SC S0785

Public college and university employees, including tenured faculty, may be immediately terminated for speech deemed personal rather than on matters of public concern, or when institutional interests outweigh the employee's speech interests.

Termination decisions may consider whether employee speech impairs workplace harmony, undermines the university's mission, interferes with operations, or condones/encourages violence on or near campus.

Employees terminated under this act lose all grievance rights, including those normally afforded to tenured faculty.

The Commission on Higher Education must develop a mandatory speech code that all public colleges and universities must adopt; failure to adopt results in state funding reduction of 1/12th per month of non-compliance.

Public institutions that fail to enforce the speech code face a 10% funding reduction per violation, and all employees must sign acknowledgment forms attesting they understand the speech restrictions.