79R7954 KEL-D
By: West, Royce S.B. No. 1502
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to improvements in and assessments of the status of higher
education in this state and to the coordination of public
institutions of higher education in this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.051, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), and (e) and adding
Subsections (a-4) and (a-5) to read as follows:
(a-1) The board shall develop a long-range statewide
[five-year] master plan for higher education to provide information
and guidance to policy makers to ensure that institutions of higher
education meet the current and future needs of each region of this
state for higher education services and that adequate higher
education services at all levels are reasonably and equally
available to the residents of each region of [in] this state. The
[five-year] plan must project the status of higher education in
this state for future five-year intervals and must consider [shall
take into account] the resources of private institutions of higher
education in this state.
(a-2) In developing the master plan, the board shall examine
existing undergraduate, graduate, professional, and research
programs provided by institutions of higher education and identify
the geographic areas of this state that, as a result of current
population or projected population growth, distance from other
educational resources, economic trends, or other factors, have or
are reasonably likely to have in the future significantly greater
need for higher education services than the services currently
provided in the area by existing institutions of higher education.
The board shall also consider the higher education services
provided by private and independent institutions of higher
education in developing the plan. The board shall identify as
specifically as practicable the programs or fields of study for
which an area has or is projected to have a significant unmet need
for services. In determining the need for higher education
services in an area, the board shall consider the educational
attainment of the current population and the extent to which
residents from the area attend institutions of higher education
outside of the area or do not attend institutions of higher
education. The board shall include in the plan specific
recommendations, including alternative recommendations, for
administrative or legislative action to address an area's unmet
need for higher education services as efficiently as possible. Not
later than November 1 of each even-numbered year, the board shall
deliver to the governor, lieutenant governor, and legislature a
report of the current master plan developed under this section.
(a-3) [(a-2)] The board shall periodically review and
revise the [five-year] master plan developed under this section
[Subsection (a-1)]. As a specific element of its review, the board
shall identify and analyze the degree to which the plan reflects the
continuing higher education needs of this state, as well as any
policy changes necessary to improve overall implementation of the
plan and the fiscal impact of those changes. The board shall
establish procedures for monitoring the board's implementation of
the plan, including an analysis of the degree to which its current
activities support implementation of the plan and any change in
board rules or practices necessary to improve implementation of the
plan.
(a-4) The board shall adopt a strategic plan to guide the
implementation of the master plan and the use of state resources in
the implementation of the master plan. The strategic plan must
identify and incorporate strategies to be used by the board and each
institution of higher education to implement the master plan, other
strategies necessary to implement the master plan, and strategies
for maximizing the use of state resources to implement the master
plan [identify additional strategies necessary to achieve the goals
of the plan, emphasizing implementation by institutions of higher
education] and must make specific recommendations regarding higher
education in [for] the different regions of the state. The board
shall notify each institution of higher education of all strategies
for implementing the plan.
(a-5) [(a-3)] The board shall inform the legislature on
matters pertaining to higher education, including the state's
activities in the Board of Control for Southern Regional Education,
and shall report to the legislature not later than January 1 of each
odd-numbered year on the state of higher education in Texas. In the
biennial report, the board shall assess the state's progress in
meeting the goals stated in the master plan developed under this
section [Subsection (a-1)] and shall recommend legislative action
to assist the state in meeting those goals. The report must include
the analyses performed in connection with the board's periodic
review under Subsection (a-3) [(a-2)].
(e) The board shall review periodically the role and mission
statements, the table of programs, and all degree and certificate
programs offered by the public institutions of higher education to
assure that they meet the present and future needs of the state and
the counties in which they are located. The board's review shall be
performed at least every four years and shall involve the
chairperson of the institution's board of regents. The board shall
also order the initiation, consolidation, or elimination of degree
or certificate programs where that action is in the best interest of
the public institutions themselves or the general requirements of
the State of Texas, the counties in which they are located, or when
that action offers hope of achieving excellence by a concentration
of available resources. No new department, school, degree program,
or certificate program may be added at any public institution of
higher education except with specific prior approval of the board.
The board by rule shall adopt criteria for the addition of a new
department, school, or degree or certificate program by an
institution of higher education. The board may authorize an
institution to continue a doctoral program that is inconsistent
with the role and mission of the institution if the program was in
existence on September 1, 1987, and the board determines that
continuation of the program is warranted.
