(A)(1) The Salmon P. Chase center for civics, culture, and society is established as an independent academic unit within the Ohio state university, physically located in the college of public affairs. The center shall conduct teaching and research in the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society.

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(2) The center shall establish bylaws requiring the center to do all of the following:

(a) Educate students by means of free, open, and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth;

(b) Affirm its duty to equip students with the skills, habits, and dispositions of mind they need to reach their own informed conclusions on matters of social and political importance;

(c) Affirm the value of intellectual diversity in higher education and aspire to enhance the intellectual diversity of the university;

(d) Affirm a commitment to create a community dedicated to an ethic of civil and free inquiry, which respects the intellectual freedom of each member, supports individual capacities for growth, and welcomes the differences of opinion that shall naturally exist in a public university community.

The requirements prescribed under divisions (A)(2)(a) to (d) of this section shall take priority over any other bylaws adopted by the center.

(3) The board of trustees of the university may change the name of the center in accordance with the philanthropic naming policies and practices of the university.

(B) The center shall be an independent academic unit physically located at the college of public affairs with the authority to house tenure-track faculty who hold their appointments within the center. Faculty appointed to the center shall not be required, but may, hold joint appointments within any other division of the university. Not fewer than fifteen tenure-track faculty positions shall be allotted to teach under the center. No faculty outside of the center shall have the authority to block faculty hires into the center.

(C)(1) The center shall offer instruction in all of the following:

(a) The books and major debates which form the intellectual foundation of free societies, especially that of the United States;

(b) The principles, ideals, and institutions of the American constitutional order;

(c) The foundations of responsible leadership and informed citizenship.

(2) The center also shall focus on both of the following:

(a) Offering university-wide programming related to the values of free speech and civil discourse;

(b) Expanding the intellectual diversity of the university’s academic community.

(D)(1) Not later than November 20, 2023, the board of trustees of the university shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the senate, a seven-member Chase center academic council. An initial member shall not begin service until confirmed by the senate. Four members shall form a quorum.

(2) The academic council shall be comprised of scholars with relevant expertise and experience. Not more than one member of the council may be an employee of the university. Best efforts shall be made to have not fewer than three members of the advisory board be from Ohio.

(3) Three members of the academic council shall serve initial terms of two years and four members shall serve initial terms of four years, which the members shall determine at their first meeting, and select replacements for vacant seats.

(E)(1) The academic council established under division (D) of this section shall conduct a nationwide search for candidates for the director of the center and shall strictly adhere to all relevant state and federal laws. The academic council shall submit to the president of the university a list of finalists from which the president shall select and appoint a director, subject to approval by the board of trustees. Future directors shall be chosen in the same manner.

(2) The director shall have the protection of tenure or tenure eligibility. The director shall consult with the dean of the college of public affairs; however, the director shall report directly to the provost or the president of the university.

(3) The director shall have the sole and exclusive authority to manage the recruitment and hiring process and to extend offers for employment for all faculty and staff, and to terminate employment of all staff. The director shall oversee, develop, and approve the center’s curriculum. The center shall be granted the authority to offer courses and develop certificate, minor, and major programs as well as graduate programs, and offer degrees.

(F) The director of the center shall submit an annual report to the board of trustees of the university and the general assembly in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code. The report shall provide a full account of the center’s achievements, opportunities, challenges, and obstacles in the development of this academic unit.