Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2504 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.B. No. 2504
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to requiring a public institution of higher education to
6	6	establish uniform standards for publishing cost of attendance
7	7	information, to conduct student course evaluations of faculty, and
8	8	to make certain information available on the Internet.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 51.974 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 51.974. INTERNET ACCESS TO COURSE INFORMATION. (a)
13	13	Each institution of higher education, other than a medical and
14	14	dental unit, as defined by Section 61.003, shall make available to
15	15	the public on the institution's Internet website the following
16	16	information for each undergraduate classroom course offered for
17	17	credit by the institution:
18	18	(1) a syllabus that:
19	19	(A) satisfies any standards adopted by the
20	20	institution;
21	21	(B) provides a brief description of each major
22	22	course requirement, including each major assignment and
23	23	examination;
24	24	(C) lists any required or recommended reading;
25	25	and
26	26	(D) provides a general description of the subject
27	27	matter of each lecture or discussion;
28	28	(2) a curriculum vitae of each regular instructor that
29	29	lists the instructor's:
30	30	(A) postsecondary education;
31	31	(B) teaching experience; and
32	32	(C) significant professional publications; and
33	33	(3) if available, a departmental budget report of the
34	34	department under which the course is offered, from the most recent
35	35	semester or other academic term during which the institution
36	36	offered the course.
37	37	(a-1) A curriculum vitae made available on the
38	38	institution's Internet website under Subsection (a) may not include
39	39	any personal information, including the instructor's home address
40	40	or home telephone number.
41	41	(b) The information required by Subsection (a) must be:
42	42	(1) accessible from the institution's Internet website
43	43	home page by use of not more than three links;
44	44	(2) searchable by keywords and phrases; and
45	45	(3) accessible to the public without requiring
46	46	registration or use of a user name, a password, or another user
47	47	identification.
48	48	(c) The institution shall make the information required by
49	49	Subsection (a) available not later than the seventh day after the
50	50	first day of classes for the semester or other academic term during
51	51	which the course is offered. The institution shall continue to make
52	52	the information available on the institution's Internet website
53	53	until at least the second anniversary of the date on which the
54	54	institution initially posted the information.
55	55	(d) The institution shall update the information required
56	56	by Subsection (a) as soon as practicable after the information
57	57	changes.
58	58	(e) The governing body of the institution shall designate an
59	59	administrator to be responsible for ensuring implementation of this
60	60	section. The administrator may assign duties under this section to
61	61	one or more administrative employees.
62	62	(f) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, each
63	63	institution of higher education shall submit a written report
64	64	regarding the institution's compliance with this section to the
65	65	governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
66	66	representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative
67	67	standing committee with primary jurisdiction over higher
68	68	education.
69	69	(g) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
70	70	rules necessary to administer this section.
71	71	(h) Institutions of higher education included in this
72	72	section shall conduct end-of-course student evaluations of faculty
73	73	and develop a plan to make evaluations available on the
74	74	institution's website.
75	75	SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
76	76	amended by adding Section 56.080 to read as follows:
77	77	Sec. 56.080. ONLINE LIST OF WORK-STUDY EMPLOYMENT
78	78	OPPORTUNITIES. Each institution of higher education shall:
79	79	(1) establish and maintain an online list of
80	80	work-study employment opportunities, sorted by department as
81	81	appropriate, available to students on the institution's campus; and
82	82	(2) ensure that the list is easily accessible to the
83	83	public through a clearly identifiable link that appears in a
84	84	prominent place on the financial aid page of the institution's
85	85	Internet website.
86	86	SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
87	87	amended by adding Section 61.0777 to read as follows:
88	88	Sec. 61.0777. UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR PUBLICATION OF COST OF
89	89	ATTENDANCE INFORMATION. (a) The board shall prescribe uniform
90	90	standards intended to ensure that information regarding the cost of
91	91	attendance at institutions of higher education is available to the
92	92	public in a manner that is consumer-friendly and readily
93	93	understandable to prospective students and their families. In
94	94	developing the standards, the board shall examine common and
95	95	recommended practices regarding the publication of such
96	96	information and shall solicit recommendations and comments from
97	97	institutions of higher education and interested private or
98	98	independent institutions of higher education.
