This bill requires each public institution of higher education to establish a policy framework to promote the security of academic research conducted at the institution to mitigate against the risk of foreign influence. Each policy framework must do the following:
(1) Comply with all applicable ethical, legal, regulatory, contractual, and system standards and requirements for securing and protecting the institution's research portfolios;
(2) Promote a culture of compliance with federal requirements within the institution to ensure that the institution maintains eligibility for federal funding; and
(3) Designate an individual to serve as the research security officer for the institution, who is responsible for maintaining classified information, maintaining controlled unclassified information, reporting on any foreign influence at the institution, and addressing other issues at the institution relative to the goals established in the institution's policy framework.
This bill authorizes the University of Tennessee board of trustees and the board of regents to designate one person to serve as the research security officer in a system-wide capacity for purposes of (3) above.
ON APRIL 23, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2095, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, do the following:
(1) Require each public institution of higher education to safeguard its academic research from foreign adversaries by establishing a research security policy that promotes a security culture, furthers national security interests, and mitigates threats to the integrity and conduct of the institution's research against undue foreign influence. Each institution must implement a research security policy no later than January 1, 2025, and make the policy readily available on the institution's website;
(2) Require each research security policy to do or address the following:
(A) Comply with all applicable legal, regulatory, and contractual standards and requirements for securing and protecting the institution's academic research enterprise, including, as applicable, any research involving the institution, its campuses, and its applicable internal components;
(B) Promote an institutional culture of compliance with the institution's research security policy consistent with federal regulations to ensure that the institution maintains eligibility for federal funding, including, as applicable, federal risk mitigation requirements pertaining to standardized disclosures, cybersecurity, foreign travel security, insider threats, and export controls;
(C) Address (i) efforts to maintain publicly accessible contact information; (ii) processes to regularly update the institution's research security policy; and (iii) the establishment of internal processes to ensure compliance with, and reporting within, the institution's research security policy;
(D) Distribution of communications, state and federal, on research security matters concerning the institution's academic research enterprise, including, as applicable, any research involving the institution, its campuses, institutes, and its applicable internal components; and
(E) Processes to identify and address compliance concerns at the institution that are consistent with the institution's research security policy; and
(3) Require the governing board of each public institution of higher education to submit a report on the institution's compliance with the bill no later than July 1, 2025, to the chairs of the education committee of the senate and the education committees of the house of representatives.