Legislative Compliance and Transparency

In accordance with the state of Ohio’s 2025 “Advance Ohio Higher Education Act”: The University of Cincinnati declares that it will educate students by means of free, open, and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth.  The University of Cincinnati declares that its duty is to equip students with the opportunity to develop the intellectual skills they need to reach their own, informed conclusions. The University of Cincinnati declares its commitment to not requiring, favoring, disfavoring, or prohibiting speech or lawful assembly.  The University of Cincinnati declares it is committed to create a community dedicated to an ethic of civil and free inquiry, which respects the autonomy of each member, supports individual capacities for growth, and tolerates the differences in opinion that naturally occur in a public higher education community. The University of Cincinnati declares that its duty is to treat all faculty, staff, and students as individuals, to hold them to equal standards, and to provide them equality of opportunity, with regard to those individuals' race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

The University of Cincinnati embraces all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of its community members and is committed to creating a community that values the contributions of all its members. For that reason, the University believes that the right of expression is as necessary as the right of inquiry and that both must be preserved as essential to the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge and truth.  The University is committed to safeguarding the freedom of expression, but this commitment does not extend to expression that is not protected by the First Amendment.  

We are committed to meeting our compliance obligations and our mission to provide a supportive learning and working environment where all are welcome, safe and free to be successful. This FAQ has been updated throughout the legislative process. 

UC has created a searchable database of all speaker fees, honoraria, and other emoluments in excess of $500 for events that are sponsored by UC.   

Senate Bill 1, known as the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, which took effect in 2025, establishes new requirements for Ohio’s public universities, including public availability of course syllabi (along with an intellectual diversity policy, American civic literacy coursework, and faculty evaluation procedures).

Importantly, the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act does not prohibit faculty or students from classroom instruction, discussion, or debate, so long as faculty members allow students to express intellectual diversity. The Act does not apply to the exercise of professional judgment about how to accomplish intellectual diversity within an academic discipline nor to the exercise of professional judgment about whether to endorse the consensus or foundational beliefs of an academic discipline.

The Act requires the public posting of undergraduate course syllabi beginning in the 2026–2027 academic year. This requirement applies to any undergraduate course offered for college credit, except for College Credit Plus courses taught in a secondary school by a high school teacher.

The Act defines a course syllabus as a document produced for students by the course instructor as well as other detailed requirements. The Act also states that a publicly available syllabus is not required to include the location or time of day at which a course is being held.