By: Rose (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro) H.B. No. 708
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 18, 2009;
May 19, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher
Education; May 25, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0;
May 25, 2009, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 708 By: Patrick
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 61.821, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (4) to read as
follows:
(1) "Core curriculum" means the curriculum in liberal
arts, humanities, and sciences and political, social, and cultural
history that all undergraduate students of an institution of higher
education are required to complete before receiving a bachelor's
[an academic undergraduate] degree.
(4) "Statewide articulated transfer curricula" means,
with respect to engineering disciplines, sets of courses, up to the
level of an associate's degree, that will satisfy the
lower-division requirements for bachelor's degrees in specific
engineering disciplines, including biomedical, chemical, civil,
computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, mechanical,
nuclear, and petroleum engineering at a general academic teaching
institution.
SECTION 4. Section 61.822(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core
curriculum of no less than 42 semester credit hours, including
specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum
shall be consistent with the common course numbering system
approved by the board and with the statement, recommendations, and
rules issued by the board. The minimum core curriculum requirement
for all academic associate's degrees shall be 42 semester credit
hours, except for programs designated under board-approved field of
study curricula or statewide articulated transfer curricula. An
institution may have a core curriculum of other than 42 semester
credit hours only if approved by the board.
SECTION 5. 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 6. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.833 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.833. STATEWIDE ARTICULATED TRANSFER CURRICULA FOR
ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES; PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The board shall
establish a pilot program to develop and assess methods to increase
the number of students earning a baccalaureate degree in
engineering. The program shall:
(1) develop levels of academic attainment, including,
if feasible, standard associate's degrees:
(A) for specific engineering disciplines,
including biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical,
environmental, industrial, mechanical, nuclear, and petroleum
engineering; or
(B) that provide a foundation in any engineering
discipline;
(2) develop a well-defined process for transitioning
students who earn an associate's degree or other level of academic
attainment in an engineering discipline into an accredited
engineering degree program at a four-year institution; and
(3) establish methods to provide orientation and
advising to support students in choosing an engineering discipline
and in completing a baccalaureate degree in engineering.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2011, the board, with the
assistance of advisory committees equitably composed of
representatives of institutions of higher education, shall develop
statewide articulated transfer curricula for the purpose of
developing levels of academic attainment, including, if feasible,
standard associate's degrees, for engineering disciplines. Each
university system or independent institution of higher education
that offers a degree program for which a statewide articulated
transfer curriculum is proposed may nominate an individual to
participate on the advisory committee for that particular
engineering curriculum.
(c) The statewide articulated transfer curricula shall:
(1) have the same rigor and content as the equivalent
course work at an engineering program accredited by ABET,
Incorporated, that is offered at a general academic teaching
institution;
(2) minimize the time and course work required to
complete a baccalaureate degree in engineering; and
(3) be consistent with:
(A) the common course numbering system approved
by the board; and
(B) the recommendations and rules of the board.
(d) Each institution of higher education that offers an
undergraduate degree program in an engineering discipline may
participate in the pilot program by adopting the statewide
articulated transfer curriculum for that discipline.
(e) A student who meets institutional and engineering
degree program admission requirements and successfully completes
the statewide articulated transfer curriculum for an engineering
discipline developed by the board under the pilot program:
(1) may transfer the credit hours earned under that
curriculum and apply those credit hours to a participating
four-year institution's engineering degree program in a discipline
for which the curriculum was developed; and
(2) shall receive full academic credit toward that
engineering degree program for the credit hours transferred.
(f) A student who meets institutional and degree program
admission requirements and who transfers from one institution of
higher education to another without completing the statewide
articulated transfer curriculum developed by the board for that
engineering discipline shall receive full academic credit from a
participating institution for each of the courses that the student
has successfully completed in the statewide articulated transfer
curriculum. Following receipt of credit for each of those courses,
the student shall be required to satisfy any additional course
requirements in the degree program of the receiving institution.
(g) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees
established under this section, shall periodically evaluate
whether the statewide articulated transfer curricula for
engineering disciplines:
(1) effectively facilitate the transition of junior
college students and students of other two-year institutions of
higher education into accredited four-year engineering degree
programs; and
(2) have contributed to increasing the number of
transfer students who successfully complete baccalaureate degree
programs in engineering.
(h) Not later than January 1, 2011, the board shall report
to the legislature regarding the board's progress in developing and
evaluating statewide articulated transfer curricula for
engineering disciplines required by this section.
(i) This section expires January 1, 2017.
SECTION 7. 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 8. (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 9. The changes in law made by this Act in amending
Sections 61.821 and 61.822, Education Code, and adding Section
61.833, Education Code, do not make an appropriation. A provision
in those sections that creates a new governmental program, creates
a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental entity is
not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the legislature has
not made a specific appropriation to implement the provision.
SECTION 10. 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.
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