80R8549 JRJ-D
 
  By: Flores, Guillen, Bonnen H.B. No. 2198
 
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorizing certain public junior colleges to offer
baccalaureate degree programs.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 130.0012, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 130.0012.  [PILOT PROJECT:] BACCALAUREATE DEGREE
PROGRAMS. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
authorize [establish a pilot project to examine the feasibility and
effectiveness of authorizing] public junior colleges to offer
baccalaureate degree programs in the fields of applied science and
applied technology under this section. Offering a baccalaureate
degree program under this section [Participation in the pilot
project] does not otherwise alter the role and mission of a public
junior college.
       (b)  The coordinating board shall authorize baccalaureate
degree programs [operate the pilot project] at each [three] public
junior college that previously participated in a pilot project to
offer baccalaureate degree programs and shall authorize
baccalaureate degree programs at an additional public junior
college if the coordinating board determines that it is in the best
interest of this state for that public junior college to offer those
degree programs after considering the criteria established by the
coordinating board under Subsection (e) [colleges, as determined by
the coordinating board].
       (c)  A public junior college offering a baccalaureate degree
program under this section [participating in the pilot project]
must meet all applicable accreditation requirements of the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools.
       (d)  A public junior college offering a baccalaureate degree
program under this section [participating in the pilot project] may
not offer more than five baccalaureate degree programs [under the
project] at any time. The degree programs are subject to the
continuing approval of the coordinating board.
       (e)  In determining whether a public junior college may offer
baccalaureate degree programs and what baccalaureate degree
programs are to be offered, [the junior college and] the
coordinating board shall consider:
             (1)  the need for the degree programs in the region
served by the junior college;
             (2)  how those degree programs would complement the
other programs and course offerings of the junior college;
             (3)  whether those degree programs would unnecessarily
duplicate the degree programs offered by other institutions of
higher education; and
             (4)  the ability of the junior college to support the
program and the adequacy of the junior college's facilities,
faculty, administration, libraries, and other resources.
       (f) [(e)]  Each public junior college that offers a
baccalaureate degree program under this section [the pilot project]
must enter into an articulation agreement with one or more general
academic teaching institutions to ensure that students enrolled in
the degree program have an opportunity to complete the degree if the
public junior college ceases to offer the degree program. The
coordinating board may require a general academic teaching
institution that offers a comparable degree program to enter into
an articulation agreement with the public junior college as
provided by this subsection.
       (g) [(f)]  In its recommendations to the legislature
relating to state funding for public junior colleges, the
coordinating board shall recommend that a public junior college
receive substantially the same state support for junior-level and
senior-level courses offered under this section [the pilot project]
as that provided to a general academic teaching institution for
substantially similar courses. In determining the contact hours
attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or senior-level
course offered under this section [the pilot project] used to
determine a public junior college's proportionate share of state
appropriations under Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall
weigh those contact hours as necessary to provide the junior
college the appropriate level of state support to the extent state
funds for those courses are included in the appropriations. This
subsection does not prohibit the legislature from directly
appropriating state funds to support junior-level and senior-level
courses offered under this section [the pilot project].
       (h) [(g)]  Each public junior college offering a
baccalaureate degree program under this section [participating in
the pilot project] shall prepare a biennial report on the operation
and effectiveness of the junior college's baccalaureate degree
programs [offered under the project] and shall deliver a copy of the
report to the coordinating board in the form and at the time
determined by the coordinating board.
       (i)  The [(h)Not later than January 1, 2009, the]
coordinating board shall establish an application process to select
additional public junior colleges that will be authorized to offer
baccalaureate degree programs under this section [prepare a
progress report on the pilot project. Not later than January 1,
2011, the coordinating board shall prepare a report on the
effectiveness of the pilot project, including any recommendations
for legislative action regarding the offering of baccalaureate
degree programs by public junior colleges. The coordinating board
shall deliver a copy of each report to the governor, the lieutenant
governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
chair of the standing committee of each house of the legislature
with primary jurisdiction over higher education].
       [(i)  Unless the authority to continue offering the
baccalaureate degree programs is continued by the legislature, a
public junior college may not:
             [(1)  enroll a new student in a baccalaureate degree
program under the pilot project after the 2011 fall semester;
             [(2)  offer junior-level or senior-level courses for
those degree programs after the 2015 fall semester, unless the
coordinating board authorizes the college to offer those courses;
or
             [(3)  award a baccalaureate degree under the pilot
project after the 2015 fall semester, unless the coordinating board
approves the awarding of the degree.]
       (j)  The coordinating board shall prescribe procedures to
ensure that each public junior college that offers a degree program
under this section [the pilot project] informs each student who
enrolls in the degree program of[:
             [(1)  the nature of the pilot project, including the
limited duration of the project; and
             [(2)] the articulation agreement entered into under
Subsection (f) [(e)] for the student's degree program.
       [(k)This section expires January 1, 2020.]
       SECTION 2.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall establish the application process required by Section
130.0012(i), Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
January 1, 2009.
       SECTION 3.  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, 2007.