| (a) Requests for new associate degree and certificate
programs shall be made in accordance with the procedures stipulated
in subsection (b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section.
(b) Approval of new associate degree and certificate
programs is automatic if all of the following conditions are met.
(1) The institution shall certify that:
(A) The program has institutional and governing board
approval;
(B) The institution has researched and documented current
job market need for the program and/or that the program would lead
to opportunities for further education;
(C) There is recent evidence of both short-term and
long-term student demand for the program;
(D) Enrollment projections reflect student demand estimates
to ensure the financial self-sufficiency of the program;
(E) Basic and career technical/workforce skills have
been integrated into the curriculum;
(F) The institution has an enrollment management plan
for the program;
(G) The institution has or will initiate a process
to establish articulation agreements for the program with secondary
and/or senior level institutions;
(H) The program is designed to be consistent with the
standards of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools, and with the standards of other applicable
accrediting agencies, and is in compliance with appropriate licensing
authority requirements;
(I) The program would not unnecessarily duplicate existing
programs at other institutions;
(J) Representatives from private sector business and
industry have been involved in the creation of the program through
participation in an advisory committee;
(K) Adequate funding is available to cover all new
costs to the institution over the first five years after the implementation
of the program;
(L) New costs during the first five years of the program
would not exceed $2 million;
(M) A new associate degree program is not being requested
in a discipline in which the institution previously offered an associate
degree and which was closed due to low productivity in the last 10
years;
(N) The institution has an improvement plan in place
for all career technical/workforce programs that do not currently
meet Board standards for both graduation and placement;
(O) The appropriate Higher Education Regional Council
has been notified in writing of the proposal for a new program; and
(P) Skill standards recognized by the Texas Skill Standards
Board, if they exist for the discipline, have been reviewed and considered
for inclusion in the curriculum for the program.
(2) If a proposed two-year career technical/workforce
education program or a certificate program meets the conditions stipulated
in subsection (b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section, the institution shall
submit a request to the Assistant Commissioner for Academic Affairs
and Research to add the program. If a proposed program does not meet
the conditions stipulated in subsection (b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section,
the institution must submit a proposal using the standard degree request
form.
(A) The Coordinating Board shall post the proposed
program online for public comment for a period of 30 days. If no objections
are received, the Coordinating Board staff shall update the institution's
program inventory accordingly.
(B) If objections to the proposed program are received
by the Coordinating Board staff, the proposed program shall not be
implemented until all objections are resolved. The Coordinating Board
reserves the right to audit a certificate or degree program at any
time to ensure compliance with any of the criteria contained in subsection
(b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section.
(c) New Program Approval. The Board delegates to the
Commissioner final approval authority for all certificate programs,
and for applied associate degree programs that meet Board policies
for approval as outlined in the Guidelines for Instructional Programs
in Workforce Education. The Commissioner may delegate this final authority
to the Assistant Commissioner for Academic Affairs and Research.
(d) Each quarter, the Commissioner shall send a list
of the approvals and disapprovals under this section to Board members.
A list of the approvals and disapprovals shall also be attached to
the minutes of the next appropriate quarterly meeting.
(e) The Commissioner shall forward a program to the
Board for consideration at an appropriate quarterly meeting if either
of the following conditions is met:
(1) The proposed program is the subject of an unresolved
grievance or dispute between institutions; or
(2) The Commissioner has disapproved the proposed program
and the institution has requested a Board review.
(f) Revision of an existing associate degree or certificate
program is automatically approved if all of the requirements in subsection
(b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section are met.
(g) To request a change of CIP code for an existing
degree or certificate program, the institution shall notify the Coordinating
Board staff and certify that the revised program meets the requirements
in subsection (b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section.
(h) If the revision of an existing degree or certificate
program meets the conditions stipulated in subsection (b)(1)(A) -
(P) of this section the institution shall submit a request to the
Assistant Commissioner for Academic Affairs and Research to revise
the program. The Coordinating Board staff shall update the institution's
program inventory accordingly.
(i) If a program revision does not meet the conditions
stipulated in subsection (b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section, the institution
shall submit a revision request using the standard revision request
form.
(j) The Coordinating Board reserves the right to audit
a certificate or degree program at any time to ensure compliance with
any of the requirements in subsection (b)(1)(A) - (P) of this section.
(k) Administrative Officers. All programs must be under
the direction of an administrator having appropriate authority to
ensure that quality is maintained and that programs are conducted
in compliance with all applicable laws and rules. Administrative officers
must possess credentials, work experience, and/or demonstrated competence
appropriate to their areas of responsibility as specified by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
(l) Faculty and Staff. Faculty and staff must be approved
by the postsecondary institution. Each individual must meet the minimum
qualifications established by the Board.
(m) Each public two-year college may classify career
technical/workforce continuing education and other courses as earning
semester credit hours or continuing education units (CEUs). Contact
hours reported for career technical/workforce education courses which
result in either credit hours or CEUs shall be eligible for state
appropriations. A course or program that meets or exceeds 360 hours
in length must be approved as a career technical/workforce certificate
program except by special justification and approval by Board staff.
A course or program that meets or exceeds 780 hours in length must
result in the award of appropriate semester credit hours and be applicable
to a certificate and an applied associate degree program.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §9.93 adopted to be effective May 25, 2004, 29 TexReg 5068; amended to be effective May 12, 2005, 30 TexReg 2663; amended to be effective November 25, 2009, 34 TexReg 8323; amended to be effective February 26, 2013, 38 TexReg 1161 |
