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2005 SESSION

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HB 1359 Chartered Universities and Colleges Act of 2004; created.

Introduced by: Vincent F. Callahan, Jr. | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Commonwealth Chartered Universities and Colleges. Authorizes the creation of Commonwealth Chartered Universities and Colleges, comprised of public institutions of higher education that will, among other things, (i) exist as political subdivisions of the Commonwealth and not as state agencies; (ii) be able to participate in the Commonwealth's risk management system, and continue participation in the Virginia Retirement System; (iii) continue to have bond-issuing authority as do other public institutions of higher education or state agency, but shall not be required to obtain legislative or other approval for bond issuance; (iv) have authority to own and operate "projects," such as research programs and research, training, teaching, dormitory and classroom facilities; (v) employ campus police; (vi) continue its preexisting licenses and permits after any conversion to chartered institution status; (vii) have the power of eminent domain; (viii) remain subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Conflicts of Interest Act; (ix) no longer be subject to the Virginia Procurement, Virginia Personnel Act, or state grievance procedures, but will adopt its own procurement, personnel, and grievance procedures; (x) continue to participate in the Virginia College Building Authority, the Educational Facilities Authority, various college and university scholarship provisions, student loan funds, and college savings plans; (xi) not be subject to local law or regulation unless specified by the General Assembly; (xii) maintain its funds, including general fund appropriations, with its treasurer for deposit in banks or trust companies; (xiii) be exempt from any state legislative or executive branch rules, regulations, and guidelines pertaining to submission, review, approval or implementation of capital projects, with the exception capital projects funded in whole or in part by a general fund appropriation, which remain subject to certain preappropriation approvals; (xiv) determine tuition and fees and its budget, and control the expenditures of all moneys generated or received by the institution, including tuition, fees and other nongeneral fund revenue sources; however, all state general funds remain fully subject to the appropriations process; and (xv) be exempt from the assessment and payment of all state and local taxes.

As a political subdivision, rather than a state agency, a chartered institution is not subject to (i) Department of General Services review of property acquisitions (§ 2.2-1149); (ii) state surplus property requirements; (iii) state agency budget estimates (§ 2.2-1504); (iv) requirements for environmental impact statements for the Department of Environmental Quality (§10.1-1188); (v) Virginia Information Technologies Agency provisions (§ 2.2-2005 et seq.); (vi) approval provisions of the Information Technology Investment Board (§ 2.2-2457 et seq.); (vii) Division of Purchases and Supply procurement requirements (§ 2.2-1110); and (viii) Division of Engineering and Buildings review of leases (§ 2.2-1136) and property acquisitions (§ 2.2-1149).

Although the measure provides that chartered institutions continue to be "public institutions of higher education" and "educational institutions," it also provides that these institutions are not "subject to local law or regulation except as the General Assembly may explicitly authorize." Therefore, sections referencing public institutions of higher education have been amended to designate the inclusion of these institutions as appropriate.

The institutions are not subject to higher education requirements regarding (i) student visa reporting (§ 23-2.2); (ii) state property registry (§ 23-4); and (iii) the provision of copies of certain reports regarding campus crime (§ 23-9.1:1).


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