By: Rose H.B. No. 708
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to higher education transfer practices, articulation
agreements, policies for dropping courses, and special-purpose
centers and to the formula funding for certain credit hours.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 51.907(a) and (b), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "governing board," [and] "institution
of higher education," and "public junior college" have the meanings
assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) This section applies only to an undergraduate student
who drops a course at an institution of higher education other than
a public junior college and only if:
(1) the student was able to drop the course without
receiving a grade or incurring an academic penalty;
(2) the student's transcript indicates or will
indicate that the student was enrolled in the course; and
(3) the student is not dropping the course in order to
withdraw from the institution.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 61.0595(d), Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) The following are not counted for purposes of
determining whether the student has previously earned the number of
semester credit hours specified by Subsection (a):
(1) semester credit hours earned by the student before
receiving an associate or [a] baccalaureate degree that has
previously been awarded to the student;
(2) semester credit hours earned by the student by
examination or under any other procedure by which credit is earned
without registering for a course for which tuition is charged;
(3) credit for a remedial education course, a
technical course, a workforce education course funded according to
contact hours, or another course that does not count toward a degree
program at the institution; [and]
(4) semester credit hours earned by the student at a
private institution or an out-of-state institution; and
(5) semester credit hours earned by the student before
graduating from high school and used to satisfy high school
graduation requirements.
(b) The change in law made by this section to Section
61.0595, Education Code, applies beginning with the funding
recommendations made under Section 61.059, Education Code, for the
2011-2012 academic year.
SECTION 3. Section 61.830, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.830. PUBLICATION OF TRANSFER GUIDELINES;
[ADDRESSING] TRANSFER PRACTICES. (a) In its course catalogs and
on its website, each institution of higher education shall publish:
(1) guidelines addressing the practices of the
institution regarding the transfer of course credit, under which
courses are identified[. In the guidelines, the institution must
identify a course by] using the common course numbering system
approved by the board; and
(2) in a format designated by the commissioner, all
institutional and statewide articulation agreements concerning the
transfer of courses.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall post on the
institution's website the dates for which each published
articulation agreement is valid and shall remove an expired
articulation agreement from the website not later than the 30th day
after the date of its expiration.
(c) The board shall adopt a standard format for the
publication of articulation agreements under this section. The
format must provide students with access to the requirements of
each articulation agreement to allow students enrolled in public
junior colleges, public state colleges, and public technical
institutes to plan and coordinate course schedules to meet those
requirements.
(d) The board shall provide links to each website described
under Subsection (a) in a prominent, easily accessible, and
identifiable location on the board's college information website.
(e) Not later than September 30 of each even-numbered year,
the commissioner shall make recommendations to each standing
committee of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher
education to improve:
(1) the publication of transfer policies and
articulation agreements for the benefit of transfer students; and
(2) the level of participation of institutions of
higher education in articulation agreements for the purpose of
facilitating the transfer of students between institutions.
(f) A student who enrolls in a public junior college, public
state college, or public technical institute under an articulation
agreement is entitled to transfer to the general academic teaching
institution that is a party to the agreement not later than the
fourth anniversary of the date the student first enrolled in the
public junior college, public state college, or public technical
institute.
SECTION 4. Chapter 111, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON HURRICANE CENTER FOR
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Sec. 111.121. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Board" means the board of regents of the
University of Houston System.
(2) "Center" means the University of Houston Hurricane
Center for Innovative Technology (UHC-IT) established under this
subchapter.
Sec. 111.122. ESTABLISHMENT. (a) The University of
Houston Hurricane Center for Innovative Technology is established
at the University of Houston.
(b) The organization, control, and management of the center
are vested in the board.
(c) The center shall be hosted by the university's College
of Engineering. Participation in the center's activities shall be
open to any faculty member of the university who is an active
researcher in the field of materials, nanotechnology, structural
engineering, designing of structures, or sensor technology, or in
another relevant field as determined by the university.
Sec. 111.123. PURPOSE. The center is created to:
(1) promote interdisciplinary research, education,
and training for the development of state-of-the-art products,
materials, systems, and technologies designed to mitigate the wind
and asserted structural damages in the built environment and
offshore structures caused by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region;
and
(2) develop protocols for the fast and efficient
recovery of the public and private sectors, including utilities,
hospitals, petrochemical industries, offshore platforms, and
municipalities and other local communities following a hurricane.
Sec. 111.124. POWERS AND DUTIES. The center shall:
(1) collaborate with appropriate federal, state, and
local agencies and private business or nonprofit entities as
necessary to coordinate efforts after a hurricane in the Gulf Coast
region;
(2) develop smart materials and devices for use in
hurricane protection and mitigation systems for structural
monitoring;
(3) develop anchor systems for window and door
screens, dwellings and other buildings, pipelines, and other
onshore and offshore structures to withstand hurricane wind damage;
(4) develop test facilities for evaluating the
performance of new products, materials, or techniques designed to
protect against hurricane wind damage;
(5) develop specifications and standards for products
used for protecting against hurricane wind damage;
(6) design buildings, houses, and other structures to
withstand hurricane wind damage; and
(7) provide hurricane-related educational programs,
seminars, conferences, and workshops to the community designed to
ensure safety, minimize loss of life, and mitigate the destruction
of property associated with hurricane wind damage.
Sec. 111.125. COLLABORATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES. The
University of Houston shall encourage public and private entities
to participate in or support the operation of the center and may
enter into an agreement with any public or private entity for that
purpose. An agreement may allow the center to provide information,
services, or other assistance to an entity in exchange for the
entity's participation or support.
Sec. 111.126. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The board may solicit,
accept, and administer gifts and grants from any public or private
source for the purposes of the center.
Sec. 111.127. PERSONNEL. The board may employ personnel
for the center as necessary.
SECTION 5. (a) Each public institution of higher education
must satisfy the requirements of Section 61.830, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, not later than September 30, 2010.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt the standard publication format required by Section
61.830(c), Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
December 31, 2009.
SECTION 6. 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, 2009.