|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to course requirements for students enrolled in joint |
|
degree programs between certain general academic teaching |
|
institutions and foreign universities. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 51.301, Education Code, is amended by |
|
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(a) Every college and university receiving state support or |
|
state aid from public funds shall give a course of instruction in |
|
government or political science which includes consideration of the |
|
Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the |
|
states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. This course shall |
|
have a credit value of not less than six semester hours or its |
|
equivalent. Except as provided by Subsection (c), a [No] college or |
|
university receiving state support or state aid from public funds |
|
may not grant a baccalaureate degree or a lesser degree or academic |
|
certificate to any person unless the person [he] has credit for such |
|
a course. The college or university may determine that a student |
|
has satisfied this requirement in whole or in part on the basis of |
|
credit granted to the student [him] by the college or university for |
|
a substantially equivalent course completed at another accredited |
|
college or university or on the basis of the student's successful |
|
completion of an advanced standing examination administered on the |
|
conditions and under the circumstances common for the college or |
|
university's advanced standing examinations. The college or |
|
university may grant as much as three semester hours of credit or |
|
its equivalent toward satisfaction of this requirement for |
|
substantially equivalent work completed by the student in the |
|
program of an approved senior R.O.T.C. unit. |
|
(c) The governing board of a general academic teaching |
|
institution that offers a joint baccalaureate degree program under |
|
a contract with a foreign college or university may exempt a student |
|
enrolled in the joint degree program from the course requirement |
|
prescribed by Subsection (a) if the student: |
|
(1) enrolled in the foreign college or university |
|
before enrolling in the joint degree program or is otherwise |
|
considered to be primarily a student of the foreign college or |
|
university; and |
|
(2) successfully completes the American Way course |
|
described by Subsection (d) at the institution the student attends |
|
or, with the approval of that institution, at another general |
|
academic teaching institution that offers the course. |
|
(d) The American Way course authorized by Subsection (c)(2) |
|
must be designed to provide a foreign student with a familiarity and |
|
understanding of United States government and civic life and their |
|
sources, development, and character. The course must concentrate |
|
on important texts, including the United States Constitution and |
|
the Declaration of Independence, on the works and contributions of |
|
influential authors, political and cultural leaders, and other |
|
important figures, and on important events and developments in |
|
United States history. The course must cover important |
|
developments in human and civil rights, including the civil rights |
|
movement and the history of women's rights. The course must cover |
|
the history and development of the State of Texas and its place in |
|
United States history and culture. The course must consist of four |
|
semester credit hours, with one semester credit hour in practicum |
|
activities intended to provide the student with experience in the |
|
three branches of government through participation at the federal, |
|
state, or local level. The course may not be taken for course |
|
credit by a student other than a student described by Subsection |
|
(c). |
|
(e) In this section, "general academic teaching |
|
institution" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 51.302, Education Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 51.302. AMERICAN OR TEXAS HISTORY. (a) In this |
|
section, "general academic teaching institution" has the meaning |
|
assigned by Section 61.003. |
|
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a [No] college or |
|
university receiving state support or state aid from public funds |
|
may not grant a baccalaureate degree or a lesser degree or academic |
|
certificate to any person unless the person [he] has credit for six |
|
semester hours or its equivalent in American History. A student is |
|
entitled to submit as much as three semester hours of credit or its |
|
equivalent in Texas History in partial satisfaction of this |
|
requirement. The college or university may determine that a |
|
student has satisfied this requirement in whole or part on the basis |
|
of credit granted to the student [him] by the college or university |
|
for a substantially equivalent course completed at another |
|
accredited college or university, or on the basis of the student's |
|
successful completion of an advanced standing examination |
|
administered on the conditions and under the circumstances common |
|
for the college or university's advanced standing examinations. |
|
The college or university may grant as much as three semester hours |
|
of credit or its equivalent toward satisfaction of this requirement |
|
for substantially equivalent work completed by a student in the |
|
program of an approved senior R.O.T.C. unit. |
|
(c) The governing board of a general academic teaching |
|
institution that offers a joint baccalaureate degree program under |
|
a contract with a foreign college or university may exempt a student |
|
enrolled in the joint degree program from the course requirement |
|
prescribed by Subsection (b) if the student: |
|
(1) enrolled in the foreign college or university |
|
before enrolling in the joint degree program or is otherwise |
|
considered to be primarily a student of the foreign college or |
|
university; and |
|
(2) successfully completes the American Way course |
|
described by Section 51.301(d) at the institution the student |
|
attends or, with the approval of that institution, at another |
|
general academic teaching institution that offers the course. |
|
SECTION 3. Section 61.822, Education Code, is amended by |
|
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: |
|
(e) The governing board of a general academic teaching |
|
institution that offers a joint baccalaureate degree program under |
|
a contract with a foreign college or university may, in |
|
consultation with the foreign college or university, identify and |
|
approve courses offered by the foreign college or university that |
|
are equivalent to, and may substitute for, courses in the core |
|
curriculum of a student enrolled in the joint degree program who is |
|
considered to be primarily a student of the general academic |
|
teaching institution. |
|
SECTION 4. The governing board of an institution of higher |
|
education to which Subsection (e), Section 61.822, Education Code, |
|
as added by this Act, applies may permit a student enrolled in a |
|
joint degree program to which that section applies to substitute |
|
another course for a course in the core curriculum as permitted by |
|
that section regardless of whether the student completed the course |
|
before the effective date of this Act. |
|
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, 2007. |
|
|
|
* * * * * |