85R11709 JRJ-D
By: Laubenberg H.B. No. 2251
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorization by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board for certain public junior colleges to offer
baccalaureate degree programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 130.0012, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (b-4), (e-1), and (g-1) and amending Subsections
(e) and (h) to read as follows:
(b-4) The coordinating board may authorize baccalaureate
degree programs under this section at one or more public junior
colleges that offer a degree program in the field of nursing and
have demonstrated a workforce need. Offering a baccalaureate
degree program under this subsection does not otherwise alter the
role and mission of a public junior college.
(e) In determining whether a public junior college may offer
[what] baccalaureate degree programs and what degree programs may
[are to] be offered, the coordinating board shall:
(1) apply the same criteria and standards the
coordinating board uses to approve baccalaureate degree programs at
general academic teaching institutions; and
(2) consider the following factors:
(A) [(1)] the workforce need for the degree
programs in the region served by the junior college;
(B) [(2)] how those degree programs would
complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior
college and whether the associate degree program offered by the
junior college in the same field has been successful;
(C) [(3)] whether those degree programs would
unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other
institutions of higher education; and
(D) [(4)] the ability of the junior college to
support the degree programs with student enrollment [program] and
the adequacy of the junior college's facilities, faculty,
administration, libraries, and other resources.
(e-1) A public junior college may offer a baccalaureate
degree program under this section only if its junior college
district meets the taxable property valuation amount established in
Section 130.032.
(g-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (g), a degree program
created under Subsection (b-4) may be funded only by a public junior
college's proportionate share of state appropriations under
Section 130.003, local funds, and private sources. This subsection
does not require the legislature to appropriate state funds to
support a degree program created under Subsection (b-4).
(h) Each biennium, each public junior college offering a
baccalaureate degree program under this section shall conduct a
review of each baccalaureate degree program offered and prepare a
[biennial] report on the operation, quality, and effectiveness of
those [the junior college's baccalaureate] degree programs. A [and
shall deliver a] copy of the report shall be delivered to the
coordinating board in the form and at the time determined by the
coordinating board.
SECTION 2. 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, 2017.