Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB645 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R6864 JRJ-D
2	2	By: Watson S.B. No. 645
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 municipality where a
27	27	medical school is located and with a population of 750,000 or more
28	28	that is primarily located in a county with a population of 1.5
29	29	million or less that offers a degree program in the field of nursing
30	30	and has demonstrated a workforce need.
31	31	(e) In determining what baccalaureate degree programs are
32	32	to be offered, the coordinating board shall:
33	33	(1) apply the same criteria and standards the
34	34	coordinating board uses to approve baccalaureate degree programs at
35	35	general academic teaching institutions; and
36	36	(2) consider the following factors:
37	37	(A) [(1)] the workforce need for the degree
38	38	programs in the region served by the junior college;
39	39	(B) [(2)] how those degree programs would
40	40	complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior
41	41	college and whether the associate degree program offered by the
42	42	junior college in the same field has been successful;
43	43	(C) [(3)] whether those degree programs would
44	44	unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other
45	45	institutions of higher education; [and]
46	46	(D) [(4)] the ability of the junior college to
47	47	support the program with student enrollment and the adequacy of the
48	48	junior college's facilities, faculty, administration, libraries,
49	49	and other resources; and
50	50	(E) whether the junior college meets the taxable
51	51	property valuation amount established in Section 130.032.
52	52	(g) Except as provided by Subsection (g-1), in [In] its
53	53	recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for
54	54	public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that
55	55	a public junior college that previously participated in a pilot
56	56	project to offer baccalaureate degree programs receive
57	57	substantially the same state support for junior-level and
58	58	senior-level courses in the field of applied science or applied
59	59	technology offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] as that
60	60	provided to a general academic teaching institution for
61	61	substantially similar courses. In determining the contact hours
62	62	attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or senior-level
63	63	course offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] used to
64	64	determine a public junior college's proportionate share of state
65	65	appropriations under Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall
66	66	weigh those contact hours as necessary to provide the junior
67	67	college the appropriate level of state support to the extent state
68	68	funds for those courses are included in the appropriations. This
69	69	subsection does not prohibit the legislature from directly
70	70	appropriating state funds to support junior-level and senior-level
71	71	courses offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section].
72	72	(g-1) A degree program created under Subsection (b)(2) may
73	73	be funded solely by a public junior college's proportionate share
74	74	of state appropriations under Section 130.003, local funds, and
75	75	private sources. This subsection does not require the legislature
76	76	to appropriate state funds to support a degree program created
77	77	under Subsection (b)(2).
78	78	(h) Each biennium, each [Each] public junior college
79	79	offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section shall
80	80	conduct a review of each baccalaureate degree program offered and
81	81	prepare a [biennial] report on the operation, quality, and
82	82	effectiveness of those [the junior college's baccalaureate] degree
83	83	programs. A [and shall deliver a] copy of the report shall be
84	84	delivered to the coordinating board in the form and at the time
85	85	determined by the coordinating board.
86	86	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
87	87	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
88	88	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
89	89	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
90	90	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.