1-1     By:  Garcia (Senate Sponsor - West)                   H.B. No. 2806
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999;
 1-3     May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Education; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to establishing a mentoring program at the University of
 1-9     North Texas.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 105, Education Code, is
1-12     amended by adding Section 105.51 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 105.51.  MENTORING PROGRAM.  (a)  The board may
1-14     establish a mentoring program at the university.  The program may
1-15     provide mentoring, tutoring, and other resources to students at all
1-16     levels of the educational system to assist students to:
1-17                 (1)  succeed in their education and achieve appropriate
1-18     educational goals; and
1-19                 (2)  prepare for the transition from being a student to
1-20     becoming an independent adult member of society.
1-21           (b)  The program may recruit, train, coordinate, and support
1-22     mentors and tutors, and may provide other resources, to students in
1-23     the communities primarily served by the university who are students
1-24     at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Section 29.081, or
1-25     who are otherwise in need of services to assist them in
1-26     successfully completing their education and becoming productive
1-27     members of the community.
1-28           (c)  The board shall establish in connection with the program
1-29     a continuing study and evaluation of mentoring activities and
1-30     research into the best practices and methods of mentoring.
1-31           (d)  Not later than January 1, 2001, and at other times
1-32     determined by the board, the board shall prepare a report relating
1-33     to the operation of the program.  The report shall include:
1-34                 (1)  a description of the program;
1-35                 (2)  information relating to the students served by the
1-36     program;
1-37                 (3)  an analysis of the effects of the program on
1-38     student performance, including effects on drop-out rates, school
1-39     attendance, grades, performance on assessment tests, graduation
1-40     rates, and entry into higher education programs;
1-41                 (4)  the costs of the program and the sources of funds
1-42     used to support the program; and
1-43                 (5)  the board's recommendations for continuing the
1-44     program and for any changes in the law authorizing the program.
1-45           (e)  The board may use available institutional funds, as
1-46     defined by Section 51.009, to support the program.  The board may
1-47     solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from any public or
1-48     private source to support the program.
1-49           SECTION 2.  This Act does not make an appropriation.  This
1-50     Act does not require the board of regents of the University of
1-51     North Texas to establish a mentoring program under Section 105.51,
1-52     Education Code, as added by this Act, unless money is specifically
1-53     appropriated for that purpose.
1-54           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-55     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-56     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-57     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-58     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-59     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-60     passage, and it is so enacted.
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