By Bailey H.B. No. 2269
77R6530 QS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the right of faculty members at public institutions of
1-3 higher education to receive notice of and be represented in certain
1-4 personnel meetings.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 51.961 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 51.961. RIGHT OF FACULTY MEMBER TO REPRESENTATION IN
1-9 PERSONNEL MEETINGS. (a) In this section:
1-10 (1) "Faculty member" has the meaning assigned by
1-11 Section 51.960.
1-12 (2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
1-13 assigned by Section 61.003.
1-14 (3) "Supervisor" means an employee of an institution
1-15 of higher education who exercises supervisory responsibilities over
1-16 a faculty member. The term includes a president, vice president,
1-17 chancellor, vice chancellor, provost, associate or assistant
1-18 provost, dean, associate or assistant dean, department chair, or
1-19 department head.
1-20 (4) "Personnel action" means an action that affects a
1-21 faculty member's compensation, promotion, demotion, transfer, work
1-22 assignment, or performance evaluation.
1-23 (b) A faculty member employed by an institution of higher
1-24 education has the right to be represented in a meeting with a
2-1 supervisor or person designated by a supervisor that relates to the
2-2 faculty member's job performance and that may result in an adverse
2-3 personnel action or a recommendation related to an adverse
2-4 personnel action, including termination, nonrenewal, suspension,
2-5 demotion, or a reprimand. The right to representation under this
2-6 section applies to any meeting whose purpose is partially or wholly
2-7 investigatory, regardless of whether the faculty member is the
2-8 subject of the investigation.
2-9 (c) A faculty member may select a person to serve as the
2-10 faculty member's representative. The representative may be a
2-11 person who is a member of a labor organization that does not claim
2-12 the right to strike.
2-13 (d) A supervisor or person designated by a supervisor shall
2-14 notify in writing a faculty member who is directed to attend a
2-15 meeting that may result in an adverse personnel action or a
2-16 recommendation related to an adverse personnel action. The faculty
2-17 member must receive the notice not later than the fourth day before
2-18 the date of the meeting. The notice must state:
2-19 (1) the time and place of the meeting;
2-20 (2) the specific purpose of the meeting, including the
2-21 nature of any charges that may be brought against the faculty
2-22 member at the meeting and the nature of any investigation that may
2-23 be conducted; and
2-24 (3) the name and title of the supervisors, or persons
2-25 designated by the supervisors, expected to attend the meeting.
2-26 (e) In a meeting to which this section applies, the faculty
2-27 member's representative has the right:
3-1 (1) to counsel the faculty member;
3-2 (2) to take notes;
3-3 (3) to make an audio recording of the meeting; and
3-4 (4) to engage in any other activity agreed to by the
3-5 supervisor or other person conducting the meeting.
3-6 (f) The right to representation under this section does not
3-7 extend to a routine meeting between a supervisor and a faculty
3-8 member that has no reasonably foreseeable possibility of resulting
3-9 in an adverse personnel action.
3-10 (g) Notwithstanding Subsection (f), a faculty member has the
3-11 right to receive notice of and be represented in a meeting that
3-12 relates in any way to the faculty member's state or federal
3-13 employment rights, regardless of whether a supervisor is present.
3-14 (h) Nothing in this section impairs the right of a faculty
3-15 member to present a grievance under Section 51.960 or other law.
3-16 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.