Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1249 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1249
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the creation of a pilot program to improve curricula
7	7	alignment between junior colleges and general academic teaching
8	8	institutions for engineering degree programs.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 61.821, Education Code, is amended by
11	11	amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (4) to read as
12	12	follows:
13	13	(1) "Core curriculum" means the curriculum in liberal
14	14	arts, humanities, and sciences and political, social, and cultural
15	15	history that all undergraduate students of an institution of higher
16	16	education are required to complete before receiving a bachelor's
17	17	[an academic undergraduate] degree.
18	18	(4) "Statewide articulated transfer curricula" means,
19	19	with respect to engineering disciplines, sets of courses, up to the
20	20	level of an associate's degree, that will satisfy the
21	21	lower-division requirements for bachelor's degrees in specific
22	22	engineering disciplines, including biomedical, chemical, civil,
23	23	computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, mechanical,
24	24	nuclear, and petroleum engineering at a general academic teaching
25	25	institution.
26	26	SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 61.822, Education Code,
27	27	is amended to read as follows:
28	28	(b) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a core
29	29	curriculum of no less than 42 semester credit hours, including
30	30	specific courses comprising the curriculum. The core curriculum
31	31	shall be consistent with the common course numbering system
32	32	approved by the board and with the statement, recommendations, and
33	33	rules issued by the board. The minimum core curriculum requirement
34	34	for all academic associate's degrees shall be 42 semester credit
35	35	hours, except for programs designated under board-approved field of
36	36	study curricula or statewide articulated transfer curricula. An
37	37	institution may have a core curriculum of other than 42 semester
38	38	credit hours only if approved by the board.
39	39	SECTION 3. Subchapter S, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
40	40	amended by adding Section 61.833 to read as follows:
41	41	Sec. 61.833. STATEWIDE ARTICULATED TRANSFER CURRICULA FOR
42	42	ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES; PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The board shall
43	43	establish a pilot program to develop and assess methods to increase
44	44	the number of students earning a baccalaureate degree in
45	45	engineering. The program shall:
46	46	(1) develop levels of academic attainment, including,
47	47	if feasible, standard associate's degrees:
48	48	(A) for specific engineering disciplines,
49	49	including biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical,
50	50	environmental, industrial, mechanical, nuclear, and petroleum
51	51	engineering; or
52	52	(B) that provide a foundation in any engineering
53	53	discipline;
54	54	(2) develop a well-defined process for transitioning
55	55	students who earn an associate's degree or other level of academic
56	56	attainment in an engineering discipline into an accredited
57	57	engineering degree program at a four-year institution; and
58	58	(3) establish methods to provide orientation and
59	59	advising to support students in choosing an engineering discipline
60	60	and in completing a baccalaureate degree in engineering.
61	61	(b) Not later than January 1, 2011, the board, with the
62	62	assistance of advisory committees equitably composed of
63	63	representatives of institutions of higher education, shall develop
64	64	statewide articulated transfer curricula for the purpose of
65	65	developing levels of academic attainment, including, if feasible,
66	66	standard associate's degrees, for engineering disciplines. Each
67	67	university system or independent institution of higher education
68	68	that offers a degree program for which a statewide articulated
69	69	transfer curriculum is proposed may nominate an individual to
70	70	participate on the advisory committee for that particular
71	71	engineering curriculum.
72	72	(c) The statewide articulated transfer curricula shall:
73	73	(1) have the same rigor and content as the equivalent
74	74	course work at an engineering program accredited by ABET,
75	75	Incorporated, that is offered at a general academic teaching
76	76	institution;
77	77	(2) minimize the time and course work required to
78	78	complete a baccalaureate degree in engineering; and
79	79	(3) be consistent with:
80	80	(A) the common course numbering system approved
81	81	by the board; and
82	82	(B) the recommendations and rules of the board.
83	83	(d) Each institution of higher education that offers an
84	84	undergraduate degree program in an engineering discipline may
85	85	participate in the pilot program by adopting the statewide
86	86	articulated transfer curriculum for that discipline.
87	87	(e) A student who meets institutional and engineering
88	88	degree program admission requirements and successfully completes
89	89	the statewide articulated transfer curriculum for an engineering
90	90	discipline developed by the board under the pilot program:
91	91	(1) may transfer the credit hours earned under that
92	92	curriculum and apply those credit hours to a participating
93	93	four-year institution's engineering degree program in a discipline
94	94	for which the curriculum was developed; and
95	95	(2) shall receive full academic credit toward that
96	96	engineering degree program for the credit hours transferred.
97	97	(f) A student who meets institutional and degree program
98	98	admission requirements and who transfers from one institution of
99	99	higher education to another without completing the statewide
100	100	articulated transfer curriculum developed by the board for that
101	101	engineering discipline shall receive full academic credit from a
102	102	participating institution for each of the courses that the student
103	103	has successfully completed in the statewide articulated transfer
104	104	curriculum. Following receipt of credit for each of those courses,
105	105	the student shall be required to satisfy any additional course
106	106	requirements in the degree program of the receiving institution.
107	107	(g) The board, with the assistance of advisory committees
108	108	established under this section, shall periodically evaluate
109	109	whether the statewide articulated transfer curricula for
110	110	engineering disciplines:
111	111	(1) effectively facilitate the transition of junior
112	112	college students and students of other two-year institutions of
113	113	higher education into accredited four-year engineering degree
114	114	programs; and
115	115	(2) have contributed to increasing the number of
116	116	transfer students who successfully complete baccalaureate degree
117	117	programs in engineering.
118	118	(h) Not later than January 1, 2011, the board shall report
119	119	to the legislature regarding the board's progress in developing and
120	120	evaluating statewide articulated transfer curricula for
121	121	engineering disciplines required by this section.
122	122	(i) This section expires January 1, 2017.
123	123	SECTION 4. This Act does not make an appropriation. A
124	124	provision in this Act that creates a new governmental program,
125	125	creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental
126	126	entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the
127	127	legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the
128	128	provision.
129	129	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
130	130	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
131	131	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
132	132	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
133	133	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.