The Government Affairs Committee will consider the resolution to renounce both the manner of implementation and the substance of the systemwide Time, Place and Manner policy.
The resolution was proposed to the committee by Associated Students representative Adin White. The document asserts that the CSU system implemented the policy “without adequate consultation with key stakeholders,” and that it has the “potential to disproportionately restrict constitutionally protected free speech and expression.”
The GAC meetings include a public opinion portion near the beginning when members of the public may address the committee regarding any items listed on their agenda. They meet in the Bell Memorial Union, room 205.
“Shared governance is not only foundational to the mission of the CSU … when we’re talking about policies that dictate where, when and how freedom of expression can be exercised on campus, that should be doubly true,” White said.
If passed by GAC, the resolution would then be voted on by the AS Board of Directors. If approved, the resolution would then be shared formally with all stakeholders in the CSU system.
The interim systemwide TPM policy went into effect at the beginning of the fall 2024 semester. TPM policies existed on campuses before this change, but the new policy sets a systemwide standard.
The new policy was created by the CSU Chancellor’s Office. The Chancellor’s Office was tasked with creating a new systemwide policy based on a California State Legislature budget bill (SB 108).
Chapter 35, Section 219, Provision 34 of the bill required each campus to enact the policy, among other requirements, by Oct. 1, 2024 to ensure the release of $25 million of the funds appropriated for support of the University of California system.
Chico State’s government affairs committee would not be the first group in the CSU system to formally censure the systemwide policy.
In October 2024, the Academic Senate of the CSU system released a resolution that calls on the Chancellor to appoint a committee representative of all member groups within the CSU system to “co-author a new, viable TPM ‘framework’, as instructed by law, that will keep our universities safe without violating the rights and freedoms of faculty, staff, and students.”
The California Faculty Association has already filed an unfair practice charge against the Trustees of CSU and the CSU employee union has filed a cease-and-desist order alleging a violation of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act.
According to the CFA, “administrators are reacting to public demonstrations on CSU campuses in the last year, and they seem poised to go further than ever in limiting freedom of speech and expression.”
Christian Kepler and Sean Shanks can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com.
