The University of Texas System board approved new rules that change how member institutions can eliminate programs and cut faculty roles, with critics warning the policy could erode academic freedom and narrow faculty governance. Under the revised approach, presidents at UT System universities can cut programs without faculty review and remove individual roles through a streamlined appeals process. The change allows a chief academic officer to recommend cuts using criteria set by the president, potentially considering cost, completion rates, student demand, enrollment, and whether eliminations could occur without “minimum effect upon degree programs.” Eliminating an entire program would not be subject to appeal. Faculty can still appeal individual position eliminations only in limited circumstances where a “protected property interest” exists, and appeals focus on whether decisions were “arbitrary and unreasonable.” The rules take effect immediately, intensifying scrutiny of how state governance changes are reshaping academic oversight.