By: Shapiro, et al. S.B. No. 1228
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a statewide assessment and accountability system for
public institutions of higher education, to an annual analysis and
report by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding
financial information submitted by those institutions, and to
tuition deregulation with regard to those institutions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter EE to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER EE. STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM
Sec. 61.9751. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM;
SYSTEM COMPONENTS. (a) The board shall develop and implement a
statewide assessment and accountability system to measure the
performance of each institution of higher education, including the
institution's progress in achieving performance goals, in the
following areas:
(1) the number of students to whom the institution
provides higher education services;
(2) the number of students succeeding in higher
education at the institution, as measured at least in part by the
number of degrees or certificates awarded, retention rates, and
graduation rates;
(3) institutional research, as measured at least in
part by the level of federal science or engineering research
funding awarded to the institution;
(4) the overall excellence of the institution, as
measured at least in part by the number of the institution's
programs or services that are nationally recognized;
(5) the institution's effectiveness in managing and
using money available to the institution from appropriations,
tuition charges, or any other source; and
(6) any other area determined by the board to be
necessary to effectively evaluate the performance of a particular
type of institution.
(b) As part of the system, the board, in consultation with
appropriate officers of each institution, shall place each
institution in an institutional peer group with like institutions
of higher education in this state and other states, as determined by
the primary role or mission of the institutions, such as research,
teaching, or the provision of graduate education. At least
biennially, the board shall review the institutions assigned to
each peer group and modify the peer group as necessary to reflect
changes in the role or mission of one or more institutions.
(c) The board by rule shall adopt a method to assess and rate
the performance, including progress in achieving performance
goals, of each institution of higher education in each area
identified under Subsection (a) and to use the assessments and
ratings for each area to assess and rate the overall performance of
each institution. The board may adopt different ratings methods
for different institutional peer groups. The board may provide for
ratings in any form, including in the form of a ranking or score,
except that the ratings method must provide a clear indication of
whether an institution's performance is acceptable or unacceptable
and must allow an assessment based on the specific context and
circumstances associated with each institution. The board may also
provide for a rating that indicates a need for improvement or that
recognizes the degree of change in an institution's performance
from one year to the next or over a period of years specified by the
board.
(d) The board shall develop and implement a method to
recognize each institution of higher education assigned the highest
rating in overall performance under Section 61.9752.
Sec. 61.9752. ANNUAL ASSESSMENT. (a) Each year the board
shall assess and rate the performance of each institution of higher
education using the assessment and accountability system developed
under this subchapter and determine whether to change an
institution's current performance rating.
(b) In assessing and rating an institution's performance,
the board shall compare an institution's performance for each area
identified under Section 61.9751(a) to standards established under
state law, including standards adopted by the board, and to the
performance of other in-state and out-of-state institutions of
higher education in the same institutional peer group.
Sec. 61.9753. REPORTS; LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT. (a) Not
later than January 15 of each year, the board shall report
assessment results to each institution of higher education and to
the legislative oversight committee on higher education
established under Section 54.0515. The board shall also report the
results of the annual assessments on the board's Internet website.
(b) Not later than February 15 of each odd-numbered year,
the legislative oversight committee shall make any recommendations
the committee considers necessary for legislative action
concerning the assessment and accountability system or the
assessment results.
Sec. 61.9754. INFORMATION FOR ASSESSMENTS. To the extent
practicable, the board shall obtain the information necessary for
the board to perform its duties under this subchapter from other
agencies or from reports submitted to the board for other purposes
by institutions of higher education. Each institution of higher
education shall provide to the board, at the time and in the form
required by the board, any other information necessary for the
board to perform its duties under this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9755. TUITION INCREASE PROHIBITED. If for any
academic year an institution of higher education receives a rating
under the assessment and accountability system that indicates
unacceptable overall performance, for a subsequent academic year
the institution may not increase the rate of tuition charged under
Section 54.0513 or any other law granting the institution or its
governing board discretion to set the tuition rate, except as
necessary to reflect cost-of-living increases as determined by the
board, until the institution receives a rating that indicates
acceptable overall performance.
Sec. 61.9756. RULES. The board shall adopt rules as
necessary to implement this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9757. INITIAL REPORTS, COMMENTS, RECOMMENDATIONS,
AND IMPLEMENTATION. (a) Not later than November 1, 2005, the
board shall submit to the legislative oversight committee on higher
education an initial report on the board's proposed statewide
higher education assessment and accountability system for
institutions of higher education other than public junior colleges.
