By: Bonnen H.B. No. 5202

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the governance of public institutions of higher education.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Sections 51.3522, 51.3523, and 51.3526 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.3522. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE. (a) In this section, "faculty council or senate" means a representative faculty organization directly elected by the general faculty or colleges and schools of an institution of higher education.

(b) Only the governing board of an institution of higher education may establish or authorize the establishment of a faculty council or senate at the institution.

(c) A faculty council or senate is advisory only. A faculty council or senate may not:

(1) be delegated final decision-making authority on any matter; or

(2) take action on behalf of the institution, including approving personnel action or conducting an investigation.

(d) Unless directed otherwise by the institution's governing board, a faculty council or senate shall report to the institution's president or other chief executive officer.

(e) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to a faculty council or senate.

Sec. 51.3523. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE MEETINGS OPEN TO PUBLIC. (a) A faculty council or senate established or authorized in accordance with Section 51.3522 shall conduct meetings at which a quorum is present in a manner that is open to the public and in accordance with procedures prescribed by the president of the institution.

(b) The procedures prescribed by the president must:

(1) provide for notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of the meeting at least 72 hours before the meeting is convened; and

(2) require that the notice be:

(A) posted on the Internet; and

(B) published in a student newspaper of the institution, if an issue of the newspaper is published between the time of the Internet posting and the time of the meeting.

(c) Any vote taken by a faculty council or senate must be recorded and made public.

Sec. 51.3526. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING CERTAIN COURSES. (a) In this section:

(1) "Certificate program," "governing board," and "institution of higher education" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.

(2) "Degree program" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003(11) and includes, as applicable, minors or double majors.

(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), a governing board of an institution of higher education shall ensure that the institution does not require, as part of a degree program or certificate program, the completion of a course whose course description, course overview, course objectives, or proposed student learning outcomes do any of the following:

(1) promote the idea that racially neutral or colorblind laws, policies, or institutions in contemporary American society perpetuate oppression, injustice, race-based privilege, including white supremacy or white privilege, or inequity by failing to actively differentiate on the basis of race, sex, or gender, except as part of a discussion regarding the effectiveness of, or potential revision to, anti-discrimination laws; or

(2) promote, except as permitted or required by law, the differential treatment in contemporary American society of any individual or group of individuals based on race or ethnicity.

(c) The governing board of an institution of higher education may exempt in writing from the prohibition under Subsection (b) courses required for a degree program or certificate program whose title clearly establishes the program's course of study as primarily focused on racial, ethnic, or gender studies, provided that each of the following applies:

(1) a student enrolled at the institution is not required to enroll in such a course to satisfy the requirements of any other degree program or certificate program;

(2) courses offered or listed under such programs shall satisfy the academic degree program requirements of only those respective degree programs or certificate programs and shall not be used to satisfy other degree program or certificate program requirements beyond satisfying overall institution credit hour graduation requirements; and

(3) the title of any currently established degree program or certificate program is not altered or replaced to establish an emphasis on racial, ethnic, or gender studies.

(d) Subsection (b) shall not be construed to prohibit:

(1) identifying and discussing historical movements, ideologies or instances of ethnic, racial, or sex-based hatred or discrimination, including, but not limited to slavery, Indian removal, the Holocaust, or Japanese-American internment;

(2) identifying genetic predispositions, epidemiology, or physiology in medical education or biological sciences that does not posit race-based injustice, discrimination, or oppression; or

(3) the identification of differences between, or bona fide qualifications based on, biological sex that are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public institutions.

(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit any programming explicitly required by, and limited to, the institution of higher education's obligations to comply with state or federal anti-discrimination law or an applicable court order.

(f) Instructional expenses associated with courses specified in Subsection (b) shall not be funded by appropriated funds, excluding student tuition and fee revenues.

(g) Beginning with the fiscal year beginning September 1, 2026, each institution of higher education shall include as part of its annual report to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board as provided by Section 51.3525, Subsection (e) certification of its compliance with this section.

SECTION 2. Section 51.354, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 51.354. INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.

(a) The final decision-making authority on matters regarding an institution of higher education's degree programs and curricula belongs to the institution. The institution shall make the decisions on those matters under the direction of the institution's governing board.

(b) In addition to specific responsibilities imposed by this code or other law, each institution of higher education has the general responsibility to serve the public and, within the institution's role and mission, to:

(1) transmit culture through general education;

(2) extend knowledge;

(3) teach and train students for professions;

(4) provide for scientific, engineering, medical, and other academic research;

(5) protect intellectual exploration and academic freedom;

(6) strive for intellectual excellence;

(7) provide educational opportunity for all who can benefit from postsecondary education and training; and

(8) provide continuing education opportunities.

SECTION 3. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) A governing board may exclude from its comprehensive list of courses submitted under Subsection (a) courses that were not taught as an organized class or individual instruction for two consecutive academic years.

SECTION 4. A faculty council or senate established or authorized at a public institution of higher education before the effective date of this Act is abolished on October 1, 2025, unless:

(1) the faculty council or senate was established or authorized in accordance with Section 51.3522, Education Code, as added by this Act; or

(2) the faculty council's or senate's continuation is ratified by the institution's governing board before that date.

SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.

SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year.

SECTION 7. 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, 2025.