Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that would exempt all course syllabi at the state colleges and universities, from requests for public viewing under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
House Bill No. 5550, proposed in March, denies any student or member of the public access to course syllabi created by faculty at public colleges and universities. Syllabi would also no longer be stored on university computers, servers, or storage systems.
The bill responds to growing scrutiny of faculty and course content nationwide. Supporters of the FOIA exemption say that keeping syllabi public can expose professors to harassment or politicized targeting, according to Alexis Dudden, a history professor at the University of Connecticut (UConn).
“I absolutely favor FOIA as a process, as a process of democracy,” Dudden said. “The targeted, weaponized use of FOIA to degrade the ability for some of us to do our research is a different matter,” Dudden said.
Currently, at UConn, a full collection of syllabi is publicly accessible online through the university’s syllabus repository.
Syllabi include information surrounding the course materials, professor, as well as classroom policies and procedures. In some cases, syllabi may include detailed breakdowns of each scheduled class and grading rubrics.
UConn’s student newspaper, The Daily Campus, reported in September 2025 that media group Metric Media requested copies of course syllabi and metadata related to “Chinese nationals” from the Storrs campus.
Similar FOIA requests have been made at universities across the country.
The Turning Point USA Professor Watchlist is among other initiatives which have been criticized for intimidating faculty in recent years. As a result, some professors say they are concerned that their work or speech could be taken out of context and weaponized.
Similar legislation has been raised by the Connecticut General Assembly in the past, including two bills in 2025: SB 1226 and HB 5548, both of which proposed revisions to FOIA concerning public university records. The former, which focused on proprietary academic materials, died in committee.
The current bill, House Bill No. 5550, applies only to course syllabi, and is a narrower version of previous bills. The bill has cleared the Government Administration and Elections Committee, and now awaits consideration by the state legislature.
Several UConn professors testified before the Government Administration and Elections Committee in support of FOIA exemption.
“It is undisputed governing law, not even disputed by the FOIA commission, that our FOIA statute was never intended to cover an instructor’s research and teaching records,” said Sachin Pandya, Roger Sherman Professor of Law at UConn.
Those opposed to the bill argue that public access to syllabi is a right. They say it allows students to make informed decisions about course selection at institutions they pay to attend.
Opponents also say public access to syllabi helps make sure faculty adhere to academic standards.
Drew Michael McWeeney, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Hartford and a faculty member in the education department at Central Connecticut State University, said the exemption is unnecessary and potentially harmful to both students and faculty.
“For years, course syllabi have always been readily available to the public,” McWeeney said. “Why all of a sudden now are we wanting syllabi to be protected? We’ve already had it for years. If you’re teaching what you should be, then why not just release it?”
New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Virginia, are among several states which have existing FOIA exemptions that protect teaching and research records, to varying degrees.
McWeeney also argues that syllabi are administrative documents, and not intellectual property. He said withholding these records could generate suspicion, instead of protecting faculty.
He also disputes the idea that syllabi alone are a source of harassment. He says syllabi are purely procedural and, in his experience, rarely incite conflict.
“Quite frankly, I’ve yet to meet anyone who lives and breathes reading course syllabi,” McWeeney said. “If someone doesn’t like what’s in the syllabus, just move to the next class.”
If passed, HB No. 5550 will take effect Oct. 1.
