81R22134 KSD-D
By: Branch, McCall, Coleman, Madden, et al. H.B. No. 51
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 51:
By: Branch C.S.H.B. No. 51
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to funding and incentives to support emerging public
research universities in developing and maintaining programs of the
highest tier.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapters FF, GG, and HH to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER FF. RESEARCH UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT FUND
Sec. 61.9771. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible institution" means an emerging research
university.
(2) "Emerging research university" means an
institution of higher education that the board determines:
(A) is a research university as that term is
commonly used in classifying or ranking institutions of higher
education; and
(B) has demonstrated a commitment to developing
and maintaining degree and research programs that support the
mission of the institution and the institution's efforts to improve
its ranking among research universities.
Sec. 61.9772. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
provide funding to eligible institutions for the enhancement of
research productivity to enable those institutions to achieve
national prominence as major research universities.
Sec. 61.9773. FUNDING. (a) For each state fiscal year, the
board shall distribute any funds appropriated by the legislature
for the purposes of this subchapter, and any other funds made
available for the purposes of this subchapter, among eligible
institutions in proportion to the total amount of restricted
research funds expended by each institution in the two most recent
state fiscal years.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a), the amount of restricted
research funds expended by an eligible institution in a state
fiscal year is the amount of those funds as reported to the board by
the institution for that year, subject to any adjustment by the
board in accordance with the standards and accounting methods the
board prescribes for purposes of this section.
Sec. 61.9774. USE OF ALLOCATED AMOUNTS. An eligible
institution may use money received under this subchapter only for
the support and maintenance of educational and general activities
that promote increased research capacity at the institution.
Sec. 61.9775. RULES. The board shall adopt rules for the
administration of this subchapter, including rules requiring
eligible institutions to report necessary information to the board.
SUBCHAPTER GG. TEXAS RESEARCH INCENTIVE PROGRAM (TRIP)
Sec. 61.9791. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible institution" means an emerging research
university.
(2) "Emerging research university" means an
institution of higher education that the board determines:
(A) is a research university as that term is
commonly used in classifying or ranking institutions of higher
education; and
(B) has demonstrated a commitment to developing
and maintaining degree and research programs that support the
mission of the institution and the institution's efforts to improve
its ranking among research universities.
(3) "Program" means the Texas Research Incentive
Program (TRIP) established under this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9792. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION. The board shall
administer the Texas Research Incentive Program (TRIP) in
accordance with this subchapter to provide matching funds to assist
eligible institutions in leveraging private gifts for the
enhancement of research productivity and faculty recruitment.
Sec. 61.9793. MATCHING GRANTS. (a) An eligible
institution that receives cash gifts from private sources in a
state fiscal year for the purpose of enhancing research activities
at the institution, including gifts for endowments or endowed
chairs or professorships, research or academic facilities,
equipment, program costs, or graduate stipends or fellowships, is
entitled to receive, out of funds appropriated for the purposes of
the program for that fiscal year, a matching grant in an amount
determined according to the following rates:
(1) 50 percent of the total amount of the gifts
received, if the total amount of those gifts is $100,000 or more but
not more than $999,999;
(2) 75 percent of the total amount of the gifts
received, if the total amount of those gifts is $1 million or more
but not more than $1,999,999; or
(3) 100 percent of the total amount of the gifts
received, if the total amount of those gifts is $2 million or more.
(b) An eligible institution is not entitled to matching
funds under the program for:
(1) an in-kind gift;
(2) a gift that has been pledged but has not been
received by the institution;
(3) a gift for undergraduate scholarships, grants, or
other financial aid; or
(4) any portion of gifts received by the institution
from a single source in a state fiscal year in excess of $10
million.
(c) The board shall establish procedures for the
certification by the board of an eligible institution's receipt of
a qualifying gift. A gift must be certified as of the date the gift
was deposited by the institution in a depository bank or invested by
the institution as authorized by law.
(d) If the funds appropriated for the program for a state
fiscal year are insufficient to provide matching grants in the
amounts specified by this section for all qualifying private gifts
received by eligible institutions during that fiscal year, the
board shall provide matching grants for those gifts in order of
their certification dates under Subsection (c) and shall provide
matching grants for any remaining unmatched gifts in the following
fiscal year. Unmatched gifts carried forward from a preceding
fiscal year under this subsection shall be given priority over
gifts received in the current fiscal year, and shall be provided
matching grants under this section in order of their certification
dates. An unmatched gift shall continue to be carried forward to
subsequent fiscal years until a matching grant is awarded for the
gift.
(e) Matching grants received by an eligible institution
under this section may not be considered as a basis to reduce,
directly or indirectly, the amount of money otherwise appropriated
or allocated to the institution under any other law.
Sec. 61.9794. USE OF MATCHING GRANTS. An eligible
institution may use matching grant money received under this
subchapter for the same purpose as that for which the matched gift
was received or for the support and maintenance of educational and
general activities that promote increased research capacity at the
institution.
