By: Bonnen H.B. No. 5202
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the governance of public institutions of higher
education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 51.3522, 51.3523, and 51.3526 to read as
follows:
Sec. 51.3522. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE. (a) In this
section, "faculty council or senate" means a representative faculty
organization directly elected by the general faculty or colleges
and schools of an institution of higher education.
(b) Only the governing board of an institution of higher
education may establish or authorize the establishment of a faculty
council or senate at the institution.
(c) A faculty council or senate is advisory only. A faculty
council or senate may not:
(1) be delegated final decision-making authority on
any matter; or
(2) take action on behalf of the institution,
including approving personnel action or conducting an
investigation.
(d) Unless directed otherwise by the institution's
governing board, a faculty council or senate shall report to the
institution's president or other chief executive officer.
(e) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to a
faculty council or senate.
Sec. 51.3523. FACULTY COUNCIL OR SENATE MEETINGS OPEN TO
PUBLIC. (a) A faculty council or senate established or authorized
in accordance with Section 51.3522 shall conduct meetings at which
a quorum is present in a manner that is open to the public and in
accordance with procedures prescribed by the president of the
institution.
(b) The procedures prescribed by the president must:
(1) provide for notice of the date, hour, place, and
subject of the meeting at least 72 hours before the meeting is
convened; and
(2) require that the notice be:
(A) posted on the Internet; and
(B) published in a student newspaper of the
institution, if an issue of the newspaper is published between the
time of the Internet posting and the time of the meeting.
(c) Any vote taken by a faculty council or senate must be
recorded and made public.
Sec. 51.3526. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING CERTAIN COURSES.
(a) In this section:
(1) "Certificate program," "governing board," and
"institution of higher education" have the meanings assigned by
Section 61.003.
(2) "Degree program" has the meaning assigned by
Section 61.003(11) and includes, as applicable, minors or double
majors.
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), a
governing board of an institution of higher education shall ensure
that the institution does not require, as part of a degree program
or certificate program, the completion of a course whose course
description, course overview, course objectives, or proposed
student learning outcomes do any of the following:
(1) promote the idea that racially neutral or
colorblind laws, policies, or institutions in contemporary
American society perpetuate oppression, injustice, race-based
privilege, including white supremacy or white privilege, or
inequity by failing to actively differentiate on the basis of race,
sex, or gender, except as part of a discussion regarding the
effectiveness of, or potential revision to, anti-discrimination
laws; or
(2) promote, except as permitted or required by law,
the differential treatment in contemporary American society of any
individual or group of individuals based on race or ethnicity.
(c) The governing board of an institution of higher
education may exempt in writing from the prohibition under
Subsection (b) courses required for a degree program or certificate
program whose title clearly establishes the program's course of
study as primarily focused on racial, ethnic, or gender studies,
provided that each of the following applies:
(1) a student enrolled at the institution is not
required to enroll in such a course to satisfy the requirements of
any other degree program or certificate program;
(2) courses offered or listed under such programs
shall satisfy the academic degree program requirements of only
those respective degree programs or certificate programs and shall
not be used to satisfy other degree program or certificate program
requirements beyond satisfying overall institution credit hour
graduation requirements; and
(3) the title of any currently established degree
program or certificate program is not altered or replaced to
establish an emphasis on racial, ethnic, or gender studies.
(d) Subsection (b) shall not be construed to prohibit:
(1) identifying and discussing historical movements,
ideologies or instances of ethnic, racial, or sex-based hatred or
discrimination, including, but not limited to slavery, Indian
removal, the Holocaust, or Japanese-American internment;
(2) identifying genetic predispositions,
epidemiology, or physiology in medical education or biological
sciences that does not posit race-based injustice, discrimination,
or oppression; or
(3) the identification of differences between, or bona
fide qualifications based on, biological sex that are reasonably
necessary to the normal operation of public institutions.
(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit any
programming explicitly required by, and limited to, the institution
of higher education's obligations to comply with state or federal
anti-discrimination law or an applicable court order.
(f) Instructional expenses associated with courses
specified in Subsection (b) shall not be funded by appropriated
funds, excluding student tuition and fee revenues.
(g) Beginning with the fiscal year beginning September 1,
2026, each institution of higher education shall include as part of
its annual report to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
as provided by Section 51.3525, Subsection (e) certification of its
compliance with this section.
SECTION 2. Section 51.354, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.354. INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.
(a) The final decision-making authority on matters
regarding an institution of higher education's degree programs and
curricula belongs to the institution. The institution shall make
the decisions on those matters under the direction of the
institution's governing board.
(b) In addition to specific responsibilities imposed by
this code or other law, each institution of higher education has the
general responsibility to serve the public and, within the
institution's role and mission, to:
(1) transmit culture through general education;
(2) extend knowledge;
(3) teach and train students for professions;
(4) provide for scientific, engineering, medical, and
other academic research;
(5) protect intellectual exploration and academic
freedom;
(6) strive for intellectual excellence;
(7) provide educational opportunity for all who can
benefit from postsecondary education and training; and
(8) provide continuing education opportunities.
SECTION 3. Section 61.052, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A governing board may exclude from its comprehensive
list of courses submitted under Subsection (a) courses that were
not taught as an organized class or individual instruction for two
consecutive academic years.
SECTION 4. A faculty council or senate established or
authorized at a public institution of higher education before the
effective date of this Act is abolished on October 1, 2025, unless:
(1) the faculty council or senate was established or
authorized in accordance with Section 51.3522, Education Code, as
added by this Act; or
(2) the faculty council's or senate's continuation is
ratified by the institution's governing board before that date.
SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or
its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this
Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are declared
to be severable.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
academic year.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.