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.