By:  Bivins                                   S.B. No. 148

         97S0077/2                            

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to the development of certain curricula by the Texas

 1-2     Higher Education Coordinating Board.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 51.305, Education Code, is amended to

 1-5     read as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 51.305.  Core Curriculum.  (a)  In this section:

 1-7                 (1)  "Institution of higher education" and "board" have

 1-8     the meanings assigned by Section 61.003 of this code.

 1-9                 (2)  "Core curriculum" means the curriculum in the

1-10     liberal arts, humanities, and sciences, and political, social, and

1-11     cultural history[,] that all undergraduates of a particular

1-12     institution of higher education are required to complete before

1-13     receiving an associate or baccalaureate degree.  The core

1-14     curriculum shall consist of at least 42 semester credit hours.

1-15           (b)  The board [Each institution of higher education] shall

1-16     develop [submit to the board] a core curriculum, together with a

1-17     statement of the specific content and the rationale and objectives

1-18     of the [its] core curriculum.

1-19           (c)  A student who successfully completes the core curriculum

1-20     at an institution of higher education is deemed to have completed

1-21     the core curriculum at all institutions of higher education and may

1-22     not be required to take additional core courses on transferring

1-23     from one institution to another [The board shall appoint an

 2-1     advisory committee to review and evaluate the statements of core

 2-2     curriculum].

 2-3           (d)  A student who transfers from one institution of higher

 2-4     education to another without completing the core curriculum shall

 2-5     be required to satisfy the core curriculum of the receiving

 2-6     institution [In evaluating the statements of core curriculum, the

 2-7     advisory committee shall consult with the faculty of various

 2-8     institutions].

 2-9           (e)  [The advisory committee shall recommend exemplary

2-10     educational objectives for the use of the institutions in

2-11     establishing a core curriculum, including the number of semester

2-12     credit hours an institution should require for satisfaction of

2-13     degree requirements.]

2-14           [(f)  The legislature may appropriate funds to the board for

2-15     allocation as incentive funding to encourage and reward

2-16     institutions in establishing and achieving educational objectives

2-17     consistent with the institution's core curriculum.]

2-18           [(g)]  The board by rule shall require each institution, at

2-19     regular intervals, to review and evaluate the institution's core

2-20     curriculum and to report the results of that review to the board.

2-21           SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is

2-22     amended by adding Section 61.0781 to read as follows:

2-23           Sec. 61.0781.  TRANSFER CURRICULUM.  (a)  In this section,

2-24     "transfer curriculum" means a set of courses that will satisfy the

2-25     lower division requirements for a baccalaureate degree program in a

 3-1     specific field of study at a general academic teaching institution.

 3-2           (b)  The board, with the assistance of advisory committees

 3-3     composed of representatives of general academic teaching

 3-4     institutions and public junior colleges, shall develop transfer

 3-5     curricula.

 3-6           (c)  A student who transfers to a general academic teaching

 3-7     institution shall be deemed to have completed all lower division

 3-8     requirements of the receiving institution's baccalaureate degree

 3-9     program for the field of study into which the student transfers if

3-10     the student has completed a transfer curriculum developed by the

3-11     board for that field of study.

3-12           SECTION 3.  Not later than September 1, 1998, the Texas

3-13     Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt rules implementing

3-14     the provisions of this Act.

3-15           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

3-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

3-20     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

3-21     passage, and it is so enacted.