Honorable Ralph T. Green
Director
Texas Commission on Higher Education
Austin, Texas
Opinion No. WW-10
Re: Whether the authorization of
the Texas Commission on Higher
Education Se required for the
Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas to establish,
and operate, in Arlington, a
graduate'engineering division
of the A. & R. College, using
the facllltles of Arlington
Dear Sir: State College.
Your request of January 16, 1957, for an opinion reads in
part as follows:
"At its regular quarterly meeting in Austin
on January l&th, the Texas Commission on Higher
Education authorized me to request, on behalf of
the Commission, the opinion of the Attorney Qen-
era1 as to whether or not the authorization of the
Commission is required for the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas to establish and operate
In Arlington, a graduate engineering division of the
A. & M. College using the facilities of Arlington
State College. This question arose in connection
with the proposal of the A. & M. College to establish
and operate such a graduate engineerlng'divlslon with
reference to the responslbilltles and authority of
the Commission as set forth by the provisions of
S. B. 145, Fifty-fourth Legislature, Regular Session.
'The graduate engineering division which has been
proposed by the A. & M. College would be an extension
teaching program of the Main College at College Station,
with Instruction being conducted on the campus of Arling-
Hon. Ralph T. Green, page 2.. (WW-10)
ton State College. Graduate students completing the
required program of work would be awarded the master’s
or ddctor’s degree, as appropriate, from the main col-
lege. The proposed division would come under thi gen-
eral supervision of the Dean of Engineering of A. & M.,
College, as In the case-of resident engineering instruc-
tion on the main campus, with direct supervision pro-
vided by a director who would be on the payroll of
A. & M. College. Although Instruction in the program
at Arlington would be provided by englneerlng and other
faculty members of the A. & M. College, the direct
teaching cost of this instruction would be financed
from fees required of atudenta enrolled in the program.
The physical facilities of Arlington State College would
be used in conducting the program.”
The Texas Commission on HI her Education, as.presently
constituted, was created by Acts 5&th Legislature, Regular Ses-
sion, 1955, page 1217, Chapter 4b7. Section 11 of said Act pro-
vides In part:
*The Commission shall make a continuing study of
the program and degree offerings of wholly State-sup-
ported colleges and universities In relation to the
needs of the State, and shall report the results of the
studies to the governing boards. No new department,
degree promam or ,certiflcate Drogram shall be added
t State-supported college.or unlv&sity after
iept%ber 1 1956 except b specific prior’approval
by the Com&slon: . . .‘I 9Emphasis added).
Section 11 further provides that the Commlaslon ‘shall order the
consolidation or elimination of programs where’such action is in
the best interests of the institutions themselves’and the general
requirements of the State of Texas”.
Section 12 provides :
“The Commission shall make a continuing study of
the needs of the State, for research and for extension
and public services, and shall have the authority to
designate the Institutions to carry out research, ex-
tension and public service programs in so far as these
functions are paid for with state funds. The Commls-
sion shall maintaln an inventory of all research pro-
grams and extenalon and public service activities be-
Ing conduated by the various institutiona, whether
State-financed or not, within the Units imposed by
. -
Hon. Ralph T. P,reeo., page j. (ww-10)
security regulatfona governing defense contracts for
research."
We believe the answer to the queation submitted turns
upon the construction of that portfon of Section 11 which pro-
vides that:
"No new department, degree program or certificate
program shall be added at any State-supported college
or universfty after September 1, 1956, except by
specific prior approval by the Commlsalon.~' (Emphasis
added).
The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, pre-
sently offers, and prior to September 1, 1956, offered, graduate
degrees in engineering to resident students on the main campus.
Hence the proposed degree offering does not constitute the of-
fering of a'degree not previously offered to resident students
on the main campus. It Is9 therefore, apparent that if the pro-
posed degree offerfng is found to be a new degree program, such
finding must be predicated upon the manner and circumstances It
Is offered, and the purposes to be achfeved thereby.
The-word 'lnew" is a relative term. Mills Counts v.
Brown Count 29 S.W. 650, 87 Tex. 475. In 2?3AWords and Phrases
354, the gekal meanfng of said word whenused in conjunction
with other words and phrases is considered, and It Is there stated:
'TO accomplfsh a new and useful result, It is not
necessary that a result before unlcnown should be brought
about, but it is sufficient if an old result Is ac-
complished In a new and more effective way."
Since students wb,o complete the required program of
graduate study a,t Arlington State College wfll be awarded the
master's or doctor's d.egree, as approprl,ate, from the main college
of the Agricultural and Mecha,r:l1cal.Coll.ege, the final result, at
least from the standpol.nt of" degrees awarded, fs not new, for the
main College already offers sa.:f.d degrees to resident studerks.
We believe it. sfgnlflcant, h,oweve:r?, that the proposed offering
Is designed to meet the spe~cla.1. needs of a. limited group In a
particular area, many miles distant from the main campus. It IS
primarily a publir' x+~~lce iuidertalslng in an area of academic
instruction which ,:H basically new to the College. The accomplish-
ment of the program nec,essarUy Q~volves problems of admlnistra-
tion and procedure which are peculiar to this type of program.
It is also significant, as you point out in your letter, that
. -
--
Hon. Ralph T. Green, page 4. (WW-10)
"the offering of.graduate degree program and the granting of
advanced degrees, through an extension program are rare In th;
experience of public education In Texa,a, If not entirely new.
Section I of the Act creating the CdPurisaion on Higher
Education makes it clear that one of the' p?lwy functions of the
Commission is to provide Hc60Fdlnatlng services' to our senior
higher education'systems . . . to the end that an efficient and
effective state system of higher education may be.developed". The
legislative lntent,,as shown 'throughout the Adt, 18 to devise a
system of higher education in Texas which serves the educational
needs of all the state without needless overlapping or duplication
of services. We believe that'the offering of 'graduate degree pro-
w-, and.the granting of advanced degree&, through an extension
program under the particular facts here presented, are among those
activities which the Commission is charged by law to coordinate.
We, therefore, conclude that the extension program in
graduate engineering proposed by A. & M. College represents a sub-
stantial new addition to the de ee offevlngs 'of the Cnllege and
to the structizre of the college $ 8 degree programsk and that same con-
stitutas a new dep;ree program within the meaning of Section 11
and reaulres sDeciflc Drier aporoval by the Texas Commission on
Higher-Educatlbn. - --
SUMMARY
The specific prior approval of the ,Texas Commls-
sion on Higher Education la required for the Agrl-
cultural and Mechanical College of Texas to estab-
lish and operate on the campus of Arlington State
College a graduate engineering division of A. & M.
College, since same constitutes a new,degree pro-
gram within the meaning of Sec~tion,ll, S.B. No. 145,
Acts, 54th Legislature, Regular Sesalon, 1955,
P. l2l7, Chapter 487.
Yours very truly,
APPROVED:, WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
OPINIONCOMMITTEE
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By (-
Leonard Passmore
Assistant
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