Section 15.10 - Texas Research Incentive Program (TRIP)(a) Purpose. The purpose of this program is to provide matching funds to assist eligible public institutions in leveraging private gifts for the enhancement of research productivity and faculty recruitment.(b) Authority. (1) Texas Education Code, § 62.122, establishes the Texas Research Incentive Program to provide matching funds to assist eligible public institutions in leveraging private gifts for the enhancement of research productivity and faculty recruitment.(2) Texas Education Code, § 62.123, establishes the rate of matching and authorizes the Board, to establish procedures for the certification of gifts.(3) Texas Education Code, § 62.124, authorizes the Board, to adopt rules for the administration of the program.(c) Definitions. (1) Administrative Correction--The submission of supplemental information or supporting financial documentation to verify that the gift as submitted is restricted to research purposes that meet the requirements of an eligible gift.(2) Board--The governing body of the agency known as the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.(3) Bundled Gifts--Gifts from the same private source that are combined to determine eligibility for matching grants. All component gifts of a bundled gift must have deposit dates within ten (10) calendar days of the first deposit.(4) Certification--Board approval of the date of deposit of a gift and its qualification as an eligible gift for purposes of matching grants.(5) Coordinating Board--The agency known as the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, including agency staff.(6) Coordinating Board Staff or Board Staff--Agency staff acting under the direction of the Board and the Commissioner.(7) Date of Certification--The date of the Board meeting upon which certification occurs.(8) Date of Deposit--The date the institution receives cash or receives all proceeds of converting a non-cash gift to cash. For gifts that are converted to cash over multiple days, the date of deposit is when the entire gift has been converted to cash and received by the institution. A single gift of stocks or bonds that cannot be sold on a single day may be eligible if the sales are concluded and the proceeds are deposited in the institution's account within ten (10) calendar days from the start of sales.(9) Date of Receipt--The date the Coordinating Board receives the TRIP application for matching grants.(10) Donor Agreement Form--A form approved by the Commissioner that is required as part of the application for TRIP matching grants.(11) Eligible Gifts --Cash or an endowment to an eligible public institution from private sources in a state fiscal year for the purpose of enhancing research activities at the institution, including for endowed chairs, professorships, research facilities, research equipment, program costs, graduate research stipends or fellowships, or undergraduate research. Gifts or endowments that are not cash, including those listed in Texas Education Code, § 62.121(2), must be converted to cash before they can be submitted as an eligible gift. These include gifts that are bundled from a private source.(12) Eligible Public Institution--An institution of higher education designated as an emerging research university under the Coordinating Board's Accountability System or a university affiliated entity of an emerging research university.(13) Ineligible Gifts--A gift that is not an eligible gift under paragraph (11) of this subsection, which may include the following:(A) A gift or a bundled gift that is less than $100,000;(B) A gift that has been pledged but has not been received by the institution;(C) A gift for undergraduate scholarships or undergraduate financial aid grants;(D) Any portion in excess of $10 million of gifts or endowments received from a single source in a state fiscal year;(E) A gift that is bundled by a university-affiliated entity;(F) In-kind gifts or discounts;(G) A gift for which an institution has made a commitment of resources or services to the benefit of the donor other than the use of the gift in the manner the donor specifies; or(H) A gift not originally donated for research purposes.(14) Internal Review Committee--Coordinating Board staff authorized by the Commissioner to review TRIP applications and provide a recommendation on the eligibility of TRIP applications to the Board.(15) Matching Grant--State appropriations used to match eligible gifts in the program and administered by the Coordinating Board.(16) Peer Review--The review of all institutional applications by representatives from each eligible public institution for eligibility criteria, including date of deposit and research enhancing activities. Institutions report any challenges of eligibility to the Internal Review Committee.(17) Private Sources--Any individual or entity that cannot levy taxes and is not directly supported by tax funds.(18) Program--The Texas Research Incentive Program (TRIP) established under Texas Education Code, Chapter 62, Subchapter F.(19) University-Affiliated Entity--An entity whose sole purpose is to support the mission or programs of the university.(d) Matching Grants. Eligible gifts will be matched at the following rates:(1) 50 percent of the amount if the amount of a gift or endowment made by a donor on a certain date is at least $100,000, but not more than $999,999;(2) 75 percent of the amount if the amount of a gift or endowment made by a donor on a certain date is at least $1 million but not more than $1,999,999; or(3) 100 percent of the amount if the amount of a gift or endowment made by a donor on a certain date is $2 million but not more than $10 million.