Jacksonville State Abolishes Faculty Senate, Citing New State Law

“a responsibility to ensure Jacksonville State University complies with Alabama law while providing sound governance”

Posted by Mike LaChance Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 09:00am 0 Comments

They had to do this to comply with a new law, but wouldn’t it be great if more schools did the same?

Jacksonville State University Board of Trustees dissolves faculty senate, staff council

The Jacksonville State University Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to dissolve its faculty senate and staff council, the latest school to do so after passage of a state law this spring.

In a statement Tuesday, Randall Jones, the chair of the board, said it had “a responsibility to ensure Jacksonville State University complies with Alabama law while providing sound governance, accountability, and responsible stewardship of the public resources entrusted to the university.”

“Today’s action fulfills that responsibility while beginning the important work of developing board-approved policies that reflect the requirements of the law and support the University’s long-term success,” the statement said. “We have every confidence in President (Don) Killingsworth’s leadership as he works with University leadership to develop recommendations for the Board’s consideration.”

HB 580, sponsored by Rep. Troy Stubbs, R-Wetumpka and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in April, limits faculty senate bodies to advisory roles; requires periodic reviews for tenured professors and give boards of trustees at colleges and universities the final say in developing curriculum. It was passed in April and is set to go into effect Oct. 1.

Auburn University’s Board of Trustees voted in June to abolish its faculty senate and take direct control of curricula, even though the law had provisions for Auburn and the University of Alabama, both established under the state Constitution, that the law would not be construed to impede the authority “to manage its respective campuses.”

David Dempsey, a JSU mathematics professor and the president of the now-dissolved faculty senate, said in an interview Friday that while he’s disappointed in the decision, he looks forward to working with university officials to come up with a replacement board.

“I’m of course disappointed in that outcome, but I can say, in all honesty, that I am happy to report that the board members individually talked to me, the president, the provost, all of them are very supportive of having a mechanism for faculty voice and are eager to see what we come up with. They assured me that there would be a mechanism for faculty voice moving forward. They’re just having to comply with state law,” he said.