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2016 SESSION

16105281D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 157
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Rules
on February 9, 2016)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Jones)
Directing the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to review the Virginia Community College System. Report.

WHEREAS, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission has not comprehensively reviewed Virginia's Community College System since 1991; and

WHEREAS, Virginia's Community College System works with local school systems, four-year public institutions of higher education, and employers to develop credit, noncredit, and dual enrollment courses for those seeking degrees, credentials, and course credits; and

WHEREAS, Virginia's two-year institutions of higher education offer a less costly alternative to four-year institutions of higher education, but enrollment at two-year institutions constitutes a smaller percentage of the Commonwealth's total undergraduate enrollment than a decade ago; and

WHEREAS between FY 2006 and FY 2015, general fund appropriations to the Virginia Community College System rose $53 million, the eighth largest increase of all state agencies; and

WHEREAS, between FY 2006 and FY 2015, the Virginia Community College System's central office spending rose 128 percent and staffing rose 39 percent; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Community College System comprises 23 two-year public institutions of higher education with varying levels of student enrollment and spending and differing circumstances in which to raise revenue from public and private sources; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Community College System comprises 40 campuses across the Commonwealth with total capital assets valued at $1.34 billion; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to review the Virginia Community College System.

In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (the Commission) shall (i) evaluate the system's success in providing Virginians with the education, training, and credentials needed to succeed in the workforce; (ii) determine whether the system's mission is aligned with the Commonwealth's educational and workforce development priorities and complements the missions of the Commonwealth's secondary and four-year higher education systems and its higher education centers, including through dual enrollment and transfer agreements; (iii) assess the system's success in making educational and training opportunities affordable; (iv) assess the spending and allocation of funds within the system; (v) assess how well the system's central office supports each institution; (vi) assess the adequacy of centralized data and information systems to measure institutional effectiveness and to support sound funding decisions; (vii) compare Virginia's Community College System to the community college systems in other states; and (viii) review other issues and make recommendations as appropriate.

All agencies of the Commonwealth, including the Virginia Community College System, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Department of Education, the Virginia Employment Commission, and local school divisions, shall provide assistance to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2016, and for the second year by November 30, 2017, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly for each year. Each executive summary shall state whether the Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.