(e) Distribution of Matching Grants. (1) The Coordinating Board will distribute matching grants in order of the date of certification.(2) If there are insufficient appropriations to provide matching grants for eligible gifts with the same date of certification, the Coordinating Board shall fund those eligible gifts in chronological order of their date of receipt, and any remaining unmatched eligible gifts shall be eligible for matching grants in the following fiscal years using funds appropriated to the program, to the extent funds are available.(f) Application Requirements. An institution may only submit an eligible gift via application to the Coordinating Board to be certified by the Board as eligible for state matching funds.(1) The application must contain the following information:(A) Written documentation from the institution verifying the amount, date of deposit, and source of the gift. Acceptable documentation includes transaction receipts and statements from the institution's bank that identify the donor, recipient institution, amount of the transaction, and date of the transaction.(B) A copy of the fully executed donor agreement form provided by the Coordinating Board describing the purpose and the restrictions of the gift meeting the definition of eligible gifts, including the following information: (i) The description of the purpose shall describe how the gift would be used.(ii) Gifts that are made as part of a pledge series may use the first signed donor agreement for subsequent gifts in that pledge series provided that the purpose is the same and a schedule of pledged gifts is provided using the pledge schedule template provided by the Coordinating Board.(2) Applications shall exclude portions of a gift that do not meet the requirements of an eligible gift.(3) An institution shall submit the applications electronically and shall include two versions of the application, one with and one without redactions of personally identifiable information or other information that is confidential by law. The redacted copy will be made available to all eligible public institutions for the purpose of eligibility peer review.(4) The Coordinating Board may request administrative corrections to facilitate review of applications.(5) Each institution shall provide all information to the Coordinating Board within sixty (60) days of the date of deposit.(g) Returned Gifts. If an eligible institution returns any portion of an eligible gift to the donor or the gift is no longer eligible for matching grants, the institution shall take the following actions within thirty (30) days of the change: (1) If the institution has not yet received a matching grant for the eligible gift, the institution shall notify the Coordinating Board as to the amount and date of the change to withdraw the gift or portion of the gift; and(2) If the institution has received a matching grant for the eligible gift, the institution shall notify the Coordinating Board as to the amount and date of the change and repay the matching grant to the Coordinating Board. If only a portion of the gift is no longer eligible for matching, the institution may only retain the portion of the match that corresponds to the portion of the gift that remains eligible for matching.(h) Application Review. Periodically, but at a minimum twice in a fiscal year, the Coordinating Board shall facilitate the review of submitted applications for TRIP matching grants. Coordinating Board staff shall anticipate beginning the review in the first and third quarter of a fiscal year; however, the Commissioner may delay a cycle if warranted, The Internal Review Committee shall facilitate the following: (1) The Internal Review Committee shall make applications that have not yet been reviewed available to all eligible institutions so that they may submit peer review of a gift's eligibility. The Internal Review Committee shall provide no less than thirty (30) calendar days for the peer review.(2) The Internal Review Committee shall, after receiving the peer review recommendations, recommend a preliminary determination on the eligibility of applications. The preliminary determination may find that only a portion of the gift is eligible for matching grants. The Coordinating Board shall communicate this determination to all eligible public institutions.(3) Each institution shall have no less than thirty (30) calendar days from receipt of preliminary determinations to submit an appeal to the Internal Review Committee regarding a preliminary determination not to fund an application. An institution may provide corrective or explanatory information in their appeal which may include administrative corrections.(4) The Commissioner shall review and recommend a decision on appealed applications.(i) Certification. The applications recommended for approval by the Internal Review Committee and the Commissioner's decisions on appealed applications shall be presented at a quarterly meeting of the Board. The Board shall make the final determination of certification for each eligible gift. The Board may find only a portion of the gift to be eligible for matching grants. Certified eligible gifts shall be added to the queue for state matching grants in chronological order by date of certification.19 Tex. Admin. Code § 15.10
The provisions of this §15.10 adopted to be effective November 30, 2009, 34 TexReg 8521; amended to be effective November 29, 2011, 36 TexReg 8018; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 41, Number 08, February 19, 2016, TexReg 1230, eff. 2/22/2016; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 49, Number 32, August 9, 2024, TexReg 5981, eff. 8/15/2024