ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 486
(By Senators Laird, Tucker, Plymale, Kessler (Acting President), Unger,
Helmick, Browning, Stollings, McCabe, Wells and Miller)
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[Passed March 7, 2011; in effect from passage.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §18B-1E-1, §18B-1E-2,
§18B-1E-3 and §18B-1E-4, all relating to West Virginia
University Institute of Technology, West Virginia University
and the Higher Education Policy Commission; defining certain
terms; establishing a revitalization project and plan; stating
legislative findings, purpose and intent; and requiring
certain reports.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §18B-1E-1, §18B-1E-2,
§18B-1E-3 and §18B-1E-4, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1E. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
REVITALIZATION PROJECT.
§18B-1E-1. Definitions.
When used in this article the following words have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly indicates a
different meaning:
(a) "Center of excellence" means an academic program or group
of programs located within a particular state institution, division
or branch campus that is addressed in the institution's compact and
recognized by the institution, its governing board, administrators,
faculty and staff as having gained a significant degree of regional
or national acclaim for high quality and public service.
(b) "Chancellor" means the chief executive officer employed by
the commission.
(c) "Governing board" means the board of governors for West
Virginia University established pursuant to section one, article
two-a of this chapter.
(d) "LOCEA" means the Legislative Oversight Commission on
Education Accountability established pursuant to section eleven,
article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(e) "Revitalization plan" means the implementation process
developed pursuant to section three of this article.
(f) "Revitalization project" means the entire process
undertaken to further the goals of this article including the
research, study, revitalization plan development and implementation
designed to assist WVU-Tech to reach its full potential as a center
of excellence and positive force for economic development and
cultural enrichment in the state.
(g) "STEM" mean
areas of study in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics.
(h) "WV-CURE" means the task force created pursuant to section
three, article one-c of this chapter.
(i) "WV-CURE report" means the findings and recommendations
contained in the final document submitted to the Legislature
pursuant to section three, article one-c of this chapter.
(j) "WVU-Tech" means West Virginia University Institute of
Technology, a division of West Virginia University.
§
18B-1E-2. Legislative purpose, findings and intent.
(a) The purpose of this article is to focus attention on West
Virginia University Institute of Technology to honor the
institution's history of excellence and service to the region and
the state, to identify its unique role and contributions to
higher
education and to create and implement the revitalization plan that
not only will be used to assist this institution to reach its full
potential of service to the citizens of West Virginia, but also may
serve as a model that can be replicated at other state institutions
of higher education.
(b) Findings.--
(1) WVU-Tech has a distinguished history of more than a
hundred years of service, growth and change, but, in addition to
the positive advancements, the institution also has dealt with
internal conflict and external controversy initiated by multiple changes in policy direction, governance structure and mission. It
was founded in 1895 as a preparatory school of West Virginia
University and since that time, has functioned as a trade school,
a junior college, a free-standing baccalaureate institution and a
regional campus of West Virginia University. In 2007, it became a
fully-integrated division of West Virginia University.
(2) The many changes of name, mission, governance structure
and affiliation, together with its location in the heart of the
southern coal fields, assure the institution a unique place in the
state system of higher education. The institution continues to
provide vital education opportunities to the mostly-rural
population which comprise its primary service clientele.
(3) Both its traditional strength and its unique opportunity
for future growth and service lie in its focus
on STEM education,
particularly in undergraduate engineering and technology, in which
it has been a leader for nearly sixty years.
(4) The student-centered programs, combined with small classes
and individualized instruction, provide undergraduates with
opportunities for hands-on research and cooperative work
experiences that usually are available only to graduate students.
(5) The Legislature further finds the following regarding the
state system of higher education:
(A) Retention and graduation rates at the state institutions
of higher education are a major source of concern for state policymakers.
(i) The average retention rate for the state system as a
whole, calculated from the fall semester in 2008 to the fall
semester of 2009, the most recent period for which data are
available, is seventy-three percent. Twenty-seven students out of
every one hundred who were enrolled in a state institution of
higher education in 2008 did not return for the fall semester in
2009.
(ii) On average, of the students who entered four-year state
institutions of higher education as first-time freshmen in 2004,
only forty percent had graduated six years later.
