Texas Administrative Code
Title 19 - EDUCATION
Part 1 - TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD
Chapter 2 - ACADEMIC AND WORKFORCE EDUCATION
Subchapter G - APPROVAL PROCESS FOR NEW DOCTORAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEGREE PROGRAMS
Section 2.146 - Criteria for New Doctoral and Professional Degree Programs
Universal Citation: 19 TX Admin Code ยง 2.146
Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) All proposed doctoral and professional degree programs must meet the criteria set out in this subsection, in addition to the general criteria in subchapter A, §2.5 of this chapter (relating to General Criteria for Program Approval).
(b) Each institution must provide evidence in its application that a proposed doctoral and professional program meets the following criteria.
(1) Program Need. To meet
the requirements of subchapter A, §2.5(a)(1) and (2) of this chapter, the
institution must be able to demonstrate present and future workforce need of
the state and nation. There should be a ready job market for graduates of the
program. In assessing the need for the program, the institution should consider
labor market information and other data provided by Board Staff in response to
the institution's Planning Notification. While Board Staff may also recommend
or use generally available information to assess the need for the program,
particularly in cases where labor market needs are changing rapidly, it is the
responsibility of the institution requesting a doctoral or professional program
to demonstrate that a workforce need for the proposed program exists.
Acceptable documentation includes:
(A) An
analysis of national data showing the number of doctoral or professional
degrees being produced annually in the discipline and comparing that to the
numbers of professional job openings for those degrees in the discipline as
indicated by sources such as the main professional journal(s) of the
discipline.
(B) The institution
must also provide data on the enrollments, number of graduates, and capacity to
accept additional students of other similar doctoral programs in Texas,
demonstrating that current production levels of graduates are insufficient to
meet projected workforce needs. The Board may consider local, state, or
national workforce needs in this analysis.
(C) The institution should also provide
evidence of student demand for a doctoral program in the discipline, such as
potential student survey results and documentation that qualified students are
not gaining admission to existing programs in Texas.
(2) Adequate Financing. In assessing whether
the program meets the requirements of subchapter A, §2.5(a)(4) and (5) of
this chapter, the program must demonstrate that there is adequate financing
available to initiate the proposed program without reducing funds for existing
programs or weakening them in any way. For doctoral programs, institutions
shall offer comprehensive financial assistance packages to recruit and retain
high-quality doctoral students.
(3)
Faculty and Resources. In assessing the criteria under subchapter A,
§2.5(a)(7) of this chapter, Board Staff shall ensure that each institution
demonstrates a strong core of qualified doctoral faculty capable of
guaranteeing a high-quality doctoral program with the potential to attain
national prominence. The institution must employ at least one core faculty
member active in the department or unit offering the proposed program at the
time of application. The institution must also provide an approved hiring
schedule demonstrating the ability to hire any additional faculty appropriate
to support the projected number of enrolled students. The institution must
provide documentation on a schedule determined by Board Staff of the faculty
hires through submission of a letter of intent, curriculum vitae or equivalent
documentation of faculty credentials in a format determined by the Board, and a
list of courses in the curriculum that the faculty hire would be qualified to
teach. The program must not result in such a high ratio of doctoral students to
faculty as to make individual guidance prohibitive. Evidence of quality faculty
may include:
(A) Doctoral faculty, holding
the Doctor of Philosophy degree or its equivalent from a variety of graduate
schools of recognized reputation.
(B) Professors and associate professors have
achieved national or regional professional recognition.
(C) Core faculty are currently engaged in
productive research and have published the results of such research in the main
professional journals of their discipline.
(D) Faculty come from a variety of academic
backgrounds and have complementary areas of specialization within their
field.
(E) Some doctoral faculty
have experience directing doctoral dissertations.
(F) In evaluating faculty resources for
proposed degree programs, the Board shall consider only those degrees held by
the faculty that were issued by:
(i) United
States institutions accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the Board;
or
(ii) institutions located
outside the United States that have demonstrated that their degrees are
equivalent to degrees issued from an institution in the United States
accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the Board.
(4) Support Staff. Each
program must have an adequate number of support staff to provide sufficient
services for both existing programs and any proposed increases in students and
faculty in the proposed program.
(5) Facilities and Resources. To meet the
criteria in subchapter A, §2.5(a)(7) of this chapter, each program must
include adequate facilities and resources to accommodate the program,
including:
(A) Office space for the faculty,
teaching assistants, and administrative and technical support staff; seminar
rooms; computer and electronic resources; and other appropriate facilities such
as laboratories.
(B) Library and IT
Resources. Library and information technology resources must be adequate for
the proposed program and meet the standards of the appropriate accrediting
agencies. Library resources should be strong in the proposed doctoral program
field and in related and supporting fields.
(6) Quality of the Program and Alignment with
the Long-Range Plan. In addition to meeting the criteria in subchapter A,
§2.5(a)(6) and (8) of this chapter, an institution must demonstrate the
quality of a proposed program by the meeting the following:
(A) An institution shall be required to
utilize disciplinary experts to review the proposed program to assess the
overall quality of the program.
(B)
Elements of a high-quality program, may include, but are not limited to:
(i) Design of proposed program as evidenced
by the program's ability to prepare a graduate student for teaching, creative
activities, research, or other professional activities. The program must be
characterized by freedom of inquiry and expression.
(ii) Availability of quality undergraduate
and graduate programs in a wide number of disciplines at the undergraduate and
master's levels. The institution must also offer high-quality programs in other
related and supporting doctoral areas.
(iii) Quality Planning. The proposed program
shall be carefully planned and result in a degree plan that is clear,
comprehensive, and generally uniform. The program may include flexibility to
meet the legitimate professional interests of doctoral-level degree or
professional degree students. Evidence of a carefully planned, high-quality
program includes:
(I) A logical sequence of
degree requirements;
(II)
Alternative methods of determining mastery of program content, such as
competency-based education, prior learning assessment, and other options for
reducing students' time to degree;
(III) Specialization and breadth of
education, with rules for the distribution of study to achieve both, including
interdisciplinary programs if indicated; and
(IV) A research dissertation or equivalent
requirements to be judged by the doctoral faculty on the basis of
quality.
(iv) External
Learning Experiences. In disciplines that require them program must include
plans for external learning experiences for students, such as internships,
clerkships, or clinical experiences, in disciplines that require
them.
(v) Accreditation Standards.
Each proposed program shall meet the criteria of its accrediting Board and
doctoral or professional program criteria of relevant professional groups and
organizations, such as the Council of Graduate Schools, the Modern Language
Association, the American Historical Association, the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology, or other bodies where relevant to the particular
discipline.
(vi) Teaching Loads of
Faculty. Unless justification is provided in the application, teaching loads of
faculty in the doctoral or professional program should not exceed two courses
per term. The mix of courses shall include advanced courses and seminars with
low enrollments.
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