Sec. 130.0012. BACCALAUREATE DEGREE PROGRAMS. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall authorize public junior colleges to offer baccalaureate degree programs in the fields of applied science and applied technology 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 shall authorize baccalaureate degree programs at each public junior college that previously participated in a pilot project to offer baccalaureate degree programs.
(b-1) The coordinating board shall establish a pilot project to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of authorizing baccalaureate degree programs in the field of dental hygiene at a public junior college that offers a degree program in that field, has a main campus located in the county seat of a county with a population greater than 200,000, and includes territory in at least six public school districts located in two counties. Subsection (g) does not apply to junior-level and senior-level courses offered under this subsection. In its recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that junior-level and senior-level courses offered under this subsection by a public junior college receive the same state support as other courses offered by the public junior college.
(b-2) Not later than January 1, 2017, the coordinating board shall prepare a progress report on the pilot project established under Subsection (b-1). Not later than January 1, 2019, the coordinating board shall prepare a report on the effectiveness of the pilot project, including any recommendations for legislative action regarding the offering of baccalaureate degree programs in the field of dental hygiene by a public junior college. The coordinating board shall deliver a copy of each report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the chair of the standing committee of each house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education. Unless the authority to continue offering a baccalaureate degree program in the field of dental hygiene is continued by the legislature, a public junior college may not:
(1) enroll a new student in a baccalaureate degree program under the pilot project after the 2019 fall semester;
(2) offer junior-level or senior-level courses for those degree programs after the 2021 fall semester, unless the coordinating board authorizes the college to offer those courses; or
(3) award a baccalaureate degree under the pilot project after the 2021 fall semester, unless the coordinating board approves the awarding of the degree.
(b-3) This subsection and Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) expire on the first June 15 following the first regular legislative session that occurs after the fourth anniversary of the date a public junior college offering a degree program in the field of dental hygiene under Subsection (b-1) meets the accreditation requirements of Subsection (c).
(c) A public junior college offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section must meet all applicable accreditation requirements of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
(d) A public junior college offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section may not offer more than five baccalaureate degree programs at any time. The degree programs are subject to the continuing approval of the coordinating board.
(e) In determining what baccalaureate degree programs are to be offered, the coordinating board shall consider:
(1) the need for the degree programs in the region served by the junior college;
(2) how those degree programs would complement the other programs and course offerings of the junior college;
(3) whether those degree programs would unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other institutions of higher education; and
(4) the ability of the junior college to support the program and the adequacy of the junior college's facilities, faculty, administration, libraries, and other resources.
(f) Each public junior college that offers a baccalaureate degree program under this section must enter into an articulation agreement for the first five years of the program with one or more general academic teaching institutions to ensure that students enrolled in the degree program have an opportunity to complete the degree if the public junior college ceases to offer the degree program. The coordinating board may require a general academic teaching institution that offers a comparable degree program to enter into an articulation agreement with the public junior college as provided by this subsection.
(g) In its recommendations to the legislature relating to state funding for public junior colleges, the coordinating board shall recommend that a public junior college receive substantially the same state support for junior-level and senior-level courses offered under 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 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 this section.
(h) Each public junior college offering a baccalaureate degree program under this section shall prepare a biennial report on the operation and effectiveness of the junior college's baccalaureate degree programs and shall deliver a copy of the report to the coordinating board in the form and at the time determined by the coordinating board.
(j) The coordinating board shall prescribe procedures to ensure that each public junior college that offers a degree program under this section informs each student who enrolls in the degree program of the articulation agreement entered into under Subsection (f) for the student's degree program.
(k) The coordinating board shall adopt rules as necessary for the administration of this section.
(l) In this section, "general academic teaching institution" and "institution of higher education" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 820, Sec. 50, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1201, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1397 (H.B. 2198), Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2007.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 674 (H.B. 2425), Sec. 3, eff. June 19, 2009.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 161 (S.B. 1093), Sec. 4.013, eff. September 1, 2013.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1155 (S.B. 215), Sec. 60, eff. September 1, 2013.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1112 (H.B. 3348), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2015.
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