A. The Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance, the Secretary of Finance and the public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, shall convene a Higher Education Advisory Committee (Advisory Committee) to provide advice and make recommendations on the matters set forth in subsections B, C and D. The Advisory Committee shall consist of 10 members as follows: a representative of the Office of the Secretary of Education, to be appointed by the Secretary of Education, and who shall serve as chair of the Advisory Committee; a representative of the Office of the Secretary of Finance, to be appointed by the Secretary of Finance; a representative of the Council, to be appointed by the Chairman of the Council; the staff directors of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, or their designees; and the presidents or their designees of five public institutions of higher education, including two doctoral institutions, two comprehensive institutions, and one from the Virginia Community College System. The presidents of all of the public institutions of higher education shall select the institutions to be represented on the Advisory Committee, subject to the parameters set forth in this section. The Governor shall also appoint a representative from a private, nonprofit institution of higher education; however, such representative shall not provide advice or make recommendations concerning policies that solely impact public institutions of higher education. Both the Governor and the Advisory Committee may designate other persons to serve on the Advisory Committee, including but not limited to representatives of academic and instructional faculty or fiscal officers from state institutions of higher education.
B. Consistent with the objectives of this chapter identified in § 23-38.87:10, the Advisory Committee, in consultation with and with assistance from the staff of the Council and such other assistance it may need, shall develop and review at least every five years, in consultation with the respective Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and on Education and Health, or their designees, representatives of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, and such other state officials as may be designated by the Governor:
1. The methodology pursuant to subsection A of § 23-38.87:14 for determining how a significant increment of state funding shall follow the student to the two-year or four-year institution in which the student enrolls, how the amount of such per student funding for four-year institutions will be made to correspond as nearly as practical to the per student allocation envisioned under the then-existing appropriation for the Tuition Assistance Grant Act (§ 23-38.11 et seq.) for students attending private nonprofit higher education institutions in the Commonwealth, how and as of what date an institution’s student enrollment shall be calculated, how an increase or decrease in Virginia undergraduate student enrollment above or below the enrollment level used to calculate the institution’s funding under § 23-38.87:13 shall be reflected in the institution’s appropriation pursuant to subsection A of § 23-38.87:14, and the standards and process for determining whether an increase or decrease in Virginia undergraduate student enrollment qualifies for funding under § 23-38.87:14;
2. Criteria for determining which families qualify as “low-income” and “middle-income” for purposes of § 23-38.87:15 and how they relate to federal, state and institutional policies governing the provision of financial assistance to students of such families;
3. Objective performance criteria for measuring the financial incentives set forth in § 23-38.87:16, and benefits or consequences for meeting or not meeting the incentives included in an institution’s six-year plan pursuant to § 23-38.87:17;
4. Economic opportunity metrics, such as marketplace demand, earning potential, and employer satisfaction, and other indicators of the historical and projected economic value of degrees that can be used to assess degree programs in order to provide useful information on the economic impact of degrees to students as they make career choices and to state policy makers and university decision makers as they decide how to allocate scarce resources;
5. The additional authority that should be granted to all public institutions of higher education under the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act (§ 23-38.88 et seq.), state goals and objectives each public institution of higher education should be expected to achieve, objective criteria for measuring educational-related performance with regard to those goals and objectives, and the benefits or consequences for meeting or not meeting those goals and objectives, including those set forth in § 2.2-5005; and
6. The role of nonpublic institutions in addressing the goals set forth in this chapter and make recommendations regarding such matters.The Advisory Committee shall submit its recommendations to the Council, which shall review the recommendations and report its recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and on Education and Health.
C. Consistent with the purposes of this chapter identified in § 23-38.87:10, the Advisory Committee, in consultation with and with assistance from the staff of the Council and such other assistance as it may need, shall review at least every five years, in consultation with the respective Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and on Education and Health, or their designees, representatives of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, and such other state officials as may be designated by the Governor:
1. Federal and state financial aid programs and institutional practices to ensure that the appropriate level of financial assistance is being provided to both low-income and middle-income families, as required by § 23-38.87:15, including loan forgiveness programs targeted by purpose in furtherance of the objective of this chapter; and
2. The Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act (§ 23-38.88 et seq.) to identify additional ways to reduce costs and enhance efficiency by increasing managerial autonomy with accountability at the institutional level.The Advisory Committee shall submit its recommendations to the Council, which shall review the recommendations and report its recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and on Education and Health.
D. The Advisory Committee shall periodically assess, based upon the institutions’ six-year plans and other relevant factors, the degree to which the Commonwealth’s system of higher education is meeting the statewide objectives of economic impact, reform, affordability, and access reflected in this chapter, as well as the strategic impact of new general fund investments on achieving those objectives. The Advisory Committee shall submit its assessment and recommendations to the Council, which shall review the assessment and recommendations and report its recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and on Education and Health.
E. In addition to providing advice and making recommendations on the matters set forth in subsections B, C and D, the Advisory Committee shall perform such other duties and undertake such other responsibilities as requested by the Governor or the General Assembly.
History
2011, cc. 828, 869.
