By: Bivins, West S.B. No. 1128
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of the Joint Admission Medical
Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivision (5), Section 51.821, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(5) "Participating student" means an eligible
undergraduate student who is admitted to the program and who
maintains eligibility for continued participation in the program.
The term does not include a program alternate who participates in
mentoring activities and receives other related counseling
services under the program.
SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (d), Section 51.824,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The council shall:
(1) recruit eligible undergraduate students for
admission to the program;
(2) establish an application process for admitting
eligible undergraduate students to the program;
(3) evaluate applications for admission to the program
according to the procedures for selecting participating students
under [selection requirements of] Subsection (b) and for selecting
program alternates under Section 51.8245;
(4) monitor the implementation of the program;
(5) assist in developing services to support and
encourage the pursuit of a medical education by participating
students, program alternates, and, as applicable, nontraditional
students described by Section 51.832;
(6) establish a process for participating students to:
(A) be matched to an internship program as
described by Subsection (c);
(B) be matched to any required undergraduate
mentoring program as described by Subsection (d);
(C) apply for admission to participating medical
schools;
(D) be matched to a participating medical school
as described by Subsection (e); and
(E) enroll in that school;
(7) award to participating students undergraduate
scholarships and summer stipends, including a summer stipend for a
student who is required to participate in an internship program in
the summer immediately following the student's senior year;
(8) award graduate scholarships to participating
students and, as applicable, nontraditional students described by
Section 51.832;
(9) enter into an agreement with each student admitted
to the program, each program alternate, each participating medical
school, and each general academic teaching institution or private
or independent institution of higher education as required by this
subchapter; and
(10) take any other action necessary to implement the
program.
(d) The council shall match each participating student and
each program alternate with any appropriate undergraduate
mentoring program required of the student or alternate by the
council.
SECTION 3. Subchapter V, Chapter 51, Education Code, as
added by Chapter 605, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001, is amended by adding Sections 51.8245 and 51.8246 to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.8245. PROGRAM ALTERNATES. (a) The council shall
establish procedures by which the council selects from the annual
pool of applicants for the program an appropriate number of
eligible undergraduate students to serve as program alternates
until the beginning of their senior year. The council shall rank
program alternates according to their qualifications for the
program and, immediately on the termination of the participation of
a student previously admitted to the program, shall select the
highest ranking program alternate to be a participating student
under the program. The council may not select a program alternate
to be a participating student after the first day of the fall
semester of the alternate's senior year.
(b) The council shall establish procedures for program
alternates to be matched to any required undergraduate mentoring
program as described by Section 51.824(d). A program alternate
selected under this section is limited to participating in
mentoring activities and receiving other related counseling
services under the program and must sign an agreement to that
effect.
(c) The council shall adopt criteria for program alternates
to maintain their eligibility as program alternates.
Sec. 51.8246. CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS AND PROCEEDINGS.
(a) Student education records created or considered under the
program are confidential and may be released only in accordance
with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20
U.S.C. Section 1232g).
(b) A meeting or portion of a meeting of the council at which
the education records or other personal information of individual
students or the evaluation, eligibility, admission, or selection of
individual students are discussed is not open to the public under
Chapter 551, Government Code.
SECTION 4. Section 51.826, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.826. ELIGIBILITY FOR ADMISSION TO PROGRAM. (a) To
be eligible for admission to the program or for selection as a
program alternate, an undergraduate student must:
(1) enroll at a general academic teaching institution
or a private or independent institution of higher education not
later than the first fall semester following the student's
graduation from high school;
(2) be a Texas resident for purposes of tuition under
Subchapter B, Chapter 54;
(3) except as provided by Subsection (c), successfully
complete at least 15 semester credit hours during the fall semester
of the student's freshman year at the general academic teaching
institution or the private or independent institution of higher
education;
(4) apply for admission to the program at the
beginning of the spring semester of the student's freshman year at
the general academic teaching institution or the private or
independent institution of higher education; and
(5) meet criteria established by the council
regarding:
(A) minimum high school and undergraduate grade
point averages;
(B) financial need and any other indication of
economic disadvantage; and
(C) any other matter the council considers
appropriate.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), a student is not a
Texas resident as described by that subdivision solely because the
student is eligible to pay tuition at the resident tuition rate.
(c) The council shall adopt rules to admit to the program or
to select as a program alternate an otherwise eligible
undergraduate student who, for good cause, has not successfully
completed the number of semester credit hours required under
Subsection (a)(3). The council may not admit to the program or
select as a program alternate an undergraduate student who has
successfully completed fewer than nine semester credit hours.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 51.829, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Each participating medical school must enter into an
agreement with the council under which the medical school agrees
to:
(1) select a faculty member employed by the medical
school to serve on the council;
(2) commit faculty and administrative resources to the
program;
(3) set aside for participating students or, if
necessary, nontraditional students described by Section 51.831 at
least 10 percent of the medical school's enrollment capacity for
each entering class, except as provided by Subsection (b);
(4) admit participating students who are matched to
the medical school under the program;
(5) provide internship programs for participating
students who have been matched to or are required to participate in
those programs as described by Section 51.824(c) and coordinate the
administration of those programs with general academic teaching
institutions or private or independent institutions of higher
education as necessary;
(6) provide for participating students and program
alternates any mentoring programs required by the council at the
undergraduate level and coordinate the administration of those
programs with general academic teaching institutions or private or
independent institutions of higher education as necessary; and
(7) provide support services, including
postbaccalaureate mentoring programs required by the council, to
participating students and, as applicable, nontraditional students
described by Section 51.832 who enroll in the medical school.
SECTION 6. Section 51.830, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.830. COUNCIL AGREEMENT WITH GENERAL ACADEMIC
TEACHING INSTITUTION. Each general academic teaching institution
must enter into an agreement with the council under which the
institution agrees to:
(1) provide academic counseling to a participating
student or program alternate enrolled at that institution;
(2) as soon as practicable, implement or expand
appropriate degree programs as necessary to provide participating
students with sufficient preparation for enrollment in
participating medical schools; and
(3) select a faculty director to assist in
implementing the program at the institution and in implementing or
expanding the institution's degree programs as necessary under
Subdivision (2).
SECTION 7. Section 51.831, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.831. COUNCIL AGREEMENT WITH PRIVATE OR INDEPENDENT
INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION. Each private or independent
institution of higher education must enter into an agreement with
the council under which the institution agrees to:
(1) provide academic counseling to a participating
student or program alternate enrolled at the institution;
(2) as soon as practicable, implement or expand
appropriate degree programs as necessary to provide participating
students with sufficient preparation for enrollment in
participating medical schools;
(3) select a faculty director to assist in
implementing the program at the institution and in implementing or
expanding the institution's degree programs as necessary under
Subdivision (2); and
(4) provide a scholarship to a participating student
in the amount required for a participating student attending a
general academic teaching institution, but not to exceed the amount
of tuition and fees that the student is charged.
SECTION 8. (a) The change in law made by Subchapter V,
Chapter 51, Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to
an application for admission to the Joint Admission Medical Program
filed on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The Joint Admission Medical Program Council shall
establish procedures and adopt rules regarding the selection of
program alternates and participating students as required by
Subchapter V, Chapter 51, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
not later than November 1, 2003.
SECTION 9. 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.