State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (245)

Authority: §§ 23-9.3, 23-9.6:1, 23-20, 23-38.13, and 23-38.45, Code of Virginia; SJR 22 (1949).

A. 1. It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide general fund support to contract at a level equivalent to the Tuition Assistance Grant undergraduate award with Mary Baldwin College for Virginia women resident students to participate in the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership at Mary Baldwin College.

2. The amounts included in this Item is $307,899 the first year and $307,899 the second year from the general fund for the programmatic administration of this program.

3. General fund appropriations provided under this contract include financial incentive for the participating students at Mary Baldwin College in the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership program.  Students receiving this financial incentive will not be eligible for Tuition Assistance Grants.

B. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), with direction from the Secretary of Education shall develop a six-year statewide strategic plan for higher education.  As part of this planning process and consistent with the provisions of  Chapters 933 and 945, 2005 Acts of Assembly, Virginia’s public colleges and universities shall develop six-year financial, enrollment, and academic plans that include strategies to meet statewide higher education goals.  In this planning process and consistent with the provisions of Chapters 933 and 945, 2005 Acts of Assembly, SCHEV shall also require institutions to provide annual updates on their strategic plans.  Such reports shall include (i) progress in meeting both state and institutional goals and (ii) specific actions to restructure institutional activities and programs to meet state and institutional goals.

C. In discharging the responsibilities specified in § 23-272 D, Code of Virginia, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall provide exemptions to individual proprietorships, associations, copartnerships or corporations which are now or in the future will be using the words "college" or "university" in their training programs solely for their employees or customers, which do not offer degree-granting programs, and whose name includes the word "college" or "university" in a context from which it clearly appears that such entity is not an educational institution.

D. Out of this appropriation, $91,493 the first year and one position from the general fund and $91,493 and one position from the general fund the second year is designated for the purpose of coordination of articulation activities from the state’s community colleges and Richard Bland College to ensure compliance with the 2005 Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act.

E. Out of the appropriation for Higher Education Coordination and Review, $6,003,177 the first year and $6,003,177 the second year from the general fund is provided for continuation of the Virtual Library of Virginia.  Funding for the Virtual Library of Virginia is provided for the benefit of students and faculty at the Commonwealth's public institutions of higher education and participating nonprofit, independent private colleges and universities.  Out of this amount, $396,785 in each year is earmarked to allow the participation of nonprofit, independent private colleges and universities.

F. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Secretary of Education, in conjunction with the three medical schools, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Eastern Virginia Medical School, shall monitor the results of the Generalist Initiative, especially the decisions of graduates from the undergraduate medical programs to enter generalist residencies, and the composition of the residencies in the two associated academic health centers.  It is the intent of the General Assembly that the three medical schools shall maintain the efforts to educate and train sufficient generalist physicians to meet the needs of the Commonwealth, recognizing the Commonwealth’s need for generalist physicians in medically underserved regions of the state.  Further, the medical schools shall support medical education and training in the principles of generalist medicine for all undergraduate medical students, regardless of their chosen specialty or field of study. 

G. Out of this appropriation, $950,366 and eight positions the first year from nongeneral funds and $950,366 the second year and eight positions from nongeneral funds is provided to support higher education coordination and review services, including expenses incurred in the regulation and oversight of the private and out-of-state postsecondary institutions and proprietary schools operating in Virginia.  These funds will be generated through fee schedules developed pursuant to § 23-276.9, Code of Virginia.

H.1. Out of this appropriation, $586,870 and six positions the first year and $586,870 and six positions the second year from the general fund are provided in recognition of the increased role that the State Council of Higher Education must play in: (i) coordinating Virginia's system of higher education; (ii) aligning statewide enrollment demand with institutional enrollment projections; (iii) providing guidance and oversight in the development and routine update of six-year financial, academic, and enrollment plans; and (iv) making policy recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly that ensure the Commonwealth's needs with respect to higher education are met consistently.

2. Specifically, these funds are provided to enhance the agency's capacity to: (i) collect and analyze data; (ii) conduct rigorous policy reviews, as needed; and (iii) evaluate and make recommendations related to resource needs, allocations, and systemwide funding policies. In addition to these funds, existing agency resources shall be reallocated and reprioritized in order to meet the needs of the Governor and General Assembly for routine assessments of the academic program and strategic planning efforts of Virginia's colleges and universities.

I. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in consultation with the House Appropriations Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the Department of General Services and the Department of Planning and Budget, shall develop a six-year capital outlay plan for higher education institutions including affiliated entities.  As a part of this plan SCHEV shall consider (i) current funding mechanisms for capital projects and improvements at the Commonwealth's institutions of higher education, including general obligation bonds and other viable funding methods; (ii) mechanisms to assist private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth with their capital needs.

J. The Executive Director, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, may appoint an advisory committee to assist the Council with technology-enriched learning initiatives.  The advisory committee may assist the Council in (i) developing innovative, cost-effective, technology-enriched teaching and learning initiatives, including distance and distributed learning initiatives; (ii) improving cooperation among and between the public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth; (iii) improving efficiency and expand the availability of technology-enriched courses; and (iv) facilitating the sharing of research and experience to improve student learning.

K. Out of this appropriation, $150,000 the first year and $150,000 the second year from nongeneral funds is designated to cover the costs of federal education support programs. 

L. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall include Eastern Virginia Medical School in any calculations used to determine the funding requirements for state medical schools.

M.1. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall review funding requirements for student financial assistance and examine:

a) The costs of education used to determine student need by category;

b) The use of cost allowances and their impact on financial aid;

c) Gift aid received by students and expected family contribution and their application in the financial process; and

d) The impact on financial aid requirements of alternative financial aid methodologies.

2. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall communicate the results of this study to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees and the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, by October 1, 2010.

N. No later than October 1, 2010, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall establish guidelines to govern recommendations on the construction of student housing, student centers, and other auxiliary facilities at two-year institutions of higher education.  In developing these guidelines the State Council shall not utilize previous authorizations as precedents.

O.1. Higher Education Coordination and Review includes an internal service fund to support review of capital projects.  This internal service fund shall consist of fees imposed upon capital projects approved for institutions of higher education for the review of proposed capital outlay projects.  The estimated total amount to be collected by this fund is a sum sufficient estimated at $290,000 in the second year.

2. In administering this internal service fund, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall provide capital project review services to institutions of higher education and produce capital project analysis work products for the Department of Planning and Budget, and the General Assembly.

P.1. In consultation with the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Finance, and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee, or their designees, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall review, and if necessary, update institutional peer groups giving consideration to (1) the impact of cost-of-living indices on the current cohort of peer institutions for public colleges and universities that currently receive a state-approved cost-of-living adjustment or (2) public colleges and universities where the impact of enrollment patterns resulted in the percentage of graduate degrees conferred increasing by more than 10 percentage points between 1997 and 2007 concurrent with a like decrease in the percentage of undergraduate degrees conferred during the same period.

2. The State Council shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees no later than September 1, 2011.