86R3557 KJE-D

By: Turner of Tarrant H.B. No. 449

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a requirement that a public or private institution of higher education include a disciplinary notation on a student's transcript under certain circumstances.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.9364 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.9364. CERTAIN DISCIPLINARY NOTATIONS REQUIRED ON STUDENT TRANSCRIPTS. (a) In this section, "postsecondary educational institution" means an institution of higher education or a private or independent institution of higher education, as those terms are defined by Section 61.003.

(b) If a postsecondary educational institution suspends or expels a student from the institution for any reason, the institution shall include on the student's transcript a disciplinary notation stating that the student was suspended or expelled, as applicable, from the institution.

(c) If a student withdraws from a postsecondary educational institution pending disciplinary charges that may result in the student's suspension or expulsion from the institution, the institution may not end the disciplinary process until the institution makes a final determination of responsibility, including, if applicable, a determination of whether to suspend or expel the student from the institution as a result. If the institution suspends or expels the student from the institution, the institution shall include a disciplinary notation on the student's transcript stating that the student was suspended or expelled, as applicable, from the institution.

(d) On request by the student, a postsecondary educational institution may remove from a student's transcript a disciplinary notation indicating the student's suspension or expulsion, as applicable, from the institution if the institution determines that:

(1) each condition of the suspension has been fulfilled, if applicable; or

(2) good cause exists to remove the notation.

(e) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 2. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 51.9364, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after this Act takes effect.

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies beginning with the 2019 fall semester.

SECTION 4. 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, 2019.