82R7004 JRJ-D

By: Oliveira H.B. No. 3689

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the partnership agreement between The University of Texas at Brownsville and the Texas Southmost College District.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 78.02(c) and (d), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(c) The university may enter into a partnership agreement with the Texas Southmost [Union Junior] College District in the manner authorized by Subchapter N, Chapter 51, to offer a lower-division, occupational, or technical course that is not offered at the university. A partnership agreement must include:

(1) the responsibilities of each institution under the agreement;

(2) a description of the assets, property, and personnel to be shared by the institutions under the agreement;

(3) a manner of assigning students to each institution based on factors such as the physical capacity of each institution's facilities and the courses and programs in which the students are enrolled;

(4) a description of the certificate and degree programs and other curricula to be offered under the agreement and the process for appropriate accreditations; and

(5) the manner for dissolving the agreement, including an appropriate disposition of assets and obligations.

(d) The university shall, subject to the authority of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, offer basic lower-division courses to support bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degree programs. If the Texas Southmost [Union Junior] College District provides regular operational support for Texas Southmost College and the partnership with the university authorized by Subsection (c), the university may offer additional lower-division courses.

SECTION 2. Section 78.04, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 78.04. FACILITIES. The board shall make provisions for adequate physical facilities for use by the university, on land committed by the board of trustees of the Texas Southmost [Union Junior] College District on the district's Texas Southmost College campus, subject to the normal requirements of the board and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

SECTION 3. Not later than the 90th day after the effective date of this Act, any partnership agreement between The University of Texas at Brownsville and the Southmost Union Junior College District entered under Section 78.02(c), Education Code, before the effective date of this Act shall be amended to meet the requirements of Section 78.02(c), Education Code, as amended by this Act.

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