(iii) Within these statewide averages there are significant
variations among both institutions and disciplines, particularly in
the disciplines emphasizing STEM education. Retention rates range
from a high of eighty-two percent to a low of fifty-five percent.
Six-year graduation rates fall between a high of fifty-nine percent
and a low of fifteen percent.
(B) According to the WV-CURE report submitted by WV-CURE in
2008, West Virginia faces many of the same challenges in preparing
and recruiting STEM professionals as the rest of the country, but
in addition has unique challenges related to its population
demographics and geography.
(C) Due to its unique history and geographical location, WVU-
Tech provides the ideal laboratory in which to develop a successful model to address these challenges through the revitalization plan
created pursuant to section three of this article.
(c) Legislative intent. --
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature in establishing the
revitalization project to
encourage WVU-Tech to build upon its
tradition of
high-quality, student-centered STEM education, to
assist the institution to reach its full potential as a center of
excellence and a positive force for economic development and
cultural enrichment within the community and state, to implement
certain recommendations from the WV-CURE report and to create a
successful policy model that state decision makers may employ in
other areas where state institutions of higher education struggle
to overcome similar problems. The revitalization project shall
serve as a laboratory in which to identify problems, research
solutions and implement those programs and procedures that best
meet the intent of this article.
(2) It is further the intent of the Legislature to promote
institutional stability at WVU-Tech by keeping the governance
structure of the institution unchanged until the report required in
section four of this article is received in 2014. Throughout the
WVU-Tech revitalization process, the governing board retains
statutory control of the institution. Except for authority
otherwise granted by statute, this article extends the commission's
authority only to those items identified in the revitalization plan and funded by legislative appropriation therefor.
§18B-1E-3. Revitalization Project and Plan; Plan approval
required.
(a) There is hereby created the Revitalization Project for
WVU-Tech under the direction of the commission. The project
includes a study and development of a revitalization plan designed
to meet the goals and intent of this article.
(b) On the effective date of this section, the commission
shall initiate a study and draw upon the expertise of groups both
internal and external to West Virginia to take advantage of the
services of national organizations specializing in institutional
renewal. The commission shall bear the costs of the study.
(c) The study shall include, but is not limited to, the
following thematic areas:
(1) Exploring new academic programs that meet emerging
industry needs in West Virginia;
(2) Developing distance education and adult-targeted degree
and programmatic offerings, with particular attention to avoiding
costly program duplication;
(3) Examining marketing and recruiting strategies at the
institution;
(4) Reviewing nonacademic programs and auxiliary operations,
focused upon efficiencies and strategic development;
(5) Reviewing fiscal and operating procedures, emphasizing initiatives through which the institution can reduce annual
operating costs and maximize all available revenues;
(6) Evaluating all institutionally-affiliated groups,
including the alumni association, the WVU-Tech Foundation and all
other institutionally-affiliated organizations which are exempt
from taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, stressing revitalization of these
entities; and
(7) Reviewing and assessing the capital infrastructure of the
institution.
(d) The study also shall include consideration of the
following recommendations drawn from the WV-CURE report:
(1) Creating and maintaining a forum for meaningful
interaction between and among the K-12 and professional communities
to define better the needs of the STEM stakeholders at each level
of the education and early career process. The forum may help to
ensure smoother transitions for students at each step and thereby
increase student retention and graduation rates. A cooperative
approach with the public schools in the institution's service area
may serve as means to increase students' interest and familiarize
them with the STEM programs WVU-Tech offers;
(2) Preparing students for the future by enhancing student
design/capstone experiences to include undergraduate research at an
earlier point in the baccalaureate curriculum thereby expanding the focus on opportunities for advanced studies and providing students
with enhanced critical thinking and learning skills to adapt to an
environment of rapidly changing technologies;
(3) Stimulating interest of young people in training and
careers in engineering and related disciplines by involving the
professional and business communities in a more visible and engaged
manner;
(4) Diversifying the types of students who pursue STEM
education and careers by developing strategic initiatives focused
on recruiting and retaining traditionally under-represented groups;
(5) Pursuing the goals set forth in section three, article
one-c of this chapter to increase West Virginia's capacity for high
quality engineering instruction and research; increase access to
high quality instruction and research opportunities in STEM
disciplines; and stimulate economic development by increasing the
number of professional engineers available to business and
industry;
(6) Exploring opportunities for collaborations between
institutions to increase the access to high quality programs while
reducing the overall expenditure per student in high cost
disciplines; and
(7) Developing more electronic classrooms, online programs,
and other technology-driven teaching/learning facilities in order
to pool resources among the engineering institutions, reach students who are place-bound or who live in rural areas distant
from the institution's campus and avoid expensive program
duplication.
