85R2911 JRJ-F
 
  By: Watson S.B. No. 352
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to authorization by the Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board for certain public junior colleges to offer
  baccalaureate degree programs.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 130.0012, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (b), (e), (g), and (h) and adding
  Subsection (g-1) to read as follows:
         (a)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may
  [shall] authorize public junior colleges to offer baccalaureate
  degree programs in the fields of applied science, [and] applied
  technology, and nursing under this section.  Offering a
  baccalaureate degree program under this section does not otherwise
  alter the role and mission of a public junior college.
         (b)  The coordinating board:
               (1)  shall authorize baccalaureate degree programs in
  the fields of applied science and applied technology at each public
  junior college that previously participated in a pilot project to
  offer baccalaureate degree programs; and
               (2)  may authorize baccalaureate degree programs at one
  or more public junior colleges that offer a degree program in the
  field of nursing and have demonstrated a workforce need.
         (e)  In determining what baccalaureate degree programs are
  to be offered, the coordinating board shall:
               (1)  apply the same criteria and standards the
  coordinating board uses to approve baccalaureate degree programs at
  general academic teaching institutions; and
               (2)  consider the following factors:
                     (A) [(1)]  the workforce need for the degree
  programs in the region served by the junior college;
                     (B) [(2)]  how those degree programs would
  complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior
  college and whether the associate degree program offered by the
  junior college in the same field has been successful;
                     (C) [(3)]  whether those degree programs would
  unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other
  institutions of higher education; [and]
                     (D) [(4)]  the ability of the junior college to
  support the program with student enrollment and the adequacy of the
  junior college's facilities, faculty, administration, libraries,
  and other resources; and
                     (E)  whether the junior college meets the taxable
  property valuation amount established in Section 130.032.
         (g)  Except as provided by Subsection (g-1), in [In] its
  recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for
  public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that
  a public junior college that previously participated in a pilot
  project to offer baccalaureate degree programs receive
  substantially the same state support for junior-level and
  senior-level courses in the field of applied science or applied
  technology offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] as that
  provided to a general academic teaching institution for
  substantially similar courses.  In determining the contact hours
  attributable to students enrolled in a junior-level or senior-level
  course offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section] used to
  determine a public junior college's proportionate share of state
  appropriations under Section 130.003, the coordinating board shall
  weigh those contact hours as necessary to provide the junior
  college the appropriate level of state support to the extent state
  funds for those courses are included in the appropriations.  This
  subsection does not prohibit the legislature from directly
  appropriating state funds to support junior-level and senior-level
  courses offered under Subsection (b)(1) [this section].
         (g-1)  A degree program created under Subsection (b)(2) may
  be funded solely by a public junior college's proportionate share
  of state appropriations under Section 130.003, local funds, and
  private sources. This subsection does not require the legislature
  to appropriate state funds to support a degree program created
  under Subsection (b)(2).
         (h)  Each biennium, each [Each] public junior college
  offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section shall
  conduct a review of each baccalaureate degree program offered and
  prepare a [biennial] report on the operation, quality, and
  effectiveness of those [the junior college's baccalaureate] degree
  programs. A [and shall deliver a] copy of the report shall be
  delivered to the coordinating board in the form and at the time
  determined by the coordinating board.
         SECTION 2.  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, 2017.