Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 1 - TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD › Chapter 2 - ACADEMIC AND WORKFORCE EDUCATION › Subchapter F - APPROVAL PROCESS FOR NEW BACCALAUREATE AND MASTERS DEGREES AT PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND PUBLIC HEALTH-RELATED INSTITUTIONS › Section 2.117 - Criteria for New Baccalaureate and Master's Degrees

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) All proposed
				  baccalaureate and master's degree programs must meet the criteria set out in
				  this subsection, in addition to the general criteria in Subchapter A, §2.5
				  , of this chapter.
(b) Board Staff
				  shall ensure that each institution certifies and provides required evidence
				  that a proposed baccalaureate or master's degree meets the criteria in
				  Subchapter A, §2.5 , of this chapter and the following criteria in its
				  proposal request:
(1) Program Need. To meet
				  the requirements of Subchapter A, §2.5(a)(1) and (2), the institution must
				  be able to demonstrate present and future workforce need of the state and
				  nation. There should be a ready job market for graduates of the program, or
				  alternatively, the program should produce students for master's or
				  doctoral-level programs in fields in which there is a demonstrated need for
				  professionals.
(2) Adequate
				  Financing. In assessing whether the program meets the requirements of
				  Subchapter A, §2.5(a)(4) and (5), the program must demonstrate that there
				  is adequate financing available to initiate the proposed program without
				  reducing funds for existing programs or weakening them in any way. The program
				  must provide evidence demonstrating generation of sufficient semester credit
				  hours under funding formulas and student tuition and fees to pay faculty
				  salaries, departmental operating costs, and instructional administration costs
				  for the program after the start-up period.
(3) Faculty and Resources.
(A) Faculty. In assessing the criteria under
				  Subchapter A, §2.5(a)(6), Board Staff shall ensure that the faculty are
				  adequate to provide high program quality. In reviewing faculty, Board Staff
				  will review for the following minimum criteria:
(i) With few exceptions, the master's degree
				  should be the minimum educational attainment for faculty teaching in
				  baccalaureate programs.
(ii) In
				  most disciplines, the doctorate should be the minimum educational attainment
				  for faculty teaching in graduate programs.
(iii) Faculty shall meet the qualitative and
				  quantitative criteria of the institution's appropriate accrediting
				  body.
(iv) The institution must
				  dedicate a sufficient number of qualified faculty to a new program. This number
				  shall vary depending on the discipline, the nature of the program, and the
				  anticipated number of students; however, there must be at least one full time
				  equivalent faculty already in place for the program to begin enrolling
				  students.
(v) In evaluating faculty
				  resources for proposed degree programs, Board Staff shall consider only those
				  degrees held by faculty that were issued by:
(I) United States institutions accredited by
				  accrediting agencies recognized by the Board, or
(II) institutions located outside the United
				  States that have demonstrated that their degrees are equivalent to degrees
				  issued from an institution in the United States accredited by accrediting
				  agencies recognized by the Board.
(B) Facilities and Other Resources. To meet
				  the criteria in Subchapter A, §2.5(a)(6), each program must include
				  adequate facilities and resources to accommodate the program, including:
(i) Office space for the faculty, teaching
				  assistants, and administrative and technical support staff; seminar rooms;
				  computer and electronic resources; and other appropriate facilities such as
				  laboratories; and
(ii) Library and
				  IT Resources. Library and information technology resources must be adequate for
				  the proposed program and meet the standards of the appropriate accrediting
				  agencies. Library resources should be strong in the appropriate program field
				  and in related and supporting fields.
(4) Quality of the Program and Alignment with
				  the Long-Range Plan. To assess the quality of the program, the program must be
				  able to demonstrate the quality of the program, including quality of curriculum
				  design. In addition to meeting the criteria in Subchapter A, §2.5(a)(6)
				  and (a)(8), the proposed program must offer high-quality curriculum, as
				  evidenced by the following:
(A) Professional
				  programs and those resulting in licensure are designed to meet the standards of
				  appropriate regulatory bodies;
(B)
				  The curricular structure and policies of the proposed program should promote
				  students' timely completion of the program, including policies awarding:
(i) transfer of credit, as required by
				  Chapter 4, Subchapter B of this title (relating to Transfer of Credit, Core
				  Curriculum and Field of Study Curricula);
(ii) course credit by examination, credit for
				  professional experience, placing out of courses, and any alternative learning
				  strategies, such as competency-based education, which may increase efficiency
				  in student progress in the proposed program; and
(iii) Strong Related Programs. There must be
				  high-quality programs in other related and supporting disciplines at the
				  baccalaureate or master's levels, as evidenced by enrollments, numbers of
				  graduates, and completion rates in those related and supporting programs, as
				  appropriate.