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 Sections 51.301 and 51.302, Education Code, are repealed.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.