|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to a master plan for higher education in this state. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subsections (a-1) and (a-2), Section 61.051, |
|
Education Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
(a-1) To ensure that students enrolled at institutions of |
|
higher education are sufficiently prepared to meet the challenges |
|
associated with participation in the public affairs of the state |
|
and in the global economy, the [The] board shall develop a |
|
[five-year] master plan for higher education in this state for a |
|
period of years determined by the board. The [five-year] plan must |
|
[shall] take into account the resources of private or independent |
|
institutions of higher education in this state and must include: |
|
(1) reexamination of the purposes, needs, and goals of |
|
higher education in this state; |
|
(2) consideration of methods for defining the roles |
|
and missions of institutions of higher education in a way that is |
|
consistent with this state's needs and goals; |
|
(3) consideration of more effective methods for |
|
funding higher education; |
|
(4) consideration of methods for establishing a |
|
coherent long-term student financial aid strategy that takes into |
|
account both student financial need and student achievement; |
|
(5) recommendations for strengthening collaboration |
|
between two-year and four-year institutions of higher education; |
|
(6) recommendations for developing and reinforcing |
|
long-term collaboration between and among primary, secondary, and |
|
postsecondary educational institutions; |
|
(7) consideration of: |
|
(A) the state's current and needed allocation of |
|
resources for medical education, including graduate medical |
|
education; |
|
(B) the current and needed geographic |
|
distribution of those resources; and |
|
(C) the value of associating a medical school |
|
with a general academic teaching institution; |
|
(8) in consultation with the state demographer and at |
|
least one general academic teaching institution, medical and dental |
|
unit, private or independent institution of higher education, and |
|
public junior college, assessment of: |
|
(A) the number of new faculty members needed to |
|
achieve the goals of the master plan, and the academic disciplines |
|
in which the new faculty members are or will be needed; |
|
(B) the number of qualified persons available to |
|
serve as faculty members in this state and throughout the nation and |
|
the demand for the services of those persons in this state and |
|
throughout the nation; and |
|
(C) the capacity of public and private |
|
institutions of higher education in this state to prepare persons |
|
who are qualified to serve as faculty members at institutions in |
|
this state and across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines; |
|
(9) identification of appropriate incentives, |
|
including concurrent enrollment and dual credit, and requirements |
|
to facilitate seamless student transitions between and among high |
|
schools, public junior colleges, public technical institutes, |
|
public state colleges, general academic teaching institutions, and |
|
medical and dental units; |
|
(10) consideration of concerns regarding the current |
|
and projected student enrollment and enrollment capacity of The |
|
University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University and of |
|
methods for ensuring that those institutions maintain |
|
competitiveness with other public and private flagship |
|
institutions of higher education; |
|
(11) consideration of the value of creating additional |
|
four-year flagship public research institutions of higher |
|
education, including consideration of methods for: |
|
(A) selecting the location of those |
|
institutions; and |
|
(B) ensuring that those institutions admit a |
|
qualified and diverse student body; |
|
(12) analysis of alternative methods of funding |
|
institutions of higher education, with emphasis on the research |
|
components of those institutions; and |
|
(13) consideration of whether to add new components to |
|
the TEXAS Grant program and other state financial aid programs for |
|
higher education, including a component that specifically |
|
addresses the needs of students at the preschool and primary and |
|
secondary school levels, ensures that those students commit to and |
|
succeed in postsecondary education, and includes a work-study |
|
requirement. |
|
(a-2) The board shall periodically review and revise the |
|
[five-year] master plan developed under 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. The |
|
board shall identify additional strategies necessary to achieve the |
|
goals of the plan, emphasizing implementation by institutions of |
|
higher education and specific recommendations for the different |
|
regions of the state. The board shall notify each institution of |
|
higher education of all strategies for implementing the plan. |
|
SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (i-1), Section 61.059, |
|
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 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 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. 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. |
|
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. |
1 |
|
Amend S.B. No. 1234 (senate engrossment) as follows: |
|
(1) In SECTION 1 of the bill, in added Subdivision (12), |
|
Subsection (a-1), Section 61.051, Education Code (page 3, line 22), |
|
strike "and". |
|
(2) In SECTION 1 of the bill, in added Subdivision (13), |
|
Subsection (a-1), Section 61.051, Education Code (page 4, line 2), |
|
between "requirement" and the period, insert the following: |
|
; and |
|
(14) consideration of: |
|
(A) the effectiveness of existing family |
|
asset-building programs related to higher education, including |
|
individual college savings plans, prepaid tuition plans, and |
|
universal children's savings accounts; and |
|
(B) the degree to which such programs contribute |
|
to each of the following in relation to study at a public or private |
|
institution of higher education: |
|
(i) increased student achievement; |
|
(ii) readiness for higher education; |
|
(iii) enrollment rates; |
|
(iv) dropout prevention; |
|
(v) overall student success and well-being; |
|
and |
|
(vi) reliance on student loans |
|
80R20598 KEL-FHoward of Travis |