HBA-JLV H.B. 1127 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1127
By: Rangel
Higher Education
2/19/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In some cases, full-time members of the faculty at public institutions of
higher education, both non-tenured and tenured, do not receive a contract
or employment agreement from the administration until after the start of
the academic year.  Texas law does not currently address the date by which
an institution of higher education must issue a contract or employment
agreement to faculty members.  House Bill 1127 provides standards governing
the dates by which institutions of higher education must issue contracts or
employment agreements to full-time faculty members. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1127 amends the Education Code to require an institution of
public education that intends to retain a faculty member of the institution
for the next academic year to offer the faculty member a written contract
not later than the 60th day before the first day of that academic year.
The bill requires the institution to notify the faculty member by  letter
if the institution is unable to offer a written contract by the required
date.  The bill also requires the institution to include in the letter the
reasons for the institution's inability to comply with the contract
requirement, and a specified time by which the institution will offer a
written contract.   

The bill provides that if the institution does not offer a faculty member a
written contract before the 61st day after the first day of the academic
year and the institution retains the faculty member for that academic year
without a written  contract, the institution must retain the faculty member
for that academic year under terms that are at least as favorable as the
terms governing the faculty member's employment and compensation for the
preceding academic year.  The institution must also pay the faculty member
a penalty in the amount of 10% of the faculty member's salary for the
preceding academic year. 

The bill does not prohibit an institution of higher education from entering
into a contract with a faculty member for a period longer than an academic
year. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

January 1, 2002.