HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 102

(By Ellington, Higginbotham, Hanna and Campbell)

[Originating in the Committee on Education]

Requiring the development of funding formulas for West Virginia’s public institutions of higher education, both baccalaureate institutions and community and technical colleges, by the start of the Regular Session of the 2021 Legislature.

Whereas, the State of West Virginia traditionally has relied upon re-appropriation of the previous year’s base budgets for determining the funding level for the State’s public institutions of higher education; and

Whereas, the “Resource Allocation Model” and full-time equivalent enrollment basis for funding no longer provide the needed direction to the Legislature to appropriate funds that adequately support students and public institutions of higher education; and

Whereas, in 2017 the Legislature directed the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (Commission) to research and present information about ways to more equitably fund the state’s colleges and universities; and

Whereas, the majority of states have implemented outcomes-based funding models to help determine the funding level for their public institutions of higher education; and

Whereas, effective outcomes-based funding models reward institutions for meeting a state’s higher education goals, including the West Virginia Climb Initiative that seeks to equip 60 percent of working-aged West Virginians with a postsecondary credential by 2030, while also supporting individual institutional missions; and

Whereas, the presidents of West Virginia’s 10 public baccalaureate institutions of higher education have committed to work together, and with the Commission, to develop a funding formula for their institutions that would allow them to be rewarded for meeting objectives that reflect their established institutional missions and progress toward the state’s college attainment goal; and

Whereas, the presidents of West Virginia’s nine public community and technical colleges have committed to work together, and with the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education (Council), to achieve the same goal for their institutions; and

Whereas, all 10 public baccalaureate institutions, in conjunction with the Commission, and all 9 community and technical colleges, in conjunction with the Council, have agreed to collaborate to develop state appropriation funding models for each system of institutions by October 31, 2020; and

Whereas, the West Virginia Legislature fully supports and strongly encourages this endeavor; Therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Commission, the Council, and West Virginia’s public colleges and universities shall work collaboratively to develop a funding model for the state’s baccalaureate institutions and a funding model for the state’s community and technical colleges by October 31, 2020, so that such proposals can be presented by the Commission and the Council to the Legislature in time for its regular session of 2021; and, be it

Further Resolved,

That the Commission and the Council shall engage with the four-year institutions and the community and technical colleges to seek to build consensus on the formulas and methodologies underlying any recommended funding models for the respective institutions.