SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2020 SESSION

  • print version
Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Higher Education

Locke (Chair), Petersen, Cosgrove, Chafin, Hashmi

Date of Meeting: February 3, 2020
Time and Place: 30 min. after Adj., Subcommittee Room 2, 5th Fl. Pocahontas Bldg.

S.B. 99

Patron: Marsden

Public institutions of higher education; admissions applications; criminal history. Prohibits each public institution of higher education from (i) utilizing an institution-specific admissions application that contains questions about the criminal history of the applicant; (ii) denying admission to any applicant on the basis of any criminal history information provided by the applicant on any third-party admissions application accepted by the institution; or (iii) otherwise inquiring about the criminal history of an applicant for admission prior to the applicant receiving a conditional offer of acceptance from the institution.

S.B. 146

Patron: Stuart

Public institutions of higher education; tuition and mandatory fee increase; student approval. Provides that no increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees approved by a governing board of a public institution of higher education shall take effect unless such increase receives an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of undergraduate students enrolled in such institution.

S.B. 147

Patron: Stuart

Public institutions of higher education; chief executive officer compensation. Provides mandates for when any governing board of a public institution of higher education or committee of such board considers increasing the compensation of the institution's chief executive officer as defined in § 23.1-100 or amending the board's policies and procedures relating to the compensation of the chief executive officer. The bill provides that the board or committee shall provide written notice of the rationale for such amendment or the rationale for, source of funding for, and amount of such increase to the public in advance of any meeting at which the board or committee votes on the amendment or increase. The bill also provides that members of the public shall be provided the opportunity to provide public comment on the compensation, that the board or committee shall vote on the compensation in an open meeting, and that no executive compensation increase shall be approved in a year in which there is a tuition increase.

S.B. 220

Patron: Marsden

In-state tuition; domicile; individuals granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Declares that, absent congressional intent to the contrary, any individual currently granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has the capacity to intend to remain in the Commonwealth indefinitely and is therefore eligible to establish domicile and receive in-state tuition charges at any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth.

S.B. 271

Patron: Bell

Public institutions of higher education; public-private partnerships; wind and solar power. Permits each public institution of higher education to enter into a public-private partnership with any private entity whereby such entity is permitted to use at no cost property owned or controlled by such public institution of higher education for the generation of wind or solar power in exchange for offering educational immersion programs for high school students and students at public institutions of higher education that provide hands-on education and training in the construction, operations, and maintenance of its wind or solar power generators. The bill requires any energy produced by such solar or wind power generators to be (i) used to provide power for the partner public institution of higher education or (ii) introduced to applicable power grids and sold at market rates, with profits split as agreed upon by the private entity and the partner public institution of higher education. The bill requires any such profits gained by the partner public institution of higher education to be used to further research, expand clean energy education programs, or lower student tuition rates.

S.B. 448

Patron: Edwards

Public institutions of higher education; contracting firms; president of the institution; delegation. Allows a president of a public institution of higher education to delegate to an officer or administrator of the institution his obligation to determine and make a written finding as a matter of public record that a contract is in the best interests of the institution when an officer or employee whose personal interest in a contract with the institution is by reason of an ownership in the contracting firm in excess of three percent of the contracting firm's equity or such ownership interest and income from the contracting firm is in excess of $5,000 per year.

S.B. 464

Patron: Reeves

Institutions of higher education; intercollegiate athletics; student-athletes; compensation, representation, and injury. Prohibits any private institution of higher education, baccalaureate public institution of higher education, athletic association, athletic conference, or other organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics from (i) providing a prospective student-athlete with compensation that results from the use of the student's name, image, or likeness; (ii) prohibiting or preventing a student-athlete from earning from another individual or entity compensation that results from the use of the student's name, image, or likeness, except in certain limited circumstances; (iii) prohibiting or preventing a student-athlete from obtaining professional representation by an athlete agent or legal representation by an attorney licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth; or (iv) declaring ineligible for or revoking a scholarship provided to a student-athlete who earns compensation that results from the use of the student's name, image, or likeness. The bill prohibits any athletic association, athletic conference, or other organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics from prohibiting or preventing a private institution of higher education or baccalaureate public institution of higher education from becoming a member of or participating in intercollegiate athletics sponsored by such association, conference, or organization as a consequence of the compensation of a student-athlete at such institution that results from the use of the student-athlete's name, image, or likeness. The bill requires each private institution of higher education and each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to establish (i) a sports injury compensation fund into which the institution shall deposit 7.5 percent of the revenue earned from its intercollegiate athletics programs and from which any student-athlete who suffers a serious or career-ending injury during a practice or competition may apply for compensation upon his graduation and (ii) a wage fund into which the institution shall deposit 7.5 percent of the revenue earned from its intercollegiate athletics programs and from which each student-athlete shall receive an equal amount of compensation at the end of each academic year. The foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024. The bill also requires the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System to convene a work group consisting of such members as the Chancellor deems appropriate to consider and make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly no later July 1, 2022, relating to the compensation and representation of student-athletes enrolled at comprehensive community colleges in the Commonwealth.

