By Ogden S.B. No. 192
76R2915 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to contracts with and compensation of administrators of
1-3 public institutions of higher education.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 51.946 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 51.946. RESTRICTIONS ON CONTRACTS WITH ADMINISTRATORS.
1-8 (a) The governing board of an institution of higher education may
1-9 enter into an employment contract with an administrator that is to
1-10 be paid in whole or in part from appropriated funds only if, before
1-11 the date the contract is executed, the governing board determines
1-12 that the contract is in the best interest of the institution.
1-13 (b) A contract entered into by a governing board under this
1-14 section may not:
1-15 (1) provide for employment for more than three years;
1-16 (2) allow for severance or other payments on the
1-17 termination of the contract to exceed an amount equal to the
1-18 discounted net present cash value of the contract on termination at
1-19 a market interest rate agreed upon in the contract;
1-20 (3) allow for development leave, unless the leave is
1-21 granted under the same terms and conditions as apply to faculty
1-22 members of the institution under Section 51.105; or
1-23 (4) award tenure in any way that varies from the
1-24 institution's general policy on the award of tenure.
2-1 (c) An institution of higher education may not pay a salary
2-2 to a person who is reassigned from an administrative position to a
2-3 faculty or other position at the institution that exceeds the
2-4 salary of other persons with similar qualifications performing
2-5 similar duties.
2-6 (d) An institution of higher education must require an
2-7 administrator who receives development leave to:
2-8 (1) return to work at the institution for an amount of
2-9 time equal to the amount of time the administrator received
2-10 development leave; or
2-11 (2) repay the institution for all the costs of the
2-12 development leave, including the amount of the administrator's
2-13 salary, if any, paid during the leave.
2-14 (e) A record that pertains to a contract between an
2-15 institution and an administrator, including terms relating to an
2-16 amount of money the institution has paid or agreed to pay or the
2-17 extension of any monetary or other consideration to an
2-18 administrator in connection with the settlement, compromise, or
2-19 other resolution of any difference between the institution or
2-20 governing body and a current or former administrator, is public
2-21 information and may not be withheld from public disclosure.
2-22 (f) Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(3), the governing board
2-23 of an institution may grant development leave at the faculty
2-24 member's full regular salary for one year to a faculty member who
2-25 has held an administrative position at the institution for more
2-26 than five years.
2-27 (g) In this section:
3-1 (1) "Administrator" means a person who has
3-2 significant administrative duties relating to the operation of the
3-3 institution, including the operation of a department, college,
3-4 program, or other subdivision of the institution.
3-5 (2) "Governing board" and "institution of higher
3-6 education" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
3-7 (3) "Contract" includes a letter of agreement or
3-8 letter of understanding.
3-9 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-10 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
3-11 contract entered into on or after the effective date of this Act.
3-12 SECTION 3. 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.