THECB prepares statewide survey to improve tracking of postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities

THECB staff reported that final edits to the statewide ID program inventory and recruitment survey were complete and that the survey would be released pending commissioner approval. The survey will include additional comment boxes, definitions linked to THECB rules to clarify who should be counted as a student with an intellectual disability, and revised credential fields (separate checkboxes for degree, license or certificate).

Timing and distribution: THECB staff said the survey should go live within a week (pending leadership approval) and remain open for about three to four weeks to allow campuses to respond; the agency expects to close responses by the end of June and use July to draft a report and prepare board materials.

Coordination and double-counting concerns: Staff said the survey will be sent to last year's program contacts and to chief academic officers, presidents and chancellors by GovDelivery as a statutory requirement. Some members asked staff to add language instructing campuses to coordinate among reporting officials, disability services and program contacts to avoid double counting if multiple offices complete the survey for the same institution.

Purpose: The council framed the survey as a complementary, program-level source to supplement THECB's census-based student reporting, particularly while the council pursues longer-term fixes to the reporting manual and census rules.

Next steps: THECB staff will finalize the release and add coordination language; council members agreed to prompt campus colleagues and chief academic officers to encourage unit-level responses so THECB has more accurate program inventory data.