Good morning, and welcome to Thursday, December 12. Rick Seltzer wrote today’s Briefing. Julia Piper compiled Comings and Goings. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

Departments speak for themselves

Academic departments pose a vexing question for colleges that are scrambling to limit political scrutiny by endorsing institutional neutrality. Does muzzling departments made up of subject-matter experts risk undermining the spread of knowledge that neutrality is supposed to promote?

A new policy unveiled Wednesday is one of the most detailed attempts so far to navigate this tension. Our Megan Zahneis took a look.

Dartmouth College now requires “general restraint in issuing institutional statements” under a new policy pitched as protecting academic freedom, free speech, and open inquiry.

• Just a handful of people are allowed to speak for the college: trustees, the president, the provost, the senior vice president for communications, the director of media relations, the institution’s top lawyer, or those they designate.
• Senior leaders are instructed to “reaffirm Dartmouth’s core values and commit to taking actions in support thereof” if confronted with issues that directly relate to the college’s mission.
• Only deans can issue statements on behalf of Dartmouth’s schools. They’re similarly subject to “the principal of restraint.”
• Individuals are allowed to make statements, including as subject-matter experts. But they’re supposed to include a disclaimer that they’re not speaking for the college.

Academic units can endorse public stances if they take certain steps. The policy asks departments, programs, centers, and institutes to exercise restraint. But it outlines a process for them to “issue public statements informed by their expertise”:

• Draw up a list of those allowed to vote on a statement, which could include faculty members, research associates, graduate students, and staff members.
• Hold a vote by secret ballot.
• Publish the vote results, with tallies of those for, against, abstaining, and not voting.
• Inform the provost before endorsing any statement.
• Keep statements off of unit homepages. “The academic unit may establish a webpage other than its homepage to host public statements and endorsements from its members,” the policy says.
• Clearly note that the unit isn’t speaking for Dartmouth as a whole.

The bigger question: As colleges try to ensure they’re seen as the sponsor of critics and not institutional public-policy pundits, will they leave space for critics to take collective action?

📱 Read the full story: Dartmouth Stakes Out a Policy of ‘Institutional Restraint’

Quick hits

• Air Force Academy sued over race-conscious admissions: A federal lawsuit filed in Colorado contends that the academy violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal-protection guarantee by using race and ethnicity when making admissions decisions. It was announced on Wednesday by Students for Fair Admissions, the group that convinced the Supreme Court to ban race-conscious admissions across most of higher ed last summer. SFFA has since been seeking to close a loophole the court left for military academies but last week lost a case against the U.S. Naval Academy. (Students for Fair Admissions, The Chronicle)
• Tennessee State U. interim president resigns: Ronald Johnson stepped down suddenly on Wednesday, about five months after taking over the institution as it faced intense financial scrutiny from lawmakers who’d just overhauled its governing board. Johnson instituted deep cuts, laid off more than 100 employees, and drew scrutiny for signing an agreement to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the university’s former president, Glenda Glover. Tennessee State’s board chair said she spoke to Johnson about separating from the university the day before he resigned. (The Tennessean)
• University vs. technical college in Kansas: Ken Hush, president of troubled Emporia State University, this fall suggested a hostile takeover of nearby Flint Hills Technical College, accusing it of competing with the university for students. Hush raised the idea in a letter to a local economic-development agency in which he questioned $100,000 in annual funding being considered for the technical college and asked for the university to receive five times as much. (Kansas Reflector)
• Did Georgia’s protest crackdown attract students? Sonny Perdue, the chancellor of the University System of Georgia, told state lawmakers that taking a hard line on pro-Palestinian protests “created a huge influx in out-of-state applications to our schools here in Georgia.” Perdue said afterward he was drawing on anecdotal evidence. The only Palestinian-American in the state Legislature called his comments an attempt to justify arresting students. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Athletes tell judge players need to organize: Three athletes whose lawsuit against the NCAA is poised to usher in a new pay-for-play era told a judge overseeing the case that a players’ association is necessary to secure compensation and health protections. The three athletes nonetheless endorsed a $2.8-billion proposed settlement that would reshape college sports if the judge approves it in April. (Associated Press, The Chronicle)

Quote of the day

“While this may seem like a disappointing decision, we view this as an encouraging outcome.”