(e) Based upon the research and findings of the study, the
Chancellor shall coordinate the development of a revitalization
plan to implement the purpose and intent of this article. The
revitalization plan shall serve to guide the distribution of all
funds appropriated by the Legislature and targeted to the
Revitalization Project. The revitalization plan shall include, but
is not limited to, the following elements:
(1) Providing clear and guiding recommendations for the
revitalization of WVU-Tech;
(2) Recommending a process for establishing WVU-Tech as a
center of excellence in STEM education with particular emphasis on
undergraduate engineering and technology, areas in which the
institution has earned a high degree of regional and national
recognition for excellence. The purpose of the center of
excellence is to enable the institution to concentrate its
resources on providing state-of-the-art post-secondary education
opportunities in a limited number of areas in which the institution
excels. The center of excellence approach promotes effective
teaching and learning through education, training, research and
information dissemination. All parties involved in identifying and
developing the center of excellence bring to the partnership their special expertise of strategic importance to the program and,
ultimately, to the citizens of West Virginia;
(3) Benchmarks in the following areas:
(A) Enrollment;
(B) Retention and graduation;
(C) Capital improvements and building renovations/demolitions;
(D) Athletics, auxiliaries, and other nonacademic units;
(E) Fundraising and alumni development;
(F) Academic restructure and program development;
(G) Marketing and outreach;
(H) Remedial and developmental education;
(I) Innovative academic initiatives that can be piloted at
WVU-Tech with the opportunity for diffusion across the systems of
higher education;
(J) Transfer and articulation partnerships with other
institutions in the state systems of higher education; and
(K) Grants, contracts, and externally sponsored research; and
(4) A process whereby WVU-Tech may request and receive moneys
from the pool of appropriated funds.
(f) The findings, conclusions and recommendations of the
study, together with the revitalization plan for implementation,
shall be reported to the commission and the governing board by
September 1, 2011. The revitalization plan shall be delivered to
LOCEA no later than September 1, 2011, and LOCEA shall consider the proposed plan and approve or disapprove by September 30, 2011.
§18B-1E-4. Plan implementation; legislative intent; oversight;
reporting.
(a)
The legislative findings set forth in section two of this
article demonstrate the unique historical role that WVU-Tech has
played as a vital component of the state's higher education system.
In order for the institution to move forward and realize its full
potential, its future must be supported by a financial commitment
from the state. Therefore, as funds are available, it is the
intent of the Legislature to make appropriations to the commission
to support the revitalization project at WVU-Tech.
(b) Appropriated funds may be expended under the direction of
the Chancellor for the purposes set forth in this article and in
the revitalization plan approved by LOCEA.
(c) The purposes for which the moneys may be used include, but
are not limited to, development costs for new programs, student
outreach initiatives, demolition of certain facilities, and
renovation of campus infrastructure or other items designed to
support existing students and attract new students.
(d) By December 1, 2012, and annually thereafter until all
appropriated funds have been expended, the Chancellor shall report
to LOCEA on the allocation of funds. Additionally, the Chancellor
shall provide regular updates to LOCEA, as necessary or requested,
to keep members informed of the progress made in implementing the purposes and intent of this article and the components of the
revitalization plan.
(e) By May 1, 2014, the commission and governing board shall
provide to LOCEA a detailed summary of all revitalization project
activities undertaken to date. This report also shall include
recommendations for alterations to the revitalization plan and the
goals of the revitalization project and may include recommended
options for governance changes including independent status for the
institution.
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