Sec. 61.8221. STUDY AND REPORT ON CORE CURRICULUM. (a) The board shall conduct a study and make recommendations to the legislature regarding the feasibility of implementing statewide meta majors for institutions of higher education. The board shall consider meta majors in the following academic disciplines:

(1) arts, humanities, communications, and design;

(2) business;

(3) education;

(4) health sciences;

(5) industry, manufacturing, and construction;

(6) public safety;

(7) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and

(8) social and behavioral sciences and human services.

(b) The board shall establish an advisory committee to assist the board in completing the board's duties under this section and provide the board with subject matter expertise and analysis. The advisory committee consists of the following members appointed by the board in equal numbers:

(1) representatives of public junior colleges designated by the applicable college to represent the college on the advisory committee; and

(2) representatives of general academic teaching institutions designated by the applicable institution to represent the institution on the advisory committee.

(c) A majority of members appointed to the advisory committee under Subsection (b)(2) must be representatives of a general academic teaching institution at which at least 25 percent of students enrolled at the institution for the 2018 fall semester were classified as transfer students.

(d) In appointing members to the advisory committee under Subsection (b), the board shall, to the greatest extent practicable, ensure that the membership of the advisory committee is balanced with respect to:

(1) institutional representation, including:

(A) the regions of the state;

(B) the mission type of the general academic teaching institution or public junior college;

(C) university system affiliation, as applicable;

(D) student enrollment; and

(E) institutional groupings under the board's higher education accountability system;

(2) representation of faculty and administrators at general academic teaching institutions or public junior colleges;

(3) representation of academic disciplines; and

(4) any other factors the board determines relevant.

(e) The advisory committee shall study and make recommendations to the board regarding the effectiveness of the requirements regarding the transfer of course credit between institutions of higher education for courses in the core curriculum under Section 61.822 in supporting more efficient undergraduate transfer between institutions of higher education. The study and recommendations must include an analysis of:

(1) the efficacy of dividing the recommended core curriculum for each meta major into a general academic core curriculum and an academic discipline core curriculum and, if determined to be efficacious, the recommended number of semester credit hours for each component of the recommended core curriculum for each meta major;

(2) methods to ensure that courses completed in the general academic core curriculum and academic discipline core curriculum transfer between institutions of higher education for course credit applied toward a student's major at the receiving institution; and

(3) the potential inclusion of courses in the field of study curricula adopted by the board under Section 61.823 in the recommended core curriculum adopted by the board under Section 61.822.

(f) Each quarter ending before November 1, 2020, the advisory committee shall submit to the chairs of the standing legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over higher education a report on the advisory committee's progress on the study and recommendations required under Subsection (e).

(g) Not later than November 1, 2020, the board shall submit to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the standing legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over higher education a report on the results of the study conducted under Subsection (a) and any recommendations for legislative or other action.

(h) This section expires September 1, 2021.

Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1210 (S.B. 25), Sec. 9, eff. June 14, 2019.