Sec. 61.9795. RULES. The board shall adopt rules for the
administration of this subchapter, including rules requiring
eligible institutions to report necessary information to the board.
SUBCHAPTER HH. NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY BENCHMARK FUND
Sec. 61.9801. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible institution" means an emerging research
university.
(2) "Emerging research university" means an
institution of higher education that the board determines:
(A) is a research university as that term is
commonly used in classifying or ranking institutions of higher
education; and
(B) has demonstrated a commitment to developing
and maintaining degree and research programs that support the
mission of the institution and the institution's efforts to improve
its ranking among research universities.
Sec. 61.9802. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
provide funding to incentivize the enhancement of emerging research
universities by rewarding those universities that meet critical
benchmarks toward achieving national prominence as major research
universities.
Sec. 61.9803. FUNDING. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), for each state fiscal year, the board shall
distribute any funds appropriated by the legislature for the
purposes of this subchapter, and any other funds made available for
the purposes of this subchapter, among eligible institutions in
proportion to the total number of points assigned to each
institution for that fiscal year under Subsection (c).
(b) If the allocations for eligible institutions calculated
under Subsection (a) would result in the three eligible
institutions to which the highest total number of points are
assigned under Subsection (c) receiving a total amount that is less
than 80 percent of the total amount available for distribution to
all eligible institutions under Subsection (a), the total amount of
funds available for distribution under that subsection for that
state fiscal year shall be distributed as follows:
(1) 80 percent shall be distributed among the three
eligible institutions receiving the highest total number of points
for that fiscal year under Subsection (c) in proportion to the total
number of points assigned to each of those institutions; and
(2) the remainder of those funds shall be distributed
among the remaining eligible institutions in proportion to the
total number of points assigned to each of those institutions for
that fiscal year under Subsection (c).
(c) The following points are assigned to each eligible
institution for a fiscal year based on information submitted to the
board by each institution for each of the two state fiscal years
immediately preceding the state fiscal year for which the funds are
distributed:
(1) one point if the institution's library was a member
of the Association of Research Libraries in each of those years;
(2) one point if the institution had a chapter of Phi
Beta Kappa in each of those years;
(3) one point if the institution employed at least
three but fewer than eight tenured faculty members or full-time
employees who are Nobel Prize Laureates or who have been elected to
a national academy in each of those years;
(4) two points if the institution employed at least
eight tenured faculty members or full-time equivalent employees who
are Nobel Prize Laureates or who have been elected to a national
academy in each of those years;
(5) one point if the institution awarded at least 200
but fewer than 300 doctor of philosophy degrees in each of those
years;
(6) two points if the institution awarded at least 300
doctor of philosophy degrees in each of those years;
(7) one point if the institution expended at least $45
million but less than $75 million in restricted research funds in
each of those years;
(8) two points if the institution expended $75 million
or more in restricted research funds in each of those years;
(9) one point if the total amount of the institution's
restricted research expenditures in each of those years divided by
the total number of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty
members employed by the institution in the same year is at least
$75,000 but less than $125,000;
(10) two points if the total amount of the
institution's restricted research expenditures in each of those
years divided by the total number of full-time tenured and
tenure-track faculty members employed by the institution in the
same year is $125,000 or more;
(11) one point if:
(A) the average score on the Scholastic
Assessment Test (SAT) of entering freshman students at the
institution for each of those years is at least 95 percent of the
average SAT score of entering freshman students at Texas A&M
University and The University of Texas at Austin for the same year;
or
(B) at least 35 percent of entering freshman
students at the institution in each of those years graduated in the
top 10 percent of the student's high school graduating class; and
(12) one point if the aggregate value of the
institution's endowment funds for educational and general use is at
least $500 million for each of those years.
(d) For purposes of Subsections (c)(3) and (4), a faculty
member or other employee may be counted only once for a particular
year.
(e) For purposes of Subsections (c)(9) and (10), the amount
of restricted research funds expended by an eligible institution in
a state fiscal year is the amount of those funds as reported to the
board by the institution for that year, subject to any adjustment by
the board in accordance with the standards and accounting methods
the board prescribes for purposes of this section.
(f) For purposes of Subsection (c)(12), an eligible
institution that receives benefits from the permanent university
fund shall be assigned, as part of the aggregate value of the
institution's endowment funds for educational and general use, an
amount equal to the total amount of expenditures made on behalf of
the institution from the available university fund for the
preceding 10 state fiscal years.
Sec. 61.9804. RULES. The board shall adopt rules for the
administration of this subchapter, including rules requiring
eligible institutions to report necessary information to the board.
SECTION 2. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt rules relating to the administration of Subchapters FF,
GG, and HH, Chapter 61, Education Code, as added by this Act, as
soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.