The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (Coordinating Board) adopts amendments to §4.28, concerning Core Curriculum, with one additional change to the proposed text as published in the February 3, 2012, issue of the Texas Register (37 TexReg 442).

The intent of this amendment is to clarify the requirements for the Component Area Option under §4.28(b)(4)(A), and to allow institutions of higher education that offer the fully-transferrable core curriculum an alternative appropriate for interdisciplinary courses for the Component Area Option under §4.28(b)(4)(B). This alternative would allow an institution to certify that a course or courses used to complete up to three semester credit hours of the Component Area Option meets the definition specified for one or more of the foundational component areas, and include(s) a minimum of three Core Objectives, including Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, and one of the remaining Core Objectives of the institution's choice. The amendment to §4.28(b)(4) adds new subparagraph (C) that states, for the purposes of gaining approval for or reporting a Component Area Option course under the amended provisions in subsection (b)(4)(B), an institution would not be required to notify the Board of the specific foundational component area(s) and Core Objectives associated with the course(s).

Comments received during the comment period led to one additional amendment to §4.28(g), providing that any semester credit hours (SCH) for a course approved to meet a Foundational Component Area (FCA) requirement, but that exceed the number of SCH required to fulfill the FCA, must either be applied to the Component Area Option or must be required by the specific degree program such that the number of SCH required to complete the program would not increase.

Three comments were received regarding these amendments.

Comment: The UT System commented on behalf of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) that "...[t]he required reduction to 42 semester credit hours will lead to the evaluation of our core menu but also negatively impacts our University (UNIV 1301) core offering which has resulted in improved entering student outcomes."

Response: No change is recommended as a result of this comment. The rules offered for comment did not propose any change to the number of semester credit hours (SCH) required in the core curriculum, which were approved in October 2011 to be 42, as required by Texas Education Code, §61.822. Although institutions had previously been allowed to request an exception to offer a larger core curriculum, this variation led to many problems with transfer of credit among institutions. The decision to create better consistency by requiring all institutions to offer a 42 SCH core curriculum does not necessarily preclude an institution from offering any particular course, as long as the course meets the criteria and includes the Core Objectives for one of the Foundational Component Areas.

Comment: Lamar University commented that §4.28(g) is too restrictive, and recommended a change to allow any SCH for a course that exceed the number of SCH required to fulfill the Foundational Component Area requirement to either be applied to the Component Area Option or to be applied to the degree plan requiring the course, such that the additional SCH would not increase the SCH required for completion of the degree program.

Response: As a result of the comment received, a change is proposed to §4.28(g). The change would allow for a course that carries additional SCH in excess of the number required to complete a Foundational Component Area (FCA) requirement to apply the additional SCH to either the Component Area Option or to the degree plan that requires the course, e.g., a 4 SCH Calculus course required for a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, to fulfill the 3 SCH Foundational Component Area requirement for Mathematics, and the additional 1 SCH to be accounted for in the degree plan requirements, such that the extra semester credit hour would not increase the total number of SCH required for completion of the specific degree program.

Comment: Austin Community College (ACC) commented that §4.28(g) seems contradictory, stating that a course can only apply to one Foundational Component Area (FCA), but that credit in excess of the requirement for a FCA must be applied to the Component Area Option. ACC suggested that this section should be revised, but did not suggest a particular revision.

Response: No change is recommended as a result of this comment. Staff believes that the modification proposed in response to the comment from Lamar University will also satisfy the concern from Austin Community College.

The amendments are adopted under Texas Education Code, Chapter 61, Subchapter S, §61.822 which provides the Coordinating Board with the authority to establish a core curriculum for institutions of higher education that offer academic undergraduate degree programs and §61.827 which provides the Coordinating Board with rulemaking authority to implement the subchapter.