By: Kolkhorst, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 4471
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2009;
  May 6, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher
  Education; May 23, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0;
  May 23, 2009, sent to printer.)
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 4471 By:  Duncan
 
 
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.  DEFINITION [DEFINITIONS].  In this
  subchapter, "professional nursing program" means an educational
  program offered by a public or private institution of higher
  education for preparing students for initial licensure as
  registered nurses.
         SECTION 2.  Section 61.9623(a), Education Code, is amended
  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 curriculum and 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.  GRANTS TO INCREASE NUMBER OF GRADUATES:
  APPLICATION PROCESS. (a) The board by rule shall establish a
  process under which a public or private institution of higher
  education that offers a professional nursing program may apply for
  a grant under this subchapter and the commissioner of higher
  education, contingent on appropriations of money for the grants,
  selects one or more applicants to receive a grant based on criteria
  established by board rule. The criteria must include the
  institution's agreement that the institution's professional
  nursing program will enroll additional students or graduate
  additional students prepared for initial licensure as registered
  nurses.
         (b)  The process established under Subsection (a) may
  authorize the commissioner of higher education to accept a joint
  application from multiple institutions that agree to cooperate on a
  regional or joint basis for their professional nursing programs to
  enroll additional students or graduate additional students
  prepared for initial licensure as registered nurses.
         (c)  The application for a grant under this section must
  require the institution applying for a grant to:
               (1)  state the number of additional students that the
  institution's professional nursing program intends to enroll or
  graduate;
               (2)  identify benchmarks for determining adequate
  progress toward enrolling or graduating those additional students;
               (3)  state the amount of grant money requested; and
               (4)  describe a proposed payment schedule for
  distribution of the grant money to the institution seeking the
  grant.
         (d)  The commissioner of higher education may negotiate
  changes to the application before approving the application.
         (e)  If a professional nursing program fails to enroll or
  graduate the number of additional students stated in the approved
  application or does not meet a benchmark identified in the approved
  application, the commissioner of higher education may:
               (1)  require the institution offering the professional
  nursing program to return any unearned grant money awarded to the
  program under this subchapter;
               (2)  withhold future grant awards that would otherwise
  be made under this subchapter in accordance with the approved
  application;
               (3)  renegotiate the terms of the approved application;
  or
               (4)  rescind approval of the application.
         (f)  The board may appoint an advisory committee to advise
  the commissioner of higher education and the board on
  implementation of this section. The board may assign to the
  committee the responsibility for evaluating applications and
  recommending to the commissioner applications for approval.
         Sec. 61.96233.  NEW PROFESSIONAL NURSING PROGRAMS. (a)  The
  board shall adopt rules for permitting newly established
  professional nursing programs to participate in and receive grant
  awards under the program established under this subchapter.
         (b)  The rules the board adopts under Subsection (a) must
  include:
               (1)  a process for ensuring that newly established
  professional nursing programs are treated equitably with
  established programs in the award of grants under this subchapter;
  and
               (2)  a method for calculating increases in enrollment
  or graduates if grants are awarded based on such increases.
         Sec. 61.9629.  CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY OF PROGRAMS TO RECEIVE
  GRANTS. Notwithstanding Section 61.9621, a professional nursing
  program offered by an entity other than a public or private or
  independent institution of higher education that was eligible to
  receive grants from a program under this subchapter before
  September 1, 2009, remains eligible to receive a grant from such a
  program if the entity meets all criteria for a grant other than the
  criterion of being a program offered by an institution of higher
  education.
         SECTION 4.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
  may adopt initial rules for the administration of Sections 61.96232
  and 61.96233, Education Code, as added by this Act, at the
  coordinating board's first meeting after the effective date of this
  Act. For that purpose, the coordinating board may adopt the rules
  in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
         SECTION 5.  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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