The five university civics centers that Republican lawmakers created to combat what they say is a liberal bias on campuses would have more power and influence under the Ohio Senate’s proposed budget released this week.
Lawmakers used the last two-year budget to create these centers. They required the spaces to be added to the campuses of Cleveland State University, Miami University, Ohio State University, the University of Toledo and Wright State University.
Under the Senate’s latest budget plan, the centers’ directors would not be required to work with university deans to plan curriculum. In addition, the proposal calls for the five directors to form a board. One of their tasks would be advising state lawmakers on civic education and curriculum development, including at K-12 schools.
The official name for these spaces is Centers for Civics, Culture, and Society. Each center will “conduct teaching and research in the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society,” according to state law.
State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, a key supporter of the centers as well as a new higher education overhaul law, talked about the centers on a podcast last month.
“The major rationale for establishing these centers is to give students an opportunity to experience true diversity of thought,” he said.
Faculty members across the state have criticized the centers, including how non-academic employees may now be closely involved with students’ educational experiences.
Now, state senators and representatives must work together to agree on a final version of their combined proposals. They’ll then send it to DeWine, who must sign it by June 30.
Senate lawmakers want to redirect some college funding to the centers
Lawmakers allocated $24 million in the last 2024-25 budget cycle to launch the centers. Critics, though, have wondered if that’s enough for universities to support these spaces longterm.
The new Senate plan could put more financial responsibility for the centers on colleges. Universities wouldn’t be able to charge the centers for any type of expenses or indirect costs. Plus, colleges are required to dedicate “adequate and appropriate” physical spaces on campuses for them.
Lawmakers also want to funnel more money to the centers by redirecting portions of colleges’ State Share of Instruction. That’s the formula that determines how much taxpayer money public higher education institutions receive.
Ohio State’s center would get $8.5 million in each of the next two years under the plan. Toledo would get $3 million. Centers at the other three universities – Wright State, Cleveland State and Miami – would each get $2 million.
The centers are all in various stages of development. Cleveland State named its director earlier this spring. Classes are already underway at Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership. Ohio State is expected to open its center – named after Salmon P. Chase, a former Ohio governor and senator – this fall.
