Minnesota Lawmakers Consider Professors' Accents

[Harold F. Schiffman]

 http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/04/2006040709n.htm Friday, April 7, 2006


State Digest: Minnesota Lawmakers Consider Professors' Accents
By ANNE K. WALTERS


ACCENT BILL: A committee of the Minnesota Legislature heard testimony this
month on a bill that would require public colleges to establish hiring
guidelines for professors who have heavy accents that students may have a
hard time understanding. A bill sponsored by Rep. Bud Heidgerken, a
Republican, asks the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities System and the Board of Regents of the University of
Minnesota system to adopt a policy requiring clear English pronunciation
as a condition of jobs teaching undergraduates (The News Blog, March 13;
The Chronicle, April 8, 2005).