Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB3689 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Oliveira (Senate Sponsor - Lucio) H.B. No. 3689
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 6, 2011;
3	3	May 9, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher
4	4	Education; May 19, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
5	5	Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0;
6	6	May 19, 2011, sent to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3689 By: Birdwell
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to The University of Texas at Brownsville, including its
13	13	partnership agreement with the Texas Southmost College District.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 78.02, Education Code,
16	16	is amended to read as follows:
17	17	(c) The university may enter into any [a partnership]
18	18	agreement with the Texas Southmost [Union Junior] College District
19	19	to facilitate higher education advancement and opportunity in the
20	20	district's service area and the transition of students from Texas
21	21	Southmost College to [in the manner authorized by Subchapter N,
22	22	Chapter 51, to offer a lower-division, occupational, or technical
23	23	course that is not offered at] the university. An agreement may
24	24	cover any matter related to those purposes, including the
25	25	facilitation of the transfer of course credit and the alignment of
26	26	courses between the university and the college.
27	27	SECTION 2. Section 78.03, Education Code, is amended by
28	28	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
29	29	follows:
30	30	(a) The board may prescribe courses leading to customary
31	31	degrees offered at leading American universities and may award
32	32	those degrees, including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees
33	33	and their equivalents [authorize the university to offer any
34	34	upper-level or graduate course which is authorized by the Texas
35	35	Higher Education Coordinating Board].
36	36	(a-1) A department, school, or degree program may not be
37	37	instituted without the prior approval of the Texas Higher Education
38	38	Coordinating Board.
39	39	SECTION 3. Section 78.04, Education Code, is amended to
40	40	read as follows:
41	41	Sec. 78.04. FACILITIES. (a) The board shall make
42	42	provisions for adequate physical facilities for use by the
43	43	university. Subject to the agreement of the parties as provided by
44	44	Subsection (b), the facilities may include facilities[,] on land
45	45	committed by the board of trustees of the Texas Southmost [Union
46	46	Junior] College District on the district's Texas Southmost College
47	47	campus. The provision of facilities is[,] subject to the normal
48	48	requirements of the board and the Texas Higher Education
49	49	Coordinating Board.
50	50	(b) The board and the board of trustees of the Texas
51	51	Southmost College District may contract with each other for the use
52	52	of facilities. The terms of the contract shall be negotiated
53	53	between the parties and must provide for reasonable compensation
54	54	for the use of facilities.
55	55	SECTION 4. Subsections (b) and (d), Section 78.02, and
56	56	Sections 78.07 and 78.08, Education Code, are repealed.
57	57	SECTION 5. (a) The University of Texas at Brownsville and
58	58	the Texas Southmost College District, formerly referred to as the
59	59	Southmost Union Junior College District, are free-standing,
60	60	independent institutions that have operated in close association
61	61	under a partnership agreement authorized by Section 78.02,
62	62	Education Code. It is the intent of this Act to facilitate the
63	63	independent operation of the university and the college district in
64	64	the absence of such a partnership, but this Act does not affect the
65	65	authority of the university and the college district to continue in
66	66	partnership or to establish a new partnership at a future date.
67	67	(b) The University of Texas at Brownsville and the Texas
68	68	Southmost College District shall cooperate to ensure that each
69	69	institution timely achieves separate accreditation from a
70	70	recognized accrediting agency before the termination of the
71	71	existing partnership agreement and shall continue a partnership
72	72	agreement in effect until August 31, 2015, to the extent necessary
73	73	to ensure accreditation.
74	74	(c) The University of Texas at Brownsville and the Texas
75	75	Southmost College District may extend or renew the existing
76	76	partnership agreement, agree to its earlier termination, or execute
77	77	a new agreement as necessary to ensure accreditation.
78	78	(d) The University of Texas at Brownsville and the Texas
79	79	Southmost College District shall submit to the legislature a
80	80	semiannual report on the status of the partnership until each
81	81	institution achieves separate accreditation and the existing
82	82	partnership agreement is terminated.
83	83	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
84	84	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
85	85	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
86	86	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
87	87	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
88	88	* * * * *