Amend SB 215 by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill appropriately:
SECTION ____. Section 61.822(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core curriculum of not [no] less than 42 semester credit hours, including specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum shall be consistent with the single common course numbering system approved by the board under Section 61.832(a) and with the statement, recommendations, and rules issued by the board. An institution may have a core curriculum of other than 42 semester credit hours only if approved by the board.
SECTION ____. Section 61.830, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.830. PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES ADDRESSING TRANSFER PRACTICES. In its course catalogs and on its website, each institution of higher education shall publish guidelines addressing the practices of the institution regarding the transfer of course credit. In the guidelines, the institution must identify a course by using the single common course numbering system approved by the board under Section 61.832(a).
SECTION ____. Section 61.832, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.832. COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM. (a) The board shall approve a single common course numbering system for lower-division courses to facilitate the transfer of those courses among institutions of higher education by promoting consistency in course designation and identification.
(b) The board shall solicit input from institutions of higher education regarding the development of the single common course numbering system.
(c) Each institution of higher education other than The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University shall:
(1) use the approved common course numbering system for each course for which a common number designation and course description are included in that system; and
(2) include the applicable course numbers from that system in its course catalogs and other course listings.
(d) The board may approve only a common course numbering system already in common use in this state by one or more institutions of higher education.
(e) [(c)] The board shall cooperate with institutions of higher education in any additional development or alteration of the common course numbering system approved under Subsection (a), including the taxonomy to be used, and in the development of rules for the administration and applicability of the system.
(f) Not later than June 1, 2014, the board shall:
(1) approve a single common course numbering system as required by Subsection (a); and
(2) establish a timetable that requires the institutions of higher education to which Subsection (c) applies to phase in the inclusion of the applicable course numbers from the common course numbering system in their individual course listings and course numbering systems as required by this section so that each institution fully complies with this section for all courses offered for the 2018-2019 academic year and subsequent years.
(f-1) Subsection (f) and this subsection expire January 1, 2020.
[(d)
An institution of higher education shall include in its course listings the applicable course numbers from the common course numbering system approved by the board under this section. For good cause, the board may grant to an institution of higher education an exemption from the requirements of this subsection.]