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2012 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Higher Education

Smith (Chairman), Saslaw, Blevins, McWaters, Barker

Clerk: Patty Lung, Jocelyn Lance
Staff: Jessica Eades, Ellen Porter
Date of Meeting: January 26, 2012
Time and Place: 1/2 hour after adjournment , 3 West GAB

S.B. 137

Patron: Puller

Gunston Hall; administration. Clarifies that, consistent with existing law, any administrative head of Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason bequeathed to the Commonwealth by a former owner, is appointed by the Governor to serve at his pleasure. Additionally, the Board of Visitors of Gunston Hall shall appoint a Board of Advisors to assist in its fulfillment of reporting responsibilities set out in the deed of gift regarding the management of Gunston Hall.

S.B. 169

Patron: Petersen

Private or out-of-state institutions of higher education; certification. Allows a private or out-of-state institution of higher education whose certification has been revoked by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to continue to enroll students for up to five years, provided that it demonstrates to the Council that it has undergone a change in leadership and is actively pursuing recertification by the Council.

S.B. 255

Patron: Miller, J.C.

SCHEV; pilot program for high school seniors.  Requires the State Council on Higher Education for Virginia to create a pilot program to allow certain high school seniors to enroll in Thomas Nelson Community College full-time. Tuition and fees would be paid as follows: one-third by the student, one-third by the local school division the student had attended immediately preceding the program, and one-third to be waived by the community college; however, tuition for any science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) course, as defined by the Council, would be waived. In order to be eligible for this program, a student would need to have earned all credits required for a standard or advanced high school diploma by the end of the first semester of his senior year of high school. The provisions of the act would expire July 1, 2014.

S.B. 372

Patron: Barker

State Board for Community Colleges; mental health services. Requires the State Board for Community Colleges to develop standards and policies directing community colleges to adopt, incrementally and as resources become available, a mental health services action plan.

S.B. 373

Patron: Barker

Higher education; violence prevention. Clarifies that the establishment of violence prevention committees and threat assessment teams by public colleges and universities, as required by current law, may occur as such resources and individuals may become available for those purposes.

S.B. 374

Patron: Barker

Higher education; mental health and parental notification policies. Provides that any licensed health professional treating a student may determine to withhold parental notification of a dependent student's mental health treatment if such professional determines that the notification may result in substantial harm. Currently, only a physician or clinical psychologist could make such a determination.

S.B. 458

Patron: Barker

Policies addressing suicidal students; two-year institutions of higher education. Provides that two-year public institutions of higher education shall develop and implement policies to advise students, faculty, and staff of the proper procedures for identifying and addressing the needs of students exhibiting suicidal tendencies or behavior as resources become available for such purpose. The bill also deletes repetitive language permitting universities to establish policies regarding students who are a danger to themselves or others; this section and another on violence prevention already permit such policies.

S.B. 475

Patron: Locke

College partnership laboratory schools; partnering with local school boards. Allows a public or private institution of higher education that operates a teacher education program approved by the Board of Education to operate jointly with one or more local school boards a college partnership laboratory school.

S.B. 623

Patron: Petersen

Higher education; mental health treatment coordination.  Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to establish a written memorandum of understanding with their local community services board or behavioral health authority, local hospitals, and other local mental health facilities in order to coordinate the care of current students. Each institution of higher education shall designate a contact person to be notified when a student is involuntarily committed, or when a student is discharged from a facility and he consents to such notification. Each memorandum shall include the institution of higher education in the post-discharge planning of a student who has been committed, to the extent allowable under state and federal privacy laws.

S.B. 624

Patron: Petersen

Institutions of higher education; suicidal students.  Requires public institutions of higher education to notify parents any time the institution receives notification from any source that a student may be suicidal, to the extent permitted by the federal law.