By: Zaffirini  S.B. No. 1234
         (In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2007; March 14, 2007, read
  first time and referred to Subcommittee on Higher Education;
  April 23, 2007, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute from Committee on Education by the following vote:  
  Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 23, 2007, sent to printer.)
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1234 By:  Zaffirini
 
 
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.
 
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