By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1249

(In the Senate - Filed March 2, 2009; March 17, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education; April 20, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 20, 2009, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1249 By: Duncan

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the creation of a pilot program to improve curricula alignment between junior colleges and general academic teaching institutions for engineering degree programs.

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

SECTION 1. 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 2. Subsection (b), Section 61.822, 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 3. 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 4. This Act does not make an appropriation. A provision in this Act 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 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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