By: Vowell H.B. No. 1591
73R6182 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Higher Education
1-3 Coordination Board concerning certain institutions of higher
1-4 education.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 61.051, Education Code, is amended by
1-7 amending Subsections (d), (e), (j), and (r) and adding subsection
1-8 (s) to read as follows:
1-9 (d) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the <The>
1-10 board shall develop, after direct consultation with the governing
1-11 board of the institution and after providing a forum for a public
1-12 hearing, the role and mission for each public institution of higher
1-13 education in Texas. The board shall hear applications from the
1-14 institutions for changes in role and mission and make changes
1-15 necessary to update the role and mission statements of each
1-16 institution. The board shall adopt by rule the criteria to be used
1-17 in reviewing the role and mission statements. The board, after
1-18 direct consultation with the governing board of the institution and
1-19 after providing the forum for a public hearing, may prescribe by
1-20 rule maximum enrollment limits for such institution. In setting
1-21 maximum enrollment limits for such institution. In setting maximum
1-22 enrollment limits, the board shall take into account any financial
1-23 hardship such enrollment limits might cause qualified Texas
1-24 residents seeking a higher education. The governing board of each
2-1 institution shall determine the maximum enrollment limits for any
2-2 department, school, degree program, or certificate program at the
2-3 institution.
2-4 (e) The board shall review periodically the role and mission
2-5 statements, the table of programs, and all degree and certificate
2-6 programs offered by the public institutions of higher education to
2-7 assure that they meet the present and future needs of the state and
2-8 the counties in which they are located. The board's review shall
2-9 be performed at least every four years and shall involve the
2-10 chairpersons of the institution's board of regents. Except as
2-11 otherwise provided by this section, the <The> board shall also
2-12 order the initiation, consolidation, or elimination of degree or
2-13 certificate programs where that action is in the best interest of
2-14 the public institutions themselves or the general requirements of
2-15 the State of Texas, the counties in which they are located, or when
2-16 that action offers hope of achieving excellence by a concentration
2-17 of available resources. Except as otherwise provided by this
2-18 section, no <No> new department, school, degree program, or
2-19 certificate program may be added at any public institution of
2-20 higher education except with specific prior approval of the board.
2-21 The board may authorize an institution to continue a doctoral
2-22 program that is inconsistent with the role and mission of the
2-23 institution if the program was in existence on September 1, 1987,
2-24 and the board determines that continuation of the program is
2-25 warranted.
2-26 (j) Except as otherwise provided by this section, no <No>
2-27 off-campus courses for credit may be offered by any public
3-1 technical institute, public community college, or public college or
3-2 university without specific prior approval of the board. The board
3-3 may not prohibit a public junior college district from offering a
3-4 course for credit outside the boundaries of the junior college
3-5 district when such course has met the requirements for approval as
3-6 adopted by the board. Except as otherwise provided by this
3-7 section, the <The> board shall establish regulations for the
3-8 coordination of credit and non credit activities of adult and
3-9 continuing education by public technical institutes, public
3-10 community colleges, or public colleges and universities.
3-11 (r) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the <The>
3-12 board shall conduct a review of all doctoral programs offered at
3-13 institutions of higher education. The review shall consider:
3-14 (1) program quality;
3-15 (2) demand for the degree program;
3-16 (3) number of graduates;
3-17 (4) geographic distribution of doctoral degree
3-18 programs;
3-19 (5) employment opportunities and demand for degree
3-20 holders; and
3-21 (6) duplication with other programs.
3-22 The board shall begin the review by considering first the
3-23 institutions that offer a single doctoral program. The review must
3-24 be completed by December 1992. The board shall report the results
3-25 of the review regarding public institutions of higher education to
3-26 the legislature not later than the convening of the regular
3-27 legislative session in 1993.
4-1 (s) The governing board of each institution of higher
4-2 education to which this subsection applies, after direct
4-3 consultation with the executive officer of the institution and
4-4 after providing a forum for a public hearing, shall develop the
4-5 role and mission for the institution and add new departments,
4-6 schools, degree programs, and certificate programs to the
4-7 institution as are justified by local and regional needs of the
4-8 area served by the institution or by the present and future needs
4-9 of the state. The board may review and report on the quality of
4-10 any department, school or program added by the governing board of
4-11 the institution pursuant to this subsection, but may not initiate
4-12 such review or release such report prior to four calendar years
4-13 after enrollment in the department, school or program has begun.
4-14 Consolidation or elimination of degree or certificate programs,
4-15 pursuant to subsection (e), can be ordered only with the
4-16 concurrence of the governing board of the institution. Pursuant to
4-17 subsection (j), off-campus courses offered within the service
4-18 region of the institution do not require approval by the board.
4-19 This subsection applies to Sul Ross State University, Laredo State
4-20 University, Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I University,
4-21 the University of Texas at San Antonio, The University of Texas
4-22 Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Texas of
4-23 Texas-Pan American, the University of Texas at Brownsville and the
4-24 University of Texas at El Paso.
4-25 SECTION 2. Section 61.058, Education Code, is amended to
4-26 read as follows:
4-27 (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the <The>
5-1 board shall approve or disapprove all new construction and repair
5-2 and rehabilitation of all buildings and facilities at institutions
5-3 of higher education financed from any source provided that:
5-4 (A) the board's consideration and determination
5-5 shall be limited to the purpose for which the new or remodeled
5-6 buildings are to be used to assure conformity with approved space
5-7 utilization standards and the institution's approved programs and
5-8 role and mission if the cost of the project is not more that
5-9 $600,000, but the board may consider cost factors and the financial
5-10 implications of the project to the state if the total cost is in
5-11 excess of $600,000;
5-12 (B) the requirement of approval for new
5-13 construction applies only to projects the total cost of which is in
5-14 excess of $300,00;
5-15 (C) the requirement of approval for major repair
5-16 and rehabilitation of buildings and facilities applies only to a
5-17 project the total cost of which is more than $600,000;
5-18 (D) the requirement of approval or disapproval
5-19 by the board does not apply to any new construction or major repair
5-20 and rehabilitation project that is specifically approved by the
5-21 legislature;
5-22 (E) the requirement of approval by the board
5-23 does not apply to a junior college's construction, repair, or
5-24 rehabilitation financed entirely with funds from a source other
5-25 than the state, including funds from ad valorem tax receipts of the
5-26 college, gifts, grants, and donations to the college, and student
5-27 fees; and
6-1 (F) the requirement of approval by the board
6-2 does not apply to construction, repair, or rehabilitation of
6-3 privately owned buildings and facilities located on land leased
6-4 from an institution of higher education if the construction,
6-5 repair, or rehabilitation is financed entirely from funds not under
6-6 the control of the institution, and provided further that:
6-7 (i) the buildings and facilities are to be
6-8 used exclusively for auxiliary enterprises; and
6-9 (ii) the buildings and facilities will not
6-10 require appropriations from the legislature for operation,
6-11 maintenance, or repair unless approval by the board has been
6-12 obtained.
6-13 (b) The requirement of approval or disapproval by the board
6-14 does not apply to any construction, repair or rehabilitation
6-15 project to be undertaken at Sul Ross University, Laredo State
6-16 University, Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I University,
6-17 the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Texas
6-18 Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Texas-Pan
6-19 American, the University of Texas at Brownsville or the University
6-20 of Texas at El Paso if the project is approved by the governing
6-21 board of the institution.
6-22 SECTION 3. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
6-23 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-1 passage, and is so enacted.