By: Rosson S.B. No. 496
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Higher Education
1-2 Coordination Board concerning certain institutions of higher
1-3 education.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 61.051, Education Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subsections (d), (e), (j) and (r) and adding subsection
1-7 (s) to read as follows:
1-8 (d) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the <The>
1-9 board shall develop, after direct consultation with the governing
1-10 board of the institution and after providing a forum for a public
1-11 hearing, the role and mission for each public institution of higher
1-12 education in Texas. The board shall hear applications from the
1-13 institutions for changes in role and mission and make changes
1-14 necessary to update the role and mission statements of each
1-15 institution. The board shall adopt by rule the criteria to be used
1-16 in reviewing the role and mission statements. The board, after
1-17 direct consultation with the governing board of the institution and
1-18 after providing the forum for a public hearing, may prescribe by
1-19 rule maximum enrollment limits for such institution. In setting
1-20 maximum enrollment limits, the board shall take into account any
1-21 financial hardship such enrollment limits might cause qualified
1-22 Texas residents seeking a higher education. The governing board of
1-23 each institution shall determine the maximum enrollment limits for
2-1 any department, school, degree program, or certificate program at
2-2 the institution.
2-3 (e) The board shall review periodically the role and mission
2-4 statements, the table of programs, and all degree and certificate
2-5 programs offered by the public institutions of higher education to
2-6 assure that they meet the present and future needs of the state and
2-7 the counties in which they are located. The board's review shall
2-8 be performed at least every four years and shall involve the
2-9 chairpersons of the institution's board of regents. Except as
2-10 otherwise provided by this section, the <The> board shall also
2-11 order the initiation, consolidation, or elimination of degree or
2-12 certificate programs where that action is in the best interest of
2-13 the public institutions themselves or the general requirements of
2-14 the State of Texas, the counties in which they are located, or when
2-15 that action offers hope of achieving excellence by a concentration
2-16 of available resources. Except as otherwise provided by this
2-17 section, no <No> new department, school, degree program, or
2-18 certificate program may be added at any public institution of
2-19 higher education except with specific prior approval of the board.
2-20 The board may authorize an institution to continue a doctoral
2-21 program that is inconsistent with the role and mission of the
2-22 institution if the program was in existence on September 1, 1987,
2-23 and the board determines that continuation of the program is
2-24 warranted.
2-25 (j) Except as otherwise provided by this section, no <No>
3-1 off-campus courses for credit may be offered by any public
3-2 technical institute, public community college, or public college or
3-3 university without specific prior approval of the board. The board
3-4 may not prohibit a public junior college district from offering a
3-5 course for credit outside the boundaries of the junior college
3-6 district when such course has met the requirements for approval as
3-7 adopted by the board. Except as otherwise provided by this section,
3-8 the <The> board shall establish regulations for the coordination of
3-9 credit and noncredit activities of adult and continuing education
3-10 by public technical institutes, public community colleges, or
3-11 public colleges and universities.
3-12 (r) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the <The>
3-13 board shall conduct a review of all doctoral programs offered at
3-14 institutions of higher education. The review shall consider:
3-15 (1) program quality;
3-16 (2) demand for the degree program;
3-17 (3) number of graduates;
3-18 (4) geographic distribution of doctoral degree
3-19 programs;
3-20 (5) employment opportunities and demand for degree
3-21 holders; and
3-22 (6) duplication with other programs.
3-23 The board shall begin the review by considering first the
3-24 institutions that offer a single doctoral program. The review must
3-25 be completed by December 1992. The board shall report the results
4-1 of the review regarding public institutions of higher education to
4-2 the legislature not later than the convening of the regular
4-3 legislative session in 1993.
4-4 (s) The governing board of each institution of higher
4-5 education to which this subsection applies, after direct
4-6 consultation with the executive officer of the institution and
4-7 after providing a forum for a public hearing, shall develop the
4-8 role and mission for the institution and add new departments,
4-9 schools, degree programs, and certificate programs to the
4-10 institution as are justified by local and regional needs of the
4-11 area served by the institution or by the present and future needs
4-12 of the state. The board may review and report on the quality of
4-13 any department, school or program added by the governing board of
4-14 the institution pursuant to this subsection, but may not initiate
4-15 such review or release such report prior to four calendar years
4-16 after enrollment in the department, school or program has begun.
4-17 Consolidation or elimination of degree or certificate programs,
4-18 pursuant to subsection (e), can be ordered only with the
4-19 concurrence of the governing board of the institution. Pursuant to
4-20 subsection (j), off-campus courses offered within the service
4-21 region of the institution do not require approval by the board.
4-22 This subsection applies to Sul Ross State University, Laredo State
4-23 University, Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I University,
4-24 The University of Texas at San Antonio, The University of Texas
4-25 Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Texas of
5-1 Texas-Pan American, the University of Texas at Brownsville and the
5-2 University of Texas at El Paso.
5-3 SECTION 2. Section 61.058, Education Code, is amended to
5-4 read as follows:
5-5 (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the <The>
5-6 board shall approve or disapprove all new construction and repair
5-7 and rehabilitation of all buildings and facilities at institutions
5-8 of higher education financed from any source provided that:
5-9 (A) the board's consideration and determination
5-10 shall be limited to the purpose for which the new or remodeled
5-11 buildings are to be used to assure conformity with approved space
5-12 utilization standards and the institution's approved programs and
5-13 role and mission if the cost of the project is not more than
5-14 $600,000, but the board may consider cost factors and the financial
5-15 implications of the project to the state if the total cost is in
5-16 excess of $600,000;
5-17 (B) the requirement of approval for new
5-18 construction applies only to projects the total cost of which is in
5-19 excess of $300,000;
5-20 (C) the requirement of approval for major repair
5-21 and rehabilitation of buildings and facilities applies only to a
5-22 project the total cost of which is more than $600,000;
5-23 (D) the requirement of approval or disapproval
5-24 by the board does not apply to any new construction or major repair
5-25 and rehabilitation project that is specifically approved by the
6-1 legislature;
6-2 (E) the requirement of approval by the board
6-3 does not apply to a junior college's construction, repair, or
6-4 rehabilitation financed entirely with funds from a source other
6-5 than the state, including funds from ad valorem tax receipts of the
6-6 college, gifts, grants, and donations to the college, and student
6-7 fees; and
6-8 (F) the requirement of approval by the board
6-9 does not apply to construction, repair, or rehabilitation of
6-10 privately owned buildings and facilities located on land leased
6-11 from an institution of higher education if the construction,
6-12 repair, or rehabilitation is financed entirely from funds not under
6-13 the control of the institution, and provided further that:
6-14 (i) the buildings and facilities are to be
6-15 used exclusively for auxiliary enterprises; and
6-16 (ii) the buildings and facilities will not
6-17 require appropriations from the legislature for operation,
6-18 maintenance, or repair unless approval by the board has been
6-19 obtained.
6-20 (b) The requirement of approval or disapproval by the board
6-21 does not apply to any construction, repair or rehabilitation
6-22 project to be undertaken at Sul Ross University, Laredo State
6-23 University, Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I University,
6-24 the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Texas
6-25 Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Texas-Pan
7-1 American, the University of Texas at Brownsville or the University
7-2 of Texas at El Paso if the project is approved by the governing
7-3 board of the institution.
7-4 SECTION 3. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
7-5 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-10 passage, and it is so enacted.