The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (Coordinating Board) adopts amendments to §§5.43, 5.44, and 5.52, concerning Approval of New Academic Programs and Administrative Changes at Public Universities, Health-Related Institutions, and Assessment of Existing Degree Programs. Section 5.44 is adopted with changes to the proposed text as published in the August 13, 2010, issue of the Texas Register (35 TexReg 6888) and will be republished. Section 5.43 and §5.52 are adopted without changes.

Specifically, these amendments add a definition of new doctoral degree programs, will revise the requirements for submitting administrative change requests, add doctoral degree program audits for public institutions of higher education and health-related institutions, and reorganize information for clarity.

One comment was received regarding these amendments.

Comment: The University of Houston recommended removing the requirement that an institution's governing board participate in the approval process for certificate programs, thus allowing the institution and/or system to designate who has the institutional authority to approve certificate programs. Removing this requirement would streamline the process and facilitate the creation of certificate programs that often more closely align with the needs of workforce/professional development.

Response: As a result of this comment, changes were made to §5.44(b)(1)(A). The requirement for governing board approval of certificate programs was removed.

The amendments are adopted under the Texas Education Code, §61.051, which provides the Coordinating Board with the authority to coordinate institutions of higher education.