84R12648 KSD-D
By: Clardy H.B. No. 1583
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1583:
By: Raney C.S.H.B. No. 1583
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to block scheduling for certain associate degree and
certificate programs at public junior colleges.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 130, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 130.0095 to read as follows:
Sec. 130.0095. BLOCK SCHEDULING FOR CERTAIN ASSOCIATE
DEGREE OR CERTIFICATE PROGRAM. (a) To facilitate timely degree
completion by students at public junior colleges, each public
junior college shall establish, for each career and technology,
allied health, or nursing associate degree or certificate program
offered by the college, a block schedule curriculum under which:
(1) courses required for a student's enrollment in the
program as a full-time student are offered each semester in
scheduled blocks, such as a morning, full-day, afternoon, evening,
or weekend block schedule, designed to provide scheduling
predictability from semester to semester to students enrolled in
the program; and
(2) students may enroll in an entire block schedule
curriculum offered under the program in a semester, rather than
enrolling in individual courses leading toward the degree or
certificate.
(b) Each public junior college shall publish in advance of
each semester the available block schedule curricula for each
associate degree or certificate program described by Subsection (a)
offered by the college for that semester.
(c) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may adopt
rules as necessary for the administration of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 130.0095, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2016 fall semester.
SECTION 3. 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, 2015.