Bill Text: TX SB18 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the tenure and employment of faculty members at certain public institutions of higher education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 13-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-06-17 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB18 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB18-Engrossed.html

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By: Creighton, et al. S.B. No. 18

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tenure and employment status at public institutions of
higher education in this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.9415 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.9415. TENURE AND FACULTY EMPLOYMENT STATUS. (a) In
this section, "institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) An institution of higher education may not grant an
employee of the institution tenure or any type of permanent
employment status.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to a faculty member or
other employee of the institution of higher education who is
employed by or under contract for employment with the institution
on September 1, 2023, and who was awarded tenure or any type of
permanent employment status by the institution before September 1,
2023, provided that the person remains continuously employed or
continuously under a contract of employment beginning September 1,
2023.
(d) This section does not prohibit the board of regents of
an institution of higher education from establishing an alternate
system of tiered employment status for faculty members provided
that the system clearly defines each position and requires each
faculty member to undergo an annual performance evaluation.
SECTION 2. Section 21.801(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The public institution of higher education shall:
(1) reward faculty instructing in the teacher
residency program;
(2) identify faculty who can prepare teachers to
impact student achievement in high-need schools;
(3) provide institutional support of faculty who work
with the teacher residency program by providing time to teach the
courses [and valuing the faculty's contributions with rewards in
the university tenure process]; and
(4) develop and implement a program that acknowledges
and elevates the significance and professional nature of teaching
at the primary and secondary levels.
SECTION 3. Section 51.943(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) For the purposes of this section, an institution of
higher education is not required to provide an annual contract to
tenured [tenure or tenure-track] faculty, but must provide tenured
[tenure and tenure-track] faculty with [any] written notification
[required in the institution's tenure policy] of any [a] change in a
term of employment according to the policies of the institution,
but no later than the 30th day prior to the change.
SECTION 4. Section 51.948(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A contract entered into by a governing board under this
section may not:
(1) provide for employment for more than three years;
(2) allow for severance or other payments on the
termination of the contract to exceed an amount equal to the
discounted net present cash value of the contract on termination at
a market interest rate agreed upon in the contract; or
(3) allow for development leave that is inconsistent
with Section 51.105[; or
[(4) award tenure in any way that varies from the
institution's general policy on the award of tenure].
SECTION 5. Section 51.9745(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Each general academic teaching institution, as defined
by Section 61.003, shall make available to the public on the
institution's Internet website the following information for the
institution:
(1) the student/faculty ratio;
(2) the percentage of all full-time equivalent faculty
members with teaching responsibility who are tenured [or tenure
track];
(3) the percentage of semester credit hours taken by
students classified as freshmen or sophomores that are taught by
tenured [and tenure track] faculty members;
(4) the number of faculty members in each of the
following faculty ranks, including a breakdown for each rank
showing the numbers of faculty members by race, ethnicity, and
gender:
(A) professor;
(B) associate professor;
(C) assistant professor;
(D) instructor;
(E) nontenured [or nontenure track]; and
(F) teaching assistant;
(5) average faculty salaries by rank;
(6) the amount of money appropriated by the
legislature per full-time equivalent faculty member and full-time
equivalent student;
(7) the total revenue the institution spent per
full-time equivalent faculty member and full-time equivalent
student;
(8) the amount of federal and private research
expenditures per tenured [or tenure track] full-time equivalent
faculty member;
(9) the number and percentage of faculty members
holding extramural research grants;
(10) the number and names of awards to faculty members
from nationally recognized entities, including those identified by
The Center for Measuring University Performance; and
(11) the number of endowed professorships or chairs.
