Declaring that Oklahoma has a duty to ensure tax dollars are used appropriately and wisely, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed an executive order that ends tenure rights for college professors at most of the state’s universities.

“University and college faculty play a central and irreplaceable role in educating students, advancing knowledge, mentoring future leaders, and shaping the civic and economic future of Oklahoma,” states the executive order signed Feb. 5 by Stitt.

The four-page order grandfathers in those who already have tenure and applies to future hires.

The state’s public research universities — University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University — may continue to grant tenure with the addition of post-tenure review and remedial actions allowed “for sustained failure to meet established performance standards,” the order states.

But the state’s public regional universities and community colleges cannot grant new lifetime tenure appointments, and future employments for faculty must be offered under “fixed duration and renewable term contracts,” the order states.

The tenure ban reportedly applies to: University of Central Oklahoma, Northeastern State University, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, East Central University, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Cameron University, Langston University, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Rogers State University, and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma

With “public trust comes a corresponding responsibility to demonstrate continued effectiveness, relevance, and alignment with institutional and state priorities,” the order states.

The American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson condemned the executive order in a statement Thursday, according to Inside Higher Ed.

“With this Order, the State of Oklahoma has proclaimed to the academic community that they do not view academic freedom as important for public higher education in the state. The removal of protections for academic freedom will have a devastating effect on the quality of education in Oklahoma, and on recruitment and retention of faculty and students,” Wolfson said. “Governor Stitt has instantly made Oklahoma less competitive for hiring the best qualified faculty members to the institutions that educate so many of its residents.”

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a conservative think tank, reported the tenure order is one part of a larger effort to reform higher education, as Stitt is also directing state college officials to create a 90-credit-hour pathway to a bachelor’s degree.

“Those programs could allow students to shave off a year of college and significantly reduce associated educational costs,” the group reported.

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