CURRICULUM DESIGN: INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS AND COURSES

Annual List of

Courses

Each governing board, including each college district governing board, shall submit to the Coordinating Board once each year on

dates designated by the Coordinating Board a comprehensive list by department, division, and school of all courses, together with a description of the content, scope, and prerequisites of all those courses, that will be offered by each institution under the supervision of the governing board during the following academic year. The list for each institution must also specifically identify any course included in the common course numbering system under Education Code 61.832 that has been added to or removed from the institution's list for the current academic year, and the board shall distribute that information as necessary to accomplish the purposes of Section 61.832. A governing board may exclude from the comprehensive list of courses courses that were not taught as an organized class or provided through individual instruction for the preceding two academic years.

Each governing board must certify at the time of submission that the institution does not:

1. Prohibit the acceptance of transfer credit based solely on the accreditation of the sending institution; or

2. Include language in any materials published by the institution, whether in printed or electronic form, suggesting that such a

prohibition exists.

After the comprehensive list of courses is submitted by a governing board, the governing board shall submit on dates designated by the Coordinating Board any changes in the comprehensive list of courses to be offered, including any changes relating to offering a course included in the common course numbering system. The Coordinating Board may order the deletion or consolidation of any courses so submitted after giving due notice with reasons for that action and after providing a hearing if one is requested by the governing board involved.

Education Code 61.052

Course Schedule

Not later than the 30th day before the first day that classes are conducted for each semester or academic term, each institution of higher education, including each college district, shall compile a course schedule indicating each course offered by the institution for the semester or term to postsecondary students. Course material information must be included with the course schedule as described by Education Code 51.4521 [see EDA]. Education Code 51.4521(b)

Online Posting

Requirement

Each institution of higher education, including each college district but excluding each medical and dental unit, shall make available to the public on the institution's internet website the following information for each undergraduate classroom course offered for credit by the institution:

1. A syllabus that satisfies any standards adopted by the institution; provides a brief description of each major course requirement, including each major assignment and examination; includes the measurable learning outcomes for the course, as defined in 19 Administrative Code 4.104; lists any required or recommended reading; and provides a general description of the subject matter of each lecture or discussion. If multiple sections of a course use an identical syllabus with identical assignments and readings, only one syllabus shall be posted.

2. A curriculum vitae of each regular instructor, including each instructor of record for each section of the course, that lists at

least all institutions of higher education attended, with the degree(s) earned; all previous teaching positions, including the names of the institutions, the position, beginning and ending dates; and a list of significant professional publications relevant to the academic positions held, including full citation data for each entry. The curriculum vitae may include the instructor's professional contact information, such as office telephone number, work address, and institutional email address. The curriculum vitae may not include any personal information, including the instructor’s home address or home telephone number.

3. The departmental budget report. If a course is offered through a unit other than a department — such as a program, college,

or institute — substitute the budget for that unit as appropriate. If the institution posts general budget data on its website in which the information required by statute is reported, it may substitute a hyperlink to that data in place of a separate departmental budget report. The budget report shall include detail for the most recent academic year for which data are available; income from all sources; and a summary by functional categories such as salaries and wages, travel, and the like (as defined by the National Association of College and University Business Officers).

Education Code 51.974(a)-(a-1); 19 TAC 4.227(a)(2)–(3), (9),.228(a)–(b)

Definitions

Instructor(s) of Record

The “instructor(s) of record” is the primary instructor or co-instructors of a course who are responsible for the course content and the assignment of final grades. This includes tenured and tenure-track faculty, lecturers, adjuncts, and graduate assistants who are not working under the supervision of an instructor of record. It does not include guest lecturers or others who may be brought in to teach less than 50 percent of the class sessions. 19 TAC 4.227(5)

Undergraduate Classroom Course

An “undergraduate classroom course” is any lower- or upper-division credit course offered to five or more students. This includes

on-campus, off-campus, distance education, and dual credit courses (including those taught on high school campuses). It excludes

courses with highly variable subject content that are tailored specifically to individual students, such as Independent Study and Directed Reading courses. It excludes laboratory, practicum, or discussion sections that are intrinsic and required parts of larger

lecture courses and are directly supervised by the same instructor(s) of record for those large courses. 19 TAC 4.227(10)

Accessibility

This course information must be accessible from the institution’s internet website home page by use of not more than three links. The information must be searchable by keywords and phrases and accessible to the public without requiring registration or use of a username, a password, or another user identification. Education Code 51.974(b); 19 TAC 4.228(c)

Time Frame for Posting

The institution shall make the online course information available not later than the seventh day after the first day of classes for the semester or other academic term during which the course is offered. The institution shall continue to make the information available on the institution’s internet website until at least the second anniversary of the date on which the institution initially posted the information. Education Code 51.974(c); 19 TAC 4.228(c)

Updating

Information

The institution shall update the online course information as soon as practicable after the information changes at least once for every semester in which the course is offered. Education Code 51.974(d); 19 TAC 4.228(c)

Designation of Responsible Administrator

The governing body of the institution shall designate an administrator to be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the posting requirement. The administrator may assign duties under this section to one or more administrative employees. Education Code 51.974(e); 19 TAC 4.228(f)

Report Required

Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, each institution of higher education shall submit a written report regarding the institution’s compliance with the posting requirement to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee with primary jurisdiction over higher education. Education Code 51.974(f); 19 TAC 4.228(f)

Minimum Length of

Courses

Traditionally delivered three-semester-credit-hour courses should contain 15 weeks of instruction (45 contact hours) plus a week for final examinations so that such a course contains 45 to 48 contact hours depending on whether there is a final exam.

