HB 1830
AN ACT relating to tenure and employment status at public institutions of
89th Regular Session
Jan 14, 2025 - Jun 2, 2025 • Session ended
Awaiting Committee Assignment
Bill filed, pending referral to House committee
Committee
Not yet assigned
Fiscal Note
Not available
What This Bill Does
This Texas bill eliminates tenure for new faculty at public higher education institutions starting September 1, 2025. Current tenured faculty employed before that date will retain their status if they remain continuously employed. The bill allows institutions to create alternative employment systems with annual performance evaluations, making it easier to dismiss faculty for professional incompetence, misconduct, or other specified reasons. Key impacts include: professors will no longer have permanent job protection, institutions gain more flexibility in faculty employment, and existing tenured faculty are grandfathered in under their current status. The legislation aims to increase accountability and performance standards in public universities and colleges.
Subject Areas
Bill Text
relating to tenure and employment status at public institutions of higher education in this state. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 21.801(d), Education Code, is amended to (d) The public institution of higher education shall: (1) reward faculty instructing in the teacher (2) identify faculty who can prepare teachers to impact student achievement in high-need schools; (3) provide institutional support of faculty who work with the teacher residency program by providing time to teach the courses [and valuing the faculty's contributions with rewards in the university tenure process]; and (4) develop and implement a program that acknowledges and elevates the significance and professional nature of teaching at the primary and secondary levels. SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 51.9415 to read as follows: Sec. 51.9415. TENURE AND FACULTY EMPLOYMENT STATUS. (a) In this section, "institution of higher education" has the meaning (b) An institution of higher education may not grant an employee of the institution tenure or any type of permanent (c) Subsection (b) does not apply to a faculty member or other employee of the institution of higher education who is employed by or under contract for employment with the institution on September 1, 2025, and who was awarded tenure or any type of permanent employment status by the institution before September 1, 2025, provided that the person remains continuously employed or continuously under a contract of employment beginning September 1, (d) This section does not prohibit the board of regents of an institution of higher education from establishing an alternate system of tiered employment status for faculty members provided that the system clearly defines each position and requires each faculty member to undergo an annual performance evaluation. SECTION 3. Section 51.942(c-1), Education Code, is amended (c-1) Each governing board of an institution of higher education shall adopt policies and procedures regarding tenure. The policies and procedures must: (1) [address the granting of tenure; [(2)] allow for the dismissal of a tenured faculty member at any time after providing the faculty member with appropriate due process, on a determination that: (i) exhibited professional incompetence; (ii) continually or repeatedly failed to perform duties or meet professional responsibilities of the faculty (iii) failed to successfully complete any post-tenure review professional development program; (iv) engaged in conduct involving moral turpitude that adversely affects the institution or the faculty member's performance of duties or meeting of responsibilities; (v) violated laws or university system or institution policies substantially related to the performance of (vi) been convicted of a crime affecting the fitness of the faculty member to engage in teaching, research, service, outreach, or administration; (vii) engaged in unprofessional conduct that adversely affects the institution or the faculty member's performance of duties or meeting of responsibilities; or (viii) falsified the faculty member's (B) there is actual financial exigency or the phasing out of the institution's programs requiring elimination of the faculty member's position; or (C) there is other good cause as defined in the (2) [(3)] provide for a periodic performance evaluation process for all tenured faculty at the institution. SECTION 4. Section 51.943(c), Education Code, is amended to (c) For the purposes of this section, an institution of higher education is not required to provide an annual contract to tenured [tenure or tenure-track] faculty, but must provide tenured [tenure and tenure-track] faculty with [any] written notification [required in the institution's tenure policy] of any [a] change in a term of employment according to the policies of the institution, but no later than the 30th day prior to the change. SECTION 5. Section 51.948(b), Education Code, is amended to (b) A contract entered into by a governing board under this (1) provide for employment for more than three years; (2) allow for severance or other payments on the termination of the contract to exceed an amount equal to the discounted net present cash value of the contract on termination at a market interest rate agreed upon in the contract; or (3) allow for development