ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 595
(By Senators Plymale, Edgell, Stollings, Bailey, Green, Hunter, Wells,
White, Boley, Facemyer, Kessler, Hall, Jenkins, McKenzie and Unger)
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[Passed March 8, 2008; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to repeal §18B-1-1, §18B-1-1b and §18B-1-1c of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to repeal §18B-1A-1 and
§18B-1A-2 of said code; to repeal §18B-1B-8 and §18B-1B-9 of
said code; to repeal §18B-3B-1 and §18B-3B-2 of said code; to
repeal §18B-11-5 of said code; to amend and reenact §18-1-4 of
said code; to amend and reenact §18-2E-5c of said code; to
amend and reenact §18B-1-1a of said code; to amend said code
by adding thereto a new article, designated §18B-1D-1,
§18B-1D-2, §18B-1D-3, §18B-1D-4, §18B-1D-5, §18B-1D-6,
§18B-1D-7 and §18B-1D-8; and to amend said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated §18B-14-9, all relating to
education generally; establishing Vision 2020: An Education
Blueprint for Two Thousand Twenty; requiring State Board of
Education plan that includes goals, objectives, strategies,
indicators and benchmarks; specifying certain public education goals and objectives to be included in plan; submission of
plan to Process for Improving Education Council; purposes and
membership of council; providing legislative findings, intent
and purposes; establishing goals for public higher education;
creating education partnership to achieve state goals and
objectives; establishing elements of higher education
accountability system; requiring Higher Education Policy
Commission and Council for Community and Technical College
Education to propose rules by certain date; defining terms;
specifying objectives and priorities; establishing date to
achieve certain objectives and priorities; defining
responsibilities of Higher Education Policy Commission,
Council for Community and Technical College Education and
state institutions of higher education relative to
accountability system; requiring system master plans, state
compacts, institutional compacts and institutional and system
report cards; establishing submission, approval, review and
reporting requirements; authorizing implementation plans;
assigning geographic areas of responsibility; specifying that
certain reports are no longer required to be prepared annually
except under certain conditions; providing for committee to
examine higher education facility needs; specifying
membership; and requiring recommendations to Legislative
Oversight Commission on Education Accountability by certain date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18B-1-1, §18B-1-1b and §18B-1-1c of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be repealed; that §18B-1A-1 and
§18B-1A-2 of said code be repealed; that §18B-1B-8 and §18B-1B-9 of
said code be repealed; that §18B-3B-1 and §18B-3B-2 of said code be
repealed; that §18B-11-5 of said code be repealed; that §18-1-4 of
said code be amended and reenacted; that §18-2E-5c be amended and
reenacted; that §18B-1-1a of said code be amended and reenacted;
that said code be amended by adding thereto a new article,
designated §18B-1D-1, §18B-1D-2, §18B-1D-3, §18B-1D-4, §18B-1D-5,
§18B-1D-6, §18B-1D-7 and §18B-1D-8; and that said code be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-14-9, all to read
as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS; LIMITATIONS OF CHAPTER; GOALS FOR
EDUCATION.
§18-1-4. Vision 2020: An Education Blueprint for Two Thousand
Twenty.
(a) This section, together with section one-a, article one,
chapter eighteen-b of this code and article one-d of said chapter,
shall be known as and may be cited as Vision 2020: An Education
Blueprint for Two Thousand Twenty.
(b) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Goals" means those long-term public purposes which are
the desired end result and only may include those items listed in
subsection (e) of this section;
(2) "Objectives" means the ends to be accomplished or attained
within a specified period of time for the purpose of meeting the
established goals; and
(3) "Strategies" means specific activities carried out by the
public education system which are directed toward accomplishing
specific objectives.
(c) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The measure of a thorough and efficient system of
education is whether students graduate prepared to meet the
challenges of the future as contributing members of society and
that these challenges change, becoming ever more complex and
involving a global context more than at any other time in the
history of our nation;
(2) The state recently has embraced and is implementing the
Partnership for 21st Century Skills model for teaching and learning
including six key elements (core subjects, 21st Century content,
learning and thinking skills, information and communications
technology literacy, life skills and 21st Century assessments) to
help better prepare students for the challenges of the 21st
Century;
(3) Published national studies by several organizations routinely examine various elements of state education systems and
selected underlying socioeconomic variables and rate and rank West
Virginia and the other states, the District of Columbia and the
territories based on the measurement systems and priorities
established by the organizations, and these measurement systems and
priorities change;
(4) While the state should take pride in studies that show
West Virginia is among the leaders in several of its efforts and is
making progress, its students often outperforming expectations
based on typical indicators of the likelihood for student success,
such as the income and education levels of their parents, it should
also recognize that the state must do even more to ensure that high
school graduates are fully prepared for post-secondary education or
gainful employment;
(5) Therefore, the purpose of this section is to provide for
the establishment of a clear plan that includes goals, objectives,
strategies, indicators and benchmarks to help guide the state's
policymakers on the continuous development of the state's education
system for the 21st Century.
(d) As part of Vision 2020: An Education Blueprint for Two
Thousand Twenty, the state board shall establish a plan in
accordance with the provisions of this section for submission to
and consideration by the Process for Improving Education Council
pursuant to section five-c, article two-e of this chapter. The plan shall include only the goals, objectives, strategies,
indicators and benchmarks for public education set forth in this
section and that meet the requirements of this section. To add
clarity and avoid confusion, the goals for public education set
forth in the plan pursuant to this section are the exclusive goals
for public education. The plan shall include:
(1) The goals set forth in this section and no other goals;
(2) At least the objectives set forth in this section and
specified periods of time for achieving those objectives and any
other objectives that may be included in the plan;
(3) Strategies for achieving the specific objectives;
(4) Indicators for measuring progress toward the goals and
objectives established in this section; and
(5) Benchmarks for determining when the goals and objectives
have been achieved.
(e) The plan shall include the following list of exclusive
goals for the public education system in West Virginia:
(1) Academic achievement according to national and
international measures will exceed national and international
averages. These national and international measures should include
scores on assessments such as the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), the ACT, the SAT and the Programme for
International Assessment (PISA);
(2) The public education system will prepare fully all students for post-secondary education or gainful employment;
(3) All working-age adults will be functionally literate;
(4) The public education system will maintain and promote the
health and safety of all students and will develop and promote
responsibility, citizenship and strong character in all students;
and
(5) The public education system will provide equitable
education opportunity to all students.
(f) The plan also shall include at least the following policy-
oriented objectives:
(1)
Rigorous 21st Century curriculum and engaging instruction
for all students. -- All students in West Virginia public schools
should have access to and benefit from a rigorous 21st Century
curriculum that develops proficiency in core subjects, 21st Century
content, learning skills and technology tools. These students also
should have that curriculum delivered through engaging,
research-based instructional strategies that develop deep
understanding and the ability to apply content to real-world
situations;
(2)
A 21st Century accountability and accreditation system. --
The prekindergarten through twelve education system should have a
public accrediting system that: (i) Holds local school districts
accountable for the student outcomes the state values; and (ii)
provides the public with understandable accountability data for judging the quality of local schools. The outcomes on which the
system is based should be rigorous and should align with national
and international standards such as the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), the ACT, the SAT and the Programme for
International Assessment (PISA). The broad standards established
for these outcomes should include a focus on: (A) Mastery of basic
skills by all students; (B) closing the achievement gap among
student subgroups; and (C) high levels of proficiency in a wide
range of desired 21st Century measures and processes. The system
for determining school and district accreditation should include
school and district self-analysis and generate appropriate
research-based strategies for improvement. It also should allow
opportunities to create innovative approaches to instructional
delivery and design. Thus, the system will incorporate processes
for encouraging innovation, including streamlined applications for
waivers to state board policy, financial support for successful
initiatives and recognition of those practices that can be brought
to a district or statewide scale. The primary goal of the
accreditation system is to drive school improvement. This 21st
Century accountability and accreditation system also should include
the methods of addressing capacity set forth in section five,
article two-e of this chapter;
(3)
A statewide balanced assessment process. -- State,
district, school and classroom decisionmaking should be grounded in 21st Century balanced assessment processes that reflect national
and international rigorous performance standards and examine
student proficiency in 21st Century content, skills and technology
tools. A balanced assessment system includes statewide summative
assessments, local benchmark assessments and classroom assessments
for learning;
(4)
A personnel allocation, licensure and funding process that
aligns with the needs of 21st Century school systems and is
supported by a quality coordinated professional development
delivery system. -- Increased accountability demands, as well as
the focus on 21st Century learning, require a reexamination of
traditional approaches to personnel allocation, licensure and
funding. Creating schools of the 21st Century requires new
staffing roles and staffing patterns. It also requires ongoing
professional development activities focused on enhancing student
achievement and achieving specific goals of the school and district
strategic plans. Thus, schools should have the ability to access,
organize and deliver high quality embedded professional development
that provides staff with in-depth sustained and supported learning.
