Texas Register

TITLE 19 EDUCATION
PART 1TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD
CHAPTER 15NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES
SUBCHAPTER CNATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY FUND
RULE §15.43Eligibility
ISSUE 11/19/2010
ACTION Proposed
Preamble No Rule Available

(a)The eligibility criteria for a general academic teaching institution to receive distributions from the Fund include: having an entering freshman class of high academic achievement; receiving recognition of research capabilities and scholarly attainment of the institution; having a high-quality faculty; and demonstrating commitment to high-quality graduate education.

(b)A general academic teaching institution is eligible to receive a distribution from the Fund for each year of a state fiscal biennium if:

  (1)the institution is designated as an emerging research university under the coordinating board's accountability system;

  (2)in each of the two state fiscal years preceding the state fiscal biennium, the institution expended at least $45 million in restricted research funds; and

  (3)the institution satisfies at least four of the following six criteria:

    (A)the value of the institution's endowment funds is at least $400 million;

    (B)the institution awarded at least 200 doctor of philosophy degrees during each of the two academic years preceding the state fiscal biennium;

    (C)in each of the two academic years preceding the state fiscal biennium, the entering freshman class of the institution demonstrated high academic achievement as reflected in the following criteria:

      (i)At least 50 percent of the first-time entering freshman class students at the institution are in the top 25 percent of their high school class; or

      (ii)The average SAT score of first-time entering freshman class students at or above the 75th percentile of SAT scores was equal to or greater than 1210 (consisting of the Critical Reading and Mathematics Sections) or the average ACT score of first-time entering freshman class students at or above the 75th percentile of ACT scores was equal to or greater than 26; and

      (iii)The composition of the institution's first-time entering freshman class demonstrates progress toward achieving the goals of the Board's Closing the Gaps report by reflecting the population of the state or the institution's region with respect to underrepresented students and shows a commitment to improving the academic performance of underrepresented students. One way in which this could be accomplished is by active participation in one of the Federal TRIO Programs, such as having one or more McNair Scholars in a particular cohort;

    (D)the institution is designated as a member of the Association of Research Libraries, has a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, or is a member of Phi Kappa Phi;

    (E)in each of the two academic years preceding the state fiscal biennium, the faculty of the institution was of high quality as reflected in the following:

      (i)The cumulative number of tenured/tenure-track faculty who have achieved national or international distinction through recognition as a member of one of the National Academies (including National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Institute of Medicine) or are Nobel Prize recipients is equal to or greater than 5; or

      (ii)The annual number of tenured/tenure-track faculty who have been awarded national or international distinction during a specific state fiscal year in any of the following categories is equal to or greater than 7.

        (I)American Academy of Nursing Member

        (II)American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellows

        (III)Beckman Young Investigators

        (IV)Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards

        (V)Cottrell Scholars

        (VI)Getty Scholars in Residence

        (VII)Guggenheim Fellows

        (VIII)Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators

        (IX)Lasker Medical Research Awards

        (X)MacArthur Foundation Fellows

        (XI)Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Awards

        (XII)National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellows

        (XIII)National Humanities Center Fellows

        (XIV)National Institutes of Health (NIH) MERIT

        (XV)National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology winners

        (XVI)NSF CAREER Award winners (excluding those who are also PECASE winners)

        (XVII)Newberry Library Long-term Fellows

        (XVIII)Pew Scholars in Biomedicine

        (XIX)Pulitzer Prize Winners

        (XX)Winners of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

        (XXI)Robert Wood Johnson Policy Fellows

        (XXII)Searle Scholars

        (XXIII)Sloan Research Fellows

        (XXIV)Woodrow Wilson Fellows

      (iii)In lieu of meeting either clause (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph, an institution may request that a comprehensive review of the faculty in five of the institution's Doctoral degree programs be conducted by external consultants selected by Coordinating Board staff in consultation with the institution and said review must demonstrate that the faculty are comparable to and competitive with faculty in similar programs at public institutions in the Association of American Universities. Costs for the review shall be borne by the institution. This review is only available if the institution has already met three of the other eligibility criteria listed in subparagraphs (A) - (D) and (F) of this paragraph;

    (F)the institution has demonstrated a commitment to high-quality graduate education as reflected in the following:

      (i)The number of Graduate-level programs at the institution is equal to or greater than 50; and

      (ii)The institution satisfies the following criteria:

        (I)The GRE scores of admitted students in five of the institution's Doctoral degree programs, as reflected in the mean Graduate Records Examination scores reported by ETS, are above national norms for the discipline;

        (II)The Master's Graduation Rate at the institution is 56 percent or higher and the Doctoral Graduation Rate is 58 percent or higher;

        (III)The median time to degree for Doctoral degree recipients is equal to or less than 8 years; or

      (iii)In the event the institution chooses a comprehensive review of five of its Doctoral degree programs as discussed in subparagraph (E)(iii) of this paragraph, the institution must:

        (I)demonstrate that the overall commitment to the Doctoral degree programs selected for this review, including the financial support for Doctoral degree students, is competitive with that of comparable high-quality programs at public institutions in the Association of American Universities; and

        (II)meet clause (i) of this subparagraph and two of the three criteria in clause (ii) of this subparagraph.

This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.

Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on November 8, 2010

TRD-201006405

Bill Franz

General Counsel

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Proposed date of adoption: January 27, 2011

For further information, please call: (512) 427-6114



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