1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to higher education; enacting the Free Speech
1.3 	for Faculty and Students Bill of Rights; proposing
1.4 	coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 135A.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [135A.145] FREE SPEECH FOR FACULTY AND
1.7 	STUDENTS BILL OF RIGHTS.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Citation. This section shall be referred
1.9 	to as the Free Speech for Faculty and Students Bill of Rights.
1.10 		Subd. 2.Definition. For the purposes of this section,
1.11 	"faculty" means a person who is a member of the faculty of the
1.12 	institution or is an instructor at the institution.
1.13 		Subd. 3.Policy required. The Board of Trustees of the
1.14 	Minnesota State Colleges and Universities shall, and the
1.15 	University of Minnesota is requested to, adopt a policy
1.16 	recognizing the following rights:
1.17 	(a) The institution shall provide students with a learning
1.18 	environment in which the students have access to a broad range
1.19 	of serious scholarly opinion pertaining to the subjects of
1.20 	study.  The fostering of a plurality of serious scholarly
1.21 	methodologies and perspectives shall be a significant
1.22 	institutional purpose.  In addition, curricula and reading lists
1.23 	shall make students aware of the existence of dissenting
1.24 	scholarly sources and viewpoints.
1.25 	(b) Students shall be graded solely on the basis of
2.1 	reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects and
2.2 	disciplines studied and shall not be discriminated against on
2.3 	the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs.
2.4 	(c) University and college administrators, student
2.5 	government organizations, and institutional policies, rules, or
2.6 	procedures shall not infringe the freedom of speech, freedom of
2.7 	expression, freedom of assembly, or freedom of conscience of
2.8 	students and student organizations.
2.9 	(d) The institution shall distribute student fee funds on a
2.10 	fair and equitable basis and shall maintain a posture of
2.11 	neutrality with respect to substantive political and religious
2.12 	disagreements, differences, and opinions.  The selection of
2.13 	speakers, allocation of funds for speakers' programs, and other
2.14 	student activities shall observe the principles of academic
2.15 	freedom and promote the presentation of a diversity of opinions
2.16 	on intellectual matters.  Except as provided by law, the
2.17 	institution shall not permit the obstruction of invited campus
2.18 	speakers or the destruction of student newspapers or campus
2.19 	literature promoting campus events.
2.20 	(e) Faculty are free to pursue and discuss their findings
2.21 	and perspectives in presenting views, but shall make students
2.22 	aware of the existence of serious scholarly viewpoints other
2.23 	than their own through classroom discussion or dissemination of
2.24 	written materials, and shall encourage civil debate and the
2.25 	critical analysis of ideas in the pursuit of knowledge and truth.
2.26 	(f) Faculty shall be hired, fired, promoted, or granted
2.27 	tenure on the basis of competence and appropriate knowledge in
2.28 	their field of expertise.
2.29 	(g) Faculty shall not be hired, fired, promoted, granted
2.30 	tenure, or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of political,
2.31 	ideological, or religious beliefs.
2.32 	(h) Faculty shall not be excluded from tenure, search, and
2.33 	hiring committees on the basis of political, ideological, or
2.34 	religious beliefs.
2.35 	(i) The institution and its professional societies shall
2.36 	maintain a posture of organizational neutrality with respect to
3.1 	methods, facts, and theories which have been validated by
3.2 	research.
3.3 		Subd. 4.Grievance procedure. The board of trustees of
3.4 	each state institution of higher education shall, and the Board
3.5 	of Regents of the University of Minnesota is requested to, adopt
3.6 	a grievance procedure by which a student or faculty member may
3.7 	seek redress for an alleged violation of any of the rights
3.8 	specified by the institution's policy adopted under subdivision
3.9 	3.
3.10 		Subd. 5.Notice of rights. Each board of trustees or
3.11 	other governing authority shall, and the Board of Regents of the
3.12 	University of Minnesota is requested to, provide students and
3.13 	faculty with notice of the rights and the grievance procedure
3.14 	adopted under subdivisions 3 and 4 by publication in the
3.15 	institution's course catalog, student handbook, and Web site.