Effective school improvement should allow opportunity for staff to
collectively learn, plan and implement curricular and instructional
improvements on behalf of the students they serve;
(5)
School environments that promote safe, healthy and
responsible behavior and provide an integrated system of student support services. -- Each school should create an environment
focused on student learning and one where students know they are
valued, respected and safe. Furthermore, the school should
incorporate programs and processes that instill healthy, safe and
responsible behaviors and prepare students for interactions with
individuals of diverse racial, ethnic and social backgrounds.
School and district processes should include a focus on developing
ethical and responsible character, personal dispositions that
promote personal wellness through planned daily physical activity
and healthy eating habits consistent with high nutritional
guidelines and multicultural experiences that develop an
appreciation of and respect for diversity;
(6)
A leadership recruitment, development and support
continuum. -- Quality schools and school systems of the 21st
Century cannot be created without high quality leaders. Thus, West
Virginia should have an aligned leadership professional development
continuum that attracts, develops and supports educational
leadership at the classroom, school and district level. This
leadership development continuum should focus on creating: (i)
Learning-centered schools and school systems; (ii) collaborative
processes for staff learning and continuous improvement; and (iii)
accountability measures for student achievement;
(7)
Equitable access to 21st Century technology and education
resources and school facilities conducive to 21st Century teaching and learning. -- A quality educational system of the 21st Century
should have access to technology tools and processes that enhance
effective and efficient operation. Administrators should have the
digital resources to monitor student performance, manage a variety
of data and communicate effectively. In the classroom, every
teacher in every school should be provided with the instructional
resources and educational technology necessary to deliver the West
Virginia content standards and objectives. Schools of the 21st
Century require facilities that accommodate changing technologies,
21st Century instructional processes and 21st Century staffing
needs and patterns. These school facilities should mirror the best
in green construction and be environmentally and educationally
responsive to the communities in which they are located;
(8)
Aligned public school with post-secondary and workplace
readiness programs and standards. -- An educational system in the
21st Century should be seen as a continuum from the public school
(prekindergarten through twelve) program through post-secondary
education. In order to be successful in a global competitive
marketplace, learning should be an ongoing, life-long experience.
Thus, the public schools and the institutions of post-secondary
education in West Virginia should create a system of common
standards, expectations and accountability. Creating such an
aligned system will enhance opportunities for success and assure a
seamless educational process for West Virginia students; and
(9)
A universal prekindergarten system. - A high quality,
universal prekindergarten system should be readily available to
every eligible student. The system should promote oral language
and preliteracy skills and reduce the deficit of these foundational
skills through proactive, early intervention. Research indicates
that universal prekindergarten systems improve graduation rates,
reduce grade level retentions and reduce the number of special
education placements. Therefore, local school systems should
create the supports and provide the resources to assure a quality
prekindergarten foundation is available to all eligible students.
(g) In addition to the policy-oriented objectives set forth in
subsection (f) of this section, the plan established pursuant to
this section also shall include at least the following performance-
oriented objectives:
(1) All children entering the first grade will be ready for
the first grade;
(2) The performance of students falling in the lowest
quartile on national and international measures of student
performance will improve by fifty percent;
(3) Ninety percent of ninth graders will graduate from high
school;
(4) By two thousand twelve, the gap between the county with
the lowest college-going rate and the state average as of the
effective date of this act will decrease by fifty percent and the college-going rate of the state will equal the college-going rate
of the member states of the Southern Regional Education Board; and
(5) By two thousand twenty, the gap between the county with
the lowest college-going rate and the state average for school year
two thousand twelve will decrease by fifty percent and the college-
going rate of the state will exceed the college-going rate of the
member states of the Southern Regional Education Board by five
percentage points.
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
§18-2E-5c. Process for Improving Education Council established;
membership; expenses; meetings; powers.
(a) Process for Improving Education Council. -- There is
hereby established the Process for Improving Education Council for
the purpose of providing opportunities for consultation among state
policy leaders on the process for improving education, including,
but not limited to, determination of the things that students
should know and be able to do as the result of a thorough and
efficient education, the performance and progress of students
toward meeting the high quality standards established by the state
board, adopting goals, objectives, strategies, indicators and
benchmarks for public education and any further improvements
necessary to increase the capacity of schools and school systems to
deliver a thorough and efficient education.
(b) Council membership. -- The Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability, together with the Governor,
ex officio, or the Governor's designee, the Chancellor of the
Higher Education Policy Commission, ex officio, or the chancellor's
designee, the Chancellor for Community and Technical College
Education, ex officio, or the chancellor's designee and the state
superintendent comprise the Process for Improving Education
Council. Ex officio members are entitled to vote. The Governor or
the Governor's designee shall convene the council, as appropriate,
and shall serve as chair. The council may meet at any time at the
call of the Governor or the Governor's designee.
(c) Compensation. -- Members of the council shall serve
without compensation, but shall be reimbursed as provided by law by
their respective agencies for all reasonable and necessary expenses
actually incurred in the performance of their official duties under
this section upon presentation of an itemized sworn statement of
their expenses.
(d) Powers of the council. --
The council has the following powers:
(1) To meet and consult with the state board, or its
designees, and make recommendations on issues related to student,
school and school system performance. The following steps are part
of the consultation process:
(A) The state board shall notify each member of the council
whenever the state board proposes to amend its rules on any of the following issues:
(i) High quality education standards and efficiency standards
established pursuant to section five of this article;
(ii) Indicators of efficiency established pursuant to section
five of this article; and
(iii) Assessment and accountability of school and school
system performance and processes established pursuant to section
five of this article.
(B) The notice to be given pursuant to paragraph (A) of this
subdivision shall contain a summary and explanation of the proposed
changes, including a draft of the proposal when available, and
shall be sent at least fifteen days prior to filing the proposal
with the Secretary of State for public comment.
(C) If the Governor, or the Governor's designee, believes it
is necessary for the council to meet and consult with the state
board, or its designees, on changes proposed to any of the issues
outlined in subdivision (1) of this subsection, he or she may
convene a meeting of the council.
(D) If both the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Delegates believe it is necessary for the council to meet
and consult with the state board, or its designees, they shall
notify the Governor who shall convene a meeting of the council.
(E) If the chancellor, or the chancellor's designee believes
that it is necessary for the council to meet and consult with the state board, or its designees, he or she may request the Governor
to convene a meeting of the council.
(2) To require the state board, or its designees, to meet with
the council to consult on issues that lie within the scope of the
council's jurisdiction;
(3) To participate as observers in any on-site review of a
school or school system conducted by the Office of Education
Performance Audits; and
(4) To authorize any employee of the agencies represented by
council members to participate as observers in any on-site review
of a school or school system conducted by the Office of Education
Performance Audits.
CHAPTER 18B. HIGHER EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 1. GOVERNANCE.
§18B-1-1a. Legislative intent; findings; establishment of state
goals for higher education and education; creation of
partnership to achieve state goals and objectives.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to establish state goals for public higher education which
benefit the citizens of the State of West Virginia.
(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature that this
section be read and implemented in conjunction with the
accountability system established in article one-d of this chapter
and that any reference to this section in this code includes the provisions of that article.
(c)
Findings. -- The Legislature finds that post-secondary
education is vital to the future of West Virginia. For the state
to realize its considerable potential in the 21st Century, it must
have a system for the delivery of post-secondary education which is
competitive in the changing national and global environment, is
affordable for the state and its citizenry and has the capacity to
deliver the programs and services necessary to meet regional and
statewide needs.
The Legislature further finds that it is vitally important for
young people entering the workforce to have the education and
skills to succeed in today's high-technology, knowledge-based
economy. It is equally important for working-age adults who are
the majority of the current and potential workforce also to possess
the requisite education and skills to compete successfully in the
workplace and to have the opportunity to continue learning
throughout their lives. The future of the state rests not only on
how well its youth are educated, but also on how well it educates
its entire population of any age.
The Legislature further finds that providing access to a
high-quality and affordable post-secondary education is a state
responsibility and, while states spent more than seventy billion
dollars on public higher education in two thousand six, they are
not maximizing that investment. The Legislature recognizes the efforts of the National Conference of State Legislatures' Blue
Ribbon Commission on Higher Education in producing a report to
assist the states in higher education policymaking. According to
the commission report, "Transforming Higher Education: National
Imperative -- State Responsibility", the United States is losing
its competitive advantage in a new, high-tech, highly mobile global
economy. This lack of competitiveness is a matter of the highest
urgency for federal and state policymakers and higher education is
at the center of this discussion. The report further states that
"higher education is both the problem and the solution" because the
nation has failed to focus on how higher education energizes
American competitiveness and revitalizes the states. Pursuant to
these findings, the commission made some specific recommendations
addressed to the states which include the following:
(1) Define clear state goals;
(2) Identify your state's strengths and weaknesses;
(3) Know your state demographic trends for the next ten to
thirty years;
(4) Identify a place or structure to sustain the public policy
agenda;
(5) Hold institutions accountable for their performance;
(6) Rethink funding formulas and student aid;
(7) Make a commitment to access, success and innovation;
(8) Encourage partnerships;
(9) Give special attention to adult learners; and
(10) Focus on productivity.
All of these recommendations are useful in providing policy
guidance and have been given careful consideration in the
development of this section and article one-d of this chapter.
