Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) In
accordance with Texas Education Code, §
61.823, the Board is
authorized to approve Field of Study Curricula for certain fields of
study/academic disciplines. The Board delegates to the Commissioner development
of Field of Study Curricula with the assistance of the Texas Transfer Advisory
Committee, as defined by Title 19, Subchapter V, Chapter 1. The Texas Transfer
Advisory Committee is responsible for convening Discipline-Specific
Subcommittees. Discipline-Specific Subcommittees shall provide subject-matter
expertise to the Texas Transfer Advisory Committee in developing Field of Study
Curricula in specific disciplines.
(b) A complete Field of Study Curriculum will
consist of the following components:
(1)
Selected Texas Core Curriculum courses.
(A)
Selected Texas Core Curriculum courses relevant to the discipline may be
included in the Field of Study Curriculum for that discipline.
(B) Discipline-Specific Subcommittees are
responsible for identifying discipline-relevant courses from a list of all
Texas Core Curriculum courses provided by the Board that may be used to satisfy
core curriculum requirements. Each Discipline-Specific Subcommittee shall
recommend identified Texas Core Curriculum courses to the Texas Transfer
Advisory Committee.
(C) The Texas
Transfer Advisory Committee shall recommend the Texas Core Curriculum courses
selected for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum to the Commissioner who
may approve or deny the inclusion of the recommended Texas Core Curriculum
courses in the Field of Study Curriculum.
(D) Each institution of higher education must
publish on its public website in manner easily accessed by students the Texas
Core Curriculum courses selected for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum
with the cross-listed TCCNS course number.
(2) Discipline Foundation Courses (DFC).
(A) Discipline Foundation Courses are a set
of courses within a major course of study selected for inclusion in a Field of
Study Curriculum for that discipline. These courses will apply toward
undergraduate degrees within the Field of Study Curriculum at all Texas public
institutions that offer a corresponding major or track, except for those
institutions approved to require alternative Discipline Foundation Courses
under §
4.35 of this subchapter (relating
to Petition for Substitute Discipline Foundation Courses).
(B) Each receiving institution must apply the
semester credit hours a student has completed in a Discipline Foundation Course
upon the student's transfer into a corresponding major or track. The sending
institution must indicate Discipline Foundation Courses on the transfer
student's transcript.
(C)
Discipline-Specific Subcommittees are responsible for identifying
discipline-relevant courses for inclusion on the Discipline Foundation Courses
list. The Discipline-Specific Subcommittees must select from courses listed in
the Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual. Each Discipline-Specific
Subcommittee shall report this course list to the Texas Transfer Advisory
Committee.
(D) The Texas Transfer
Advisory Committee shall recommend the Discipline Foundation Courses selected
by the Discipline Specific Subcommittees for inclusion in a Field of Study
Curriculum to the Commissioner. The Commissioner may approve or deny the
Discipline Foundation Courses recommended by the Texas Transfer Advisory
Committee for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum.
(E) General academic teaching institutions
may submit a request for a substitute set of Discipline Foundation Courses for
a specific program of study according to the process in §
4.35 of this subchapter.
(F) Each institution of higher education must
report to the Coordinating Board and publish on its public website in manner
easily accessed by students the Discipline Foundation Courses with the
cross-listed TCCNS course numbers for each course.
(G) The Commissioner must publish the list of
Discipline Foundation Courses for each approved Field of Study Curriculum on
the agency website with the cross-listed TCCNS course number for each
course.
(3) Directed
Electives.
(A) Directed Electives are a set of
courses that apply toward a major course of study within a Field of Study
Curriculum at a specific general academic teaching institution.
(B) Faculty from each general academic
teaching institution may select a list of Directed Electives for the major
course of study corresponding to each Field of Study curriculum. Faculty must
select the Directed Electives only from courses listed in the Lower-Division
Academic Course Guide Manual.
(C)
The Chief Academic Officer of the institution shall submit the list of Directed
Electives for inclusion in a Field of Study Curriculum with the cross-listed
TCCNS course number to the Commissioner not later than forty-five (45) days
after being sent the request from the Coordinating Board. The Coordinating
Board shall publish the list of each institution's Directed Electives for each
approved Field of Study Curriculum on the agency website with the cross-listed
TCCNS course numbers for each course.
