By:  McDonald                                         H.B. No. 2059
       73R6534 SOS-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to The University of Texas at El Paso.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 69.01, Education Code, is amended by
    1-5  adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
    1-6              (3)  "Border area" means the following
    1-7  counties:  Atascosa, Bee, Bexar, Brewster, Brooks, Cameron,
    1-8  Crockett, Culberson, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, El Paso, Frio,
    1-9  Hidalgo, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kenedy,
   1-10  Kinney, Kleberg, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Maverick, Medina,
   1-11  Nueces, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, San Patricio, Starr, Sutton,
   1-12  Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb, Willacy, Zapata, and Zavala.
   1-13        SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 69, Education Code, is
   1-14  amended by adding Section 69.03 to read as follows:
   1-15        Sec. 69.03.  COURSES AND DEGREES.  (a)  Except as provided by
   1-16  Subsection (b) of this section, the board, with the approval of the
   1-17  Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, may prescribe courses
   1-18  leading to customary degrees as are offered at leading American
   1-19  educational institutions and may award those degrees.
   1-20        (b)  At a minimum, the board shall offer:
   1-21              (1)  baccalaureate programs in child development,
   1-22  chemical engineering, aerospace engineering, and textile design;
   1-23              (2)  master's programs in nurse midwifery, development
   1-24  education, public health, physical therapy, nurse practitioner
    2-1  studies, nursing administration, library and information science,
    2-2  creative writing, Hispanic literature, linguistics, community
    2-3  health, international business, art, public policy and ethnic
    2-4  studies, and urban planning; and
    2-5              (3)  doctoral programs in materials science,
    2-6  psychology, educational administration, environmental science,
    2-7  history, public policy, business administration, community health,
    2-8  mechanical engineering, linguistics, multicultural education,
    2-9  chemistry, Spanish, nursing, biological sciences, and mathematics.
   2-10        SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 69, Education Code, is
   2-11  amended by adding Sections 69.23 and 69.24 to read as follows:
   2-12        Sec. 69.23.  JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS.  The board may offer
   2-13  joint degree programs in the areas of educational administration,
   2-14  public health, physical therapy, or library and information science
   2-15  with another institution under its governance.
   2-16        Sec. 69.24.  JOINT APPOINTMENTS.  (a)  The board may make
   2-17  joint faculty appointments to a position in the university or a
   2-18  component of the university and to a position in another
   2-19  institution under its governance.
   2-20        (b)  The salary of a person receiving a joint appointment
   2-21  shall be apportioned between the university or the component of the
   2-22  university and the other institution on the basis of services
   2-23  rendered.
   2-24        SECTION 4.  Section 61.055, Education Code, is amended to
   2-25  read as follows:
   2-26        Sec. 61.055.  Initiation of New Departments, Schools, and
   2-27  Programs.  Except as otherwise provided by law, a <No> new
    3-1  department, school, or degree or certificate program approved by
    3-2  the board or its predecessor, the Texas Commission on Higher
    3-3  Education, may not be initiated by any institution of higher
    3-4  education until the board has made a written finding that the
    3-5  department, school, or degree or certificate program is adequately
    3-6  financed by legislative appropriation, by funds allocated by the
    3-7  board, or by funds from other sources.
    3-8        SECTION 5.  Not later than the beginning of the fall semester
    3-9  in 1995, the board of regents of The University of Texas System
   3-10  shall begin offering the courses and degrees required by Section
   3-11  69.03, Education Code, as added by this Act.
   3-12        SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-17  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-18  passage, and it is so enacted.