Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB352 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R2911 JRJ-F
2	2	By: Watson S.B. No. 352
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 baccalaureate degree programs at one
26	26	or more public junior colleges that offer a degree program in the
27	27	field of nursing and have demonstrated a workforce need.
28	28	(e) In determining what baccalaureate degree programs are
29	29	to be offered, the coordinating board shall:
30	30	(1) apply the same criteria and standards the
31	31	coordinating board uses to approve baccalaureate degree programs at
32	32	general academic teaching institutions; and
33	33	(2) consider the following factors:
34	34	(A) [(1)] the workforce need for the degree
35	35	programs in the region served by the junior college;
36	36	(B) [(2)] how those degree programs would
37	37	complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior
38	38	college and whether the associate degree program offered by the
39	39	junior college in the same field has been successful;
40	40	(C) [(3)] whether those degree programs would
41	41	unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other
42	42	institutions of higher education; [and]
43	43	(D) [(4)] the ability of the junior college to
44	44	support the program with student enrollment and the adequacy of the
45	45	junior college's facilities, faculty, administration, libraries,
46	46	and other resources; and
47	47	(E) whether the junior college meets the taxable
48	48	property valuation amount established in Section 130.032.
49	49	(g) Except as provided by Subsection (g-1), in [In] its
50	50	recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for
51	51	public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that
52	52	a public junior college that previously participated in a pilot
53	53	project to offer baccalaureate degree programs receive
54	54	substantially the same state support for junior-level and
55	55	senior-level courses in the field of applied science or applied
56	56	technology offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] as that
57	57	provided to a general academic teaching institution for
58	58	substantially similar courses. In determining the contact hours
59	59	attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or senior-level
60	60	course offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] used to
61	61	determine a public junior college's proportionate share of state
62	62	appropriations under Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall
63	63	weigh those contact hours as necessary to provide the junior
64	64	college the appropriate level of state support to the extent state
65	65	funds for those courses are included in the appropriations. This
66	66	subsection does not prohibit the legislature from directly
67	67	appropriating state funds to support junior-level and senior-level
68	68	courses offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section].
69	69	(g-1) A degree program created under Subsection (b)(2) may
70	70	be funded solely by a public junior college's proportionate share
71	71	of state appropriations under Section 130.003, local funds, and
72	72	private sources. This subsection does not require the legislature
73	73	to appropriate state funds to support a degree program created
74	74	under Subsection (b)(2).
75	75	(h) Each biennium, each [Each] public junior college
76	76	offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section shall
77	77	conduct a review of each baccalaureate degree program offered and
78	78	prepare a [biennial] report on the operation, quality, and
79	79	effectiveness of those [the junior college's baccalaureate] degree
80	80	programs. A [and shall deliver a] copy of the report shall be
81	81	delivered to the coordinating board in the form and at the time
82	82	determined by the coordinating board.
83	83	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
84	84	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
85	85	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
86	86	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
87	87	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.