(D) An institution that does not submit its
Directed Electives in accordance with subparagraph (C) shall be required to
accept any Directed Elective courses that appear on the Board's list for the
Texas Direct Associate Degree for any institution's Field of Study
Curriculum.
(E) Each institution of
higher education must publish on its public website in a manner easily accessed
by students Directed Electives with the cross-listed TCCNS course
number.
(F) An institution shall
accept and apply directed electives for fields of study upon transfer as long
as the directed elective was active on the Coordinating Board's inventory of
directed electives at the time the student completed the course at the
community college.
(c) Standard Field of Study Curriculum. The
standard field of study curriculum shall include the following:
(1) Selected core curriculum courses as
prescribed in subsection (b)(1) of this section.
(2) Up to twelve (12) semester credit hours
of Discipline Foundation Courses as prescribed in subsection (b)(2) of this
section.
(3) At least six (6)
semester credit hours of Directed Electives as prescribed in subsection (b)(3)
of this section.
(4) The Directed
Electives and Discipline Foundation Courses combined components of the standard
field of study curriculum may not exceed twenty (20) semester credit hours in
total.
(d) Alternative
Field of Study Curriculum. The alternative framework for field of study
curriculum shall include the following:
(1) Up
to thirty (30) semester credit hours of selected Texas Core Curriculum Courses
as prescribed by subsection (b) of this section.
(2) A minimum of eighteen (18) semester
credit hours, not to exceed twenty-four (24) semester credit hours of
Discipline Foundation Courses as prescribed in subsection (b)(2) of this
section.
(3) Up to twelve (12)
semester credit hours of Directed Electives as prescribed in subsection (b)(3)
of this section.
(e) A
receiving general academic teaching institution shall determine whether a
transfer student is Field of Study Curriculum complete upon the transfer
student's enrollment. If a student successfully completes an approved Field of
Study Curriculum, a general academic teaching institution must substitute that
block of courses for the receiving institution's lower-division requirements
for the degree program for the corresponding Field of Study Curriculum into
which the student transfers. Upon enrollment, the general academic teaching
institution must grant the student full academic credit toward the degree
program for the block of courses transferred.
(f) If a student transfers from one
institution of higher education to another without completing the Field of
Study Curriculum, the receiving institution must grant academic credit in the
Field of Study Curriculum for each of the courses that the student has
successfully completed in the Field of Study Curriculum of the sending
institution. After granting the student credit for these courses, the
institution may require the student to satisfy remaining course requirements in
the current Field of Study Curriculum of the receiving general academic
teaching institution, or to complete additional requirements in the receiving
institution's program, as long as those requirements do not duplicate course
content the student previously completed through the Field of Study
Curriculum.
(g) Each institution
must note the selected Texas Core Curriculum component and Discipline
Foundation Courses components of the Field of Study Curriculum courses on
student transcripts as recommended by the Texas Association of Collegiate
Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO).
(h) The Board shall publish on its website
the components of each Field of Study Curriculum, including the selected Texas
Core Curriculum courses, the Discipline Foundation Courses, and the Directed
Electives of each general academic teaching institution.
(i) Effective Dates.
(1) Unless repealed or replaced, Field of
Study Curricula in effect as of March 1, 2021, will remain in effect until
August 31, 2025, upon which date those Field of Study Curricula expire by
operation of law. For Field of Study Curricula that are repealed, replaced, or
expire by operation of law, the following transition or "teach out" provisions
apply:
(A) A student who has earned credit on
or before August 31, 2022, in one or more courses included in a Field of Study
Curriculum that exists on March 1, 2021, is entitled to complete that Field of
Study Curriculum on or before August 31, 2025.
(B) A student who has not, on or before
August 31, 2022, earned any course credit toward a Field of Study Curriculum in
effect on March 1, 2021, is not entitled to transfer credit for that Field of
Study Curriculum.
(2)
After an institution's Spring 2026 enrollment deadline, a receiving institution
is not required to transfer a complete Field of Study Curricula that expired
prior to that date. A receiving institution may, at its discretion, choose to
accept a complete or partial Field of Study Curricula that has
expired.
