora of issues we face in higher education, most recently in regards to Senate Bill 83. He lended his support to AAUP chapters, unionization efforts, and individual faculty members facing issues.

Following his tenure as OCAAUP President, John was elected to the National AAUP Council, a position which kept him on the OCAAUP Board in an ex-officio capacity. He also served as Chair of the National AAUP Government Relations Committee. Just this past July, John and I presented at a session about political interference at the AAUP Summer Institute. Ever the historian, he gave a historical perspective on the origins of the attacks faculty face today. 

In 2018, John had a successful kidney transplant, thanks to the generosity of his sister, Lynn. It gave John five more years of a good life that he may not have had otherwise. Unfortunately, it was just within the last couple of months that he faced complications from his anti-rejection medication, which ultimately led to his untimely passing. John’s sisters Lynn and Pam were by his side at the time of his death. 

John wasn’t just my boss for many years. He was a close friend–more like family. He was beloved by just about everyone who knew him. A genuinely good person who used his talents for good. The AAUP, Ohio higher education, and this world are better off because of John McNay. John wouldn’t mind that we are sad about losing him, but he would want us to honor his memory by keeping up the good fight. 

Rest in peace, John. Thank you for everything. We will miss you, always. 

As we reported to you at the end of August, Senate Bill 83 sponsor, State Senator Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) has been working with State Representative Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.), Chair of the House Higher Education Committee, to push SB 83 over the finish line after it failed to pass as part of the state budget bill.

Recently, the “-8” (“dash eight”–in other words, the eighth version of the bill) of SB 83 was unveiled. You can view the full bill text, as well as the comparison document. Unfortunately, this version works off of the Senate-passed version of the legislation, which is reflected in the comparison document and not the “-7” version that some House Republicans had worked on–a version that took out many of the teeth in the bill.

This “-8” draft has not been formally adopted, but the expectation is that it will be formally accepted by the House Higher Education Committee when it resumes meetings in October. The committee was supposed to meet much sooner, but House Speaker Jason Stephens revised the House’s session calendar, significantly constricting the number of House business days through the end of the calendar year.

Here is a summary of what the -8 version changes from the Senate-passed bill:

-Removes staff unions from the no-strike provision, leaving only faculty unions without the ability to strike.

-Specifies that the prohibitions on bargaining subjects for faculty unions (workload, retrenchment, tenure, evaluations) would take effect immediately upon the bill taking effect, instead of having a delayed effective date.

-Provides a broad definition of “retrenchment,” which would make it much easier for administrations to terminate academic programs and faculty positions.

-Adds an appeal process for final faculty evaluations.

-Reduces from 50% to 25% the weight that student evaluations are given in the teaching portion of annual faculty evaluations.

-Allows community colleges to supply a “general syllabus” to satisfy the public syllabi component of the bill.

-Removes the requirement that institutions have to change their mission statements to include certain language, and, instead, requires that language to be included into a “statement of commitment.”

-Removes “gender identity” from the list of “specified concepts.”

-Requires institutions to establish complaint processes for perceived violations of the policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, “intellectual diversity,” and “specified concepts.”

-Removes references to “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” or “gender expression” in the sections that require institutions to provide equality of opportunity and prohibit any type of “segregation,” leaving only “race,” “ethnicity,” and “sex” in those sections. Also requires institutions to develop a complaint process for perceived violations.

-Clarifies that the prohibitions on DEI training don’t preclude institutions from providing continuing education to public safety officers, but creates some confusion as to whether DEI-related concepts can be part of that continuing education.

-Reduces trustee terms from nine years to six years.

-Makes changes to the section creating new endowment rules.

SB 83 remains a sweeping piece of legislation that proposes an unprecedented level of political interference and micromanagement into the affairs of Ohio’s public colleges and universities.

Throughout its multiple iterations, the bill has been a series of contradictions on freedom of speech, claiming to promote “intellectual diversity” while simultaneously dictating the manner in which certain topics can be discussed and eliminating other topics from any discussion. Serious concerns about academic freedom and tenure remain.