SECTION 2. Sections 61.059(a) and (i-1), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) To finance a system of higher education and to secure an
equitable distribution of state funds deemed to be available for
higher education, the board shall perform the functions described
in this section. Funding policies shall:
(1) allocate resources efficiently and provide
incentives for programs of superior quality and for institutional
diversity;
(2) provide incentives for supporting the [five-year]
master plan for higher education developed and revised under
Section 61.051; and
(3) discourage unnecessary duplication of course
offerings between institutions and unnecessary construction on any
campus.
(i-1) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year,
the board shall make and submit to the legislature findings and
recommendations regarding the degree to which the current higher
education funding system, including formula funding and any other
transfers of legislative appropriations to institutions of higher
education, supports the implementation of the [five-year] master
plan for higher education developed and revised under Section
61.051. The board may include its findings and recommendations in
the biennial report submitted to the legislature under Section
61.051. In its findings, the board must:
(1) identify funding incentives that would encourage
implementation of the [five-year] master plan by institutions of
higher education; and
(2) assess the accountability of institutions of
higher education with respect to legislative appropriations to
evaluate institutional allocation of financial resources in
accordance with the [five-year] master plan.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.0818 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0818. IDENTIFYING INSTITUTIONS AS COMPREHENSIVE
RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES OF THE FIRST CLASS. (a) The board shall
establish a system for designating a general academic teaching
institution as a comprehensive research university of the first
class and shall prescribe criteria to determine whether a general
academic teaching institution should be assigned that designation.
The board shall determine which general academic teaching
institutions merit the designation and shall periodically review
that determination.
(b) In prescribing the criteria for purposes of Subsection
(a), the board shall consider the criteria used by generally
recognized college and university classification systems to
identify those universities in the highest classification or
ranking. The board shall specifically consider whether to
prescribe criteria based on the following factors:
(1) the number, variety, and quality of an
institution's undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, and
professional degree programs, the number of programs accredited by
a recognized accrediting agency or recognized nationally, the
institution's selectivity in admissions to each program, the
standard time required for a student to obtain a degree in each
program, the institution's graduation rates in each program, and
the institution's faculty-to-student classroom ratios;
(2) the degree to which writing and critical thought
are incorporated as elements in each undergraduate degree program,
the number of graduates of each undergraduate degree program who
enroll in selective graduate, postgraduate, and professional
degree programs, the level of graduate performance on licensing
examinations, the number, variety, and quality of honors programs
available at the institution, whether honors theses are required
for participation in those honors programs, and the availability of
independent study credits at the institution;
(3) the number of doctoral degrees awarded by the
institution, the number, variety, and quality of the programs in
which those degrees are awarded, and the number of students
enrolled in each program;
(4) the degree of faculty and student engagement in
research and other creative activities, the number of faculty and
students who engage in those activities, the resources applied by
the institution to those activities, the number, variety, and
quality of degree programs in which those activities occur, the
success of the institution in receiving federal research and
development funding, and the number of faculty who are members of
nationally recognized academic associations such as the National
Academy of Sciences or the National Academy of Engineering;
(5) the quality of the libraries of the institution;
(6) the amount of institutional endowment and state
revenue available on behalf of each student;
(7) whether the institution is a member of the
Association of American Universities, the Association of Research
Libraries, or another similar entity that recognizes institutional
excellence on a national level; and
(8) alumni involvement in institution activities.
(c) In prescribing the criteria for purposes of Subsection
(a), the board must include any criteria the commissioner of higher
education considers appropriate to achieve the purposes of this
section.
(d) The board shall administer this section with the
assistance of an advisory committee composed of at least five but
not more than 15 higher education experts or scholars from any
state. The commissioner of higher education shall select the
members of the advisory committee. Chapter 2110, Government Code,
does not apply to the advisory committee.
(e) Not later than October 1, 2006, the board shall
establish the initial criteria and make its initial determinations
under this section and report the board's actions to each
legislative standing committee and subcommittee with primary
jurisdiction over higher education. This subsection expires
January 1, 2007.
SECTION 4. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 61.051(i); and
(2) Section 61.056.
SECTION 5. 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.