Not later than December 1, 2005, the committee shall provide its
comments and recommendations to the board concerning the proposed
system for those institutions of higher education. The board shall
consider the committee's comments and recommendations in adopting
and implementing the system.
(b) Not later than March 1, 2006, the board shall implement
the assessment and accountability system and make the initial
institutional assessments of institutions of higher education
other than public junior colleges.
(c) Not later than November 1, 2006, the board shall submit
to the legislative oversight committee an initial report on the
board's proposed statewide higher education assessment and
accountability system for public junior colleges. Not later than
December 1, 2006, the committee shall provide its comments and
recommendations to the board concerning the proposed system for
public junior colleges. The board shall consider the committee's
comments and recommendations in adopting and implementing the
system.
(d) Not later than March 1, 2007, the board shall implement
the assessment and accountability system for public junior colleges
and make the initial institutional assessments of the junior
colleges.
(e) The board as it considers appropriate may apply this
section to public state colleges and public technical institutes
according to the provisions applicable to public junior colleges.
(f) This section expires June 1, 2007.
Sec. 61.9758. COMPOSITION OF PEER GROUPS: INCLUSION OF
OUT-OF-STATE INSTITUTIONS. Notwithstanding Section 61.9751(b) or
61.9752(b), the board is not required to include institutions of
higher education in other states in institutional peer groups or to
use those institutions as part of the statewide higher education
assessment and accountability system until September 1, 2007. This
section expires January 1, 2008.
SECTION 2. Subsections (b) and (f), Section 54.0515,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The legislative oversight committee on higher education
is composed of 12 members as follows:
(1) the presiding officer of each legislative standing
committee and subcommittee with primary jurisdiction over higher
education;
(2) the presiding officer of the Senate Finance
Committee or its successor and of the House Appropriations
Committee or its successor;
(3) three additional [six] members of the senate
appointed by the lieutenant governor; and
(4) four additional [(2) six] members of the house of
representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives.
(f) The committee shall:
(1) meet at the call of either chair;
(2) monitor and regularly report to the legislature on
each institution of higher education's compliance with the
requirements of Subsection (e); [and]
(3) receive and review information concerning the
affordability and accessibility of higher education, including the
impact of tuition deregulation; and
(4) perform duties prescribed by Subchapter EE,
Chapter 61, concerning the statewide higher education assessment
and accountability system.
SECTION 3. Section 61.065, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
as follows:
(a) The comptroller of public accounts and the board jointly
shall prescribe and periodically update a uniform system of annual
financial accounting and reporting for institutions of higher
education, including definitions of the elements of cost on the
basis of which appropriations shall be made and financial records
shall be maintained. The board may require institutions to report
additional financial information as the board considers necessary.
In order that the uniform system of financial accounting and
reporting shall provide for maximum consistency with the national
reporting system for higher education, the uniform system shall
incorporate insofar as possible the provisions of the financial
accounting and reporting manual published by the National
Association of College and University Business Officers. The
accounts of the institutions shall be maintained and audited in
accordance with the approved reporting system.
(c) The board shall review, analyze, and summarize the
financial information reported annually by each institution of
higher education under this section and, not later than May 1 of
each year, shall report its analysis and summary of that
information for the preceding year to each legislative standing
committee and subcommittee with primary jurisdiction over higher
education.
(d) A report by the board under Subsection (c) must
accurately provide all of the sources and uses of the money received
by each institution of higher education and must reflect the unique
mission, structure, resources, and other circumstances of each
category of institution.
SECTION 4. (a) The legislative oversight committee on
higher education shall review tuition deregulation and make
recommendations to the 80th Legislature for its continuation or
repeal. The report shall be submitted by January 1, 2007, to the
legislature.
(b) Section 54.0513, Education Code, shall be repealed on
September 1, 2008, unless the legislature passes legislation to
continue its existence.
SECTION 5. (a) On October 15, 2005, the presiding officer
of each legislative standing committee and subcommittee with
primary jurisdiction over higher education and the presiding
officer of the Senate Finance Committee or its successor and of the
House Appropriations Committee or its successor shall begin serving
as members of the legislative oversight committee on higher
education in accordance with Subsection (b), Section 54.0515,
Education Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) As soon as practicable after this Act takes effect, the
lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives
shall modify the composition of the legislative oversight committee
on higher education as necessary to comply with Subsection (b),
Section 54.0515, Education Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 6. 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.