(d)
Establishment of state goals. -- In recognition of its
importance to the citizens of West Virginia, the Legislature hereby
establishes the following goals for public higher education in the
state:
(1) The ultimate goal of public education is to enhance the
quality of life for citizens of the State of West Virginia.
(2) The overall focus of public education is on developing and
maintaining a process of lifelong learning which is as seamless as
possible at all levels, encourages citizens of all ages to increase
their knowledge and skills and provides ample opportunities for
them to participate in public higher education.
(3) Higher education collaborates with public education and
other providers to offer education opportunities:
(A) To individuals of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds
in all areas of the state; and
(B) To overcome financial barriers to participation for both
traditional and nontraditional students.
(4) Higher education seeks to enhance state efforts to
diversify and expand the economy by focusing available resources on programs and courses which best serve students, provide the
greatest opportunity for job creation and retention and are most
supportive of emerging high-technology and knowledge-based
businesses and industries.
(5) Higher education creates a learning environment that is
student-friendly and that encourages and assists students in the
completion of degree requirements, certifications or skill sets
within a reasonable period of time.
(6) The learning environment expands participation for the
increasingly diverse student population and responds to the needs
of the current workforce and other nontraditional students.
(7) Through the establishment of innovative curricula and
assessment efforts, state institutions of higher education ensure
that students graduate from nationally recognized and accredited
programs and meet or exceed national and international standards
for performance in their chosen fields as evidenced through
placement and professional licensure examinations.
(8) Higher education promotes academic research and innovation
to achieve measurable growth in West Virginia's knowledge-based
economic sector.
(9) State institutions of higher education emphasize
productivity and strive to exceed the performance and productivity
levels of peer institutions. In return, and within the constraints
of fiscal responsibility, the state seeks to invest in institutions so that they may adequately compensate faculty, classified
employees and other employees at a competitive level to attract and
retain high quality personnel.
(10) State institutions of higher education are committed to
a shared responsibility with faculty, staff, students and their
communities to provide access to the knowledge and to promote
acquisition of the skills and abilities necessary to establish and
maintain physical fitness and wellness.
(A) Programs that encourage healthy lifestyles are essential
for the vibrancy of the institutions of higher education, for the
well-being of the communities they serve and for the state as a
whole.
(B) Increasing the fitness levels of adults on college and
university campuses is critically important for the people of West
Virginia, not only for disease prevention, but also, and perhaps
most importantly, to enhance the overall quality of life.
(C) While individuals must bear the primary responsibility for
their own health, it is imperative that the institutions provide
appropriate education and support focused on enriching and
expanding the short- and long-term views and attitudes towards
physical activity, understanding the principles of wellness and
their application to a healthy lifestyle, understanding what
components are a necessary part of an all-around healthy lifestyle
and learning how to set and achieve realistic goals aimed at establishing healthy habits for the benefit of long-term health and
well-being.
(e)
Education partnership to achieve state goals and
objectives. -- If public institutions of higher education are to
provide services that meet the needs of state citizens as outlined
in this section and article one-d of this chapter, then West
Virginia must create and participate in a partnership across
various education organizations that recognizes the valuable
contributions each member of the group can make. In addition to
public education as outlined in section four, article one, chapter
eighteen of this code and in addition to the State of West
Virginia, key members of this partnership include the state
institutions of higher education, the Council for Community and
Technical College Education and the Higher Education Policy
Commission.
(1)
State institutions of higher education. -- The
institutions are the cornerstone of efforts to provide higher
education services that meet the needs of state citizens. To
varying degrees, and depending upon their missions, these
institutions serve the state in three major ways:
(A)
Instruction. -- By providing direct instruction to
students along with the student services necessary to support the
instructional mission. These services have two primary goals:
(i) To produce college graduates who have the knowledge, skills and desire to make valuable contributions to society; and
(ii) To provide opportunities for citizens to engage in life-
long learning to enhance their employability and their overall
quality of life.
(B)
Public service. -- By providing an occupational home for
experts in a variety of fields and by serving as the educational
home for students. In these capacities, institutions create a
large and varied pool of high quality human resources capable of
making valuable contributions to business and industry, local and
state governments and communities. The following are examples of
the types of public service that higher education institutions have
to offer:
(i) Workforce development, primarily through community and
technical colleges, to meet the immediate and long-term needs of
employers and employees;
(ii) Technical assistance to state and local policymakers as
they work to address challenges as diverse as ensuring that West
Virginia's citizens receive quality health care, assisting in the
development of a solid transportation infrastructure and ensuring
that public school teachers have enriching professional development
opportunities; and
(iii) Opportunities to learn and serve in local communities,
to teach civic responsibility and to encourage civic engagement.
(C)
Research. -- By conducting research at state institutions of higher education, particularly Marshall University and West
Virginia University, to enhance the quality of life in West
Virginia in the following ways:
(i) Targeting cutting-edge research toward solving pressing
societal problems;
(ii) Promoting economic development by raising the level of
education and specialization among the population; and
(iii) Creating jobs through development of new products and
services.
(2)
The Council for Community and Technical College Education
and the Higher Education Policy Commission. -- In their role as
state-level coordinating boards, the council and commission
function as important partners with state policy leaders in
providing higher education that meets state needs. The council and
commission provide service to the state in the following ways:
(A) By developing a public policy agenda for various aspects
of higher education that is aligned with state goals and objectives
and the role and responsibilities of each coordinating board;
(B) By ensuring that institutional missions and goals are
aligned with relevant parts of the public policy agenda and that
institutions maximize the resources available to them to fulfill
their missions and make reasonable progress toward meeting
established state goals;
(C) By evaluating and reporting on progress in implementing the public policy agenda;
(D) By promoting system efficiencies through collaboration and
cooperation across institutions and through focusing institutional
missions as appropriate; and
(E) By conducting research, collecting data and providing
objective recommendations to aid elected state officials in making
policy decisions.
(3)
State of West Virginia. -- Elected state officials
represent the citizens of West Virginia and are critical partners
in providing quality higher education. In this context, these
state-level policymakers serve the state in the following ways:
(A) By establishing goals, objectives and priorities for
higher education based on a thoughtful, systematic determination of
state needs;
(B) By providing resources necessary to address state goals,
objectives and priorities for higher education; and
(C) By providing incentives for and removing barriers to the
achievement of state goals, objectives and priorities.
ARTICLE 1D. HIGHER EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY.
§18B-1D-1. Legislative intent and purpose; short title; rules
required.
(a) The intent of the Legislature in the enactment of this
article is to outline and organize the elements of accountability
for public higher education into an effective, coherent system to provide guidance to the state institutions of higher education, the
commission and the council and to clarify the roles, relationships
and responsibilities between and among these entities, the citizens
of West Virginia and elected state officials. The main purposes of
the accountability system are as follows:
(1) To develop agreement on higher education goals, objectives
and priorities through negotiation and consensus-building between
elected officials acting on behalf of the citizens of the state and
the commission and the council and institutions which receive
public funds and provide education services;
(2) To create a seamless education system and hold boards and
institutions accountable for meeting state goals and objectives.
(3) To provide a data-driven, step-by-step process to
determine the progress of public higher education in addressing
established goals, objectives and priorities;
(4) To promote cooperation and collaboration among all
entities which are involved in the delivery of public education in
West Virginia; and
(5) To provide for generation, collection and dissemination of
data on which sound state-level policy decisions can be based.
Possible uses of this data include the following:
(A) Identifying institutions and systems that increase quality
and productivity; and
(B) Creating a mechanism to target a portion of state appropriations to institutions and systems based on performance in
meeting established state goals and objectives.
(b) This article, together with section one-a, article one of
this chapter and section four, article one, chapter eighteen of
this code, shall be known as and may be cited as Vision 2020: An
Education Blueprint for Two Thousand Twenty.
(c) By the first day of October, two thousand eight, the
commission and the council shall propose rules for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of section six, article
one of this chapter and article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code concerning the accountability system for higher education
outlined in this article.
(1) The commission and the council may propose rules jointly
or separately and may choose to address all of the accountability
system in a single rule or may propose additional rules to cover
specific elements.
(2) At a minimum, the rules shall address the respective
responsibilities of the various parties, the development of
statewide master plans, the process of entering into institutional
and state compacts, performance indicators and institution and
state-level reporting to ensure that higher education is
accountable to the citizens of West Virginia.
§18B-1D-2. Definitions.
(a)
General. -- For the purposes of this article and section one-a, article one of this chapter, terms have the meaning ascribed
to them in section two, article one of this chapter, unless the
context in which the term is used clearly requires a different
meaning or a specific definition is provided in this section.
(b)
Definitions. --
(1) "Accountability system for public higher education" or
"accountability system" means all research, reports, documents,
data and any other materials, the collection, analysis and
dissemination of which are necessary or expedient to accomplish the
purposes of this article or section one-a, article one of this
chapter. The system includes legislative goals, objectives and
priorities; public policy agendas; statewide master plans; state
and institutional compacts; implementation plans; institutional
mission statements and master plans; and the statewide report card.
(2) "Education partnership to achieve state goals and
objectives" or "education partnership" means the formal and
informal working relationships established between and among the
State of West Virginia, the commission, the council, the State
Board of Education and State Department of Education and the state
institutions of higher education for the purpose of achieving state
goals and objectives.
