82R637 VOO-D

By: Shelton H.B. No. 136

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to restrictions on dropping courses at public institutions of higher education.

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

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

(b) A policy adopted under this [This] section applies only to an undergraduate student who drops a course at an institution of higher education and who [only if]:

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

(2) has an official [the student's] transcript that 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.

(d) The governing board of an institution of higher education may adopt a policy that limits [under which] the [maximum] number of courses a student is permitted to drop under circumstances described by Subsection (b) [is less than the maximum number of courses that a student may drop under Subsection (c)].

(e) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt rules under which an institution of higher education that adopts a policy under Subsection (d) shall permit a student to drop more courses under circumstances described by Subsection (b) than the number of courses permitted to be dropped [under Subsection (c) or] under the [a] policy adopted under Subsection (d) if the student shows good cause for dropping more than that number, including a showing of:

(1) a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affects the student's ability to satisfactorily complete a course;

(2) the student's responsibility for the care of a sick, injured, or needy person if the provision of care affects the student's ability to satisfactorily complete a course;

(3) the death of a person who:

(A) is considered to be a member of the student's family under a rule adopted under this subsection for purposes of this subdivision; or

(B) is otherwise considered to have a sufficiently close relationship to the student under a rule adopted under this subsection that the person's death is considered to be a showing of good cause; or

(4) the active duty service as a member of the Texas National Guard or the armed forces of the United States of:

(A) the student; or

(B) a person who is considered to be a member of the student's family under a rule adopted under this subsection for purposes of this subdivision.

SECTION 2. Section 51.907(c), Education Code, is repealed.

SECTION 3. (a) Until the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board adopts the rules required by Section 51.907(e), Education Code, as amended by this Act, the rules adopted under Section 51.907 in effect on the effective date of this Act continue in effect, and a student who shows good cause for dropping a course as provided by those existing rules may do so notwithstanding a policy adopted by an institution of higher education under Section 51.907 before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.

(b) This section expires May 1, 2012.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.