JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri lawmakers are looking to require state schools like the University of Missouri system to post more information about their individual courses online, and to treat all information related to courses as public information.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, is sponsoring SB 465, which would require public institutions to post online information “for each course offered at the institution that includes the course’s syllabus, reading list, attendance requirements, extra credit opportunities, and a description of required assignments and projects.”
Schmitt’s bill was heard last week before committee where representatives from the University of Missouri System testified against it. Typically, public universities do not make extensive information about each course available to anyone except enrolled students, who often have access to the information online.
For example, many classes offered at the University of Missouri – Columbia offer only a few sentences broadly describing various courses and listing necessary prerequisites. Information like reading materials or attendance requirements is nowhere to be found.
Public institutions argue that the legislation puts their intellectual property rights at risk, claiming that other professors or schools could simply lift the curriculum and syllabus, word-for-word, from UM websites and teach them in their own schools.
Michael Podgersky, a professor of Economics at the University of Missouri–Columbia, testified in favor of the bill in committee. Podgersky noted that the Department of Ecomoics makes much of the information named in Schmitt’s bill available online, and supported a system-wide adoption of a similar policy.
Schmitt’s bill would require that universities post the information and that the same be treated as public information under the law by anyone who asks for it.
“Students have changed over the last 20 years,” said Schmitt, a Truman State University grad. “They want more information firsthand in making their decision in choosing between Mizzou and other schools like Truman or Missouri State. This is about making the information public and transparent for those students. There’s no reason this shouldn’t be public information for students selecting a college here in Missouri.”
Tim Wolfe, President of The University of Missouri System, declined to comment on a bill still moving through the legislature.
“Our policy is to refrain from making media comments concerning legislation that is still pending,” said John Fougere, Chief Communications Officer for the UM System.
The University of Missouri System operates campuses across the state and is the largest university system in Missouri. In FY 2015, lawmakers appropriated more than $400 million in core funds for the system.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
