Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3527 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R14615 JRJ-D
2	2	By: Vo H.B. No. 3527
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), (g), and (h) and adding
13	13	Subsection (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 in
22	22	the fields of applied science and applied technology at each public
23	23	junior college that previously participated in a pilot project to
24	24	offer baccalaureate degree programs; and
25	25	(2) may authorize a baccalaureate degree program at a
26	26	public junior college primarily located in a county with a
27	27	population of 4 million or more or in a county adjacent to a county
28	28	with a population of 4 million or more that offers a degree program
29	29	in the field of nursing and has demonstrated a workforce need.
30	30	(e) In determining what baccalaureate degree programs are
31	31	to be offered, the coordinating board shall:
32	32	(1) apply the same criteria and standards the
33	33	coordinating board uses to approve baccalaureate degree programs at
34	34	general academic teaching institutions; and
35	35	(2) consider the following factors:
36	36	(A) [(1)] the workforce need for the degree
37	37	programs in the region served by the junior college;
38	38	(B) [(2)] how those degree programs would
39	39	complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior
40	40	college and whether the associate degree program offered by the
41	41	junior college in the same field has been successful;
42	42	(C) [(3)] whether those degree programs would
43	43	unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other
44	44	institutions of higher education; [and]
45	45	(D) [(4)] the ability of the junior college to
46	46	support the program with student enrollment and the adequacy of the
47	47	junior college's facilities, faculty, administration, libraries,
48	48	and other resources; and
49	49	(E) whether the junior college meets the taxable
50	50	property valuation amount established in Section 130.032.
51	51	(g) Except as provided by Subsection (g-1), in [In] its
52	52	recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for
53	53	public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that
54	54	a public junior college that previously participated in a pilot
55	55	project to offer baccalaureate degree programs receive
56	56	substantially the same state support for junior-level and
57	57	senior-level courses in the field of applied science or applied
58	58	technology offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] as that
59	59	provided to a general academic teaching institution for
60	60	substantially similar courses. In determining the contact hours
61	61	attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or senior-level
62	62	course offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] used to
63	63	determine a public junior college's proportionate share of state
64	64	appropriations under Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall
65	65	weigh those contact hours as necessary to provide the junior
66	66	college the appropriate level of state support to the extent state
67	67	funds for those courses are included in the appropriations. This
68	68	subsection does not prohibit the legislature from directly
69	69	appropriating state funds to support junior-level and senior-level
70	70	courses offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section].
71	71	(g-1) A degree program created under Subsection (b)(2) may
72	72	be funded solely by a public junior college's proportionate share
73	73	of state appropriations under Section 130.003, local funds, and
74	74	private sources. This subsection does not require the legislature
75	75	to appropriate state funds to support a degree program created
76	76	under Subsection (b)(2).
77	77	(h) Each biennium, each public junior college offering a
78	78	baccalaureate degree program under this section shall conduct a
79	79	review of each baccalaureate degree program offered and prepare a
80	80	[biennial] report on the operation, quality, and effectiveness of
81	81	those [the junior college's baccalaureate] degree programs. A [and
82	82	shall deliver a] copy of the report shall be delivered to the
83	83	coordinating board in the form and at the time determined by the
84	84	coordinating board.
85	85	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
86	86	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
87	87	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
88	88	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
89	89	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.