By: Rose (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro) H.B. No. 708

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 18, 2009; May 19, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education; May 25, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 25, 2009, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 708 By: Patrick

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 61.821, Education Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:

(1) "Core curriculum" means the curriculum in liberal arts, humanities, and sciences and political, social, and cultural history that all undergraduate students of an institution of higher education are required to complete before receiving a bachelor's [an academic undergraduate] degree.

(4) "Statewide articulated transfer curricula" means, with respect to engineering disciplines, sets of courses, up to the level of an associate's degree, that will satisfy the lower-division requirements for bachelor's degrees in specific engineering disciplines, including biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, mechanical, nuclear, and petroleum engineering at a general academic teaching institution.

SECTION 4. Section 61.822(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core curriculum of no less than 42 semester credit hours, including specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum shall be consistent with the common course numbering system approved by the board and with the statement, recommendations, and rules issued by the board. The minimum core curriculum requirement for all academic associate's degrees shall be 42 semester credit hours, except for programs designated under board-approved field of study curricula or statewide articulated transfer curricula. An institution may have a core curriculum of other than 42 semester credit hours only if approved by the board.

SECTION 5. 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 6. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.833 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.833. STATEWIDE ARTICULATED TRANSFER CURRICULA FOR ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES; PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The board shall establish a pilot program to develop and assess methods to increase the number of students earning a baccalaureate degree in engineering. The program shall:

(1) develop levels of academic attainment, including, if feasible, standard associate's degrees:

(A) for specific engineering disciplines, including biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, mechanical, nuclear, and petroleum engineering; or

(B) that provide a foundation in any engineering discipline;

(2) develop a well-defined process for transitioning students who earn an associate's degree or other level of academic attainment in an engineering discipline into an accredited engineering degree program at a four-year institution; and

(3) establish methods to provide orientation and advising to support students in choosing an engineering discipline and in completing a baccalaureate degree in engineering.

(b) Not later than January 1, 2011, the board, with the assistance of advisory committees equitably composed of representatives of institutions of higher education, shall develop statewide articulated transfer curricula for the purpose of developing levels of academic attainment, including, if feasible, standard associate's degrees, for engineering disciplines. Each university system or independent institution of higher education that offers a degree program for which a statewide articulated transfer curriculum is proposed may nominate an individual to participate on the advisory committee for that particular engineering curriculum.

(c) The statewide articulated transfer curricula shall:

(1) have the same rigor and content as the equivalent course work at an engineering program accredited by ABET, Incorporated, that is offered at a general academic teaching institution;

(2) minimize the time and course work required to complete a baccalaureate degree in engineering; and

(3) be consistent with:

(A) the common course numbering system approved by the board; and

(B) the recommendations and rules of the board.

(d) Each institution of higher education that offers an undergraduate degree program in an engineering discipline may participate in the pilot program by adopting the statewide articulated transfer curriculum for that discipline.

(e) A student who meets institutional and engineering degree program admission requirements and successfully completes the statewide articulated transfer curriculum for an engineering discipline developed by the board under the pilot program:

(1) may transfer the credit hours earned under that curriculum and apply those credit hours to a participating four-year institution's engineering degree program in a discipline for which the curriculum was developed; and

(2) shall receive full academic credit toward that engineering degree program for the credit hours transferred.

(f) A student who meets institutional and degree program admission requirements and who transfers from one institution of higher education to another without completing the statewide articulated transfer curriculum developed by the board for that engineering discipline shall receive full academic credit from a participating institution for each of the courses that the student has successfully completed in the statewide articulated transfer curriculum. Following receipt of credit for each of those courses, the student shall be required to satisfy any additional course requirements in the degree program of the receiving institution.

(g) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees established under this section, shall periodically evaluate whether the statewide articulated transfer curricula for engineering disciplines:

(1) effectively facilitate the transition of junior college students and students of other two-year institutions of higher education into accredited four-year engineering degree programs; and

(2) have contributed to increasing the number of transfer students who successfully complete baccalaureate degree programs in engineering.

(h) Not later than January 1, 2011, the board shall report to the legislature regarding the board's progress in developing and evaluating statewide articulated transfer curricula for engineering disciplines required by this section.

(i) This section expires January 1, 2017.

SECTION 7. 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 8. (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 9. The changes in law made by this Act in amending Sections 61.821 and 61.822, Education Code, and adding Section 61.833, Education Code, do not make an appropriation. A provision in those sections that creates a new governmental program, creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the provision.

SECTION 10. 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.

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