By Chavez H.R. No. 1093 76R17135 JLZ-D R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, In a highly competitive employment market where an 1-2 increasing number of job openings require a bachelor's degree or 1-3 even an advanced degree, a college grade point average (GPA) can 1-4 make a crucial difference when a student is vying for a high-paying 1-5 job or seeking admission to a prestigious graduate school or 1-6 postgraduate program, or simply when attempting to enroll in 1-7 upper-division courses within an already chosen field of study, and 1-8 earnest students who wish to improve or maintain a high GPA may 1-9 need to retake one or more courses in hopes of attaining better 1-10 grades; and 1-11 WHEREAS, There is, however, no uniform statewide policy 1-12 governing how institutions calculate overall GPAs in circumstances 1-13 of course repetition, and some institutions use the higher grade in 1-14 lieu of the lower grade, regardless of which grade the student 1-15 earned first, while others use the later grade to replace the 1-16 earlier grade, even if the later grade is lower than the earlier 1-17 grade; and still other institutions include both grades, thus 1-18 mathematically diluting the effect of any improvement in 1-19 performance and reducing the incentive to work toward better 1-20 scholastic results; and 1-21 WHEREAS, By some of these policies, some institutions 1-22 actually short-change students who wish to improve their academic 1-23 records and, consequently, those students' prospects for later 1-24 success; and 2-1 WHEREAS, The lack of uniformity is particularly worthy of 2-2 concern given the frequency of student transfers between Texas' 2-3 state-funded institutions of post-secondary learning; and 2-4 WHEREAS, With the impact of rulings by federal courts in the 2-5 recent Hopwood case, and the continuing need to recruit and retain 2-6 ethnic minority students in Texas' network of higher education 2-7 campuses so as to more closely reflect the state's diverse 2-8 demographics, any policy which has the direct or indirect effect of 2-9 mathematically diluting a student's true and actual record of 2-10 academic achievement is clearly inappropriate and should be 2-11 revised; and 2-12 WHEREAS, Because Texas residents' college education is 2-13 largely subsidized by the state with some of the lowest tuition 2-14 rates in the nation, it would be fair for the student to bear some 2-15 of the financial costs of repeating a course in the form of a 2-16 reasonable additional fee, but it is most important to create a 2-17 uniform policy for calculating the grade point averages of students 2-18 who repeat courses that is applicable to all students and that does 2-19 not act as a disincentive for enhanced learning; and 2-20 WHEREAS, Students who repeat courses are committed to their 2-21 higher education and their academic achievement, and it is in the 2-22 best interest of this state not to minimize their efforts; now, 2-23 therefore, be it 2-24 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 76th Texas 2-25 Legislature hereby direct its Committee on Higher Education to 2-26 conduct a study of the calculation of student grade point averages 2-27 at public colleges and universities and of additional and modest 3-1 fees that may be assessed on students who retake certain classes, 3-2 as well as considering the most equitable manner of determining the 3-3 number of credit hours to be accrued for repeating a particular 3-4 course and whether a superceded grade should be expunged, or be 3-5 retained, on the student's transcript; and, be it further 3-6 RESOLVED, That the committee specifically study the effect on 3-7 a student's GPA of repeating an undergraduate course, the various 3-8 methods for determining which of the multiple grades earned for the 3-9 same course is to be factored in the calculation of such 3-10 averages--provided that the content of the course has not changed 3-11 significantly since it was first undertaken--and the adoption of 3-12 uniform policies applicable to all students at each institution; 3-13 and, be it further 3-14 RESOLVED, That the committee also study the feasibility and 3-15 impact of allowing public colleges and universities to charge 3-16 additional and modest fees for any courses that a student takes 3-17 more than once; and, be it further 3-18 RESOLVED, That the committee submit a full report, including 3-19 findings and recommendations, to the Texas House of Representatives 3-20 of the 77th Texas Legislature when it convenes in January 2001.