81R15752 T
 
  By: Kolkhorst H.B. No. 4471
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the professional nursing shortage reduction program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 61.9621, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 61.9621.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter,
  "professional nursing program" means an educational program of an
  institution of higher education including a private or independent
  institution of higher education for preparing students for initial
  licensure as registered nurses.
         SECTION 2.  Section 61.9623, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) to read as follows:
         (a)  A grant from the professional nursing shortage
  reduction program to a professional nursing program or other entity
  involved with a professional nursing program in the preparation of
  students for initial licensure as registered nurses must be:
               (1)  expended exclusively on costs related to:
                     (A)  enrolling additional students;
                     (B)  nursing faculty enhancement in accordance
  with Section 61.96231;
                     (C)  encouraging innovation in the recruitment
  and retention of students, including the recruitment and retention
  of Spanish-speaking and bilingual students; or
                     (D)  identifying, developing, or implementing
  innovative methods to make the most effective use of limited
  professional nursing program faculty, instructional or clinical
  space, and other resources, including:
                           (i)  sharing administrative or
  instructional personnel, facilities, and responsibilities between
  two or more professional nursing programs located in the same
  region of this state; and
                           (ii)  using preceptors or part-time faculty
  to provide clinical instruction in order to address the need for
  qualified faculty to accommodate increased student enrollment in
  the professional nursing program;
               (2)  contingent on the professional nursing program's
  having been approved as a professional nursing program by the board
  or the Texas Board of Nursing, as appropriate[, by September 1,
  2001];
               (3)  contingent on the professional nursing program's
  not being on probation with the Texas Board of Nursing or other
  accrediting body; and
               (4)  if granted to increase enrollments, contingent on
  the professional nursing program's ability to enroll additional
  students, including having the necessary classroom space and
  clinical slots.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 61.96232, 61.96233, and 61.9629 to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 61.96232.  MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO INCREASE
  GRADUATES. (a)  Contingent upon the appropriation of funds and in
  accordance with the process established under Subsection (b), the
  Commissioner of Higher Education shall enter into a memorandum of
  understanding with the governing institution, or its board, of a
  professional nursing program with respect to the distribution of
  funds to the nursing program based on the program's graduating
  additional students prepared for initial licensure as register
  nurses.
         (b)  The board, by rule, shall establish a process by which
  the commissioner may enter into a memorandum of understanding with
  an institution, or its board, under this section. The process may
  authorize the commissioner to enter into a single memorandum of
  understanding with multiple institutions desiring to cooperate on a
  regional or joint basis to graduate additional students prepared
  for initial licensure as register nurses.
         (c)  The memorandum of understanding between the
  commissioner and an institution, or its board, shall set out the
  terms relating to any funds distributed to the professional nursing
  program. The memorandum of understanding shall state the number of
  additional students prepared for initial licensure as registered
  nurses the professional nursing program will graduate and identify
  benchmarks for determining progress toward graduating those
  additional students.
         (d)  An institution shall expend any funds received under
  this section on its professional nursing program including
  expending the funds for any the purposes set out in Sec. 61.9623.
         (e)  If a professional nursing program fails to graduate the
  additional students as agreed or does not meet a benchmark used to
  determine progress toward graduating the additional students as
  agreed, the commissioner may:
               (1)  require the institution to return any unspent
  funds received by the institution under this section;
               (2)  withhold any future payments required by the
  memorandum of understanding;
               (3)  re-negotiate the memorandum of understanding; or
               (4)  cancel the memorandum of understanding.
         (f)  The board may appoint an advisory committee to advise
  the commissioner and the board on implementation of this section.
  The board may assign the committee the responsibility of evaluating
  and making recommendations to the commissioner as to the
  institutions with which to enter into memoranda of understanding
  under this section.
         Sec. 61.96233.  NEW PROFESSIONAL NURSING PROGRAMS. The
  board, by rule, shall establish a process for permitting newly
  established professional nursing programs to participate in and
  receive funds under programs established under this subchapter in
  an equitable manner, including establishing a base for calculating
  increases in enrollment or graduates if a program distributes funds
  on such basis.
         Sec. 61.9629.  CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY OF PROGRAMS TO RECEIVE
  FUNDS. A professional nursing program operated by an entity other
  than an institution of higher education, including a public or
  independent institution of higher education, that was eligible to
  receive funds prior to September 1, 2009 from any program
  established under this subchapter will continue to be eligible to
  receive funds from any program established under this subchapter if
  it meets all criteria for participation other than being a program
  of an institution of higher education, including a public or
  independent institution of higher education.
         SECTION 4.  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.