leave that is inconsistent [(4) award tenure in any way that varies from the institution's general policy on the award of tenure]. SECTION 6. Section 51.9745(a), Education Code, is amended (a) Each general academic teaching institution, as defined by Section 61.003, shall make available to the public on the institution's Internet website the following information for the (1) the student/faculty ratio; (2) the percentage of all full-time equivalent faculty members with teaching responsibility who are tenured [or tenure (3) the percentage of semester credit hours taken by students classified as freshmen or sophomores that are taught by tenured [and tenure track] faculty members; (4) the number of faculty members in each of the following faculty ranks, including a breakdown for each rank showing the numbers of faculty members by race, ethnicity, and (E) nontenured [or nontenure track]; and (5) average faculty salaries by rank; (6) the amount of money appropriated by the legislature per full-time equivalent faculty member and full-time (7) the total revenue the institution spent per full-time equivalent faculty member and full-time equivalent (8) the amount of federal and private research expenditures per tenured [or tenure track] full-time equivalent (9) the number and percentage of faculty members holding extramural research grants; (10) the number and names of awards to faculty members from nationally recognized entities, including those identified by The Center for Measuring University Performance; and (11) the number of endowed professorships or chairs. SECTION 7. Section 51A.053(c), Education Code, is amended (c) Except as otherwise provided by the coordinating board under Subsection (a), the resume must include the following information relating to the most recent state fiscal year for which (1) under the heading "ENROLLMENT": (A) the total number of students enrolled in the institution during the fall semester that ended in the fiscal year (B) the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled in the institution for the first time during the fall semester that ended in the fiscal year covered by the resume who are (C) a clearly identifiable link to the information described by Paragraph (A) disaggregated by student (2) under the heading "DEGREES AWARDED": (A) the number of bachelor's degrees, number of master's degrees, number of doctoral degrees, and number of professional degrees awarded by the institution; and (B) a clearly identifiable link to the information described by Paragraph (A) disaggregated by student (3) under the heading "COSTS": (A) the average annual total academic costs for a resident undergraduate student enrolled in 30 semester credit hours (B) clearly identifiable links to information (i) the rate or rates of tuition per semester credit hour charged by the institution; and (ii) any mandatory fees, as defined by the coordinating board, imposed by the institution; (C) the average cost of on-campus room and board (D) the average cost to a resident undergraduate student enrolled in 30 semester credit hours for total academic costs and on-campus room and board, excluding the cost of books, supplies, transportation, or other expenses; (4) under the heading "FINANCIAL AID": (A) the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled in the institution who receive need-based grants or (B) the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled in the institution who receive need-based grants, scholarships, loans, or work-study funds; (C) the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled in the institution who receive student loans; (D) the average amount of an undergraduate student's need-based grant and scholarship package; (E) the average amount of an undergraduate student's need-based grant, scholarship, loan, and work-study (F) the average amount of an undergraduate (5) under the heading "ADMISSIONS": (A) the middle 50 percent test score range of first-time undergraduate students at the institution whose Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores were in the 25th to 75th percentile of students' scores at that institution; (B) the middle 50 percent test score range of first-time undergraduate students at the institution whose American College Test (ACT) scores were in the 25th to 75th percentile of students' scores at that institution; and (C) the percentage of the students who applied for first-time undergraduate admission to the institution who were offered admission to the institution; (6) under the heading "INSTRUCTION": (A) the student/faculty ratio at the (B) the percentage of organized undergraduate classes offered by the institution in which fewer than 20 students (C) the percentage of organized undergraduate classes offered by the institution in which more than 50 students (D) the percentage of teaching faculty members of the institution who are tenured [or tenure-track]; (7) under the heading "BACCALAUREATE SUCCESS": (A) four-year, five-year, and six-year graduation rates for full-time bachelor's degree-seeking students at the institution, and links to that information disaggregated by (B) the average number of fall and spring semesters of enrollment attempted by a student to obtain a (C) the retention rate of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking entering undergraduate students enrolled in the institution after one academic year and after two academic