We all get so much email. A ton. Like waves crashing on the shore, the email just keeps rolling in. But isn’t it such a great feeling when you know you can delete an email and forget it ever existed? Well, rest assured you can delete the email titled “Intellectual Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Survey” sent by the College (as mandated by the state), and consign it to the digital dustbin forever. Please read the following guidance from UFF:
The survey is not a valid tool, it has never been. It is a push poll, experts in the past have described it as such. Our participation in it, no matter how genuine your intent, will be used against us by state officials and lawmakers alike. We have learned from previous versions of the survey that participation across the board has been low. We must continue in this tradition and do our best to keep the results and participation low.
The United Faculty of Florida encourages all higher education faculty, staff, and students to ignore the voluntary “Viewpoint Discrimination” survey for the following reasons:
- Florida’s government has no right to know the thoughts, feelings, or political or religious beliefs of anyone, including the higher education community. Privacy is the bedrock of democracy and a safeguard against autocratic control.
- Ignoring this survey is an act that protects individuals of all political persuasions, now and into the future. This survey would not pass ‘validity tests’ in any institutional review process, as there is no way to ensure that responses will reflect the demographics of the institution. It is not worthy of time away from our teaching and research.
- The specificity of the survey’s demographic questions allows for targeting of faculty, particularly minority faculty, and can be used to attack tenure.
- Many of the survey’s questions are leading in nature and imply that there is a problem of viewpoint fairness on our campuses already–this is a conclusion searching for evidence, rather than the other way around.
- Many of the survey’s questions ask respondents to report on what they believe their colleagues and students think and how they are behaving on campus. Surveillance has no place in Florida’s higher education system.
- The survey will cause a chilling effect on freedom of speech and freedom of association on campus because faculty, staff, and students will be wondering whether their words and deeds will be reported to those in power.
- Governor DeSantis and other legislators have threatened to defund or otherwise punish campuses whose responses do not match the appropriate ideology. This is not a standard of leadership or behavior that any member of Florida’s higher education community should support.
For these reasons and more, UFF discourages participation in the survey, and we encourage you and all members of the Florida higher education system to join our fight to protect the freedoms of the faculty, staff, and students who make our campuses such wonderful places to live, learn, and grow.
If you have any questions feel free to contact us or reach out to your campus FUSA council reps.
Faculty United Service Association 