The untenable mandates in SB 83 would shift money, time, and attention from student learning to bloated bureaucracy. It would make it more difficult to attract students and faculty to Ohio institutions; in the long run, Ohio will become even less competitive economically.

What actions can members and allies take?

1) Sign on to the We Are Ohio union coalition’s letter opposing SB 83. We are Ohio sent this letter–signed by more than 70 Ohio unions–to State Representatives on September 11, but the sign-on version is an opportunity for individuals and other organizations to add their names and show even greater and more unified opposition. Feel free to share!

2) Use this form to contact House members. There is a form letter provided, but we encourage you to personalize the message. You can share this, too!

3) Talk to your colleagues, write op-eds, and show your opposition in any other manner that is personally meaningful and professional.

Due to the fact that the House Higher Education Committee is unlikely to meet until October, now is our opportunity to fill the vacuum and continue voicing our opposition. We do not believe this new version of the bill contains the kinds of significant changes needed to garner more support among House Republicans, but we can better ensure that is the case by once again building a groundswell of opposition.

Thank you for your continued activism! It has undoubtedly made a difference in this fight!

Despite the massive public opposition to Senate Bill 83, the legislature plans to take up the bill again this fall. We are asking our members and allies to fight back once again and encourage the House of Representatives to reject SB 83!

Please use this form to contact House members.

SB 83 had passed the Ohio Senate but did not have sufficient support in the House Higher Education Committee to advance. The Senate inserted SB 83’s language into the state budget bill, but it was ultimately removed by the budget conference committee, again because it didn’t have the necessary support in the House of Representatives.

SB 83 sponsor, Sen. Jerry Cirino, is attempting to work with House Higher Education Committee Chairman, Rep. Tom Young, to push the bill over the finish line. We know that Sen. Cirino will attempt to “divide and conquer” labor by removing staff unions from the no-strike provision of the bill, leaving just faculty unions without the ability to strike, as he told The Columbus Dispatch in this article.

Make no mistake that our sisters and brothers in the labor movement still stand with us unequivocally. A threat to any labor is a threat to all labor.

The pending version of SB 83 in the House not only bans the right to strike, but it also prohibits faculty from bargaining over certain subjects–tenure, retrenchment, workload, and evaluations. Under the guise of not wanting to disrupt student learning, the true intent of this portion of SB 83 is to weaken the power of faculty to advocate for fair working conditions, which are students’ learning conditions.

SB 83 remains a sweeping piece of legislation that proposes an unprecedented level of political interference and micromanagement into the affairs of Ohio’s colleges and universities, both public and private.

Throughout its multiple iterations, the bill has been a series of contradictions on freedom of speech, claiming to promote intellectual diversity while simultaneously dictating the manner in which certain topics can be discussed and eliminating other topics from any discussion. It would ban institutions from requiring the types of trainings that ensure all students, no matter their backgrounds, can succeed.

The untenable mandates in SB 83 would shift money, time, and attention from student learning to bloated bureaucracy. It would make it harder to attract students and faculty to Ohio institutions; in the long run, Ohio will become even less competitive economically.

None of this enhances higher education. Instead, this is a bill deeply rooted in Culture-War ideology. In an effort to score political points, the legislature could do real, irreversible damage to our institutions of higher education. We must stop SB 83! Use this form to email State Representatives to ask them to reject the bill.

SB 83 Removed from HB 33
Despite indications of a potentially prolonged conference committee, yesterday, the House and Senate agreed on the final version of House Bill 33, the state operating budget for FY 2024-2025. The bill now goes to Gov. DeWine, who has line-item veto authority.

The good news is that Senate Bill 83 was removed from the final version of the bill! The only remnant was modified language regarding voluntary trustee training. This is a major victory in stalling the bill, which had been fast-tracked and placed in the budget to avoid more public scrutiny.

So what now? SB 83 and its companion bill–HB 151–are still pending pieces of legislation. The Ohio House of Representatives could act on them at any time. Given that Ohio has a two-year legislative cycle, we could be monitoring the bills until December 2024. Unfortunately, there are legislators who still will try to advance the bills.