years; (8) under the heading "FIRST-TIME LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION PASS RATES," the first-time licensure or certification examination pass rates in the fields of education, law, pharmacy, nursing, and engineering of students enrolled in the institution or who have graduated from the institution; and (9) under the heading "FUNDING": (A) the total amount of money appropriated by the legislature to the institution, including money appropriated for faculty and staff health coverage and retirement benefits, for that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total amount of money appropriated by the legislature represents; (B) the total amount of federal funds from all federal sources, including grants and research funds, received by the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total amount of federal funds represents; (C) the total academic costs charged to students by the institution in that state fiscal year and the corresponding percentage of the institution's operating budget for that state fiscal year that the total academic costs represent; and (D) the total amount of money from any source available to the institution in that state fiscal year. SECTION 8. Section 61.057, Education Code, is amended to Sec. 61.057. PROMOTION OF TEACHING EXCELLENCE. To achieve excellence in the teaching of students at institutions and agencies of higher education, the board shall: (A) minimum faculty compensation plans, basic increment programs, and incentive salary increases; (B) minimum standards for faculty appointment, advancement, promotion, and retirement; (C) general policies for faculty teaching loads, and division of faculty time between teaching, research, administrative duties, and special assignments; (D) faculty improvement programs, including a plan for sabbatical leaves, appropriate for the junior and senior colleges and universities, respectively; and (E) minimum standards for academic freedom[,] and academic responsibility[, and tenure]; (2) pursue vigorously and continuously a goal of having all college and university academic classes taught by persons holding the minimum of an earned master's degree or its equivalent in academic training, creative work, or professional (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 to teach anticipated larger (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. SECTION 9. Section 61.0902(b), Education Code, is amended (b) Not later than the next November 1 following the completion of an academic year, each general academic teaching institution shall provide to the board one or more reports (1) the qualifications of the entering freshman class for the academic year covered by the report, including: (A) the average Texas Academic Skills Program (B) the average scores of the class on each generally recognized test or assessment used in college and university undergraduate admissions, including the Scholastic Assessment Test and the American College Test; (C) the range of scores of the class from the 25th to the 75th percentile on each generally recognized test or assessment used in college and university undergraduate admissions, including the Scholastic Assessment Test and the (D) the overall grade point average of the class for the academic year covered by the report; (E) the number of students in the class who graduated in the top 10 percent of the student's high school (F) enrollment percentages by ethnicity; and (2) student performance and institution efficiency, (A) the retention rate of full-time students after the completion of one academic year at the institution; (B) the percentage of full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students who earn a baccalaureate degree before the sixth anniversary of the date of the student's first enrollment at (C) the percentage of lower-division semester credit hours taught by tenured [or tenure-track] faculty; (D) the percentage of undergraduate classes with (E) the percentage of undergraduate classes with (F) the student-to-faculty ratio for (G) the percentage of students receiving (H) the average cost of tuition and fees for an undergraduate student enrolled for 12 semester credit hours; (I) the average cost of on-campus room and board for an academic year, excluding summer sessions; (J) the number of disciplines in which master's (K) the number of disciplines in which doctoral (L) a description of any departments, schools, or certificate or degree programs of the institution that have a statewide or national reputation for excellence; and (M) statistics regarding job placement rates for students awarded certificates or degrees by the institution. SECTION 10. Section 141.001(3), Education Code, is amended (3) "Faculty member" means a person who is tenured [or is in a tenure track position] and [is] employed by a public senior SECTION 11. Section 142.001(5), Education Code, is amended (5) "Faculty member" means a person who is tenured by an eligible institution [or is in a tenure track position] or who is a research professional employed by an eligible institution. SECTION 12. Sections 51.942(b) and (f), Education Code, are SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
Bill Sponsors
Legislators who authored or co-sponsored this bill.
Bill History
Bill filed: AN ACT relating to tenure and employment status at public institutions of
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