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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOTICE OF FORMAL REQUEST FOR INFORMATION |
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COMMITTEE: Higher Education TIME &
DATE: N/A PLACE: N/A
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Request for Information, Interim Charge Three
Due to the ongoing pandemic and the uncertainty as to scheduling interim hearings, the Committee is conducting necessary oversight functions through an information-gathering process under Section 301.014, Government Code.
For this charge, the Committee requests written submissions from public university systems for institutions within their system, independent public universities, public community colleges, Texas State Technical College, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas Education Agency, Texas Workforce Commission, and other relevant associations regarding the assigned Interim Charge and additional questions outlined below. All submissions are due on September 1, 2020, by 5 pm (CST).
Submissions should be delivered via email to the committee clerk, Julie Young, at Julie.Young_hc@house.texas.gov and shall be in word format. Submissions should be no longer than five (5) pages in length for each charge. The page limit is not inclusive of any photos, graphs, spreadsheets, charts, etc. the submitter chooses to include. Submissions shall include the submitter name, organization or entity (if applicable and an authorized representative), mailing address, email, and telephone number.
All submissions will be circulated to each Member of the Committee after the September 1, 2020 deadline. A copy of all received comments will be made available to the public by the Committee.
Interim Charge 3:
Review progress toward the goals of the 60X30TX plan, including institutional strategies for responding to diverse and rapidly changing workforce needs and demands, including workforce education, industry certification, and degree programs to address healthcare shortages.
Specifically review community colleges’ capacity to meet the goals of 60X30TX, including a review of taxing districts and service areas versus geographic areas of need. Review the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative's work-based learning, industry-aligned internships, and industry credential initiatives. Consider whether legislative action may be needed to expand work-based learning and recruitment efforts for adults who have previously completed some college level coursework.
1. How can the state meet the goals of 60x30TX?
2. How has the pandemic impacted our state’s workforce needs?
3. Is there legislative action that could help expand work-based learning?
4. Do current community college district boundaries align with the needs of the communities they serve? If not, how should they be altered and why will those changes improve educational opportunities for Texans?
5. What is the current capability to handle an influx of Texans seeking re-training or upskilling opportunities through state programs?
6. What is needed in order to identify and address gaps in existing data collection methods?
7. What improvements could be made to alleviate ‘summer melt’ and to facilitate streamlined student advising?
8. What changes, if any, are needed to align data collection between the THECB, TWC and TEA in order to collect consistent metrics?
9. Does the overall financial status of small and rural community colleges affect their capacity to meet the goals of 60x30TX?
10. How has the overall financial status of small and rural community colleges been affected since COVID-19? How does that affect their ability to carry out normal operations?
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