Overview
Senate Bill 1 officially became law on June 27, and institutions are quickly implementing the many mandates that require immediate compliance. There are several requirements of the law that have delayed compliance deadlines, as outlined here on the ODHE SB 1 page.

We have updated the SB 1 Toolkit page on our website with the most current information about the law, including FAQ resources developed by AAUP and OEA.

What are we doing now?
The State Conference is still working every day to fight back against SB 1. Last week, we convened a statewide meeting of faculty leaders (of all organizational affiliations) to discuss what SB 1 implementation looks like so far on campuses across the state and how faculty groups are organizing to push back.

During this meeting, we also discussed the legal strategies we are reviewing. We are in constant communication with state and national attorneys on what we might be able to litigate. We know that many are eager for legal action against the law, and we are too. Litigation requires a tremendous amount of work on the back end.

We also developed a shared Google Drive for faculty leaders to upload their institutions’ SB 1 policies. This will allow everyone to compare policies, as well as allow us to review the policies for anything that could be challenged in the courts.

What can you do on your campus?
We have heard troubling stories about administrations choosing to implement the law in ways that amount to “over-compliance.” In addition to potential legal challenges, a major part of fighting the law must involve harnessing the collective power on our campuses and pushing back against administrations’ eagerness to please the politicians in the Statehouse.

One way to combat over-compliance is to pressure administrations into creating clear SB 1 policies that comply with the bare minimum of the law. These policies should be developed within a shared governance process.

If there are SB 1 compliance “incidents” occurring on your campus, we urge you to document thoroughly what occurred and to share the information with your chapter leadership. Some of the issues may be able to be resolved locally, but others might rise to the level of potential litigation, and chapter leaders should report those to the state conference.

There are other actions in the works that we will inform you of once we have more details. Please stay engaged with your local AAUP chapter and continue to follow us for additional updates.