(3) "Functional literacy rate" means the percentage of adults
over the age of seventeen who are able to read beyond a fourth
grade level and interpret basic information from sources such as road signs, job applications, newspaper articles and food and
medicine labels.
(4) "Goals" means those long-term public purposes which are
the desired and expected end result for which public higher
education is established.
(5) "Implementation plan" means a document developed within
the higher education community that identifies a series of
objectives, sets forth performance indicators that can be used to
determine if objectives are being achieved, outlines strategies for
accomplishing the objectives and identifies benchmarks for
evaluating progress in accomplishing the objectives over the life
cycle of the plan.
(6) "Institutional compact" means a formal, written contract
between either the commission or council and a state institution of
higher education under its jurisdiction expressing intent to
accomplish state and system goals and objectives.
(7) "Institutions under the jurisdiction of the commission"
relative to the accountability system established by this article
and section one-a, article one of this chapter means Bluefield
State College, Concord University, Fairmont State University,
Glenville State College, Marshall University, Shepherd University,
West Liberty State College, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic
Medicine, West Virginia State University and West Virginia
University, including Potomac State College of West Virginia University and the West Virginia University Institute of
Technology.
(8) "Institutions under the jurisdiction of the council"
relative to the accountability system established by this article
and section one-a, article one of this chapter means Blue Ridge
Community and Technical College, the Community and Technical
College at West Virginia University Institute of Technology,
Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College, Marshall
Community and Technical College, New River Community and Technical
College, Pierpont Community and Technical College, Southern West
Virginia Community and Technical College, West Virginia Northern
Community and Technical College, West Virginia State Community and
Technical College and West Virginia University at Parkersburg.
(9) "Net college costs" means the total cost of tuition, room
and board minus the amount of financial aid a student receives.
(10) "Objectives" means the ends to be accomplished or
attained within a specified period of time for the purpose of
meeting the established goals.
(11) "Priority" or "priorities" means the order in which
objectives are to be addressed for the purpose of achieving state
goals.
(12) "Strategy" or "strategies" means specific activities
carried out by public higher education which are directed toward
accomplishing specific objectives.
(13) "Statewide master plan" or "system master plan" means a
document developed by the council or commission that sets forth
system goals, objectives and strategies and is aligned with, but
not limited to, meeting state goals, objectives and priorities.
(14) "STEM courses and programs" means curricula leading to a
degree or other recognized credential in the science, technology,
engineering and mathematics fields of study or specialization.
(15) "State compact" means a formal, written agreement between
the council and/or the commission and at least one other member of
the education partnership to achieve state goals and objectives
where significant collaboration and commitment of resources between
the parties to the agreement is required in order to achieve the
desired results.
§18B-1D-3. State vision for public higher education; findings;
establishment of objectives.
(a) The Legislature finds that availability of high-quality
post-secondary education is so important to the well-being of the
citizens of West Virginia that it is in the best interests of the
state to focus attention on areas of particular concern and within
those areas to specify objectives and priorities that must be
addressed by two thousand twenty. The purpose of these objectives
and priorities is to achieve the broad-based goals for public
higher education established in section one-a, article one of this
chapter. Areas of special concern to the Legislature include economic and workforce development; education access and
affordability; innovation; student preparation; degree and/or
program completion; intra- and inter-system cooperation and
collaboration; research; and teaching and learning.
(1)
Economic and workforce development. --
(A) Diversifying and strengthening the economy of the state;
(B) Providing incentives to systems and institutions to focus
attention on those courses and programs which create and retain
jobs in the state, especially among the emerging high-technology,
knowledge-based businesses and industries.
(2)
Access and affordability. --
(A) Maintaining geographic access while eliminating
unnecessary duplication;
(B) Enhancing education opportunities for the widest range of
state citizens:
(i) By establishing tuition and fee levels for in-state
students that do not inhibit access to public education nor cause
students to incur excessive debt. This is particularly important
in West Virginia where about two-thirds of all students attending
college are enrolled in public higher education institutions and
where families devote a very large share of their incomes to pay
the cost of education. The share of costs paid by families remains
very high even after adjusting for the impact of financial aid; and
(ii) By establishing tuition and fee rates for out-of-state students at levels which, at a minimum, cover the full cost of
instruction unless doing so is inconsistent with a clearly
delineated public policy goal established by the Legislature, the
commission or the council.
(iii)
Innovation. -- Devise innovative programs, delivery
modes, partnerships, research initiatives, curricula and pedagogy
to achieve the needs of the state and its citizens and carry out
the mission and objectives of the state institutions of higher
education. Methods include aligning entrepreneurial efforts,
research and partnerships with established state goals.
(iv)
Student preparation. -- Ensure that potential students
are academically prepared for college and that graduates are
adequately prepared for careers or further education.
(V)
Degree and/or program completion. -- Despite significant
improvement over the past decade, fewer than twenty percent of
state residents hold a bachelor's degree. This shortage of highly
educated, highly qualified workers substantially limits the state's
ability to compete in the knowledge-based economy.
(vi)
Collaboration and cooperation. -- Deliver education
services to the extent possible through collaboration, coordination
and brokering, with particular emphasis on the need for a seamless
relationship between public and post-secondary education.
(vii)
Research. -- Develop a greater research capacity within
public higher education to enhance West Virginia in the eyes of the larger economic and education community, develop greater
specialized expertise in high technology and policy fields, create
more employment opportunities within the state and provide a basis
for improved capacity to compete in the new economy through
research focused on meeting state needs.
(viii)
Teaching and learning. -- Develop admission and exit
standards for students and emphasize professional staff
development, program assessment and evaluation and other incentives
to improve teaching and learning. Ensure access to stable and
continuing graduate-level programs in every region of the state,
particularly in STEM subject areas and teacher education related to
teaching within a subject area to improve teacher quality.
(b)
Vision 2020: Objectives for public higher education. -- In
view of the findings outlined in subsection (a) of this section,
the Legislature hereby establishes the following objectives to be
addressed as highest priorities beginning on the effective date of
this article through development of compacts and/or implementation
plans between and among members of the education partnership as
provided in subsection (e), section one-a, article one of this
chapter. The following is the legislative vision for the years two
thousand eight through two thousand twenty:
(1)
Objective. -- Develop a state-level facilities plan and
funding mechanism to reduce the obligation of students and parents
to bear the cost of higher education capital projects and facilities maintenance.
(A)
Problem statement. --
(i) West Virginia is one of the very few states in the nation
which does not address higher education capital project and
facilities maintenance needs through a statewide plan.
(ii) The burden of paying for capital projects and deferred
maintenance is placed on students and their families through
collection of capital fees at the institution level and contributes
significantly to the poor grade West Virginia receives each year in
the category of "Affordability" on "Measuring Up: The National
Report Card on Higher Education".
(iii) Net college costs for low- and lower middle-income
students to attend state community and technical colleges and
four-year colleges and universities average approximately
forty-five percent of their annual family income.
(iv) The high cost of capital fees contributes directly to the
amount of debt incurred by students during their college years and
the necessity to repay student loans severely limits career choices
and areas of residence after graduation.
(B)
Expected outcomes. -- Success in meeting this goal can be
measured in part by benchmarks which include the following:
(i) Development by the council and commission of a compact
with elected state officials to fund a significant portion of
higher education capital project needs from dedicated state revenues;
(ii) Development by the council and commission of a system to
establish priorities for institution capital projects in a manner
that is consistent with state public policy goals for higher
education;
(iii) Implementation of facilities maintenance plans by
institutions to ensure that maintenance needs are not deferred
inappropriately;
(iv) Efficient use of existing classroom and other space by
institutions:
(I) New capital funding is applied effectively to projects at
institutions that have a demonstrated need for new facilities and
major renovations; and
(II) The cost of operating and maintaining the facilities and
physical plants of institutions are appropriate for the size and
mission of the institution; and
(v) Capital and facilities maintenance planning that gives
careful consideration to the recommendations arising from the study
mandated by section nine, article fourteen of this chapter.
(2)
Objective. -- Increase academic rigor and improve learning
at higher education institutions.
(A)
Problem statement. -- West Virginia has made significant
progress on certain indicators within the category of student
learning, but lags far behind national and regional averages on others.
(i) The state compares very well in workforce preparation as
reflected in professional licensure examinations, ranking among the
top five states in the country. More West Virginia graduates take
these examinations than is typical nationally and the passage rate
is at the national average.
(ii) The state also ranks well above the national average
passage rate on the state teacher's examination when compared to
other states; however, there is serious cause for concern when the
state is compared to the national benchmark in preparing students
for graduate study.
(I) West Virginia ranks more than fifty percentage points
below the national average in preparing students to take and pass
graduate admissions examinations.
(II) Fewer West Virginia graduates take these examinations
than is typical nationally and the proportion earning competitive
scores is only about seventy-five percent of the national average.
