BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center C.S.S.B. 276
Committee Report (Substituted)
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Current law requires the removal of a student's name from an application for student regent before the applicant is considered by the applicant's institution. The chancellor or president does not have the opportunity to interview the student before making a recommendation to the governor. Currently a student is not required to receive a minimum grade point average or to be in good academic standing with the institution to be eligible to be appointed as student regent. There is no provision regarding reimbursement to the student regent for travel expenses.
C.S.S.B. 276 removes the requirement that the student's name be removed from an application for student regent before consideration by the university's chancellor or president. C.S.S.B. 276 updates the eligibility requirements for appointment as student regent by requiring the student to be in good academic standing throughout the person's term and by setting a minimum grade point average of 2.5. C.S.S.B. 276 provides that a student regent is entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 51.355, Education Code, as added by Chapters 292 and 1181, Acts of the 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsections (d-1), (h), and (i), as follows:
(c) Modifies the deadlines for soliciting and selecting applicants for appointment to the next regular term of the position of student regent and for sending the applications to the governor. Deletes the requirement that the name of each applicant and the name of the institution or unit in which the applicant is enrolled be removed from the five applications sent to the chancellor of the university system as recommendations from the student government for the position of student regent. Deletes the provision that the governor may request to review information required to be removed from an application by the student government under this subsection. Modifies the one-year term of the student regent to be from June 1 to the following May 31, rather than from February 1 to the following February 1.
(d) Requires a student to be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student in a general academic teaching institution or medical and dental unit in the university system and to be in good academic standing as determined by the institution at the time of appointment to be eligible for appointment as a student regent, and requires the person to remain enrolled at the institution throughout the person's terms as a student regent.
(d-1) Requires a student regent, throughout the student regent's term, to maintain a grade point average of at least 2.5 on a four-point scale. Requires the president of the institution in which the student regent is enrolled to notify the governor if the student regent fails to maintain the qualifications required by this section.
(h) Requires the governor to declare the position of student regent vacant on receiving notice under Subsection (d-1) from the president of the institution in which the student regent is enrolled that the student regent has failed to maintain the qualifications required by this section, and as soon as practicable to fill the vacancy in the manner prescribed by Subsection (g).
(i) Provides that a student regent serves without compensation but is entitled to be reimbursed for the actual expenses incurred by the student regent in attending the meetings of the board of regents, subject to the approval of the chairman of the board of regents.
SECTION 2. Amends Section 51.356, Education Code, by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections (e-1), (h), and (i), to make conforming changes.
SECTION 3. Makes application of this Act prospective.
SECTION 4. Extends the expiration date of the term of a student regent on the board of regents of a state university system or state university that under the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act from February 1, 2008, to May 31, 2008.
SECTION 5. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2007.