BOARD MEMBERS: ORIENTATION AND TRAINING

Training

The Coordinating Board by rule shall establish a training program for members of the governing boards of institutions of higher education. Each member of a governing board of an institution of higher education, including a college district, shall attend, during the member's first year of service as a member of a governing board of an institution of higher education, at least one training program. A member of a governing board who is required to attend a training program may attend additional training programs under this section.

The training program must include a seminar held annually in Austin to be conducted by the staff of the Coordinating Board. The staff of the Coordinating Board may obtain assistance from representatives of the office of the attorney general, the office of the comptroller of public accounts, the office of the state auditor, and the Texas Ethics Commission, and from other training personnel the Coordinating Board deems necessary. The Coordinating Board is responsible for documenting governing board members' completion of the requirements provided by this section.

Education Code 61.084(a–b), (h); 19 TAC 1.9(a), (g)

Training Content

The content of the instruction at the training program shall focus on the official role and duties of the board members and shall provide training in the areas of budgeting, policy development, ethics, and governance.

Topics covered by the training program must include:

1. Auditing procedures and recent audits of institutions of higher education;

2. The enabling legislation that creates institutions of higher education;

3. The role of the governing board at institutions of higher education and the relationship between the governing board and the institution’s administration, faculty and staff, and students, including limitations on the authority of the governing board;

4. The mission statements of institutions of higher education;

5. Disciplinary and investigative authority of the governing board;

6. The requirements of the open meetings law, Government Code Chapter 551, and the open records law, Government Code Chapter 552;

7. The requirements of conflict of interest laws and other laws relating to public officials;

8. Any applicable ethics policies adopted by institutions of higher education or the Texas Ethics Commission;

9. The requirements of laws relating to the protection of student information under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g) or any other federal or state law relating to the privacy of student information; and

10. An overview of the legislature, the General Appropriations Act, and the state budget as those topics relate to the responsibilities of the governing board;

11. An emphasis on the commitment the members of the governing board are making to:

a. The institutions of higher education under the board’s control and management;

b. This state; and

c. Taxpayers of this state; and

12. Any other topic relating to higher education the board considers important.

Education Code 61.084(d)

In addition to the content of the instruction at a training program required by this section, above, topics covered by the training program for board members must include information about best practices in campus financial management, financial ratio analysis, and case studies using financial indicators. Education Code 61.084(e)

Training Alternatives

Electronic Option

The Coordinating Board shall provide an equivalent training program by electronic means in the event a member of a governing board is unable to attend the required training program. Completion of the training program by electronic means is deemed to satisfy the training requirements. Education Code 61.084(g)

Hardship Exception

The Coordinating Board by rule may prescribe an alternative training program for members of governing boards for whom attendance at a seminar held in Austin would be a hardship. The alternative training program need not be in the form of a seminar but must include substantially the same information included in the seminar held in Austin. Education Code 61.084(b); 19 TAC 1.9(b)

Fee

A registration fee shall be paid by training program participants in an amount adequate to cover the costs incurred by the Coordinating Board and any other state agencies the Coordinating Board enlists in providing the program. Such amount shall be determined prior to each seminar. A participant shall pay from private funds the required fee and the participant’s costs of travel, including transportation, lodging, and meals. Neither the required fee nor a participant’s travel costs shall be reimbursed from appropriated funds, other than grants and donations of private funds available for that purpose. Education Code 61.084(c); 19 TAC 1.9(c)

Reporting

The minutes of the last regular meeting held by a governing board of a public junior college district during a calendar year must reflect whether each member of the governing board has completed any training required to be completed by the member under Education Code 61.1084 as of the meeting date. Education Code 61.084(f)

Open Meetings Act

Training

Each elected or appointed public official who is a member of a governmental body subject to Government Code Chapter 551, including a college district board of trustees, shall complete a course of training of not less than one and not more than two hours regarding the responsibilities of the governmental body and its members under Chapter 551 not later than the 90th day after the date the member takes the oath of office.

The attorney general shall ensure that the training is made available. The office of the attorney general may provide the training and may also approve any other acceptable course of training offered by a governmental body or other entity.

The office of the attorney general or other entity providing the training shall provide a certificate of course completion to persons who complete the training. A governmental body shall maintain and make available for public inspection the record of its members’ completion of the training. The failure of one or more members of a governmental body to complete the required training does not affect the validity of an action taken by the governmental body.

Gov’t Code 551.005(a)–(c), (f)

Public Information

Act Training

This section applies to an elected or appointed public official who is a member of a multimember governmental body, including a college district board of trustees. Each public official shall complete a course of training of not less than one and not more than two hours regarding the responsibilities of the governmental body with which the official serves and its officers and employees under Government Code Chapter 552 not later than the 90th day after the date the public official takes the oath of office.

The attorney general shall ensure that the training is made available. The office of the attorney general may provide the training and may also approve other acceptable sources of training offered by a governmental body or other entity.

A public official may designate a public information coordinator to satisfy the training requirement of Government Code 552.012 for the public official if the public information coordinator is primarily responsible for administering the responsibilities of the public official or governmental body under Chapter 552. [See GCB regarding public information coordinator training]

The office of the attorney general or other entity providing the training shall provide a certificate of course completion to persons who complete the training. A governmental body shall maintain and make available for public inspection the record of its public officials' or, if applicable, the public information coordinator’s completion of the training.

Gov’t Code 552.012(a–b), (c–e)

Required Training After Public Information Act Violation

The attorney general may require each public official of a governmental body to complete the course of training if the attorney general determines that the governmental body has failed to comply with a requirement of Chapter 552. The attorney general must notify each public official in writing of the attorney general’s determination and the requirement to complete the training. A public official who receives notice from the attorney general under this provision must complete the training not later than the 60th day after the date the official receives the notice. Gov’t Code 552.012(b-1)

Cybersecurity Training

Each elected or appointed official of a governmental entity, including a college district, who has access to the entity’s information resources or information resources technologies shall annually complete a cybersecurity

training program certified under Government Code 2063.102. [SEE DK] Gov’t Code 2063.103(a), (c)

Exception

The requirements do not apply to officials who have been:

1. Granted military leave. ;

2. Granted leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA);

3. Granted leave related to a sickness or disability covered by workers’ compensation benefits, if that employee or official no longer has access to the governmental entity’s information resources or information resources technologies;

4. Granted any other type of extended leave or authorization to work from an alternative work site if that employee or official no longer has access to the governmental entity’s information resources or information resources technologies; or

5. Denied access to a governmental entity’s information or resources under Government Code 2063.103(b) for noncompliance with the cybersecurity training requirements.

Gov’t Code 2063.103(g)

Note: For more information on cybersecurity training, including a list of certified cybersecurity training programs and

compliance reporting requirements, see DIR’s website at Certified Cybersecurity Training Programs.

1 Certified Cybersecurity Training Programs: https://dir.texas.gov/View- About-DIR/Information-Security/Pages/Content.aspx?id=154