Overview

• The University of Texas and University of Houston system boards voted Thursday to dissolve long-standing faculty senates and establish advisory-only councils to comply with the new state law.
• Board bylaws now specify that faculty councils are advisory bodies with no delegated final decision-making authority on any matter.
• SB 37 limits governing bodies to 60 members unless a board decides otherwise, requires at least two representatives from each college or school, and gives presidents power to appoint at least one representative per college and select presiding officers.
• The statute sets longer service for presidential appointees—up to six years before a mandatory break—than for elected representatives, who may serve two years before stepping aside for two years.
• Implementation varies across Texas: Alamo Colleges consolidated five campus senates into one body of up to 35 members, Texas State’s system plans to let its senate lapse on Sept. 1, Texas A&M regents are expected to take up the issue Aug. 27, and two University of Houston professors launched a symbolic “Faux Faculty Senate” with off-campus events planned for October.