(B)
Expected outcomes. -- Success in meeting this goal can be
measured in part by benchmarks which include the following:
(i) State institutions of higher education develop or use
existing nationally normed assessments of student learning
outcomes. Data generated through these assessments are analyzed
and the results applied by the institutions to improve the quality
of undergraduate general education programs; and
(ii) Implementation plans at the system and institution levels
are developed to improve student preparation for graduate study and
to expand graduate and professional education, where appropriate.
(3)
Objective. -- Increase the percentage of entering students
who persist to receive a degree, a certificate or an
industry-recognized credential.
(A)
Problem statement. --
(i) This goal is particularly important to West Virginia where
only about one person in five holds an associate degree or higher.
(ii) The lack of a well-trained workforce is reflected in the
most recent score of forty-one received by the state on the
nationally recognized New Economy Index which measures the extent
to which a state is prepared to participate in knowledge-based
industries. This low score places the state well below the
national benchmark of sixty on the index.
(iii) State institutions of higher education have placed a
greater emphasis on student recruitment than on student retention
and completion. This strategy alone cannot be successful in
meeting state needs for the following reasons:
(I) The number of state high school graduates is expected to
decline over the next several years; therefore, institutions must
improve their performance in retaining the students who enroll.
(II) West Virginia is among the leading states in the
percentage of first-year students at community colleges who return for their second year and large percentages of freshmen at
four-year colleges and universities return for their sophomore
year; however, when compared with other states, only a small
percentage of these students actually persist to earn a bachelor's
degree or associate degree within six years.
(III) The state performs poorly on international comparisons
of enrolled students who complete certificates or degrees, trailing
behind other industrialized and even some third world nations.
(IV) While the state college-going rate has improved, most
state institutions have made only marginal progress over the past
decade in increasing the percentage of students who persist to
obtain a degree or certificate.
(B)
Expected outcomes. --
(i) Enhanced quality of life for West Virginians, including
increased level of per capita income; and
(ii) Increased economic development opportunities by expanding
existing high-technology and knowledge-based businesses and
industries and attracting new ones which demand highly qualified
professionals.
(4)
Objective. -- State institutions of higher education,
particularly community and technical colleges, make maximum effort
to recruit and retain adults twenty-five years old or over.
(A)
Problem statement. --
(i) The percentage of West Virginia's working-age adults enrolled part-time in college-level education or training is very
low and the state has experienced one of the largest declines in
the nation on this measure over the past twelve years.
(ii) A large part of preparing workers for the 21st Century
and for a high-quality style of life hinges upon providing
opportunity for adults to acquire a series of skill sets in
addition to obtaining a degree or other credential.
(iii) A major focus for community and technical colleges is
upon providing programs to upgrade employee skills through
obtaining industry credentials. Currently, however, only
certificate program degrees (one-year) and associate degrees
(two-year) are counted for funding purposes even though other types
of credentials often are as important in meeting workforce
development goals as providing degree programs.
(B)
Expected outcomes. --
(i) Provide programs of interest to nontraditional students,
including those that afford them the opportunity to obtain
certificates and credentials, enhance career development and
acquire new skill sets;
(ii) Develop a high-visibility marketing program which makes
adults aware of the opportunities available to them and assists
them in entering or reentering the learning environment;
(iii) Provide for lower cost tuition and fee rates,
particularly at the community and technical colleges, and/or greater access to financial aid for adult full- and part-time
students.
(iv) Develop open admissions policies which provide
opportunities for adults to participate in public post-secondary
education beginning at any level of preparedness. Most working-age
adults cannot or will not "go back to high school" in order to
prepare themselves to participate in higher education.
(v) Tailor institutional policies to meet the needs of adults,
recognizing that these individuals have responsibilities that are
different from those of traditional-aged college students. High on
this list of needs are flexible class schedules to accommodate work
obligations and waiving dorm residency requirements.
(5)
Objective. -- Provide incentives to state institutions of
higher education to encourage emphasis on STEM courses and programs
leading to degrees in the high-demand fields of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics and to encourage
collaboration with public education to stimulate interest and
prepare students to succeed in these fields.
(A)
Problem statement. --
(i) STEM courses often are more expensive to deliver than
traditional programs; therefore, institutions may be reluctant to
start or expand programs in these areas because of anticipated
cost;
(ii) Institutions have difficulty recruiting and retaining faculty members in STEM areas because of competition from
surrounding states and other market forces;
(iii) There is insufficient communication between STEM
teachers in public education, STEM faculty in higher education and
professionals employed in STEM-related careers such as engineering;
(iv) Many students have not taken sufficiently rigorous high
school courses to allow them to succeed in post-secondary STEM
courses and programs. A large percentage of students enrolled in
higher education STEM programs either withdraw from the institution
or change majors within the first year; and
(v) The transition from high school to college is difficult
for many high school students who lack a family role model to
provide guidance relevant to the higher education experience.
(B)
Expected outcomes. --
(i) Increased capacity for high quality instruction across
public higher education;
(ii) Increased student access to high quality undergraduate
and graduate research opportunities in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics;
(iii) Enhanced economic development opportunities through
increased numbers of highly-qualified professionals available to
business and industry;
(iv) Development of a consistent and effective forum for
communication among STEM faculty in public and higher education and relevant professional communities to address the continuing needs
of students, educators and industry;
(v) Increased percentage of high school students who have
access to and take advantage of rigorous STEM courses;
(vi) Alignment of STEM curricula between public and higher
education;
(vii) Development of a finance formula that gives greater
weight to courses taken in high-cost disciplines and/or those that
are critical to the state economy; and
(viii) Creation of a STEM coordinator position within the
faculty of each state institution of higher education to provide
outreach to secondary schools, to mentor freshman students and to
collaborate with coordinators at other institutions. Because of
the size of the student body, the two research universities may
need to create coordinator positions specific to certain
high-demand STEM disciplines such as engineering and computer
science.
(6)
Objective. -- Develop a stable funding stream for state
institutions of higher education to pay for essential programs
which are expensive to deliver, are in high demand and/or are
critical to the state's capacity to replace an aging workforce as
employees retire. This objective has a particular impact on
community and technical colleges which deliver high-cost technical
programs.
(A)
Problem statement. --
(i) An educated and technically skilled workforce is vital to
the state's ability to be competitive in the global marketplace.
Currently, West Virginia's employers must struggle to find a
sufficient number of highly qualified workers to fill the jobs they
have available; and
(ii) The majority of technical occupations require the
delivery of equipment-intensive, high-cost programs that state
institutions of higher education, especially community and
technical colleges, lack the capacity to provide.
(B)
Expected outcomes. --
(i) State institutions delivering community and technical
college education focus on expanding and/or implementing technical
programs to meet the needs of high-demand, high-wage occupations;
(ii) Funding priorities for community and technical colleges
focus on developing and maintaining high-cost technical programs;
(iii) Creation of a strategy to fund the replacement,
upgrading and purchase of equipment to implement and/or maintain
technical education programs; and
(iv) Support critical, noncredit programming by incorporating
the number of contact hours delivered into a formula to distribute
funding to community and technical colleges.
(7)
Objective. -- Develop a mechanism to assure uniform
delivery of community and technical college education for all regions of the state.
(A)
Problem statement. -- The average education attainment
rate in West Virginia lags eleven percent behind the national
average in part because delivering education programs to the
state's adult, place-bound and rural populations presents
significant challenges.
(B)
Expected outcomes. --
(i) All state citizens have access to a minimum of two years
of college education regardless of their place of residence within
the state.
(ii) The state institutions increase the innovative use of
technology and distance education to provide general and technical
education access in sparsely populated rural areas.
(iii) Creation of a seamless education system and uniform
transfer of credits with special attention to transfers between
community and technical colleges and four-year institutions;
(iv) Appropriate use of adjunct faculty; and
(v) Where feasible, use of facilities in public schools,
technical centers and other public facilities as classroom space.
(8)
Objective. -- Develop greater research capacity throughout
public higher education, with a special focus on the state's two
doctoral degree-granting universities.
(A)
Problem statement. --
(i) West Virginia ranks near the bottom among all states in the amount of federal and privately funded sponsored research it
receives. Historically, only the National Science Foundation's
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR) has
focused on building research capacity in the state, but if West
Virginia is to benefit from the increased economic opportunity,
better jobs and higher standard of living associated with more STEM
professionals in the population, the state must invest more to
build its research capacity; and
(ii) Low research capacity results in low levels of
intellectual property creation, patenting and licensing of
commercial property.
(B)
Expected outcomes. --
(i) Partnering between and among higher education institutions
in West Virginia and between state institutions and larger,
resource-rich higher education institutions outside the state;
(ii) Developing an institutional and/or statewide research
niche and focusing resources on research that contributes most to
meeting state needs;
(iii) Leveraging scarce resources to make steady, targeted
investments in research in niche areas where the state can be a
real player at a competitive level;
(iv) Developing specific research expertise within the two
state doctoral degree-granting universities to generate and analyze
data to provide policy recommendations. The areas of focus include funding strategies for higher education, demographic trends and
methods to determine and meet workforce development needs by
anticipating job creation and credential requirements;
(v) Improving communication among the research branches of
higher education institutions, including identification of mutually
complementary areas of interest to increase funding opportunities
and collaboration on intellectual property issues; and
(vi) Focusing on economic development through commercial
applications of research and recruitment of new research faculty
members for this purpose.
