Why a public syllabus policy is bad for Georgia
As co-leaders of the Georgia State University chapter of the American Association of University Professors, we are writing to raise awareness about the dangers of having a public syllabus policy in Georgia.
To provide some background, the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents created a policy last May that requires all USG faculty members publicly post a syllabus for every course they are teaching, as well as an updated curriculum vitae by the spring semester of 2026. On February 4, we received an email from upper administration at GSU stating that the USG had issued additional guidance and that faculty must publicly post a syllabus identical to the version students receive in class.
We argue that publicly posting syllabuses is a bad move for public universities in Georgia. It jeopardizes safety and well-being for students and faculty, decreases the rigor of our public universities and reduces affordability across the state. These negative outcomes directly counter USG strategic priorities of student success, responsible stewardship, economic competitiveness and community impact.
Jeopardizing Safety
Our first major concern is the safety of students and faculty. Faculty in Georgia have faced harassment and even death threats when teaching topics that some political groups target. Posting syllabuses publicly online will make harassment even more likely. Colleagues are making impossible decisions between teaching research-based content they know is important for students’ development, with the very real risks to themselves and their families if their syllabuses contain so-called “divisive” concepts. Faculty are often making these choices not just out of concern for themselves, but also out of concern for their students. Faculty in Georgia, North Carolina and across the United States are changing assignments to reduce the likelihood that something students write or say might make them a target, especially if students are here on visas.
Disrupting Well-Being
Related to safety is the well-being and mental health of our students. To realize USG strategic priorities of student success and community impact, students need welcoming, caring and intellectually challenging spaces in which to learn and connect with one another. In our experience, students choose to come to GSU because we have a reputation for providing culturally responsive and critical instruction. More broadly, students come to GSU and other USG institutions because faculty welcome students from all backgrounds and identities, including students of any race, gender, sexuality, or nationality. Students’ diverse experiences, identities and ways of thinking enrich our campuses and classrooms. Censorship of university curriculum leads to incomplete and inaccurate education, a stifled learning environment, and emotional harm to students who do not see their identities represented. A public syllabus policy undermines USG institutions’ ability to provide caring and intellectually challenging spaces, ultimately disrupting students’ well-being.
Decreasing Rigor
Additionally, this policy will undermine the rigor of USG courses across Georgia universities, failing to meet the USG’s strategic priority of economic competitiveness of our students. If politicians and bad-faith actors successfully pressure universities into narrowing what is taught, the public loses one of the few places built for evidence-based disagreement and critical inquiry. Students will not thrive in a global economy when faculty avoid texts, guest speakers, concepts, or assignments that might trigger political backlash. When the curriculum is censored and anything considered “controversial” is removed, students’ ability to analyze competing points of view will be diminished. In short, a public syllabus policy diminishes the education students will receive in Georgia.
Reducing Affordability
Finally, a public syllabus policy will likely affect student access to affordable higher education options in Georgia. The USG, as a public system, enables many first-generation students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to access high-quality higher education. Since the announcement of this policy, USG institutions have dedicated time, resources and personnel to creating public syllabuses websites, communicating with all faculty, and monitoring updates to the policy. To be responsible stewards, the Board of Regents should not create policies that misdirect the energy and resources of university administrators and faculty. In a context of scarce resources, a public syllabus policy is burdensome and unnecessary.
Call to Action: Pushing Back Against Bad Policy
Forcing faculty to publicly post their syllabuses is a politically motivated demand from the board, directly related to a broader context of attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the United States. The Board of Regents’ policy is not a legitimate call for transparency. Rather, it is a bid to enable ideological policing of teaching and the surveillance of classrooms. The USG serves the public, and the Board of Regents should not be creating policies that undermine safety, well-being, rigor and affordability across the system.
For the good of public higher education in the state of Georgia, we have joined with other AAUP leaders and United Campus Workers of Georgia to create a petition that urges the USG Board of Regents to revoke the public syllabus policy. A public syllabus policy will harm students, faculty and the public and must be revoked.
Nadia Behizadeh, Ph.D., is a professor at Georgia State University, a member of United Campus Workers of Georgia and the vice president of the GSU American Association of University Professors (AAUP) chapter. Stephanie Behm Cross, Ph.D., is a professor at Georgia State University and serves on the leadership team of the Georgia State chapter of AAUP. Erin Mason, Ph.D. is an associate professor at Georgia State University, president of the GSU Chapter of AAUP and a member of United Campus Workers. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed are those solely of the writers.
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