82R637 VOO-D
By: Shelton H.B. No. 136
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to restrictions on dropping courses at public institutions
of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 51.907(b), (d), and (e), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A policy adopted under this [This] section applies only
to an undergraduate student who drops a course at an institution of
higher education and who [only if]:
(1) [the student] was able to drop the course without
receiving a grade or incurring an academic penalty;
(2) has an official [the student's] transcript that
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.
(d) The governing board of an institution of higher
education may adopt a policy that limits [under which] the
[maximum] number of courses a student is permitted to drop under
circumstances described by Subsection (b) [is less than the maximum
number of courses that a student may drop under Subsection (c)].
(e) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt rules under which an institution of higher education that
adopts a policy under Subsection (d) shall permit a student to drop
more courses under circumstances described by Subsection (b) than
the number of courses permitted to be dropped [under Subsection (c)
or] under the [a] policy adopted under Subsection (d) if the student
shows good cause for dropping more than that number, including a
showing of:
(1) a severe illness or other debilitating condition
that affects the student's ability to satisfactorily complete a
course;
(2) the student's responsibility for the care of a
sick, injured, or needy person if the provision of care affects the
student's ability to satisfactorily complete a course;
(3) the death of a person who:
(A) is considered to be a member of the student's
family under a rule adopted under this subsection for purposes of
this subdivision; or
(B) is otherwise considered to have a
sufficiently close relationship to the student under a rule adopted
under this subsection that the person's death is considered to be a
showing of good cause; or
(4) the active duty service as a member of the Texas
National Guard or the armed forces of the United States of:
(A) the student; or
(B) a person who is considered to be a member of
the student's family under a rule adopted under this subsection for
purposes of this subdivision.
SECTION 2. Section 51.907(c), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 3. (a) Until the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board adopts the rules required by Section 51.907(e),
Education Code, as amended by this Act, the rules adopted under
Section 51.907 in effect on the effective date of this Act continue
in effect, and a student who shows good cause for dropping a course
as provided by those existing rules may do so notwithstanding a
policy adopted by an institution of higher education under Section
51.907 before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) This section expires May 1, 2012.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.