(9)
Objective. -- Increase the percentage of functionally
literate adults in each region of the state.
(A)
Problem statement. --
(i) The literacy attainment of a population is defined at its
most basic level as the percentage of those individuals over the
age of fifteen who can read and write, but such a definition does
not address the realities of the 21st Century. The National
Literacy Act of 1991 and the National Workforce Investment Act of
1998 both define literacy more broadly as "an individual's ability
to read, write, speak in English, compute and solve problems at
levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the
family of the individual and in society".
Approximately twenty percent of the adult population in West
Virginia cannot meet this definition of functional literacy. One adult out of every five in the state lacks the basic literacy
skills needed to succeed at work, to enter the learning environment
of post-secondary education, to acquire advanced occupational
training or to participate in preparing his or her own children to
learn.
(ii) The high rate of illiteracy in West Virginia not only
handicaps adults in seeking employment and achieving their goals
for their own quality of life, but also has serious implications
for the future of their children and for the state.
There is a direct, positive correlation between the reading
scores of children and the education level of their parents. The
National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) has concluded that
youngsters whose parents are functionally illiterate are twice as
likely to become functionally illiterate adults.
(iii) When the level of functional illiteracy in West Virginia
is compared to the requirements for high-demand occupations, the
negative consequences for the economy of the state become obvious.
The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) established a scale
of five levels which is used extensively to measure the literacy
attainment of adults. When this scale was used to compare the
literacy requirements of projected high-growth occupations with
those in declining occupations such as certain types of
manufacturing, researchers found that level three literacy is
required for the new jobs, while level two is sufficient for the jobs in the declining occupations. Therefore, workers displaced
from jobs in declining occupations as well as those seeking to
enter or reenter the work place must possess literacy skills a full
level higher than those required for workers only a few years ago.
Documents such as manuals outlining standard operating procedures,
health and safety manuals, leave forms and retirement options that
they encounter daily require a level of literacy well above level
two.
(iv) A highly skilled and literate work force is essential to
the success of state businesses and industry. A ten percent
increase in the average education of all workers, equivalent to
approximately one additional year of schooling, is associated with
an increase of about nine percent in the productivity of that labor
force. Additionally, workers who lack literacy skills cannot
provide the data and feedback that companies need to make informed
business decisions. A company whose employees cannot record
reliable production data cannot assess its performance from year to
year or determine how well it is meeting its long range goals and
objectives.
(v) The rate of functional illiteracy in West Virginia also
has a direct impact on the health of state citizens. Residents
with low literacy skills have difficulty in many health areas
including the following:
(I) Understanding the correct way to take medication, interpret test results or perform simple self-testing such as
taking temperatures or checking blood glucose levels;
(II) Understanding and following directions given by
physicians or the written instructions provided with prescription
or over-the-counter medication for themselves or for their
children;
(III) Reading and understanding information on food labels and
other nutrition information to make sound decisions necessary to
establish and maintain healthy lifestyles; and
(IV) Furnishing correct information in emergencies to medical
providers about illnesses, surgeries and medications or
understanding how to fill out insurance forms and other
health-related documents.
(B)
Expected outcomes. --
(i) Develop greater access and capacity to deliver literacy
and remedial education, workforce development training and other
higher education services to place-bound adults primarily through
the community and technical colleges;
(ii) Increase the percentage of the working age population who
participate in higher education, either full or part time;
(iii) Establish a statewide mechanism to collect data to
provide a baseline for measuring progress toward meeting the goal
of functional literacy for all working-age adults and to serve as
a framework for setting priorities, identifying gaps in service and targeting services to key populations, industries, economic sectors
and geographic areas;
(iv) Develop programs that include, at a minimum, the
following:
(I) Learning opportunities within a real-life context, such as
workplace and family literacy programs;
(II) Recognition of the diversity of individual abilities,
skill levels, circumstances and life goals; and
(III) Strategies to access, promote and accommodate a variety
of instructional methods and learning styles.
(v) Develop a culture committed to life-long learning by
creating literacy-rich environments wherever people live and work
that are capable of influencing changes in individual behavior; and
(vi) Create partnerships among schools, employers, workers,
governments and communities to achieve these objectives and
mechanisms to collect, interpret and disseminate data to assist
policymakers in determining the appropriate level of resources
essential to support lifelong learning systems.
§18B-1D-4. Responsibilities of Higher Education Policy Commission
and Council for Community and Technical College
Education; development of public policy agendas;
reports; institutional responsibilities.
(a) It is the responsibility of the commission, in cooperation
with the council, to develop, oversee and advance the public policy agenda mandated by section four, article one-b of this chapter to
address the goals and objectives established pursuant to this
article and section one-a, article one of this chapter, including,
but not limited to, aligning state and institutional compacts,
master plans, implementation plans and institutional missions with
state goals and objectives to accomplish the purposes of this
article.
(b) It is the responsibility of the council, in cooperation
with the commission when applicable, to develop, oversee and
advance the public policy agenda mandated by section six, article
two-b of this chapter to address the goals and objectives
established pursuant to this article and section one-a, article one
of this chapter, including, but not limited to, aligning state and
institutional compacts, master plans, implementation plans and
institutional missions with state goals and objectives to
accomplish the purposes of this article.
(c) It is further the responsibility of the commission and
council to collect the data, assemble it in the appropriate format
and transmit all reports and any other essential documents as
needed to fulfill the purposes of this article. Each report shall
contain a brief, concise executive summary and shall include trends
and recommendations in text format. Recommendations shall be
ranked by order of importance and shall be supported by objective
data available elsewhere in the report. In addition to those specifically mandated by this chapter or chapter eighteen-c of this
code, reporting responsibilities include, but are not limited to,
the following:
(1) Ensuring that data systems collect the essential
information state-level policymakers need to answer key policy
questions to fulfill the purposes of the accountability system
established pursuant to this article and section one-a, article one
of this chapter;
(2) Collaborating with public education to establish policies
to link existing pre-K, K-12, higher education and teacher data
systems to enable tracking of student progress and teacher
performance over time; and
(3) Ensuring that reports provide data analyses to determine
if students entering the public higher education systems are
prepared for post-secondary education and if students obtaining
degrees, certificates or other credentials are prepared to pursue
careers or to continue their education.
(d) It is the responsibility of public institutions of higher
education to report to the commission or the council, as
appropriate, on plans, accomplishments and recommendations to
implement the goals and objectives contained in the institutional
and state compacts.
§18B-1D-5. Master plans; reports; approval process.
(a) The commission and the council each shall develop a master plan for public higher education that is closely aligned with the
goals and objectives of this article and section one-a, article one
of this chapter as they relate to the missions of institutions
under their respective jurisdictions.
(b) The authority of the commission and the council,
respectively, related to developing and implementing statewide
master plans is subject to the following conditions:
(1) The master plans shall be established for periods of not
more than five years.
(2) The master plans in place on the effective date of this
article continue in effect until the end of the five-year planning
cycle unless amended or rescinded by the commission or council,
respectively, pursuant to this article.
(3) Any new master plan proposed by the commission or council
shall be communicated to the Legislative Oversight Commission on
Education Accountability and may not be adopted or implemented
without the approval of that body;
(4) The commission and council each shall perform a
comprehensive review of its master plan at least annually and shall
revise it periodically as appropriate to meet state goals and
objectives.
(5) The commission and the council each shall review the
progress of its higher education system in meeting the goals and
objectives of the master plan and report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability, with detailed
recommendations for amending the plan, by the first day of January,
two thousand nine, and annually thereafter.
(6) At the end of each five-year planning cycle and as an
integral part of the preparation of a new master plan, the
commission and the council, respectively, shall prepare and submit
to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability
a comprehensive report containing at least the following:
(A) A detailed, data-based analysis of the progress of the
system and the institutions within the system toward meeting each
goal and objective included in the current plan; and
(B) A strategy for using this data as a basis for developing
the master plan for the next planning cycle.
(c) The master plan shall include a detailed set of system
objectives designed to meet the state goals and objectives outlined
in this article and section one-a, article one of this chapter,
including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) A well-developed analysis of missions, degree offerings,
resource requirements, physical plant needs, personnel needs,
enrollment levels and other planning determinants and projections
for public higher education and other matters necessary in such a
plan to assure that the needs of the state for a quality system of
higher education are addressed; and
(B) A strategy for cooperation and collaboration with the State Board of Education and State Department of Education, state
institutions of higher education, the counterpart state
coordinating board and other relevant education providers to assure
that a comprehensive and seamless system of education is developed
and implemented for West Virginia.
§18B-1D-6. State compacts; legislative intent; rule required;
implementation plans authorized.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that members of the
education partnership to achieve state goals and objectives engage
in developing state compacts between and among themselves for the
purpose of enhancing the well-being of the citizens of West
Virginia. Such a compact constitutes a formal contract and focuses
on the goals and objectives established pursuant to this article
and section one-a, article one of this chapter. A compact is
called for when achievement of specific goals or objectives
requires significant collaboration and commitment of resources by
more than one member of the partnership.
