(a) All training providers approved by the commission must establish and maintain an advisory board, as required by §1701.252 of the Texas Occupations Code. The board must have at least three members who are appointed by the sponsoring organization. Board membership must not fall below a quorum for more than 30 days. A quorum of the advisory board is defined as a minimum of 51% of the voting membership.
(b) The board may have members who are law enforcement personnel; however, one-third of the members must be public members, as defined in §1701.052 of the Texas Occupations Code, having the same qualification as any commissioner who is required by law to be a member of the general public. The chief administrator, or head of the sponsoring organization, and the designated training coordinator may only serve as ex-officio, non-voting members. Board members are required to successfully complete the commission developed advisory board training course within one year of appointment to an advisory board.
(c) The chief administrator, or head or the sponsoring organization, may appoint a board chair, or the board may elect a board member to serve as the board chair. The board may elect other officers and set its own rules of procedure. A quorum must be present in order to conduct business.
(d) A board must meet at least once each calendar year. More frequent meetings may be called by the board chair, the training coordinator, or the person who appoints the board.
(e) A board will keep written minutes of all meetings. These minutes must be retained for at least five years and a copy forwarded to the commission upon request.
(f) Board members will be appointed by the following authority:
  (1) for an agency academy, by the chief administrator as defined in §211.1 of this title;
  (2) for a college academy, by the dean or other person who appoints the training coordinator;
  (3) for a regional academy, by the head of the council of governments or other sponsoring entity holding the academy contract from names submitted by chief administrators from that area;
  (4) for a contractual training provider, by the chief administrator; or
  (5) for an academic alternative provider, by the dean or other person who appoints the training coordinator.
(g) A member may be removed by the appointing authority.
(h) A board is generally responsible for advising on the development of curricula and any other related duty that may be required by the commission.
(i) The board must, as specific duties:
  (1) discharge its responsibilities and otherwise comply with commission rules;
  (2) set policies and procedures for the academy with the consent of the chief administrator;
  (3) advise on the need to study, evaluate, and identify specific training needs;
  (4) advise on the determination of the types, frequency, and location of courses to be offered;
  (5) advise on the establishment of the standards for admission, prerequisites, minimum and maximum class size, attendance, and retention; and
  (6) advise on the order of preference among employees or prospective appointees of the sponsoring organization and other persons, if any.
(j) No person may be admitted to a training course without meeting the admission standards. The admission standards for licensing courses must be available for review by the commission upon request.
(k) A board may, when discharging its responsibilities, request that a report be made or some other information be provided to them by a training or course coordinator.
(l) The effective date of this section is November 1, 2014.

Source Note: The provisions of this §215.7 adopted to be effective March 1, 2001, 26 TexReg 224; amended to be effective June 1, 2004, 29 TexReg 3812; amended to be effective June 1, 2006, 31 TexReg 2874; amended to be effective December 1, 2006, 31 TexReg 8729; amended to be effective July 6, 2009, 34 TexReg 4345; amended to be effective July 14, 2011, 36 TexReg 3933; amended to be effective February 1, 2014, 38 TexReg 9609; amended to be effective November 1, 2014, 39 TexReg 7934