By: Rose H.B. No. 708

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to higher education transfer practices, articulation agreements, policies for dropping courses, and special-purpose centers and to the formula funding for certain credit hours.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 51.907(a) and (b), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) In this section, "governing board," [and] "institution of higher education," and "public junior college" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.

(b) This section applies only to an undergraduate student who drops a course at an institution of higher education other than a public junior college and only if:

(1) the student was able to drop the course without receiving a grade or incurring an academic penalty;

(2) the student's transcript indicates or will indicate that the student was enrolled in the course; and

(3) the student is not dropping the course in order to withdraw from the institution.

SECTION 2. (a) Section 61.0595(d), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) The following are not counted for purposes of determining whether the student has previously earned the number of semester credit hours specified by Subsection (a):

(1) semester credit hours earned by the student before receiving an associate or [a] baccalaureate degree that has previously been awarded to the student;

(2) semester credit hours earned by the student by examination or under any other procedure by which credit is earned without registering for a course for which tuition is charged;

(3) credit for a remedial education course, a technical course, a workforce education course funded according to contact hours, or another course that does not count toward a degree program at the institution; [and]

(4) semester credit hours earned by the student at a private institution or an out-of-state institution; and

(5) semester credit hours earned by the student before graduating from high school and used to satisfy high school graduation requirements.

(b) The change in law made by this section to Section 61.0595, Education Code, applies beginning with the funding recommendations made under Section 61.059, Education Code, for the 2011-2012 academic year.

SECTION 3. Section 61.830, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.830. PUBLICATION OF TRANSFER GUIDELINES; [ADDRESSING] TRANSFER PRACTICES. (a) In its course catalogs and on its website, each institution of higher education shall publish:

(1) guidelines addressing the practices of the institution regarding the transfer of course credit, under which courses are identified[. In the guidelines, the institution must identify a course by] using the common course numbering system approved by the board; and

(2) in a format designated by the commissioner, all institutional and statewide articulation agreements concerning the transfer of courses.

(b) Each institution of higher education shall post on the institution's website the dates for which each published articulation agreement is valid and shall remove an expired articulation agreement from the website not later than the 30th day after the date of its expiration.

(c) The board shall adopt a standard format for the publication of articulation agreements under this section. The format must provide students with access to the requirements of each articulation agreement to allow students enrolled in public junior colleges, public state colleges, and public technical institutes to plan and coordinate course schedules to meet those requirements.

(d) The board shall provide links to each website described under Subsection (a) in a prominent, easily accessible, and identifiable location on the board's college information website.

(e) Not later than September 30 of each even-numbered year, the commissioner shall make recommendations to each standing committee of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education to improve:

(1) the publication of transfer policies and articulation agreements for the benefit of transfer students; and

(2) the level of participation of institutions of higher education in articulation agreements for the purpose of facilitating the transfer of students between institutions.

(f) A student who enrolls in a public junior college, public state college, or public technical institute under an articulation agreement is entitled to transfer to the general academic teaching institution that is a party to the agreement not later than the fourth anniversary of the date the student first enrolled in the public junior college, public state college, or public technical institute.

SECTION 4. Chapter 111, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter I to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER I. UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON HURRICANE CENTER FOR

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY

Sec. 111.121. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Board" means the board of regents of the University of Houston System.

(2) "Center" means the University of Houston Hurricane Center for Innovative Technology (UHC-IT) established under this subchapter.

Sec. 111.122. ESTABLISHMENT. (a) The University of Houston Hurricane Center for Innovative Technology is established at the University of Houston.

(b) The organization, control, and management of the center are vested in the board.

(c) The center shall be hosted by the university's College of Engineering. Participation in the center's activities shall be open to any faculty member of the university who is an active researcher in the field of materials, nanotechnology, structural engineering, designing of structures, or sensor technology, or in another relevant field as determined by the university.

Sec. 111.123. PURPOSE. The center is created to:

(1) promote interdisciplinary research, education, and training for the development of state-of-the-art products, materials, systems, and technologies designed to mitigate the wind and asserted structural damages in the built environment and offshore structures caused by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region; and

(2) develop protocols for the fast and efficient recovery of the public and private sectors, including utilities, hospitals, petrochemical industries, offshore platforms, and municipalities and other local communities following a hurricane.

Sec. 111.124. POWERS AND DUTIES. The center shall:

(1) collaborate with appropriate federal, state, and local agencies and private business or nonprofit entities as necessary to coordinate efforts after a hurricane in the Gulf Coast region;

(2) develop smart materials and devices for use in hurricane protection and mitigation systems for structural monitoring;

(3) develop anchor systems for window and door screens, dwellings and other buildings, pipelines, and other onshore and offshore structures to withstand hurricane wind damage;

(4) develop test facilities for evaluating the performance of new products, materials, or techniques designed to protect against hurricane wind damage;

(5) develop specifications and standards for products used for protecting against hurricane wind damage;

(6) design buildings, houses, and other structures to withstand hurricane wind damage; and

(7) provide hurricane-related educational programs, seminars, conferences, and workshops to the community designed to ensure safety, minimize loss of life, and mitigate the destruction of property associated with hurricane wind damage.

Sec. 111.125. COLLABORATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES. The University of Houston shall encourage public and private entities to participate in or support the operation of the center and may enter into an agreement with any public or private entity for that purpose. An agreement may allow the center to provide information, services, or other assistance to an entity in exchange for the entity's participation or support.

Sec. 111.126. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The board may solicit, accept, and administer gifts and grants from any public or private source for the purposes of the center.

Sec. 111.127. PERSONNEL. The board may employ personnel for the center as necessary.

SECTION 5. (a) Each public institution of higher education must satisfy the requirements of Section 61.830, Education Code, as amended by this Act, not later than September 30, 2010.

(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt the standard publication format required by Section 61.830(c), Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than December 31, 2009.

SECTION 6. 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, 2009.