SB 1 Implementation Update: Philosophy on Statements Revisions, Website Additions and Email Signatures

Dear Colleagues:

Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) goes into effect this Friday, June 27, though a number of provisions in the bill have delayed effective dates.

We want to thank the implementation committee members for their efforts to connect and engage with as many Ohio State faculty, staff and students as possible during the short timeline for implementation as well as standing groups such as University Senate, the policy review committee, Senior Management Council, curricular deans and more. At the same time, we understand and acknowledge that many questions and clarifications remain.

Now that we have implemented the initial requirements of SB 1, work will continue to answer questions, provide further clarity and gather feedback. In this phase, we will focus on the reenvisioning and next iteration of programs and services that support our community while ensuring we move forward in a way that aligns with the law and the current environment.

In the meantime, all programs, activities, job descriptions, etc. need to be in compliance by Friday, June 27, and all websites and materials need to reflect any such changes. The university’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Prohibitions Guide, which includes the DEI Style Guidance and Requirements, are available to help you with this important work.

Please continue to visit the SB 1 compliance website as resources are being added each week – and contact legislativequestions@osu.edu with questions you or your teams may have.

Our work so far could not have advanced as quickly and as thoroughly without your feedback and assistance. Below are several additional items and reminders since our last update.

Thank you,

Ravi Bellamkonda, Anne Garcia and Stacy Rastauskas

Updated Philosophy on Statements 

The university’s Philosophy on Institutional and Leadership Statements has been updated in order to comply with SB 1. All updates are live on the philosophy’s website and referenced in the SB 1 implementation guide. 

As a reminder, the Ohio State Board of Trustees adopted the philosophy in 2023. While SB 1 accelerated the timing of these updates, many of the revisions and clarifications would have occurred as part of the natural progression of the university maturing in its application of the philosophy. None of the revisions and clarifications being implemented now change the main tenants of the philosophy. Note that the philosophy does not apply to academic teaching and research activities.

For additional clarity, see the website’s FAQ, which has also been updated and provides details on institutional and leadership statements, as well as what it means to be acting in a university capacity. Also included is further clarification related to land acknowledgement statements, which are considered statements on behalf of an issue or cause, and therefore cannot be issued on behalf of a unit, college or department.

SB1 compliance website updates 

We have added a section to the SB 1 compliance website that highlights both new updates as well as communications/messages. The university recently added guidance related to:

• Additional guidance on admissions, hiring and recruitment, conference attendance, and professional memberships (June 26) 
• FAQs about post-tenure review and faculty workload guidelines (June 24)
• FAQs on partnerships with China (June 23)
• Conferences, bio pages and CVs, and pronouns (June 18)
• Funding sources for Employee Resource Groups and cultural/awareness recognitions and events (June 18)

Please see the News and Updates webpage for direct links.

Email signatures

The inclusion of university, college and department campaigns utilizing the university email signature generator is temporarily paused while this option is evaluated for compliance with SB 1. Current email signatures do not need to be changed, but the ability to generate a new signature featuring a campaign is temporarily paused. Relatedly, the ability to include pronouns in university-generated signatures is no longer available. Per guidance specific to pronouns, students, faculty and staff may continue to voluntarily share their pronouns by adding their own information to individually created signatures, writing on nametags, etc.