79R1408 CAS-D

By:  McReynolds                                                   H.B. No. 310



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to faculty compensation policies at institutions of higher 
education.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is 
amended by adding Section 51.9081 to read as follows:
	Sec. 51.9081.  FACULTY COMPENSATION POLICIES UNTIL 2013. (a)  
Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the governing board of 
each institution of higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, 
shall determine whether the average compensation of tenured and 
tenure-track faculty at the institution for that fiscal year is 
less than the average compensation for similar faculty at public 
institutions of higher education in the 10 most populous states, 
not including this state, according to the most recent information 
available. In making the comparisons, the governing board shall 
consider faculty compensation only at those institutions of the 
same category according to the system established by the Southern 
Regional Education Board or the Carnegie Foundation or another 
major system for classifying institutions of higher education as 
determined appropriate by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating 
Board and shall make a separate determination for each faculty 
rank.  The coordinating board shall provide the governing board the 
information necessary to administer this section.
	(b)  If the governing board of an institution determines that 
the average compensation of faculty at a particular rank at the 
institution is less than the average compensation for faculty at 
that rank provided by the other states, the governing board shall 
report that determination and the relevant data to the coordinating 
board and shall adopt a program to reallocate available resources 
in a manner that will reduce the percentage difference between the 
average compensation of each faculty rank at the institution by 
one-fourth in the current state fiscal biennium and in each of the 
next three bienniums, so that at the end of the fourth biennium the 
average compensation of faculty at each rank at the institution is 
equal to or greater than the average compensation provided by the 
other states.  If fewer than four fiscal bienniums are remaining 
before the expiration date provided by Subsection (e), the 
governing board shall adopt the program to reduce the percentage 
difference by one-fourth in each fiscal biennium before the 
expiration date.
	(c)  Not later than December 1, 2006, and in each subsequent 
fiscal year, each governing board to which this section applies 
shall report, in the form and manner prescribed by the coordinating 
board, the governing board's progress in remedying faculty 
compensation deficiencies identified under this section. The 
governing board shall provide the report to the Legislative Budget 
Board, the governor's office of budget, planning, and policy, and 
the coordinating board.
	(d)  In recommending funding formulas under Section 61.059 
for institutions to which this section applies, the coordinating 
board shall account for any salary increases required to be made at 
those institutions under Subsection (b).
	(e)  This section expires September 1, 2013.                            
	SECTION 2.   This Act takes effect January 1, 2006.