The Senate Committee on Higher Education has published its interim report to the 86th Legislature. The report covers seven interim charges on: improving transferability, system/campus expansion , 60×30, funding models, mandate reduction, dual credit, and several issues to monitor.
Recommendations
Charge One: Improving Transferability
1) The Legislature should consider requiring institutions to report transfer of course credit that is not accepted to THECB on an annual basis, and explain why the credits have been rejected.
2) The Legislature should ensure articulation agreements provide specific information regarding alignment with transfer institutions in a user friendly manner to allow students, faculty and advisors the ability to easily find and use them as guides in the decision-making process.
3) The Legislature should explore methods to incentivize community colleges and universities to enter into student data sharing agreements, as feasible, to better allow student progress to be tracked with more precision, intrusive advising, effective transfer of courses taken and financial aid needs to be met seamlessly.
4) In light of the implementation of House Bill 5 and the increase in dual credit enrollment, the legislature should consider expanding options to increase the number of high school counselors and provide incentives to address this shortage.
5) The Legislature should re-examine the efficacy of the core curriculum including its structure and number of hours.
6) THECB shall continue to fully implement and increase awareness of Fields of Study Curriculum and collect statewide data on its usage.
Charge Two: System/Campus Expansion
1) The Legislature should consider the THECB recommendation to review and ensure efficient use of state resources when institutions are planning to acquire property to create new or to expand existing off-campus academic, technical or research site.
2) The Higher Education Locator Map should be linked with the THECB program inventory to better inform lawmakers, taxpayers and students of the course offerings in the state.
3) The Legislature should examine the effectiveness of the JET grant and consider expanding support to allow additional institutions the ability to offer high-cost programs needed to address workforce shortages.
4) The Legislature should study community college campus expansion, including online course offerings, to ensure students are being served effectively statewide and address the issues that arise when community colleges cover areas beyond their taxing districts.
5) The Legislature should consider the availability of existing online programs and program enrollment growth capabilities, as well as job market opportunities when authorizing new programs.
Charge Three: 60x30TX Statewide Plan Review
1) The Legislature should consider efforts to expand support for innovative collaborations between K-12 and higher education, such as P-TECH and ICIA, while examining whether there is an appropriate level of college and career counseling available to student participants.
2) The Legislature should examine ways to implement and expand the availability of programs that promote paid apprenticeships which are meaningful and relevant to a student’s degree, such as the Intern 2 Learn program at Tarleton State University.
3) The THECB should provide updates to the Legislature on the progress toward reaching the goals of 60x30TX every academic year.
4) The Legislature shall explore ways to increase the number of high school students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, especially those enrolling in dual credit or dual enrollment courses.
Charge Four: Funding Models
1) If funding is available, the Legislature should consider adding a supplement to the existing funding formulas to support institutions’ mission, size, student population, and geography to achieve the goals of 60x30TX.
Charge Five: Mandate Reduction
1) The Legislature should consider creating a central portal for off-campus work study or apprenticeship opportunities to provide employers and students a single location for statewide opportunities.
2) The Legislature should continue to study and identify old or outdated statutorily required reporting mandates and explore ways to make submission of such reports uniform and user-friendly for institutions.
3) While institutions are required to biennially report agency security plan information to Department of Information Resources, the state should explore, after receiving agency input, less burdensome methods for submission.
Charge Six: Dual Credit
1) The Legislature should consider authorizing a study or survey to determine the cost of dual credit to institutions of higher education, independent school districts, as well as students and families, including contact hour, success point and property tax revenue support.
2) The Legislature should require students to file a degree plan upon completion of 15 SCH of academic or career and technical dual credit earned and incentivize additional advising for dual credit students.
3) The Legislature should study and evaluate whether CTE dual credit provides workforce certification pathways when possible.
4) The Legislature should consider requiring TEA and THECB to develop a map of HB 5 endorsements which best align to individual dual credit courses, including Fields of Study Curriculum for academic dual credit and Programs of Study for CTE dual credit, in an effort to better inform students.
Charge Seven: Monitoring
1) The Legislature should continue to monitor the implementation of SB 2118, relating to authorization by the THECB for certain public junior colleges to offer baccalaureate degree programs.
2) The Legislature should seek ways to provide incentives to institutions to adopt more Open Educational Resources as a way to reduce the cost of attendance for students at institutions of higher education.
3) As it relates to SB 887, the Legislature should not require institutions of higher education to provide private loan data information as this causes a burdensome regulation on smaller institutions that do not have adequate resources to collect this data.
4) The Legislature should consider expanding Texas OnCourse to include social-emotional learning modules.