Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5202 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Bonnen H.B. No. 5202
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to the governance of public institutions of higher
9	9	education.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Sections 51.3522, 51.3523, and 51.3526 to read as
13	13	follows:
14	14	Sec. 51.3522. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE. (a) In this
15	15	section, "faculty council or senate" means a representative faculty
16	16	organization directly elected by the general faculty or colleges
17	17	and schools of an institution of higher education.
18	18	(b) Only the governing board of an institution of higher
19	19	education may establish or authorize the establishment of a faculty
20	20	council or senate at the institution.
21	21	(c) A faculty council or senate is advisory only. A faculty
22	22	council or senate may not:
23	23	(1) be delegated final decision-making authority on
24	24	any matter; or
25	25	(2) take action on behalf of the institution,
26	26	including approving personnel action or conducting an
27	27	investigation.
28	28	(d) Unless directed otherwise by the institution's
29	29	governing board, a faculty council or senate shall report to the
30	30	institution's president or other chief executive officer.
31	31	(e) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to a
32	32	faculty council or senate.
33	33	Sec. 51.3523. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE MEETINGS OPEN TO
34	34	PUBLIC. (a) A faculty council or senate established or authorized
35	35	in accordance with Section 51.3522 shall conduct meetings at which
36	36	a quorum is present in a manner that is open to the public and in
37	37	accordance with procedures prescribed by the president of the
38	38	institution.
39	39	(b) The procedures prescribed by the president must:
40	40	(1) provide for notice of the date, hour, place, and
41	41	subject of the meeting at least 72 hours before the meeting is
42	42	convened; and
43	43	(2) require that the notice be:
44	44	(A) posted on the Internet; and
45	45	(B) published in a student newspaper of the
46	46	institution, if an issue of the newspaper is published between the
47	47	time of the Internet posting and the time of the meeting.
48	48	(c) Any vote taken by a faculty council or senate must be
49	49	recorded and made public.
50	50	Sec. 51.3526. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING CERTAIN COURSES.
51	51	(a) In this section:
52	52	(1) "Certificate program," "governing board," and
53	53	"institution of higher education" have the meanings assigned by
54	54	Section 61.003.
55	55	(2) "Degree program" has the meaning assigned by
56	56	Section 61.003(11) and includes, as applicable, minors or double
57	57	majors.
58	58	(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), a
59	59	governing board of an institution of higher education shall ensure
60	60	that the institution does not require, as part of a degree program
61	61	or certificate program, the completion of a course whose course
62	62	description, course overview, course objectives, or proposed
63	63	student learning outcomes do any of the following:
64	64	(1) promote the idea that racially neutral or
65	65	colorblind laws, policies, or institutions in contemporary
66	66	American society perpetuate oppression, injustice, race-based
67	67	privilege, including white supremacy or white privilege, or
68	68	inequity by failing to actively differentiate on the basis of race,
69	69	sex, or gender, except as part of a discussion regarding the
70	70	effectiveness of, or potential revision to, anti-discrimination
71	71	laws; or
72	72	(2) promote, except as permitted or required by law,
73	73	the differential treatment in contemporary American society of any
74	74	individual or group of individuals based on race or ethnicity.
75	75	(c) The governing board of an institution of higher
76	76	education may exempt in writing from the prohibition under
77	77	Subsection (b) courses required for a degree program or certificate
78	78	program whose title clearly establishes the program's course of
79	79	study as primarily focused on racial, ethnic, or gender studies,
80	80	provided that each of the following applies:
81	81	(1) a student enrolled at the institution is not
82	82	required to enroll in such a course to satisfy the requirements of
83	83	any other degree program or certificate program;
84	84	(2) courses offered or listed under such programs
85	85	shall satisfy the academic degree program requirements of only
86	86	those respective degree programs or certificate programs and shall
87	87	not be used to satisfy other degree program or certificate program
88	88	requirements beyond satisfying overall institution credit hour
89	89	graduation requirements; and
90	90	(3) the title of any currently established degree
91	91	program or certificate program is not altered or replaced to
92	92	establish an emphasis on racial, ethnic, or gender studies.
93	93	(d) Subsection (b) shall not be construed to prohibit:
94	94	(1) identifying and discussing historical movements,
95	95	ideologies or instances of ethnic, racial, or sex-based hatred or
96	96	discrimination, including, but not limited to slavery, Indian
97	97	removal, the Holocaust, or Japanese-American internment;
98	98	(2) identifying genetic predispositions,
99	99	epidemiology, or physiology in medical education or biological
100	100	sciences that does not posit race-based injustice, discrimination,
101	101	or oppression; or
102	102	(3) the identification of differences between, or bona
103	103	fide qualifications based on, biological sex that are reasonably
104	104	necessary to the normal operation of public institutions.
105	105	(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit any
106	106	programming explicitly required by, and limited to, the institution
107	107	of higher education's obligations to comply with state or federal
108	108	anti-discrimination law or an applicable court order.
109	109	(f) Instructional expenses associated with courses
110	110	specified in Subsection (b) shall not be funded by appropriated
111	111	funds, excluding student tuition and fee revenues.
112	112	(g) Beginning with the fiscal year beginning September 1,
113	113	2026, each institution of higher education shall include as part of
114	114	its annual report to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
115	115	as provided by Section 51.3525, Subsection (e) certification of its
116	116	compliance with this section.
117	117	SECTION 2. Section 51.354, Education Code, is amended to
118	118	read as follows:
119	119	Sec. 51.354. INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.
120	120	(a) The final decision-making authority on matters
121	121	regarding an institution of higher education's degree programs and
122	122	curricula belongs to the institution. The institution shall make
123	123	the decisions on those matters under the direction of the
124	124	institution's governing board.
125	125	(b) In addition to specific responsibilities imposed by
126	126	this code or other law, each institution of higher education has the
127	127	general responsibility to serve the public and, within the
128	128	institution's role and mission, to:
129	129	(1) transmit culture through general education;
130	130	(2) extend knowledge;
131	131	(3) teach and train students for professions;
132	132	(4) provide for scientific, engineering, medical, and
133	133	other academic research;
134	134	(5) protect intellectual exploration and academic
135	135	freedom;
136	136	(6) strive for intellectual excellence;
137	137	(7) provide educational opportunity for all who can
138	138	benefit from postsecondary education and training; and
139	139	(8) provide continuing education opportunities.
140	140	SECTION 3. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended by
141	141	adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
142	142	(d) A governing board may exclude from its comprehensive
143	143	list of courses submitted under Subsection (a) courses that were
144	144	not taught as an organized class or individual instruction for two
145	145	consecutive academic years.
146	146	SECTION 4. A faculty council or senate established or
147	147	authorized at a public institution of higher education before the
148	148	effective date of this Act is abolished on October 1, 2025, unless:
149	149	(1) the faculty council or senate was established or
150	150	authorized in accordance with Section 51.3522, Education Code, as
151	151	added by this Act; or
152	152	(2) the faculty council's or senate's continuation is
153	153	ratified by the institution's governing board before that date.
154	154	SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or
155	155	its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
156	156	invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this
157	157	Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or
158	158	application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are declared
159	159	to be severable.
160	160	SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
161	161	academic year.
162	162	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
163	163	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
164	164	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
165	165	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
166	166	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.