Texas Education Code - EDUC § 51.957. Higher Education Research Security Council

(1) "Council" means the Higher Education Research Security Council established under this section.

(2) "Postsecondary educational institution" means an institution of higher education or a private or independent institution of higher education, as those terms are defined by Section 61.003.

(3) "Tier one research institution" means a postsecondary educational institution in this state designated as R1: very high spending and doctorate production in the 2025 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education published by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.

(4) "University system" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.

(1) each research security officer designated under Section 51.956;  and

(2) a research security officer designated by each private or independent institution of higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, that elects to participate in the council.

(1) identify best practices for a tier one research institution to conduct research securely while mitigating the threat of foreign espionage and interference;

(2) develop a research security policy that a tier one research institution shall adopt to improve research security;

(3) establish an accreditation process under which the council shall award a tier one research institution an accreditation for security excellence;

(4) promote attendance at the annual academic security and counter exploitation program seminar offered by The Texas A&M University System;  and

(5) develop and offer an annual training program for tier one research institution security officers that includes:

(1) prohibited from participating in federal contracts under Section 889, John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Pub. L. No. 115-232);

(2) identified as a Chinese military company by the United States Department of Defense in accordance with Section 1260H, William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-283);

(3) owned by the government of a country designated as a foreign adversary by the United States secretary of commerce under 15 C.F.R. Section 791.4;  or

(4) controlled by a governing or regulatory body located in a country described by Subdivision (3).