H-4247

AN ACT Relating to gender equity; and amending RCW 28B.15.460 and 28B.15.740.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 28B.15.460 and 1989 c 340 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((~~An institution of higher education~~)) A state university, regional university, or state college shall not grant any waivers for the purpose of achieving gender equity until the 1991-92 academic year, and may grant waivers for the purpose of achieving gender equity in intercollegiate athletic programs as authorized in RCW 28B.15.740, for the 1991-92 academic year only if the institution's governing board has adopted a plan for complying with the provisions of RCW 28B.15.455 and submitted the plan to the higher education coordinating board. Community colleges shall comply with this subsection by the 1992-93 academic year.

(2) Beginning in the 1992-93 academic year, ((~~an institution of higher education~~)) a state university, regional university, or state college shall not grant any waiver for the purpose of achieving gender equity in intercollegiate athletic programs as authorized in RCW 28B.15.740 unless the institution's plan has been approved by the higher education coordinating board. Community colleges shall comply with this subsection by the 1993-94 academic year.

(3) The plan shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) For any ((~~institution~~)) state university, regional university, or state college with an underrepresented gender class, provisions that ensure that by July 1, 1994, the institution shall provide athletic opportunities for the underrepresented gender class at a rate that meets or exceeds the rate at which that class participates in high school interscholastic athletics in Washington state not to exceed the point at which the underrepresented gender class is no longer underrepresented;

(b) Activities to be undertaken by the institution to increase participation rates of any underrepresented gender class in interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics. These activities may include, but are not limited to: Sponsoring equity conferences, coaches clinics and sports clinics; and taking a leadership role in working with athletic conferences to reduce barriers to participation by those gender classes in interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics;

(c) An identification of barriers to achieving and maintaining equitable intercollegiate athletic opportunities for men and women; and

(d) Measures to achieve institutional compliance with the provisions of RCW 28B.15.455.

Community colleges shall comply with this subsection (3) by July 1, 1995.

Sec. 2. RCW 28B.15.740 and 1989 c 340 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The boards of trustees or regents of each of the state's regional universities, The Evergreen State College, or state universities, and the various community colleges, consistent with regulations and procedures established by the state board for community and technical colleges ((~~education~~)), may waive, in whole or in part, tuition and services and activities fees subject to the limitations set forth in subsections (2) and (3).

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the total dollar amount of tuition and fee waivers awarded by any state university, regional university, or state college, shall not exceed four percent, and for the community colleges considered as a whole, such amount shall not exceed three percent of an amount determined by estimating the total collections from tuition and services and activities fees had no such waivers been made and deducting the portion of that total amount which is attributable to the difference between resident and nonresident fees: PROVIDED, That at least three-fourths of the dollars waived shall be for needy students who are eligible for resident tuition and fee rates pursuant to RCW 28B.15.012 through 28B.15.015: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the remainder of the dollars waived, not to exceed one-fourth of the total, may be applied to other students at the discretion of the board of trustees or regents, except on the basis of participation in intercollegiate athletic programs: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the waivers for undergraduate and graduate students of foreign nations under RCW 28B.15.556 are not subject to the limitation under this section.

(3) In addition to the tuition and fee waivers provided in subsection (2) of this section and subject to the provisions of RCW 28B.15.455 and 28B.15.460, a total dollar amount of tuition and fee waivers awarded by any state university, regional university, ((or)) state college, or community college, not to exceed one percent, as calculated in subsection (2) of this section, may be used for the purpose of achieving or maintaining gender equity in intercollegiate athletic programs. At any institution that has an underrepresented gender class in intercollegiate athletics, any such waivers shall be awarded:

(a) First, to members of the underrepresented gender class who participate in intercollegiate athletics, where such waivers result in saved or displaced money that can be used for athletic programs for the underrepresented gender class. Such saved or displaced money shall be used for programs for the underrepresented gender class; and

(b) Second, (i) to nonmembers of the underrepresented gender class who participate in intercollegiate athletics, where such waivers result in saved or displaced money that can be used for athletic programs for members of the underrepresented gender class. Such saved or displaced money shall be used for programs for the underrepresented gender class; or (ii) to members of the underrepresented gender class who participate in intercollegiate athletics, where such waivers do not result in any saved or displaced money that can be used for athletic programs for members of the underrepresented gender class.