1997-S

AN ACT Relating to higher education; amending RCW 43.88.140 and 28B.80.330; adding new sections to chapter 28B.80 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28B.120 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 28B.10 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds a need to redefine the relationship between the state and its postsecondary education institutions through a compact based on trust, evidence, and a new alignment of responsibilities. As the proportion of the state budget dedicated to postsecondary education programs has continued to decrease and the opportunity for this state's citizens to participate in such programs also has declined, the state institutions of higher education have increasingly less flexibility to respond to emerging challenges through innovative management and programming. The legislature finds that this state has not provided its institutions of higher education with the ability to effectively achieve state-wide goals and objectives to increase access to, improve the quality of, and enhance the accountability for its postsecondary education system.

Therefore, the legislature declares that the policy of the state of Washington is to create an environment in which the state institutions of higher education have the authority and flexibility to enhance attainment of state-wide goals and objectives for the state's postsecondary education system through decisions and actions at the local level. The policy shall have the following attributes:

(1) The accomplishment of equitable and adequate enrollment by significantly raising enrollment lids, adequately funding those increases, and providing sufficient financial aid for needy students;

(2) The development and use of a new definition of quality measured by effective operations and clear results; the efficient use of funds to achieve well-educated students;

(3) The attainment of a new resource management relationship that removes the state from micromanagement, allows institutions greater management autonomy to focus resources on essential functions, and encourages innovation; and

(4) The development of a system of coordinated planning and sufficient feedback to assure policymakers and citizens that students are succeeding and resources are being prudently deployed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

(1) At the local level, the higher education institutional responsibilities include but are not limited to:

(a) Development and provision of strategic plans under the guidelines established by the higher education coordinating board;

(b) Timely provision of information required by the higher education coordinating board to report to the governor, the legislature, and the citizens;

(c) Provision of local student financial aid delivery systems to achieve both state-wide goals and institutional objectives in concert with state-wide policy; and

(d) Operating as efficiently as feasible within institutional missions and goals.

(2) At the state level, the higher education coordinating board shall be responsible for:

(a) Delineation and coordination of strategic plans to be prepared by the institutions;

(b) Preparation of reports to the governor, the legislature, and the citizens on program accomplishments and use of resources by the institutions;

(d) Assistance to institutions in improving operational efficiency through measures that include periodic review of program efficiencies.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28B.120 RCW to read as follows:

It is the policy of the state of Washington that incentives be provided in the omnibus appropriations act, as submitted by the governor, in support of innovations to improve the higher education system. It is the intent of the legislature that an amount equal to one-half of one percent of the proposed appropriations for the institutions of higher education and the state board for community and technical colleges be provided for this purpose in the Washington fund for excellence in higher education program administered by the higher education coordinating board under chapter 28B.120 RCW. Priorities for funding the types of innovations that meet state-wide goals may be described in the omnibus appropriations act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:

The legislature finds encouragement of sound management practices in public institutions of higher education and the state board for community and technical colleges will enhance the achievement of state-wide goals and objectives through better use of available resources. The legislature also finds that permitting institutions to keep state funds saved through management efficiencies and productivity gains that do not reduce instructional services to students would benefit students and the citizens of the state. The legislature intends to permit institutions to retain state funds saved at the end of a biennium without offsetting those funds in subsequent biennial budgets.

Sec. 5. RCW 43.88.140 and 1981 c 270 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) All appropriations shall lapse at the end of the fiscal period for which the appropriations are made to the extent that they have not been expended or lawfully obligated.

(2) Appropriations made to any institution of higher education that meet the requirements of sections 6 and 7 of this act are exempt from subsection (1) of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:

The higher education efficiency account for [institution's name] is created in the custody of the state treasurer. The account may receive moneys through gifts, grants, or donations to the state for the purposes of the account. In each omnibus biennial appropriations act, the legislature intends to appropriate any moneys that are unexpended or unencumbered on the last day of each biennium at each institution into the institution's higher education efficiency account. Any state general fund appropriations made to an institution's higher education efficiency account that are unexpended or unencumbered on the last day of any biennium shall be deposited in the account. Expenditures from the account shall be used only in accordance with the plan adopted by the institution's governing board as required under section 7 of this act. Only the governing board or its designee may authorize expenditures from the account. Moneys in the account shall not be expended for promotions, the correction of salary inequities or market disparities, or for salary or enrollment increases above the level set in the biennial appropriations acts.

No appropriation is required for an expenditure from the account. The account is not subject to the allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW. Unexpended and unencumbered moneys that remain in the account at the end of the biennium do not revert to the state general fund, but remain in the account. However, if by the beginning of the next calendar year, the institution's governing board has not approved the institution's expenditure plan, moneys in the account shall revert to the state general fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:

An institution of higher education that meets the following requirements may retain unexpended state appropriations at the end of a fiscal period.

(1) Before any funds are expended, the institution's governing board shall adopt an expenditure plan for the funds.