(b) The rules to be proposed relating to state compacts
pursuant to subsection (c), section one of this article shall
include, but are not limited to, the following components:
(1) A procedure to determine when a state compact is necessary
or desirable;
(2) A procedure for determining the identity of parties to the
compact and for establishing compact terms:
(A) Parties to the compact may be any two or more members of
the education partnership to achieve state goals and objectives who
are positioned to make significant contributions to meeting compact
objectives; and
(B) The terms of the compact shall focus on achievement of
objectives. The expected outcomes shall be stated in concrete
terms that are measurable.
(3) A mechanism for negotiating agreement on compact
objectives. The mechanism shall provide for negotiation and
development of consensus among the parties and must be reasonable
in its operation and outcomes expectations;
(4) A procedure for creating and consolidating commitment
between and among parties to the compact. Most state compacts will
extend over multiple years and will require that negotiation
between education partners and elected state officials take into
account the constraints of the political process and the limits on
available resources; and
(5) A process for periodic review, assessment and reporting of
progress toward meeting the compact objectives. The rule shall
provide for objective analysis and reporting to the compact
partners and to the elected officials of the state.
(c) In addition to authorizing the commission and the council
to enter into state compacts pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of
this section, it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage them strongly to develop implementation plans together with other
members of the public higher education community to achieve system
and institutional goals and objectives which are consistent with
and supportive of the goals and objectives established in this
article and section one-a, article one of this chapter.
(1) At a minimum, each implementation plan shall contain the
following elements:
(A) Identification of the goal and the objectives to be
achieved;
(B) Identification of the parties to the implementation plan
and a process for developing consensus among the parties;
(C) A needs assessment or other mechanism to determine current
status of the proposed objectives, including a survey of available
resources and other data relevant to achieving the objectives;
(D) Identification of challenges or barriers to meeting
objectives;
(E) Delineation of tasks to be performed;
(F) A specific time line for meeting objectives;
(G) An evaluation process administered periodically to
determine progress in meeting the objectives during the life span
of the plan; and
(H) A method for determining success in achieving the
objectives following the closing date established by the time line.
(2) Implementation plans are internal documents developed among members of the public higher education community and are not
subject to an external approval process.
§18B-1D-7. Findings; establishment of institutional compacts;
compact elements; submission date; review and
approval process; rule required.
(a) The Legislature finds that West Virginia long has
recognized the value of education and, on a per capita income
basis, ranks very high among the states in its investment to
support public education. The Legislature further finds that a
combination of state and national demographic and economic factors
as well as significant changes in methods of course and program
delivery compel both the state and public higher education to
create a process that will strengthen institutional capacity to
provide the services so valued by the citizens of the state and so
essential to promoting economic vitality.
(b) Therefore, each state college and university shall prepare
an institutional compact for submission to the commission and each
community and technical college shall prepare an institutional
compact for submission to the council. When the process herein
provided is completed, the resulting institutional compact
constitutes a negotiated contract between the state institution of
higher education and the commission or council, respectively,
containing at a minimum the following basic components:
(1) Institutional strategies for focusing resources on meeting the goals and objectives set forth in this article and section
one-a, article one of this chapter; and
(2) Commission or council strategies for promoting and
supporting the institution in fulfilling its mission and
objectives, to make it more competitive with its peers and to
ensure the continuity of academic programs and services to its
students.
(c) In addition to the basic contract components described in
subsection (b) of this section, each compact shall contain at least
the following elements:
(1) A determination of the mission of the institution which
specifically addresses changes necessary or expedient to accomplish
the goals and objectives articulated by the state and the
appropriate statewide master plan;
(2) A detailed statement of how the compact is aligned with
and will be implemented in conjunction with the master plan of the
institution;
(3) A comprehensive assessment of education needs within the
institution's geographic area of responsibility;
(4) A strategy to ensure access to comprehensive community and
technical college and workforce development services within each
respective region of the state consistent with the mission of the
institution;
(5) Provision for collaboration and brokering of education services as necessary or expedient to carry out the institutional
mission and meet its objectives;
(6) Provision of student services at the optimum level to
support the institutional mission and to achieve state goals and
objectives;
(7) Strategies for using existing infrastructure and resources
within each region, where feasible, to increase student access
while controlling costs and maintaining academic quality; and
(8) Other public policy objectives or initiatives adopted by
the commission or council pursuant to the intent and purposes of
this article and section one-a, article one of this chapter.
(d) Each institutional compact shall be updated annually and
shall follow the same general guidelines contained in this section.
(e) Development and updating of the institutional compacts is
subject to the following conditions:
(1) The ultimate responsibility for developing and updating
the compacts at the institutional level resides with the board of
advisors or the board of governors, as appropriate. It is the
responsibility of the commission or council to provide technical
assistance as requested and to negotiate with the institution
development of the strategies to promote and support the
institution pursuant to subsection (b) of this section;
(2) The commission and the council each shall establish a date
by which institutions under their respective jurisdictions shall submit their compacts to the commission or council pursuant to the
provisions of this article. The date established by each
state-level coordinating board shall apply uniformly to all
institutions under the jurisdiction of that coordinating board and
shall meet the following additional conditions:
(A) Allow sufficient time for careful analysis of the compacts
by the central office staff and for review by members of the
commission or the council, as appropriate; and
(B) Allow sufficient time for the institutions to make
necessary revisions to the compacts as provided in this section.
(3) The commission and council shall review each compact from
the institutions under their respective jurisdictions and either
adopt the compact or return it with specific comments for change or
improvement. The commission and council, respectively, shall
continue this process as long as each considers advisable;
(4) By the first day of May annually, if the institutional
compact of any institution as presented by that institution is not
adopted by the respective commission or council, then the
commission or council is empowered and directed to develop and
adopt the institutional compact for the institution and the
institution is bound by the compact so adopted; and
(5) As far as practicable, the commission and council each
shall establish uniform processes and forms for the development and
submission of the institutional compacts by the institutions under their respective jurisdictions, taking into consideration the
differences in institutional missions and objectives. As a part of
this function, the commission and council each shall organize the
statements of legislative goals and objectives contained in this
article and section one-a, article one of this chapter in a manner
that facilitates the purposes therein.
(f)
Assignment of geographic areas of responsibility. --
(1) The commission shall assign geographic areas of
responsibility to the state institutions of higher education under
its jurisdiction, except for the state institutions of higher
education known as West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine,
Marshall University and West Virginia University. For institutions
other than the state institutions of higher education known as West
Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Marshall University and
West Virginia University, the geographic areas of responsibility
are made a part of their institutional compacts to ensure that all
areas of the state are provided necessary programs and services to
achieve state goals and objectives. The commission and the council
each shall develop data-based measures to determine the extent to
which institutions under their respective jurisdictions are
providing higher education services aligned with state goals and
objectives and institutional missions within their geographic areas
of responsibility. This information shall be reported in the
statewide report card established pursuant to section eight of this article.
(2) The council shall assign geographic areas of
responsibility to the state institutions of higher education under
its jurisdiction, including the administratively linked institution
known as Marshall Community and Technical College, the
administratively linked institution known as the Community and
Technical College at West Virginia University Institute of
Technology and the regional campus known as West Virginia
University at Parkersburg.
(3) The geographic areas of responsibility for the state
institutions of higher education known as West Virginia School of
Osteopathic Medicine, Marshall University and West Virginia
University are assigned by the Legislature.
(4) The benchmarks established in the institutional compacts
include measures of programs and services by geographic area
throughout the assigned geographic area of responsibility.
(g) The compacts shall contain benchmarks to be used to
determine progress toward meeting the objectives established in the
compacts. The benchmarks shall meet the following criteria:
(1) They shall be objective;
(2) They shall be directly linked to the objectives in the
compacts;
(3) They shall be measured by the indicators described in
subsection (h) of this section; and
(4) Where applicable, they shall be used to measure progress
in geographic areas of responsibility.
(h) The rules required by subsection (c), section one of this
article shall include indicators which measure the degree to which
the goals and objectives set forth in this article and section
one-a, article one of this chapter are being met by the
institutions under the jurisdiction of the commission and the
council, respectively.
(1) The rules pertaining to benchmarks and indicators in
effect for the commission and the council on the effective date of
this section remain in effect for the institutions under their
respective jurisdictions until amended, modified, repealed or
replaced by the commission or the council, respectively, pursuant
to the provisions of this article, section six, article one of this
chapter and article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(2) The rules shall set forth at least the following as
pertains to all state institutions of higher education:
(A) The indicators used to measure the degree to which the
goals and objectives are being met;
(B) Uniform definitions for the various data elements to be
used in establishing the indicators;
(C) Guidelines for the collection and reporting of data; and
(D) Sufficient detail within the benchmarks and indicators to
provide the following information:
(i) Measurable evidence that the pursuits of the institution
are focused on the education needs of the citizens of the state and
are aligned with the objectives of the institutional compacts and
statewide master plans;
(ii) Delineation of the objectives and benchmarks for an
institution so that the commission or council can precisely measure
the degree to which progress is being made toward achieving the
goals and objectives provided in this article and section one-a,
article one of this chapter; and
(iii) Identification of specific objectives within the master
plan or compact of an institution that are not being met or toward
which sufficient progress is not being made.
