Senate Bill 83, aka the Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act, was recently passed by the Ohio Senate. The Ohio House of Representatives is currently considering House Bill 151, which is similar. If passed and signed by the governor, this legislation could reshape higher education in the state, with provisions that would ban many diversity initiatives, require annual faculty performance reviews, create new graduation requirements, potentially bar Chinese students from enrolling, block unions at state-funded universities and colleges from striking and mandate the language colleges must include in their mission statements.
The WSU Retirees Association has two representatives who serve on the board of the Ohio Council of Higher Education Retirees (OCHER), a not for profit organization of retiree association representatives from the public four-year institutions of higher education in Ohio. On May 23 the OCHER board passed a motion to distribute the Ohio State University Board of Trustees statement of opposition to Ohio Senate Bill 83 to all of the members of our individual university retirement organizations.
The Inter-University Council of Ohio (IUC), representing all 14 public universities in the state also has expressed concern about this legislation.
WSURA encourages retirees to contact their law makers in Columbus if they are concerned about this issue. To contact your Ohio senator or representative, go to the following link and enter your address: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislators/district-maps
Then click on the name of your representative or senator and select the contact link on their webpage.
Read the bills:
