HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Professors from across the political spectrum are expressing concerns about a proposal to weaken tenure protections in the University of Arkansas system.

Several scholars are pushing back against policy changes that would make it possible to fire tenured University of Arkansas faculty for “unwillingness to work productively with colleagues.”

The change to the UA system Board of Trustees tenure policy was submitted to the Faculty Senate in late October, and includes a controversial provision that expands the list of justifications, or “cause,” for terminating employment.

“Cause is defined as conduct that demonstrates the faculty member lacks the willingness or ability to perform duties or responsibilities to the University,” the proposed policy reads, noting that tenured faculty can be disciplined or dismissed for eight core reasons, including “unsatisfactory performance” and demonstrating a “pattern of disruptive conduct or unwillingness to work productively with colleagues.”

University spokesman Nate Hinkel told The Chronicle of Higher Education that the proposed language is part of an effort to align the broader policy with “current law and best practices.”

Critics of the provision, however, argue that the new language is too broad and constitutes an attack on the academic freedom of professors who may hold contrarian political viewpoints.

“I think this is an awful change,” UA Little Rock law professor Josh Silverstein told Campus Reform. “The proposed revisions dramatical increase the power of the university to terminate tenured faculty. And the changes also limit the scope of academic freedom in ways that will both silence faculty and create additional potential grounds for dismissal should faculty speak out on issues of public policy and on matters internal to the university.”

“Disruptive conduct:” A Trump or NRA bumper sticker.