Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1628 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R7479 JRJ-F
2	2	By: Perez H.B. No. 1628
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to authorization by the Texas Higher Education
8	8	Coordinating Board for certain public junior colleges to offer
9	9	baccalaureate degree programs.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 130.0012, Education Code, is amended by
12	12	amending Subsections (a), (b), (e), and (g) and adding Subsections
13	13	(b-4), (b-5), (b-6), (e-1), and (g-1) to read as follows:
14	14	(a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may
15	15	[shall] authorize public junior colleges to offer baccalaureate
16	16	degree programs in the fields of applied science, [and] applied
17	17	technology, and nursing under this section. Offering a
18	18	baccalaureate degree program under this section does not otherwise
19	19	alter the role and mission of a public junior college.
20	20	(b) The coordinating board:
21	21	(1) shall authorize baccalaureate degree programs at
22	22	each public junior college that previously participated in a pilot
23	23	project to offer baccalaureate degree programs; and
24	24	(2) may authorize baccalaureate degree programs at one
25	25	or more public junior colleges that offer a degree program in the
26	26	field of nursing and have demonstrated a workforce need.
27	27	(b-4) The coordinating board shall establish a pilot
28	28	project to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of authorizing
29	29	not more than two baccalaureate degree programs, one in the field of
30	30	applied science or applied technology, and one in the field of
31	31	nursing at a public junior college with a main campus located in a
32	32	county with a population greater than 3.3 million.
33	33	(b-5) Not later than January 1, 2019, the coordinating board
34	34	shall prepare a progress report on the pilot project established
35	35	under Subsection (b-4). Not later than January 1, 2021, the
36	36	coordinating board shall prepare a report on the effectiveness of
37	37	the pilot project, including any recommendations for legislative
38	38	action regarding the offering of baccalaureate degree programs in
39	39	the fields of applied science, applied technology, and nursing by a
40	40	public junior college. The coordinating board shall deliver a copy
41	41	of each report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
42	42	speaker of the house of representatives, and the chair of the
43	43	standing committee of each house of the legislature with primary
44	44	jurisdiction over higher education. Unless the authority to
45	45	continue offering a baccalaureate degree program in the fields of
46	46	applied science, applied technology, and nursing is continued by
47	47	the legislature, a public junior college may not:
48	48	(1) enroll a new student in a baccalaureate degree
49	49	program under the pilot project after the 2022 fall semester;
50	50	(2) offer junior-level or senior-level courses for
51	51	those degree programs after the 2025 fall semester, unless the
52	52	coordinating board authorizes the college to offer those courses;
53	53	or
54	54	(3) award a baccalaureate degree under the pilot
55	55	project after the 2025 fall semester, unless the coordinating board
56	56	approves the awarding of the degree.
57	57	(b-6) This subsection and Subsections (b-4) and (b-5)
58	58	expire on the first December 31 following the first regular
59	59	legislative session that occurs after the sixth anniversary of the
60	60	date a public junior college offering a degree program in the fields
61	61	of applied science, applied technology, and nursing under
62	62	Subsection (b-4) meets the accreditation requirements of
63	63	Subsection (c).
64	64	(e) In determining whether a public junior college may offer
65	65	[what] baccalaureate degree programs and what degree programs may
66	66	[are to] be offered, the coordinating board shall consider the
67	67	following factors:
68	68	(1) the workforce need for the degree programs in the
69	69	region served by the junior college;
70	70	(2) how those degree programs would complement the
71	71	other programs and course offerings of the junior college and
72	72	whether the associate degree program offered by the junior college
73	73	in the same field has been successful;
74	74	(3) whether those degree programs would unnecessarily
75	75	duplicate the degree programs offered by other institutions of
76	76	higher education or whether a partnership with other institutions
77	77	of higher education is possible; and
78	78	(4) the ability of the junior college to support the
79	79	program with student enrollment and the adequacy of the junior
80	80	college's facilities, faculty, administration, libraries, and
81	81	other resources.
82	82	(e-1) A public junior college may offer a baccalaureate
83	83	degree program under this section only if its junior college
84	84	district meets the taxable property valuation amount established in
85	85	Section 130.032.
86	86	(g) Except as provided by Subsection (g-1), in [In] its
87	87	recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for
88	88	public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that
89	89	a public junior college receive substantially the same state
90	90	support for junior-level and senior-level courses offered under
91	91	this section as that provided to a general academic teaching
92	92	institution for substantially similar courses. In determining the
93	93	contact hours attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level
94	94	or senior-level course offered under this section used to determine
95	95	a public junior college's proportionate share of state
96	96	appropriations under Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall
97	97	weigh those contact hours as necessary to provide the junior
98	98	college the appropriate level of state support to the extent state
99	99	funds for those courses are included in the appropriations. This
100	100	subsection does not prohibit the legislature from directly
101	101	appropriating state funds to support junior-level and senior-level
102	102	courses offered under this section.
103	103	(g-1) For the first two years in which a degree program
104	104	created under Subsection (b)(2) is offered, the degree program may
105	105	be funded solely by a public junior college's proportionate share
106	106	of state appropriations under Section 130.003, local funds, and
107	107	private sources.
108	108	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
109	109	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
110	110	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
111	111	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
112	112	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.