PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota appears ready to get rid of the faculty union at state universities, even while union members say the move threatens their academic freedom and the viability of the university system.

The Republican-dominated House and Senate passed separate bills last week that would ban faculty at state universities from collective bargaining. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem supports the idea, meaning it appears inevitable that the union, the Council for Higher Education, will soon be extinct. South Dakota would become one of a handful of states, including Virginia, Texas and Wisconsin, to bar faculty unions at public universities.

The union has been in the crosshairs of conservative lawmakers who feel it keeps universities from adapting to tight budgets and declines in enrollment. They say doing away with the union wouldn't affect academic freedom or job protections like tenure, but union members disagree.

“When the contract goes away, all bets are off,” said Mark Geary, the president of the union.

Union members worry that sweeping policy changes, including job protections, could be made without first talking to the faculty, which number more than 1,400 across six universities and two special education schools.

The debate this year has centered on the union's opposition to the hiring of “professors of practice” — teachers who do not have advanced degrees but bring real-world experience to university classrooms.

“It's really important for our students to not only have intellectual knowledge but to be able to practice that when they get into the workforce,” said Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer, the Dell Rapids Republican who introduced the bill.

But opponents of the ban say it could have far-reaching effects on academic freedom, workplace morale and the appeal of South Dakota universities, especially for newer faculty members.

Conservative lawmakers, led by former Speaker Mark Mickelson, tried in 2017 and 2018 to get rid of the union, while at the same time looking to exert more control over the state's universities. In previous years, Republicans from university towns have been instrumental in swinging enough votes to stop those efforts, but they did not have the numbers this year. Anti-union sentiment is common in the conservative-dominated Capitol.

Union members see a broader threat to the university system in the bills. Lawmakers last year moved to encourage conservative thought on university campuses, and several lawmakers have indicated they are closely watching the state's universities.

The union protects professors from feeling they have to fall in line with the ideological leanings of administration, according to opponents of the ban.

“That guarantee today protects the most left-leaning professor you can find,” said Jeremiah Murphy, a lobbyist for the South Dakota Education Association. "At the same time, it protects the most right-wing professor.”

The Board of Regents, which oversees the schools, has not taken a position on the issue.

Langer said the proposal does not threaten freedom of speech or tenure. She argued that the law school and medical school at the University of South Dakota don't have a union, but have remained competitive.

But Vaughan Hennen, a 28-year-old librarian and union member at Dakota State University, said the next generation of faculty — millenials — value the ability to join a union. As millennials make up more of the workforce, public support for unions has risen, according to polling from Gallup and Pew Research.

“I don’t think millennials like the idea of shutting up and working and not expressing your opinion in the workplace," he said.

The union argues that with faculty pay already ranked in the bottom 20% of university systems across the nation, the ban will add one more obstacle to recruiting professors. The result could be not just losing talented faculty members, but a decline in the quality of education and number of students, Hennen said.

But barring a major change of heart, both the Legislature and Noem are ready to say goodbye to collective bargaining for faculty.

The only question that appears to remain is whether teachers at schools for deaf and blind students, which is run under the Board of Regents, will still be able to join the teachers' union. The Senate bill leaves them out of the ban; the House bill includes them. Lawmakers will work to reconcile the proposals in the next two weeks.