79R2221 CAS-D
By: Brown of Brazos H.B. No. 3075
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the components of the core curriculum for public
institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 61.822(a), (b), and (c), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees
composed of representatives of institutions of higher education,
shall develop recommendations for a [recommended] core curriculum
that could be satisfied through completion of a number of [at least
42] semester credit hours permitted by Subsection (b). The
recommendations must include[, including] a statement of the
content, component areas, and objectives of the core curriculum.
At least a majority of the members of any advisory committee named
under this section must [shall] be faculty members of an
institution of higher education. An institution shall consult with
the faculty of the institution before nominating or recommending a
person to the board as the institution's representative on an
advisory committee.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core
curriculum of not fewer than 36 and not more [no less] than 42
semester credit hours, including specific courses comprising the
curriculum. The core curriculum must [shall] be consistent with
the common course numbering system approved by the board and with
the statement, recommendations, and rules issued by the board. [An
institution may have a core curriculum of other than 42 semester
credit hours only if approved by the board.]
(c) If a student successfully completes the [42-hour] core
curriculum at an institution of higher education, that block of
courses may be transferred to any other institution of higher
education and must be substituted for the receiving institution's
core curriculum. A student shall receive academic credit for each
of the courses transferred and may not be required to take
additional core curriculum courses at the receiving institution
unless the receiving institution [board] has adopted [approved] a
[larger] core curriculum that requires completion of more semester
credit hours than the sending [at the] institution.
SECTION 2. Sections 51.301 and 51.302, Education Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than May 31, 2006, the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board shall develop recommendations
for the core curriculum to conform to the requirements of Section
61.822, Education Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) Each public institution of higher education in this
state shall revise its core curriculum as necessary to conform to
the requirements of Section 61.822, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, and shall require students to comply with the
institution's revised core curriculum beginning with the 2008 fall
semester, except that an institution shall permit a student who was
enrolled in the institution before the 2008 fall semester to comply
with the core curriculum requirements applicable to that student
before that semester. Each institution of higher education shall
issue course catalogs that reflect the applicable core curriculum
under Section 61.822, Education Code, consistent with this
subsection. This subsection expires at the beginning of the 2010
fall semester.
(c) The change in law made by this Act to Section 61.822(c),
Education Code, applies to students who transfer between
institutions of higher education beginning with the 2008 fall
semester. Students who transfer between institutions of higher
education before the 2008 fall semester are covered by Section
61.822(c), Education Code, as that subsection existed before its
amendment by this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. 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, 2005.