83R8897 KSD-D
 
  By: Nevarez H.B. No. 1351
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the authority of the Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board regarding the initiation, consolidation, or
  elimination of a degree or certificate program offered by a public
  institution of higher education.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 61.051, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (e-1) to read as
  follows:
         (e)  The board shall review periodically the role and mission
  statements, the table of programs, and all degree and certificate
  programs offered by the public institutions of higher education to
  assure that they meet the present and future needs of the state and
  the counties in which they are located. The board's review shall be
  performed at least every four years and shall involve the
  chairperson of the institution's board of regents. The board shall
  also order the initiation[, consolidation, or elimination] of a 
  degree or certificate program if the board determines [programs
  where] that action is in the best interest of the institution,
  [public institutions themselves or the general requirements of] the
  State of Texas, or the county [counties] in which the institution is 
  [they are] located, or when that action offers hope of achieving
  excellence by a concentration of available resources. No new
  department, school, degree program, or certificate program may be
  added at any public institution of higher education except with
  specific prior approval of the board. The board may recommend that
  [authorize] an institution [to] continue a doctoral program that is
  inconsistent with the role and mission of the institution if the
  program was in existence on September 1, 1987, and the board
  determines that continuation of the program is warranted.
         (e-1)  The board may not order the consolidation or
  elimination of any degree or certificate program offered by an
  institution of higher education but may make recommendations to the
  institution for that action if the board determines that action
  satisfies the criteria prescribed by Subsection (e) for ordering
  the initiation of a program.
         SECTION 2.  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, 2013.