By: Seliger, Zaffirini S.B. No. 828
(In the Senate - Filed February 14, 2019; March 1, 2019,
read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
March 21, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; March 21, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the name of the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the
Deaf.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 131, Education Code, is amended to read
as follows:
CHAPTER 131. SOUTHWEST COLLEGE [COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE] FOR THE DEAF
Sec. 131.001. SOUTHWEST COLLEGE [COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE] FOR
THE DEAF. The Southwest College [Collegiate Institute] for the
Deaf is a postsecondary educational institution providing
instruction for hearing-impaired students preparing for a career or
for enrollment in a senior college or university.
Sec. 131.002. ADMINISTRATION. (a) The college
[institute] is under the direct control and management of the board
of trustees of the Howard Junior College District.
(b) The college [institute] and its programs shall be
administered by personnel who are trained and qualified to work
with hearing-impaired students and are fluent in manual
communication skills.
Sec. 131.003. LOCATION. The college [institute] is located
on land deeded to the governing board by the federal Department of
Education for the purpose of operating the college [institute].
The governing board may not conduct regular junior college programs
for students with unimpaired hearing on the college [institute]
campus except as an integral part of the program offered to
hearing-impaired students when:
(1) it is educationally appropriate to enroll hearing
students in classes for the hearing-impaired; or
(2) special programs are needed to train hearing and
hearing-impaired persons to become professional service providers
for the deaf.
Sec. 131.004. COURSES, PROGRAMS, AND SERVICES. (a) The
college [institute] shall offer, but is not limited to offering,
the following courses, programs, and services for hearing-impaired
post-secondary students:
(1) learning development services, including academic
counseling, tutorial services, reading instruction, services to
counter learning disabilities, and library-related services;
(2) communications services, including interpreters
for academic and nonacademic functions, speech therapy, and
auditory evaluation and training;
(3) academic college preparatory courses;
(4) career analysis services designed to assist each
student in identifying a career interest, considering the student's
aptitudes, abilities, and skills;
(5) regular college courses, including vocational and
technical education and liberal arts courses;
(6) extracurricular activities, including intramural
athletics; and
(7) postgraduation services, including job placement
services and services designed to orient employers to
hearing-impaired workers.
(b) The course work offered by the college [institute] shall
emphasize self-contained classrooms with instruction conducted by
instructors who are trained and qualified to work with
hearing-impaired students and are fluent in manual communication
skills. Hearing-impaired students may enroll in integrated classes
that are regular classes offered to students with unimpaired
hearing enrolled in the junior college.
(c) The programs, services, and facilities of the college
[institute] shall be designed to be appropriate to the needs of
hearing-impaired students.
(d) The executive director shall determine which courses
offered by the college [institute] are appropriate for an
electronic display on a screen or terminal, with less than 30
seconds delay, of a speaker's spoken message. The college
[institute] shall implement the electronic display in those
courses.
Sec. 131.005. TUITION. (a) A Texas resident student
enrolled in the college [institute] is exempt from tuition fees
under Section 54.364.
(b) A student who is not a resident of Texas shall pay
tuition at a rate that is the lesser of:
(1) the rate provided by this code for a nonresident
student enrolled at a general academic teaching institution; or
(2) a rate determined by the board of trustees and the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board[, Texas College and
University System] to be the approximate cost to the college
[institute], not including room and board, of educating a student
during the academic year beginning the next fall.
Sec. 131.006. APPROPRIATIONS; GRANTS. (a) The governing
board of the college [institute] may receive appropriations for the
college's [institute's] operations only if the board operates the
college [institute] in compliance with this chapter.
(b) The board may accept gifts, grants, or donations of
money or property given to the college [institute] for the
college's [institute's] exclusive use in carrying out the purposes
of this subchapter.
(c) The board may expend appropriated funds for maintenance
and operation, including the maintenance and operation of student
housing and food service, unless the funds are specifically
restricted to another purpose by the appropriation.
SECTION 2. Section 51.911(a)(1), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(1) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by [Subdivision (7) of] Section 61.003 of this code, but
includes the Southwest College [Collegiate Institute] for the Deaf
and Texas State Technical College System [Institute].
SECTION 3. Section 51.925(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) In this section, "institution of higher education" has
the meaning assigned by [Subdivision (7) of] Section 61.003 of this
code, except that the term includes the Southwest College
[Collegiate Institute] for the Deaf and Texas State Technical
College System [Institute].
SECTION 4. Section 54.364(a)(5), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(5) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003, except that the term includes the
Southwest College [Collegiate Institute] for the Deaf.
SECTION 5. Section 31.001(8), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(8) "Institution of higher education" means the Texas
State Technical College System, the Southwest College [Collegiate
Institute] for the Deaf, or an institution of higher education,
excluding a public junior college, as defined by Section 61.003,
Education Code.
SECTION 6. (a) The name of the Southwest Collegiate
Institute for the Deaf is changed to the Southwest College for the
Deaf.
(b) A reference in law to the Southwest Collegiate Institute
for the Deaf means the Southwest College for the Deaf.
(c) An appropriation for the use or benefit of the Southwest
Collegiate Institute for the Deaf is available for the use and
benefit of the Southwest College for the Deaf.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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