We will keep you apprised of developments moving forward. For now, the legislature is likely to recess until September. In the meantime, consider sending thank you messages to the following State Representatives for their work in removing SB 83 from the budget bill and reiterate that SB 83/HB 151 are misguided bills that should not advance in the future either:

Speaker Jason Stephens: jason.stephens@ohiohouse.gov

House Finance Committee Chair Jay Edwards: jay.edwards@ohiohouse.gov

House Minority Leader Allison Russo: allison.russo@ohiohouse.gov

Ranking Democrat on Finance Bride Rose Sweeney: bride.sweeney@ohiohouse.gov

Thank you to our members who called and emailed legislators, submitted testimonies, wrote op-eds, and engaged in many other actions. We couldn’t have done it without your activism, as well as the support of allied organizations. We may need you again in the future, but take a rest and enjoy the fact that we made a difference in defending higher education (for now)!

SB 117 Passed by Senate, New Version in Budget
In an unexpected development, Senate Bill 117–the bill to establish “intellectual diversity”/constitutional institutes at The Ohio State University and the University of Toledo–was placed on the June 28 Senate calendar for a vote and passed along party lines. It was then passed yesterday as part of the state operating budget bill.

An amendment was adopted on the Senate floor that added Miami University, Cleveland State University, and the University of Cincinnati as institutions that also would be required to establish such institutes. The administrations of these universities were not given any advance notice about the amendment, which was introduced and adopted within about three hours, with no committee hearings or opportunities for testimony. The amendment also included new policy language that grants even greater authority to the institute directors and explicitly excludes faculty from exerting meaningful input in hiring decisions.

We believe that these institutes will encounter a myriad of issues in establishment and operations, some of which may impact accreditation. We will work with our members at the affected institutions on how we can influence implementation.

Budget Funding for Higher Education
Unfortunately, State Share of Instruction remained at the levels passed by the Senate, which amounts to a cut when inflation is taken into account. In addition, the 3% tuition caps passed by the Senate were maintained. The lack of sufficient funding coupled with the tuition caps will continue squeezing our institutions. We must continue to fight for the instructional missions at our campuses.

State Budget Conference Committee
This week, the Ohio House of Representatives voted against concurring with the Senate version of House Bill 33, the state operating budget bill. As a result, a conference committee has been appointed to come to an agreement on the final version of the bill.

The members of the conference committee are:

Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Athens)

Rep. Jeffrey LaRe (R-Canal Winchester)

Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland)

Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls)

Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland)

Sen. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron)

House Speaker Jason Stephens has warned that, due to the significant differences between the House and Senate version of the bill, the legislature may fail to meet the statutory deadline of June 30 to pass the bill, thus warranting continuing resolutions to keep the state funded at current levels.

OCAAUP Board Opposes Senate Bill 1
The Ohio Conference AAUP Board of Trustees has voted to oppose Senate Bill 1. SB 1 is the proposed takeover of K-12 education. The bill would remove control of elementary and secondary education from the State Board of Education and put it into the hands of a political appointee.

Similar to SB 83, this is a politically-motivated, attempted takeover of public education that also was placed into the state budget bill to avoid further public scrutiny. We join in solidarity with our K-12 colleagues to oppose SB 1.

Take Action
Our partners at the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) have created this Action Network page that you can use to contact your State Representative and State Senator to ask them to support the House-passed version of the state budget, which is free from the controversial education policies that the Senate has buried into the 9,000-page bill.

In addition, please contact the Republican members of the conference committee to tell them respectfully that SB 83 and SB 1 do not belong in the state budget bill, as OCAAUP President Gretchen McNamara called out in this Columbus Dispatch editorial published this week.

Representative Jay Edwards: 614-466-2158; rep94@ohiohouse.gov

Representative Jeffrey LaRay: 614-466-8100; rep73@ohiohouse.gov

Senator Matt Dolan: 614-466-8056; dolan@ohiosenate.gov

Senator Jerry Cirino: 614-644-7718; cirino@ohiosenate.gov

Your actions make a difference. Please help us keep up the pressure!