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Public colleges’ board members need thick skin, given the likelihood they’ll have to make tough cuts, hire a president, or set unpopular tuition rates. They might want to bring a little more political acumen, too.

More than 50 people across higher education weigh in on the most consequential trend in the sector since 2000.

Three conservative groups are proposing model legislation that would dramatically change faculty tenure paths, teaching loads, research activities and hiring authority.

Three right-leaning organizations this month released model state legislation intended to reduce “taxpayer funding for intellectually unserious ‘research’ projects of activist academics” at public institutions.

Shifting toward merit-based selection of public university board members can better protect academic freedom than politically appointed boards, which have increasingly exerted influence over state colleges and universities in recent years.

After former UVA President James Ryan released a 12-page letter earlier this month alleging some on the school’s board worked with the Trump Justice Department to force him to resign under threat of funding cuts and federal investigations, the Faculty Senate of the university called for its rector and vice rector to resign, and Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) said the hunt for Ryan’s replacement should wait until she takes office.

The fight over who will lead the University of Virginia (UVA) has now drawn in the Trump administration and both the current and future governors of the state.