Some of these bills have been very controversial, like House Bill 267, which prevents collective bargaining by public service unions. As a reaction to this bill, there’s a petition going around Utah that has more than 100,000 signatures to put on the ballot a measure to overturn it. Another controversial bill was H.B. 77, which banned public servants from flying certain flags in their offices or buildings. This made national news as Utah is the first state in the nation to ban flags in public spaces. The governor knew this bill was controversial, so he did not sign it, but wrote a lengthy message to the legislature saying how disappointed he was in it. He did not, however, veto it. This bill sparked protests at the state capitol and some have even blamed the bill’s passage as the reason the Sundance Film Festival is leaving.

One bill, H.B. 265 Higher Education Strategic Reinvestment, has not had much public controversy. The New York Times is not covering this one, and there have been no protests against it. It’s quite possible you haven’t even heard of it, but it’s a piece of legislation that I’ve come to know very well as I’m one of the public servants implementing it.

H.B. 265 requires institutions of higher education in the state to review themselves and reallocate funds from low-performing academic programs on campus to high-performing ones. The Utah System of Higher Education promulgated rules for how this should work: programs should be measured by their enrollments (number of unique students enrolled in a program), graduates (number of unique credentials awarded to students), re-enrollments (number of graduates who re-enrolled in another USHE program), placements (percentage of graduates who got a job) and salary (measured as a percentage of the median Utah salary).

At Weber State University, I was asked to sit on a committee to make recommendations about how to measure performance. Our scores had different inputs from USHE but the outcomes were not that dissimilar. Unfortunately for me, my program does not look good, so I sit waiting to see what happens. This is hard because I very much love what I do and I worry about my job. But, unlike some of my colleagues, I’m not surprised.

First, most people are probably surprised that we haven’t been measured like this before to see if our programs are performing well. Enrollments matter as they are an indicator of student demand. Graduates matter as they are an indicator of how well we support our students and help them across the finish line. Placements matter as they are an indicator of how successful our students can be when they leave us. There is likely no public uproar because most would have assumed we were evaluated along these measures all along.

Second, we are public servants; we answer to the will of the people. The Utah State Legislature is the representative body of the people. While some would argue that H.B. 265 is politically motivated because of what we teach, while others point to efficiency, in either case, it’s about accountability. The fact that no one is protesting; the fact that there is no disappointment on the part of the governor; and the fact that no one launched an initiative to prevent the campuses from having to be evaluated and held accountable — all of these, taken together, demonstrate that the people in this state are fine with us being evaluated, as probably they should be. It’s their taxpayer money that underwrites the efforts of our campuses.

Public education is what makes America great. This country, since 1787, has invested in public education so that American citizens can fully pursue their happiness. Nothing works better than public education to end intergenerational poverty, to have good health, to become what you always wanted to be when you grew up, and to be the best neighbor. Given that, we as educators in a public system have a sacred trust. We owe people the best possible education we can give them, which entails constantly evaluating ourselves, ensuring that we align with the public’s needs and concerns, and making changes where necessary. To a certain extent, we have not done this well and H.B. 265 is a course correction. It’s a calling to account that we serve the public.

Once my program came up at the bottom, I immediately began thinking about what we could do to give political science students a better education. I looked to see what other institutions in the state are doing. I should have always been thinking about this, and my program should have been pushed to do this sooner.

Leah Murray is a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the director of the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service at Weber State University. This commentary is provided through a partnership with Weber State. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent the institutional values or positions of the university.