(3) In addition to any other requirement, the rule established
by the council shall set forth at least the following as pertains
to community and technical college education:
(A) Benchmarks and indicators which are targeted to identify
the following:
(i) The degree to which progress is being made by institutions
toward meeting state goals and objectives and the essential
conditions for community and technical college education pursuant
to section three, article three-c of this chapter;
(ii) Information and data necessary to be considered by the
council in making the determination required by section three,
article two-c of this chapter; and
(B) Sufficient detail within the benchmarks and indicators to
provide clear evidence to support an objective determination by the
council that an institution's progress toward achieving state goals
and objectives and the essential conditions for community and
technical college education is so deficient that implementation of
the provisions of section four, article two-c of this chapter is
warranted and necessary.
(i) The commission and the council, respectively, shall
approve the compacts developed for the institutions under their
respective jurisdictions by the boards of governors or the boards
of advisors pursuant to this section and consistent with the powers
and duties prescribed in section four, article two-a of this
chapter and section one, article six of this chapter.
§18B-1D-8. Institutional and system report cards.
(a) The purpose of the institutional and statewide report
cards is to make information available to parents, students,
faculty, staff, state policymakers and the general public on the
quality and performance of public higher education. The focus of
the report cards is to determine annual progress of the commission,
the council and institutions under their respective jurisdictions
toward achieving state goals and objectives identified in this
article and section one-a, article one of this chapter and system
goals and objective contained in the statewide master plans of the
commission and council created pursuant to section five of this article.
(b) The information contained in the report cards shall be
consistent and comparable between and among state institutions of
higher education. If applicable, the information shall allow for
easy comparison with higher education-related data collected and
disseminated by the Southern Regional Education Board, the United
States Department of Education and other education data-gathering
and data-disseminating organizations upon which state policymakers
frequently rely in setting policy.
(c) The rules required by subsection (c), section one of this
article shall provide for the collection, analysis and
dissemination of information on the performance of the state
institutions of higher education, including health sciences
education, in relation to the findings, goals and objectives set
forth in this article and section one-a, article one of this
chapter and those contained in the statewide master plans of the
commission and council developed pursuant to section five of this
article.
(1) The objective of this portion of the rule is to ensure
that the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education
Accountability and others identified in subsection (a) of this
section are provided with full and accurate information while
minimizing the institutional burden of recordkeeping and reporting.
(2) This portion of the rule shall identify various indicators of student and institutional performance that, at a minimum, must
be reported annually, set forth general guidelines for the
collection and reporting of data and provide for the preparation,
printing and distribution of report cards under this section.
(d) The report cards shall be analysis-driven, rather than
simply data-driven, and shall present information in a format that
can inform education policymaking. They shall include an executive
summary which outlines significant trends, identifies major areas
of concern and discusses progress toward meeting state and system
goals and objectives. They shall be brief and concise, reporting
required information in nontechnical language. Any technical or
supporting material to be included shall be contained in a separate
appendix.
(e) The statewide report card shall include the data for each
separately listed, applicable indicator identified in the rule
promulgated pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and the
aggregate of the data for all public institutions of higher
education.
(f) The statewide report card shall be prepared using actual
institutional, state, regional and national data, as applicable and
available, indicating the present performance of the individual
institutions, the governing boards and the state systems of higher
education. Statewide report cards shall be based upon information
for the current school year or for the most recent school year for which the information is available, in which case the year shall be
clearly noted.
(g) The president or chief executive officer of each state
institution of higher education shall prepare and submit annually
all requested data to the commission at the times established by
the commission.
(h) The higher education central office staff, under the
direction of the Vice Chancellor for Administration, shall provide
technical assistance to each institution and governing board in
data collection and reporting and is responsible for assembling the
statewide report card from information submitted by each governing
board.
(i) The statewide report card shall be completed and
disseminated with copies to the Legislative Oversight Commission on
Education Accountability prior to the first day of January of each
year and the staff of the commission and the council shall prepare
a report highlighting specifically the trends, progress toward
meeting goals and objectives and major areas of concern for public
higher education, including medical education, for presentation to
the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability at
the interim meetings in January, two thousand nine, and annually
thereafter.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code to the
contrary, the following statutorily mandated reports are not required to be prepared and submitted annually unless a member of
the Legislature makes a specific request for a particular report:
(1) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (a), section
forty-eight, article three, chapter five-a of this code, on vehicle
fleets;
(2) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (e), section ten,
article one of this chapter, on plans, accomplishments and
recommendations in implementing a cooperative relationship between
Potomac State College and Eastern West Virginia Community and
Technical College;
(3) An annual report, pursuant to paragraphs (A) and (B),
subdivision (10), subsection (a), section four, article one-b of
this chapter, concerning higher education performance and
enrollment data;
(4) An annual report, pursuant to paragraph (A), subdivision
(11), subsection (b), section six, article two-b of this chapter,
concerning community and technical college performance;
(5) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (b), section
seven, article five of this chapter, on all sales of obsolete,
unusable or surplus commodities;
(6) An annual report, pursuant to section eight, article five
of this chapter, on purchases from West Virginia businesses;
(7) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (j), section one,
article ten of this chapter, on the amount of auxiliary fees collected to replace state funds subsidizing auxiliary services;
(8) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (c), section
five, article thirteen of this chapter, on technical assistance
provided to qualified businesses within approved research parks,
research zones or technology centers;
(9) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (e), section six,
article eighteen of this chapter, on the status of the Eminent
Scholars Endowment Trust Fund; and
(10) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (e), section
one, article three, chapter eighteen-c of this code, relevant to
the health education loan program.
(k) For a reasonable fee, the Vice Chancellor for
Administration shall make copies of the report cards, including any
appendices of supporting material, available to any individual
requesting them.
ARTICLE 14. MISCELLANEOUS.
§18B-14-9. Legislative findings; establishment of study committee;
membership; recommendations on higher education
facilities.
(a) The Legislature finds that it is in the best interest of
the state to have an effective and comprehensive system for the
delivery of public higher education programs. West Virginia is one
of the very few states in the nation which does not address higher
education capital project and facilities maintenance needs through a statewide plan. State institutions of higher education vary
widely in their ability to incur debt for capital projects and the
conditions of their facilities infrastructure. Some institutions
have incurred substantial amounts of debt to address capital needs,
while other institutions have not.
The Legislature further finds that average tuition and fees
for current and former administratively linked community and
technical colleges rank well above the national average primarily
because of the capital fees that students at those institutions
have to pay. The large amount of capital fees that students must
pay at the institution level contributes significantly to the poor
grade the state receives each year in the category of
"Affordability" on "Measuring Up: The National Report Card on
Higher Education". Net college costs for state students who come
from families in the lowest forty percent of the population in
terms of income to attend community and technical colleges and
four-year colleges and universities in West Virginia represent
about forty-five percent of their family's annual income and there
are few low-cost college opportunities.
The Legislature further finds that the high cost of capital
fees contributes directly to the amount of debt incurred by
students during their college years. The debt load, in turn,
severely limits students' career choices and often dictates their
place of residence after graduation.
(b) It is the responsibility of the Legislature to determine
how to make the best use of available resources and how best to
address the problems outlined in subsection (a) of this section.
Therefore, the Joint Committee on Government and Finance shall
create a committee for the purposes of making a specific and
detailed analysis of higher education capital project and
facilities maintenance needs and providing recommendations to the
Legislature.
(c) The committee consists of the following members:
(1) The President of the Senate or designee;
(2) The Speaker of the House of Delegates or designee;
(3) The chairs of the Senate and House of Delegates Committees
on Education, who shall cochair the committee;
(4) The vice chairs of the Senate and House of Delegates
Committees on Education;
(5) The chairs of the Senate and House of Delegates Committees
on Finance or their designees;
(6) The cochairs of the Joint Commission on Economic
Development or their designees;
(7) Two members each from the Senate Committees on Finance and
Education appointed by the President of the Senate; and
(8) Two members each from the House Committees on Finance and
Education appointed by the Speaker of the House.
(d) The committee shall develop and recommend a state-level facilities plan which includes, but is not limited to, the
following:
(1) A review of capital project and facilities maintenance
needs of all state institutions of higher education and
recommendations for addressing those needs;
(2) Recommendations concerning the appropriate capital debt
load that reasonably should be maintained by the commission,
council and state institutions of higher education;
(3) Recommendations for a funding mechanism to reduce the
obligation of students and parents to bear the cost of higher
education capital projects and facilities maintenance;
(4) Recommendations for maximizing changes in bonding capacity
that will occur in two thousand twelve;
(5) Development of a uniform definition of deferred
maintenance;
(6) Recommendations for an appropriate mechanism to target a
percentage of state capital contributions to address deferred
maintenance needs; and
(7) Recommendations for a transparent methodology to set
priorities for funding capital projects.
(e) The committee shall commence its work on or before the
fifteenth day of May, two thousand eight, and shall deliver its
recommendations, together with draft legislation to implement the
recommendations, to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability and the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance by the first day of December, two thousand eight.