The 2021 Legislature enacted House Bill 233, which amended section 1001.706, Florida Statutes, Powers and Duties of the Board of Governors, to promote intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity within the State University System of Florida (SUS). Similar language was amended to section 1001.03, Florida Statutes, for the Florida College System (FCS).
Specifically, the legislation created section 1001.706(13), Florida Statutes, entitled INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY ASSESSMENT.
This section provides definitions for “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” and “shield” and directs the Board of Governors as follows:
- For the purposes of this subsection, the term:
- “Intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” means the exposure of students, faculty, and staff to, and the encouragement of their exploration of, a variety of ideological and political perspectives.
- “Shield” means to limit students’, faculty members’, or staff members’ access to, or observation of, ideas and opinions that they may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive.
- The Board of Governors shall require each state university to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution. The Board of Governors shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid survey to be used by each state university that considers the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented, and whether members of the university community, including students, faculty, and staff, feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom. The Board of Governors shall annually compile and publish the assessments by December 31 of each year, beginning December 31, 2024.
- The Board of Governors may not shield students, faculty, or staff at state universities from free speech protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Art. I of the State Constitution, or s. 1004.97.
The two survey instruments were designed to assess the extent to which students and employees feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus. For consistency and a more standardized approach, the universities requested that the Office of the Board of Governors (FLBOG) procure services to disseminate the survey instruments to their student body and employee populations.
2025 Report:
Click here for the 2025 report.