| (a) The Board has developed the Supply/Demand Pathway
(SDP) as a particular way to address anticipated large-scale enrollment
demand in a specified region. The SDP shall be used as the model to
address higher education needs in areas without ready geographic access
to existing public higher education institutions. The general principles
set forth in §5.76 of this title (relating to General Principals
for Off-Campus Educational Units) are even more significant in regard
to the larger scale efforts designated as SDP initiatives.
(b) An off-campus educational unit is on the "Pathway"
when it is awarded that designation by the Board.
(c) The SDP consists of three categories:
(1) Category A. Institutions temporarily test the market
both in terms of demand and staying power by providing off-campus
courses and/or programs by one or more institutions. Should demand
decrease or not materialize, courses and programs can be discontinued
and resources moved to areas of greater demand.
(2) Category B. As demand increases, offerings may
be organized through a multi-institution teaching center or as a university
system center as a Pathway Education Center (PEC). A group of institutions
may request that the Board authorize the establishment of a MITC.
Alternatively, a university system may request that the Board authorize
the establishment of a university system center. In either case, a
lead institution shall be designated to provide leadership for the
center and facilitate the provision of programs and resources from
other institutions.
(3) Category C. After an entity in Category B has attained
a full-time equivalent upper-level and graduate enrollment of 3,500
for one fall semester, the parent institution(s) and Board(s) of Regents
may request that the Board review the status of the center and recommend
that the Legislature reclassify the unit as an upper-level general
academic institution--a university. The 3,500 FTSE standard approximates
the headcount enrollment included in the current university funding
formula as the minimum size needed to achieve economies of scale.
(d) Counting. The following general criteria and standards
will be used to determine enrollments applicable to the SDP thresholds.
(1) Upper-division and graduate semester credit hours
generated in academic courses delivered by the parent universities
or by other institutions to on-site students at a PEC shall be counted
towards the relevant SDP threshold.
(2) Upper-division and graduate semester credit hours
generated in academic courses delivered electronically to students
on-site at a PEC shall be counted towards the SDP threshold. For interactive
video courses that originate at a PEC, only students taking the course
at the PEC shall be counted.
(3) Upper-division and graduate semester credit hours
generated in academic Internet-based courses and other courses offered
in non-traditional formats that do not require the physical presence
of the student at a PEC for a normal number of contact hours shall
not be counted.
(4) Lower-division semester credit hours generated
in academic courses offered at PECs shall not be counted towards the
thresholds except when:
(A) the courses are required at the lower-division
level for degree programs offered at the PEC,
(B) the courses are not offered by community colleges
in the vicinity of the Center,
(C) the courses have been reviewed by Higher Education
Regional Councils as described in Chapter 4.107(b) of this title,
relating to Approval of Distance Education and Off-Campus Instruction
for Public Colleges and Universities, and related Board procedures,
and
(D) the Board has granted permission to teach the courses
at the PEC.
(5) Enrollments in extension courses, continuing education
and non-formula funded courses shall not be counted towards the thresholds.
(6) Semester credit hours generated in courses that
do not receive formula funding (e.g., military science, theology and
religious vocations, some basic skills, personal awareness) shall
not be counted toward the thresholds.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §5.78 adopted to be effective May 28, 2003, 28 TexReg 4126; amended to be effective August 11, 2004, 29 TexReg 7671; amended to be effective August 26, 2009, 34 TexReg 5678; amended to be effective November 23, 2016, 41 TexReg 9110 |
