Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1744 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R6297 KJE-D
2	2	By: González H.B. No. 1744
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the establishment of a survey and report on campus
8	8	safety at public institutions of higher education.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 61.081 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 61.081. SURVEY AND REPORT ON CAMPUS SAFETY. (a) In
13	13	this section, "sexual assault" means an offense under Section
14	14	22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code.
15	15	(b) Each institution of higher education shall submit to the
16	16	board an annual report on crime occurring at the institution. The
17	17	report must include:
18	18	(1) if applicable, a copy of the institution's annual
19	19	security report required under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of
20	20	Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 U.S.C.
21	21	Section 1092(f)); and
22	22	(2) if known by the institution, the number of
23	23	students convicted during the year covered by the report of an
24	24	offense based on the commission of a sexual assault or attempted
25	25	sexual assault at the institution.
26	26	(c) The board shall establish and conduct an annual survey
27	27	on campus safety to collect data relating to the reported crime
28	28	rates and the perception of safety among students at institutions
29	29	of higher education. In establishing the survey, the board must
30	30	consider:
31	31	(1) recommendations of the Office on Violence Against
32	32	Women for developing a campus safety climate survey; and
33	33	(2) empirically validated surveys on campus safety.
34	34	(d) The survey must be:
35	35	(1) voluntary;
36	36	(2) anonymous;
37	37	(3) conducted online through the board's Internet
38	38	website;
39	39	(4) available for participation only to students
40	40	expected to graduate from an institution of higher education during
41	41	the academic year in which the survey is conducted; and
42	42	(5) limited to incidents that occurred while the
43	43	student was enrolled at the institution.
44	44	(e) The board shall assign each student taking the survey a
45	45	unique code to access the survey. The code may not be associated
46	46	with the student's survey responses or otherwise used in a manner
47	47	that would identify the student.
48	48	(f) As part of the survey, the board shall request a
49	49	student's demographic information. The board may not require a
50	50	student to provide the information and must include in the survey a
51	51	statement that the student is not required to provide the
52	52	information. The information requested must include:
53	53	(1) the student's:
54	54	(A) gender identity;
55	55	(B) race, nationality, and ethnicity; and
56	56	(C) age; and
57	57	(2) whether the student lives on or off campus.
58	58	(g) The board shall analyze the results of the survey and
59	59	information reported to the board by institutions of higher
60	60	education under Subsection (b) and post a report on its findings on
61	61	the board's Internet website. The report must include:
62	62	(1) in total and disaggregated by campus, the number
63	63	of:
64	64	(A) property crimes and violent crimes, other
65	65	than sexual assault, reported on the survey;
66	66	(B) sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults
67	67	reported on the survey;
68	68	(C) sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults
69	69	reported to an institution of higher education or to a law
70	70	enforcement agency;
71	71	(D) disciplinary actions taken by an institution
72	72	of higher education against a student based on the commission of a
73	73	sexual assault or attempted sexual assault; and
74	74	(E) students convicted of an offense based on the
75	75	commission of a sexual assault or attempted sexual assault at an
76	76	institution of higher education; and
77	77	(2) aggregated demographic information on students
78	78	who reported being victims of a sexual assault or an attempted
79	79	sexual assault.
80	80	(h) The board shall make available to an institution of
81	81	higher education on request demographic information disaggregated
82	82	by campus on students enrolled at the institution who reported on
83	83	the survey being victims of a sexual assault or an attempted sexual
84	84	assault, unless the information could identify a student.
85	85	(i) Each institution of higher education shall notify
86	86	students enrolled at the institution that the board's report under
87	87	Subsection (g) has been posted on the board's Internet website as
88	88	soon as practicable after the report is posted.
89	89	(j) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
90	90	this section, including rules that ensure implementation of this
91	91	section in a manner that complies with federal law regarding
92	92	confidentiality of student educational information, including the
93	93	Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C.
94	94	Section 1232g).
95	95	SECTION 2. Not later than August 1, 2016, the Texas Higher
96	96	Education Coordinating Board shall establish the survey on campus
97	97	safety under Section 61.081, Education Code, as added by this Act.
98	98	Not later than May 1, 2017, the board shall post on the board's
99	99	Internet website the initial report required by Section 61.081(g),
100	100	Education Code, as added by this Act.
101	101	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
102	102	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
103	103	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
104	104	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
105	105	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.