Courses delivered in shortened semesters are expected to have the same number of contact hours and the same requirement for

out-of-class learning as courses taught in a normal semester.

Institutions of higher education, including college districts, may offer a course in a nontraditional way, for example, over the internet

or through a shortened, intensive format, that does not meet these contact hour requirements, if the course has been reviewed and

approved through a formal, institutional faculty review process that evaluates the course and its learning outcomes and determines

that the course does, in fact, have equivalent learning outcomes to an equivalent, traditionally delivered course.

19 TAC 4.6(a), (d)–(e)

Texas Common

Course Numbering

System

Each institution, including each college district, shall include the applicable course numbers from the Texas Common Course Numbering System (TCCNS) in its printed and electronic catalogs, course listings, and any other appropriate informational resources, and in the application of the provisions of 19 Administrative Code Chapter 4, Subchapter B. Institutions that do not use the TCCNS taxonomy as their sole means of course numbering shall publish the following information in their printed and electronic catalogs, course listings, and any other appropriate informational resources:

1. The TCCNS prefix and number must be displayed immediately adjacent to the institutional course prefix and number

[e.g., ENG 101 (ENGL 1301)] at the beginning of each course description; and

2. The printed and electronic catalogs shall include a chart, table, or matrix, alphabetized by common course prefix, listing

all common courses taught at the institution by both the common and local course number. For printed catalogs, the chart,

table, or matrix should be referenced in a table of contents and/or a subject index.

Each institutional catalog shall include an explanation of the TCCNS and the significance of TCCNS courses for transfer purposes.

For good cause, the commissioner may approve an exemption from the requirements of this section.

19 TAC 4.37

Learning Outcomes

To foster a transparent student learning environment at institutions of higher education and to facilitate the universal articulation of undergraduate courses that are transferable for credit among all institutions of higher education, each institution of higher education, including each college district, shall identify, adopt, and make available for public inspection measurable learning outcomes for each undergraduate course, as defined in 19 Administrative Code 4.103(3), offered by the institution other than:

1. A course with a highly variable subject content that is tailored specifically to an individual student, such as an independent

study or directed reading course; or

2. A laboratory, practicum, or discussion section that is an intrinsic and required component of a lecture course.

An institution of higher education may adopt learning outcomes for a course that are the same as or based on those identified for that course by the institution's recognized accrediting agency.

Statements of the measurable learning outcomes shall be kept on file for at least two years after the course is taught and made available for public inspection upon request to the provost's office of each institution.

If the institution is in compliance with 19 Administrative Code 4.225–4.228 (relating to Public Access to Course Information),

then the institution is also in compliance with this section since learning outcomes are required to be a part of each course syllabus posted on the institution's website.

Education Code 51.96851(b)–(c); 19 TAC 4.104(b)–(c)

Measurable Learning Outcomes

“Measurable learning outcomes” are defined as the knowledge and skills a student is expected to acquire or achieve upon completion of a course. Measurement may be quantitative or qualitative, depending upon the subject matter of the course. 19 TAC 4.103(2)

State-Funded

Courses

State funding shall be provided for lower-division academic courses at public community colleges, public technical colleges, or public state colleges if such courses:

1. Are approved for inclusion in the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM);

2. Have been reviewed and approved by Coordinating Board staff in accordance with the criteria for unique need courses [described by 19 Administrative Code 9.74]; and

3. Are consistent with the TCCNS.

19 TAC 9.73(a)

Course Report

Not later than May 1 of each year and in the form prescribed by the Coordinating Board, each public junior college shall provide to the Coordinating Board and the Legislature a report on courses taken by students who, during the preceding academic year, transferred to a general academic teaching institution, completed a field of

study curriculum, or earned an associate degree at the college.

A report required by this section must include:

1. The total number of:

a. Courses attempted and completed at the college, including the total number of semester credit hours for those courses, disaggregated by whether the course is in the Workforce Education Course Manual or its successor adopted by the Coordinating Board or the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual or its successor adopted by the Coordinating Board;

b. Courses attempted and completed at the college that are not in the recommended core curriculum developed by the Coordinating Board under Education Code 61.822; and

c. Dual credit courses, including courses for joint high school and junior college credit under Education Code 130.008, attempted and completed at the college.

2. Any other relevant information required by Coordinating

Board rule.

Education Code 51.4034

Notice of Licensing

Requirements

An entity that provides an educational program to prepare an individual for issuance of an initial occupational license shall notify

each applicant to and enrollee in the educational program of:

1. The potential ineligibility of an individual who has been convicted of an offense for issuance of an occupational license

on completion of the educational program;

2. The current guidelines issued under Occupations Code 53.025 by any licensing authority that may issue an occupational license to an individual who completes the educational program;

3. Any other state or local restriction or guideline used by a licensing authority to determine the eligibility of an individual

who has been convicted of an offense for an occupational license issued by the licensing authority; and

4. The right to request a criminal history evaluation letter under Occupations Code 53.102.

The entity shall provide the required notice to each applicant and enrollee regardless of whether the applicant or enrollee has been convicted of an offense.

A licensing authority that determines that an entity regulated by the licensing authority has failed to provide the required notice to an individual entitled to receive the notice and that the individual's application for an occupational license for which the entity's educational program prepares the individual was denied because the individual has been convicted of an offense shall order the entity to:

1. Refund the amount of any tuition paid by the individual to the entity; and

2. Pay to the individual an amount equal to the total of the following, as applicable:

a. The amount of any application fees paid by the individual to the licensing authority; and

b. The amount of any examination fees paid by the individual to the licensing authority or an examination provider approved by the licensing authority.

Occupations Code 53.152–.153