SECTION 6. Section 51A.053(c), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Except as otherwise provided by the coordinating board
under Subsection (a), the resume must include the following
information relating to the most recent state fiscal year for which
the information is available:
(1) under the heading "ENROLLMENT":
(A) the total number of students enrolled in the
institution during the fall semester that ended in the fiscal year
covered by the resume;
(B) the percentage of undergraduate students
enrolled in the institution for the first time during the fall
semester that ended in the fiscal year covered by the resume who are
transfer students; and
(C) a clearly identifiable link to the
information described by Paragraph (A) disaggregated by student
ethnicity;
(2) under the heading "DEGREES AWARDED":
(A) the number of bachelor's degrees, number of
master's degrees, number of doctoral degrees, and number of
professional degrees awarded by the institution; and
(B) a clearly identifiable link to the
information described by Paragraph (A) disaggregated by student
ethnicity;
(3) under the heading "COSTS":
(A) the average annual total academic costs for a
resident undergraduate student enrolled in 30 semester credit hours
at the institution;
(B) clearly identifiable links to information
regarding:
(i) the rate or rates of tuition per
semester credit hour charged by the institution; and
(ii) any mandatory fees, as defined by the
coordinating board, imposed by the institution;
(C) the average cost of on-campus room and board
per student; and
(D) the average cost to a resident undergraduate
student enrolled in 30 semester credit hours for total academic
costs and on-campus room and board, excluding the cost of books,
supplies, transportation, or other expenses;
(4) under the heading "FINANCIAL AID":
(A) the percentage of undergraduate students
enrolled in the institution who receive need-based grants or
scholarships;
(B) the percentage of undergraduate students
enrolled in the institution who receive need-based grants,
scholarships, loans, or work-study funds;
(C) the percentage of undergraduate students
enrolled in the institution who receive student loans;
(D) the average amount of an undergraduate
student's need-based grant and scholarship package;
(E) the average amount of an undergraduate
student's need-based grant, scholarship, loan, and work-study
package; and
(F) the average amount of an undergraduate
student's student loans;
(5) under the heading "ADMISSIONS":
(A) the middle 50 percent test score range of
first-time undergraduate students at the institution whose
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores were in the 25th to 75th
percentile of students' scores at that institution;
(B) the middle 50 percent test score range of
first-time undergraduate students at the institution whose
American College Test (ACT) scores were in the 25th to 75th
percentile of students' scores at that institution; and
(C) the percentage of the students who applied
for first-time undergraduate admission to the institution who were
offered admission to the institution;
(6) under the heading "INSTRUCTION":
(A) the student/faculty ratio at the
institution;
(B) the percentage of organized undergraduate
classes offered by the institution in which fewer than 20 students
are enrolled;
(C) the percentage of organized undergraduate
classes offered by the institution in which more than 50 students
are enrolled; and
(D) the percentage of teaching faculty members of
the institution who are tenured [or tenure-track];
(7) under the heading "BACCALAUREATE SUCCESS":
(A) four-year, five-year, and six-year
graduation rates for full-time bachelor's degree-seeking students
at the institution, and links to that information disaggregated by
student ethnicity;
(B) the average number of fall and spring
semesters of enrollment attempted by a student to obtain a
bachelor's degree; and
(C) the retention rate of first-time, full-time,
degree-seeking entering undergraduate students enrolled in the
institution after one academic year and after two academic years;
(8) under the heading "FIRST-TIME LICENSURE OR
CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION PASS RATES," the first-time licensure or
certification examination pass rates in the fields of education,
law, pharmacy, nursing, and engineering of students enrolled in the
institution or who have graduated from the institution; and
(9) under the heading "FUNDING":
(A) the total amount of money appropriated by the
legislature to the institution, including money appropriated for
faculty and staff health coverage and retirement benefits, for that
state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the
institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the
total amount of money appropriated by the legislature represents;
(B) the total amount of federal funds from all
federal sources, including grants and research funds, received by
the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding
percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state
fiscal year that the total amount of federal funds represents;
(C) the total academic costs charged to students
by the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding
percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state
fiscal year that the total academic costs represent; and
(D) the total amount of money from any source
available to the institution in that state fiscal year.
