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Panel advances bill exempting course syllabi from FOIA, prompting debate over transparency in higher education
Summary
HB 5,550 would exempt faculty-created course syllabi at public institutions from FOIA requests; proponents called it a technical restoration of original intent while opponents said syllabi are public curriculum and should remain accessible to taxpayers and parents.
Representative Blumenthal said HB 5,550 "does exactly what it says," restoring what he described as the original intent by exempting faculty-created course syllabi from disclosure under FOIA when those records are maintained on state-owned electronic resources. He noted many syllabi became accessible under FOIA only because they are stored on state systems.
Senator Sampson and Representative Carpino strongly disagreed. Sampson said syllabi are curriculum funded by taxpayers and argued "the public has a right to know" what is being taught. Carpino asked whether parents would still be able to see syllabi for admitted students and was told existing public databases (for example at UConn) can still make syllabi publicly available; the bill would only remove FOIA as a route to obtain them.
The committee called the roll on the motion to JFS and recorded mixed votes, leaving them open. Discussion focused on the balance between faculty autonomy and public accountability for material produced at public institutions.
