Dive Brief:
- Texas officials are encouraging college students, employees and the public to report violations of the state's ban on faculty senates and diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.
- The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's newly created Office of the Ombudsman launched the Students First portal — separate from its existing student complaint portal — to give "the public easy access to file complaints and provide feedback" over colleges' alleged legal violations.
- Through Students First, college students and employees can submit formal complaints and are not required to have previously filed a complaint with the college. Members of the public can submit informal feedback.
Dive Insight:
The Students First portal focuses on violations of two significant Texas laws — 2023's SB 17 and 2025' SB 37.
SB 17 prohibited colleges from having diversity offices or hiring employees to do DEI-focused work. It also banned mandatory DEI training for employees and students.
While SB 17 functionally outlawed DEI at public colleges — making Texas one of the first to enact legislation growing increasingly popular in conservative states — SB 37 focused primarily on academic governance.
The law stripped faculty senates of much of their authority and autonomy and shifted that power to political appointees. SB 37 also established the THECB's ombudsman office. Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Brandon Simmons, the chair of the Texas Southern University Board of Regents, to lead the office.
Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton, author of SB 37, said in April that the bill is meant to affirm authority over public colleges lies with regents, not faculty. In Texas, regents are appointed by the governor.
Prior to its passage, higher education advocates and faculty groups — including the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors and the Texas American Federation of Teachers — strongly opposed SB 37 and raised concerns over the erosion of academic freedom and increased political influence on college campuses.
Creighton, who also wrote SB 17, resigned from the Legislature in October after being named the chancellor of the Texas Tech University System.
In September, Abbott said Texas is "targeting professors who are more focused on pushing leftist ideologies rather than preparing students to lead our nation.” The following month, Texas policymakers launched new select committees in the state House and Senate and tasked them with reporting on “bias, discourse, and freedom of speech” on college campuses.
If the ombudsman office decides to investigate a formal complaint, the affected college will be notified within five days. From there, the college has 175 days to respond to the complaint — barring an office-granted extension — and 30 days to respond to any written requests for additional information.
If the college is found to be out of compliance, it has 180 days to resolve the issues to the ombudsman office's satisfaction.
The ombudsman office will "submit to the Ombudsman and State Auditor a report on the noncompliance that includes the recommendations" if it determines the college "has not resolved issues and recommendations identified in the report," according to the Students First portal.
Simmons said Friday that he aims to foster a "collaborative, productive partnership with our institutional leaders and students" through the new "user-friendly website and engagement on campuses across Texas."