SECTION 7. Section 61.057, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.057. PROMOTION OF TEACHING EXCELLENCE. To achieve
excellence in the teaching of students at institutions and agencies
of higher education, the board shall:
(1) develop and recommend:
(A) minimum faculty compensation plans, basic
increment programs, and incentive salary increases;
(B) minimum standards for faculty appointment,
advancement, promotion, and retirement;
(C) general policies for faculty teaching loads,
and division of faculty time between teaching, research,
administrative duties, and special assignments;
(D) faculty improvement programs, including a
plan for sabbatical leaves, appropriate for the junior and senior
colleges and universities, respectively; and
(E) minimum standards for academic freedom[,]
and academic responsibility[, and tenure];
(2) pursue vigorously and continuously a goal of
having all college and university academic classes taught by
persons holding the minimum of an earned master's degree or its
equivalent in academic training, creative work, or professional
accomplishment;
(3) explore, promote, and coordinate the use of
educational television among institutions of higher education and
encourage participation by public and private schools and private
institutions of higher education in educational television;
(4) conduct, and encourage the institutions of higher
education to conduct, research into new methods, materials, and
techniques for improving the quality of instruction and for the
maximum utilization of all available teaching techniques, devices,
and resources, including but not limited to large classes, team
teaching, programmed instruction, interlibrary exchanges, joint
libraries, specially-designed facilities, visual aids, and other
innovations that offer promise for superior teaching or for meeting
the need for new faculty members to teach anticipated larger
numbers of students; and
(5) assume initiative and leadership in providing
through the institutions of higher education in the state those
programs and offerings which will achieve the objectives set forth
in Section 61.002 of this code.
SECTION 8. Section 61.0902(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Not later than the next November 1 following the
completion of an academic year, each general academic teaching
institution shall provide to the board one or more reports
containing data related to:
(1) the qualifications of the entering freshman class
for the academic year covered by the report, including:
(A) the average Texas Academic Skills Program
Test scores of the class;
(B) the average scores of the class on each
generally recognized test or assessment used in college and
university undergraduate admissions, including the Scholastic
Assessment Test and the American College Test;
(C) the range of scores of the class from the 25th
to the 75th percentile on each generally recognized test or
assessment used in college and university undergraduate
admissions, including the Scholastic Assessment Test and the
American College Test;
(D) the overall grade point average of the class
for the academic year covered by the report;
(E) the number of students in the class who
graduated in the top 10 percent of the student's high school
graduating class; and
(F) enrollment percentages by ethnicity; and
(2) student performance and institution efficiency,
including:
(A) the retention rate of full-time students
after the completion of one academic year at the institution;
(B) the percentage of full-time degree-seeking
undergraduate students who earn a baccalaureate degree before the
sixth anniversary of the date of the student's first enrollment at
the institution;
(C) the percentage of lower-division semester
credit hours taught by tenured [or tenure-track] faculty;
(D) the percentage of undergraduate classes with
fewer than 20 students;
(E) the percentage of undergraduate classes with
more than 50 students;
(F) the student-to-faculty ratio for
undergraduate students;
(G) the percentage of students receiving
financial aid;
(H) the average cost of tuition and fees for an
undergraduate student enrolled for 12 semester credit hours;
(I) the average cost of on-campus room and board
for an academic year, excluding summer sessions;
(J) the number of disciplines in which master's
degrees are offered;
(K) the number of disciplines in which doctoral
degrees are offered;
(L) a description of any departments, schools, or
certificate or degree programs of the institution that have a
statewide or national reputation for excellence; and
(M) statistics regarding job placement rates for
students awarded certificates or degrees by the institution.
SECTION 9. Section 141.001(3), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(3) "Faculty member" means a person who is tenured [or
is in a tenure track position] and [is] employed by a public senior
college or university.
SECTION 10. Section 142.001(5), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(5) "Faculty member" means a person who is tenured by
an eligible institution [or is in a tenure track position] or who is
a research professional employed by an eligible institution.
SECTION 11. Section 51.942(f), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect January 1, 2024.