—Marcus Burgess, interim president of Saint Augustine’s University, in Raleigh, N.C.

Burgess pledged Tuesday to appeal a verdict that would yank accreditation from Saint Augustine’s. Appealing would temporarily maintain the private university’s accreditation and, critically, its access to federal financial aid.

An appeal offers a chance to show that the university has grown stronger, Burgess said. That could build confidence in its future, he suggested.

But Saint Augustine’s might need to show remarkable financial improvement. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges’ board voted to terminate the university’s accreditation membership after finding it hadn’t resolved widespread issues that have left it with millions of dollars in high-interest debt.

📱 Read the full story from The Chronicle: Saint Augustine’s U. Has Accreditation Membership Revoked, but Leaders Hopeful of Reversal

Cuts, cuts, cuts

It’s been a busy month for budget cuts — and backlash. Let’s catch up on the latest.

The University of New Orleans plans to reduce administrative positions and temporarily consolidate colleges, the Louisiana Illuminator reported. That could save $2.2 million in the face of a $10-million budget shortfall. But leaders wouldn’t rule out layoffs and furloughs if enrollment doesn’t increase at the public institution, which counted 17,000 students before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 but has only about 6,500 today.

William Jewell College declared financial exigency. The liberal-arts college in Missouri blamed costs that have increased more quickly than revenues. It also paused a search for a new president, keeping Susan Chambers in the role as an interim. Leaders say exigency will allow them to restructure programs and scholarships. Changes could include work-force cuts, a spokesperson told KCTV.

Catholic University of America is soliciting ideas for closing a $30-million structural deficit, according to The Pillar. The institution in Washington, D.C., has run a deficit in five of the last seven years, funding operations with financial reserves and special endowment draws. Its president reported that tuition revenue has dropped by 24 percent since 2018, even as costs increased. Leaders say they’ve already identified some cuts, such as limiting raises and a “selective hiring freeze.”

Suffolk University faculty members moved to censure the institution’s leaders as concerns run high about cuts to academic programs, The Boston Globe reported. Though not as serious as a no-confidence vote, a censure would show disapproval of the private institution’s president and board chair in the wake of cuts to research travel budgets, retirement contributions, and health-care plans, as well as the closure of university’s Madrid campus.

The University of Connecticut will close four programs and suspend 12 others under a provost-led review based on enrollment and degree completion. None are undergraduate programs. Some faculty members have said the cuts are only necessary because state funding is inadequate and have objected to plans to continue program reviews in the future, CT Insider reported.

Don’t expect recent raises to continue at the University of Maryland at College Park, its president said. Darryll Pines recently told the University Senate that public institutions across the state are in line for less funding because of a $1-billion state deficit that’s expected to grow sharply in the coming years, The Baltimore Banner reported.

Comings and goings

• Anna Addonisio, chief financial officer at Orlando Health Sciences University, has been named vice president for finance and administration at St. Bonaventure University, in New York.
• Sue Cox has been named dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Texas at Tyler after serving as interim dean since September.
• Barry Brummund, chief information officer at the University of Arizona, plans to retire in January.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote

Readers are recommending good television shows about college. Eileen Merberg, executive director of Alpha Lambda Delta, the honor society for first-year academic success, vouched for Felicity, a series that ran for four seasons starting in 1998:

“It starred Keri Russell, who is in the news lately promoting the second season of The Diplomat, which may prompt some to rewatch the streaming Felicity. I liked that the show had it all — self-discovery, roommates, relationships, moving from adolescence to adulthood, learning to live independently, academic and career challenges, and personal growth through adversity. It was a relatable and enduring depiction of college life.”

📺 Do you know a good TV show about college? Email the show’s name and why you like it to dailybriefing@chronicle.com. Include your name and title, and your submission could appear in a future Footnote.