S.B. 841

Patron: Petersen

George Mason University; establishment of a school of medicine. States that it is the sense of the General Assembly that George Mason University shall be permitted to take steps to investigate and pursue the potential of establishing a school of medicine in the Northern Virginia area.

S.B. 895

Patron: DeSteph

Public institutions of higher education; six-year plans; pricing structure and tuition discounting strategies. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to include in each six-year plan for the institution a detailed explanation of the institution's pricing structure and tuition discounting strategies, including pricing by student income level and the use of tuition revenue for financial aid.

S.B. 904

Patron: Vogel

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; public institutions of higher education; dyslexia and literacy; multisensory structured language education. Directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to facilitate the development of a statewide coalition of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth to gather and share information on the latest evidence-based methods and approaches to effectively educate K%9612 students in reading, including multisensory structured language education to instruct students with dyslexia. The bill states that each public institution's school of education, education department, or relevant department for the career paths of K%9612 reading specialists and teachers may collect such information and collaborate with other public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth regarding the latest reliable research for reading instruction to all K%9612 students, with an emphasis on improving reading instruction to students with dyslexia. Each public institution of higher education may implement information learned through the coalition in the institution's undergraduate and graduate degree programs in education.

S.B. 937

Patron: Surovell

Virginia Community College System; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Scholarship Pilot Program. Directs the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to establish and administer a two-year Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Scholarship Pilot Program, beginning in 2020, for the purpose of providing access to postsecondary educational opportunities to students living in poverty. The Program would provide scholarships to select comprehensive community colleges in the maximum amount of $4,000 per year to 200 selected students who meet TANF eligibility requirements. The Program would be funded by the unexpended balance in federal TANF block grant funds. The bill directs VCCS to report to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 1 of each year of the Program regarding the effectiveness of and other information about the Program.

S.B. 994

Patron: Norment

Virginia Military Institute. Provides that Virginia Military Institute (the Institute) shall be grounded in a strict code of honor and academic excellence, shall uphold a strict military structure, and shall remain solely an undergraduate degree-granting public institution of higher education. All cadets shall participate in one of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) programs at all times while attending the Institute. The bill provides that the Adjutant General, who is a member of the board of visitors (the board), shall serve as an ex officio nonvoting member. Current law states that the Adjutant General shall serve ex officio. The bill removes the requirement that the board get the prior written consent of the Governor in order to exercise its powers regarding gifts, grants, devises, and bequests. The bill states that the board shall prescribe the terms upon which all cadets, and not just pay cadets, may be admitted, their number, the course of their instruction, and the nature and duration of their service. The bill provides that the Institute, rather than the board, may admit annually as state cadets, upon evidence of fair moral character, individuals selected from the Commonwealth at large who are at least 16 but not more than 25 years old. The bill replaces the current provision allowing the Institute to admit military scholarship cadets to allow the Institute to admit Virginia National Guard scholarship cadets and removes the annual cap of 40 such scholarships. The bill expands who can confer degrees to include the superintendent and removes the authority of the board to confer honorary degrees or diplomas of distinguished merit.

S.B. 1041

Patron: Obenshain

Online Virginia Network Authority; James Madison University. Adds the President of James Madison University or his designee and one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by James Madison University to the members of the board of trustees of the Online Virginia Network Authority. The bill also adds James Madison University to the institutions of higher education for which the Online Virginia Network, established by the Authority, will facilitate the completion of degrees.

S.B. 1068

Patron: Kiggans

Higher education; in-state tuition. Provides that if the Average Consumer Price Index for all items, all urban consumers (CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, from January 1 through December 31 of the year immediately preceding the affected academic year, is less than or equal to zero, no governing board of a baccalaureate public institution of higher education shall increase the in-state tuition rate charged to undergraduate students for such academic year. The bill provides that if the CPI-U is greater than zero, (i) the governing board of a baccalaureate public institution of higher education at which the in-state tuition rate charged to undergraduate students does not meet or exceed the average undergraduate tuition rate across all baccalaureate public institutions of higher education may increase the in-state tuition rate in an amount not to exceed the product of the CPI-U and the average undergraduate tuition rate across all baccalaureate public institutions of higher education and (ii) the governing board of a baccalaureate public institution of higher education at which the in-state tuition rate charged to undergraduate students meets or exceeds the average undergraduate tuition rate across all baccalaureate public institutions of higher education may increase the in-state tuition rate at a percentage not to exceed the CPI-U. The bill also provides that the foregoing provisions shall apply to the Virginia Community College System if the tuition charged to any Virginia student at a comprehensive community college meets or exceeds the lowest in-state tuition rate charged to undergraduate students at a baccalaureate public institution of higher education.