Bill gives legislators a leg up in getting academic jobs

A new law could give Missouri lawmakers an unfair advantage in getting college teaching jobs, some higher education officials say.

The newly passed provision bars public universities from denying jobs to state legislators on the grounds that they do not have a graduate degree. The measure was included in the bill Gov. Blunt signed to sell some assets of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority.

State Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said it's wrong for legislators to approve a measure that only benefits them."It is a horrible amendment, and it is a horrible provision of the bill," Crowell said Thursday. "I think it is a black eye on the legislature that a senator would offer such an amendment."

He said he hopes lawmakers will repeal the provision in the 2008 session.

Crowell said he voted against the measure when it was introduced as an amendment to the higher education bill. But he said he ultimately voted for the amended bill because it included a number of improvements for higher education including funding for the River Campus and other projects at Southeast Missouri State University.

Lana Stein, chairwoman of the political science department at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said graduate degrees are important to faculty.

"We all pay a lot of dues to get where we are, and the dues are graduate school," Stein said. However, she said she's not opposed to lawmakers teaching a class or two.

Southeast Missouri State University president Dr. Ken Dobbins said it would unfair to hire former or current lawmakers for tenure-track positions if they don't have graduate degrees. Dobbins said graduate degrees are an important element in the criteria for tenure.

"I think it would be unfair to any individual, whether a legislator or not, because you are setting them up for failure," Dobbins said.

The measure was introduced by St. Louis-area legislator Sen. Tim Green, D-Spanish Lake. Green has been promoting the idea for years but said he was not aware of any former legislators being denied teaching jobs.

"There's just people like myself that when we leave politics, we'd like to educate students," he said. "The idea isn't to line up jobs afterwards. There is nothing self-serving in it."

Stephen Lehmkuhle, vice president for academic affairs for the University of Missouri system, said the new law will not require a change in the school's hiring policies, which do not require faculty members to have doctorate degrees.

Most applicants do prove they are qualified by completing a rigorous graduate degree and writing a thesis, Lehmkuhle said.

"However, applicants can document and demonstrate their content knowledge and expertise in other ways based on their previous experiences and writings," he wrote in an e-mail.

Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, called the new law unnecessary and dubbed it the "Tim Green endowed chair."

Robb taught finance and business at the University of Missouri-Columbia before running for political office. He has a doctorate in economics from Michigan State University. While he had concerns about the law, he pointed out that public universities already invite an array of professionals to teach courses.

"It's a much bigger bark than a bite because currently a university could hire anybody to be an adjunct professor."

Dobbins agreed.

He said Southeast has hired former lawmakers to teach a class from time to time. Dobbins said Crowell or Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder have the political experience to teach a class on how the legislature and state government operate.

"Our faculty, I don't think, would be upset about something like that," Dobbins said.

Southeast Missourian staff writer Mark Bliss contributed to this report.