C.S.H.B. 1544 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


C.S.H.B. 1544
By: Bonnen
Higher Education
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Community colleges provide an invaluable service by offering educational
opportunities to their local communities at an accessible distance and
affordable cost.  They serve to strengthen the economy by responding to
the workforce training needs of their respective local industries through
many outstanding associate degree programs.  However, the technology
growth and demands of today's industrial workplace have created a
disparity between the need and supply of workforce education programs.  

HB 1544 would establish a pilot project to allow select public junior
colleges to offer limited baccalaureate degrees in Applied Science and
Technology, providing the opportunity to examine the effectiveness and
feasability of a permanent program.  Community colleges are well
positioned to address the need for readily available, applied
baccalaureate opportunities.  The open door admission policy, low tuition
costs, and convenient location of community colleges would provide access
to many more citizens who wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in workforce
training areas. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the committee that this bill does not expressly
delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer,
department, agency or institution. 

ANALYSIS

CSHB 1544 amends Subchapter A, Chapter 130, Education Code, to authorize
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish a pilot project
to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of public junior colleges to
offer baccalaureate degree programs in the fields of applied science and
applied technology. The bill provides that the coordinating board shall
operate the pilot project at Brazosport College, El Centro College of the
Dallas County Community College District, Midland College, North Harris
Montgomery Community College District and South Texas Community College.
The bill provides that a junior college participating in the pilot project
may not offer more than five baccalaureate degree programs at any time,
and that each of the degree programs are subject to continuing approval of
the coordinating board.  The bill provides that a public junior college
that participates in the pilot project must meet all applicable
accreditation requirements of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools. 

The bill  authorizes the coordinating board to require a general academic
teaching institution that offers a comparable degree program to enter into
an articulation agreement with the public junior college.  The bill
requires the coordinating board to prescribe procedures to ensure that
each public junior college participating in the pilot program informs each
student of the nature of the pilot project, including the limited duration
of the project and the articulation agreement entered into for the
students degree. CSHB 1544 provides that in determining what baccalaureate
degrees are to be offered, the public junior college and the coordinating
board shall consider the need for the degree programs in the region served
by the junior college, how those degree programs would unnecessarily
duplicate the degree programs offered by other institutions of higher
education, the ability of the junior college to support the program and
the adequacy of the junior college's facilities, faculty, administration,
libraries, and other resources.  The bill provides that in its
recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for public
junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that a public
junior college receive substantially the same state support for
junior-level and senior-level courses offered under the pilot project as
that provided to general academic teaching institution for substantially
similar courses. The bill provides that in determining contact hours
attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or senior-level course
offered under the pilot project used to determine a public junior
college's proportionate share of state appropriations under Section
130.003, the coordinating board shall weigh those contact hours as
necessary to provide the junior college the appropriate level of state
support to the extent that state funds for those courses are included in
the appropriation. 

The bill provides that each public junior college participating in the
pilot project shall prepare a biennial report of the operation and
effectiveness of the junior college's baccalaureate degree programs, and
shall deliver a copy of the report to the coordinating board.  The bill
provides that not later than January 1, 2009, the coordinating board shall
prepare a progress report on the pilot project. The bill provides that not
later than January 1, 2011, a report on the effectiveness of the pilot
project, with recommendations for legislative action, shall be prepared by
the coordinating board, and delivered to selected legislative officials. 

CSHB 1544 provides that unless the authority to continue offering
baccalaureate degree programs is continued by the legislature, a public
junior college may not enroll a student in a baccalaureate degree program
under the pilot project after the 2011 fall semester, offer junior-level
or senior-level courses for those degree programs after the 2015 fall
semester, or award a baccalaureate degree under the pilot project after
the 2015 fall semester.  The bill provides that this section expires
January 1, 2016. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of
all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article
III, Texas Constitution.  If this Act does not receive the vote necessary
for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2003. 


COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The changes in the committee substitute include, a requirement that a
public junior college that participates in the pilot project must meet all
applicable accreditation requirements of the Commission on Colleges of the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and that it must enter into
an articulation agreement with one or more general academic teaching
institutions to ensure that students enrolled in the degree program have
an opportunity to complete the degree if the public junior college ceases
to offer the degree program.    The substitute  authorizes the
coordinating board to require a general academic teaching institution that
offers a comparable degree program to enter into an articulation agreement
with the public junior college.  The substitute requires the coordinating
board to prescribe procedures to ensure that each public junior college
participating in the pilot program informs each student of the nature of
the pilot project, including the limited duration of the project and the
articulation agreement entered into for the students degree.