Bill Text: TX SB1709 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to promoting racial equity in the hiring and promotion of faculty members by public institutions of higher education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-26 - Referred to Higher Education [SB1709 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB1709-Introduced.html

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87R9295 CXP-F
By: Blanco, Menéndez S.B. No. 1709

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to promoting racial equity in the hiring and promotion of
faculty members by public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.9085 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.9085. FACULTY DIVERSIFICATION PLAN AND REPORT. (a)
In this section, "institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall develop a
five-year, research-based plan to increase racial diversity among
faculty members at the institution. The plan must include:
(1) diversity and equity assessments that include the
perspectives of faculty members of color;
(2) strategies for increasing racial diversity among
faculty members to the extent necessary to reflect the racial
diversity of the institution's student population; and
(3) research-based methods for supporting faculty
members of color to and through tenure and promotion.
(c) Each institution of higher education shall update its
plan as appropriate at the conclusion of each five-year period.
(d) Each institution of higher education shall annually
prepare and submit to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
a report on the institution's progress in increasing racial
diversity among faculty members in accordance with the plan
developed under this section. The report must include data on the
rank, salary, tenure, and promotion of faculty members of color as
compared to white faculty members at the institution, disaggregated
by department and college, as applicable.
SECTION 2. Section 61.057, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.057. PROMOTION OF TEACHING EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY.
(a) To achieve excellence and equity in the teaching of students at
institutions and agencies of higher education, the board shall:
(1) develop and recommend:
(A) minimum equitable faculty compensation
plans, basic increment programs, and incentive salary increases;
(B) minimum equitable standards for faculty
appointment, advancement, promotion, and retirement;
(C) equitable [general] policies for faculty
teaching loads, and division of faculty time between teaching,
research, administrative duties, and special assignments;
(D) equitable faculty improvement programs,
including a plan for sabbatical leaves, appropriate for the junior
and senior colleges and universities, respectively; and
(E) minimum equitable standards for academic
freedom, academic responsibility, and tenure;
(2) pursue vigorously and continuously a goal of
having all college and university academic classes taught by
racially diverse faculty members [persons] holding the minimum of
an earned master's degree or its equivalent in academic training,
creative work, or professional accomplishment;
(3) explore, promote, and coordinate the use of
educational television among institutions of higher education and
encourage participation by public and private schools and private
institutions of higher education in educational television;
(4) conduct, and encourage the institutions of higher
education to conduct, research into new methods, materials, and
techniques for improving the quality of instruction and for the
maximum utilization of all available teaching techniques, devices,
and resources, including but not limited to large classes, team
teaching, programmed instruction, interlibrary exchanges, joint
libraries, specially-designed facilities, visual aids, and other
innovations that offer promise for superior teaching or for meeting
the need for new faculty members, especially faculty members of
color, to teach anticipated larger numbers of students; and
(5) assume initiative and leadership in providing
through the institutions of higher education in the state those
programs and offerings which will achieve the objectives set forth
in Section 61.002 [of this code].
(b) For purposes of this section, a plan, program, policy,
or standard is equitable if it is:
(1) free from racial bias and discriminatory barriers;
(2) characterized by support based on an understanding
of the distinct needs of faculty members of color;
(3) designed with structures that promote the success
of faculty members of color; and
(4) intentional about ensuring that faculty members of
color are represented at all levels of decision-making.
SECTION 3. Section 61.059(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) To finance a system of higher education and to secure an
equitable distribution of state funds deemed to be available for
higher education, the board shall perform the functions described
in this section. Funding policies shall:
(1) allocate resources efficiently and provide
incentives for programs of superior quality and for institutional
diversity that reflects proportional racial representation between
faculty members and students, as provided in each institution of
higher education's faculty diversification plan developed under
Section 51.9085;
(2) provide incentives for supporting the five-year
master plan developed and revised under Section 61.051;
(3) discourage unnecessary duplication of course
offerings between institutions and unnecessary construction on any
campus; and
(4) emphasize an alignment with education goals
established by the board.
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, each public institution of higher education shall
develop the faculty diversification plan required under Section
51.9085, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2022, each public
institution of higher education shall prepare and submit to the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board the initial report
required under Section 51.9085, Education Code, as added by this
Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.