99	99	(b) The uniform standards must:
100	100	(1) address all of the elements that constitute the
101	101	total cost of attendance, including tuition and fees, room and
102	102	board costs, book and supply costs, transportation costs, and other
103	103	personal expenses; and
104	104	(2) prescribe model language to be used to describe
105	105	each element of the cost of attendance.
106	106	(c) Each institution of higher education that offers an
107	107	undergraduate degree or certificate program shall:
108	108	(1) prominently display on the institution's Internet
109	109	website in accordance with the uniform standards prescribed under
110	110	this section information regarding the cost of attendance at the
111	111	institution by a full-time entering first-year student; and
112	112	(2) conform to the uniform standards in any electronic
113	113	or printed materials intended to provide to prospective
114	114	undergraduate students information regarding the cost of
115	115	attendance at the institution.
116	116	(d) Each institution of higher education shall consider the
117	117	uniform standards prescribed under this section when providing
118	118	information to the public or to prospective students regarding the
119	119	cost of attendance at the institution by nonresident students,
120	120	graduate students, or students enrolled in professional programs.
121	121	(e) The board shall prescribe requirements for an
122	122	institution of higher education to provide on the institution's
123	123	Internet website consumer-friendly and readily understandable
124	124	information regarding student financial aid opportunities. The
125	125	required information must be provided in connection with the
126	126	information displayed under Subsection (c)(1) and must include a
127	127	link to the primary federal student financial aid Internet website
128	128	intended to assist persons applying for student financial aid.
129	129	(f) The board shall provide on the board's Internet website
130	130	a program or similar tool that will compute for a person accessing
131	131	the website the estimated net cost of attendance for a full-time
132	132	entering first-year student attending an institution of higher
133	133	education. The board shall require each institution to provide the
134	134	board with the information the board requires to administer this
135	135	subsection.
136	136	(g) The board shall prescribe the initial standards and
137	137	requirements under this section not later than January 1, 2010.
138	138	Institutions of higher education shall comply with the standards
139	139	and requirements not later than April l, 2010. This subsection
140	140	expires January 1, 2011.
141	141	(h) The board shall encourage private or independent
142	142	institutions of higher education approved under Subchapter F to
143	143	participate in the tuition equalization grant program, to the
144	144	greatest extent practicable, to prominently display the
145	145	information described by Subsections (a) and (b) on their Internet
146	146	websites in accordance with the standards established under those
147	147	subsections, and to conform to those standards in electronic and
148	148	printed materials intended to provide to prospective undergraduate
149	149	students information regarding the cost of attendance at the
150	150	institutions. The board shall also encourage those institutions to
151	151	include on their Internet websites a link to the primary federal
152	152	student financial aid Internet website intended to assist persons
153	153	applying for student financial aid.
154	154	(i) The board shall make the program or tool described by
155	155	Subsection (f) available to private or independent institutions of
156	156	higher education described by Subsection (h), and those
157	157	institutions shall make that program or tool, or another program or
158	158	tool that complies with the requirements for the net price
159	159	calculator required under Section 132(h)(3), Higher Education Act
160	160	of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 1015a), available on their Internet
161	161	websites not later than the date by which the institutions are
162	162	required by Section 132(h)(3) to make the net price calculator
163	163	publicly available on their Internet websites.
164	164	SECTION 4. Section 51.974, Education Code, as added by this
165	165	Act, applies beginning with the 2010 fall semester.
166	166	SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date
167	167	of this Act, each public institution of higher education shall
168	168	establish an online list of work-study employment opportunities for
169	169	students as required by Section 56.080, Education Code, as added by
170	170	this Act.
171	171	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
172	172	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
173	173	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
174	174	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
175	175	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
176	176	______________________________ ______________________________
177	177	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
178	178	I certify that H.B. No. 2504 was passed by the House on May 8,
179	179	2009, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 2 present, not
180	180	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
181	181	No. 2504 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0,
182	182	1 present, not voting.
183	183	______________________________
184	184	Chief Clerk of the House
185	185	I certify that H.B. No. 2504 was passed by the Senate, with
186	186	amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
187	187	0.
188	188	______________________________
189	189	Secretary of the Senate
190	190	APPROVED: __________________
191	191	Date
192	192	__________________
193	193	Governor