(2) The expenditure plan may include, but is not limited to the following types of activities:

(a) Matching private donations to the distinguished professorship, graduate fellowship, and exceptional faculty awards programs;

(b) Recruiting and retaining underrepresented minorities and students with disabilities;

(d) Enhancing instructional quality; and

(e) Participating in collaborative efforts with other educational sectors.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

In cooperation with institutions of higher education, the state board for community and technical colleges, and appropriate state and local agencies, the higher education coordinating board may identify methods to reduce administrative barriers to efficient institutional operations. These methods may include waivers of statutory requirements and administrative rules for institutional operations on a pilot basis where such waivers would probably result in efficiencies for the institutions and the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

The higher education coordinating board, in conjunction with the four-year institutions of higher education, shall conduct a study of higher education system operations to identify efficiencies to increase access to, improve the quality of, and reduce the cost of higher education. This study shall include but not be limited to:

(1) Examining potential unnecessary duplicative and low-productivity programs for possible consolidation or termination;

(2) Developing criteria for and conducting an evaluation of faculty productivity;

(3) Reviewing and developing recommendations on appropriate institutional roles for providing remedial instruction;

(4) Exploring the potential for greater use of the public higher education system physical plant and other resources through such means as expanded operations during summer terms, evenings, and weekends;

(5) Initiating pilot projects to test the effectiveness of actions such as variable tuition rates and faculty salary incentives; and

(6) Identifying ways for institutions to share resources, faculty, and curricula through collaboration with other public and private postsecondary institutions and common school districts in their service areas to increase student opportunities and reduce costs. Analyses shall include clear articulation of functions among institutions, means to reduce duplication, and policies to facilitate student movement among institutions.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

The higher education coordinating board, in conjunction with the state board for community and technical colleges and the institutions of higher education, shall report regularly to the legislature and the citizens the accomplishments of, expenditures for, and requirements of the postsecondary educational system in the state of Washington. The state board for community and technical colleges and the state institutions of higher education shall report uniformly to the higher education coordinating board, on an annual basis, the information necessary to prepare the report. Independent colleges and universities are encouraged to cooperate with this effort and to provide to the board information in a uniform format developed by the board, in cooperation with the institutions. Examples of performance measures that could be included are:

(1) Retention and graduation rates;

(2) Average time to a degree;

(3) Credit hours per degree awarded;

(4) Degrees awarded by discipline and by level;

(5) Multiple degrees;

(6) Measures taken to reduce duplicative courses, programs, and requirements;

(7) Student-faculty contact hours;

(8) Placement rates;

(9) Success in recruiting and graduating underrepresented groups; and

(10) Various fiscal and management measures.

Sec. 11. RCW 28B.80.330 and 1985 c 370 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

The board shall perform the following planning duties in consultation with the four-year institutions, the community and technical college system, and when appropriate the ((~~commission for vocational education~~)) work force training and education coordinating board, the superintendent of public instruction for the vocational-technical institutes, and the independent higher educational institutions:

(1) Develop and establish role and mission statements for each of the four-year institutions and for the community and technical college system;

(2) Identify the state's higher education goals, objectives, and priorities;

(3) Prepare a comprehensive master plan which includes but is not limited to:

(a) Assessments of the state's higher education needs. These assessments may include, but are not limited to: The basic and continuing needs of various age groups; business and industrial needs for a skilled workforce; analyses of demographic, social, and economic trends; consideration of the changing ethnic composition of the population and the special needs arising from such trends; college attendance, retention, and dropout rates, and the needs of recent high school graduates and placebound adults. The board should consider the needs of residents of all geographic regions, but its initial priorities should be applied to heavily populated areas underserved by public institutions;

(b) Recommendations on enrollment and other policies and actions to meet those needs;

The initial plan shall be submitted to the governor and the legislature by December 1, 1987. Comments on the plan from the board's advisory committees and the institutions shall be submitted with the plan.

The plan shall be updated ((~~biennially~~)) every four years, and presented to the governor and the appropriate legislative policy committees. Following public hearings, the legislature shall, by concurrent resolution, approve or recommend changes to the initial plan, and the ((~~biennial~~)) updates. The plan shall then become state higher education policy unless legislation is enacted to alter the policies set forth in the plan;

(4) Review, evaluate, and make recommendations on operating and capital budget requests from four-year institutions and the community and technical college system, based on the elements outlined in subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section, and on guidelines which outline the board's fiscal priorities. These guidelines shall be distributed to the institutions and the community college board by December of each odd-numbered year. The institutions and the community college board shall submit an outline of their proposed budgets, identifying major components, to the board no later than August 1 of each even-numbered year. The board shall submit recommendations on the proposed budgets and on the board's budget priorities to the office of financial management before October 15 of each even-numbered year, and to the legislature by January 1 of each odd-numbered year;

(5) Recommend legislation affecting higher education;

(6) Recommend tuition and fees policies and levels based on comparisons with peer institutions;

(7) Establish priorities and develop recommendations on financial aid based on comparisons with peer institutions;

(8) Prepare recommendations on merging or closing institutions; and

(9) Develop criteria for identifying the need for new baccalaureate institutions.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1993.