BILL REQ. #:  H-2164.1 

Read first time 03/04/2005.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to minimum admission standards for public four-year institutions of higher education; and amending RCW 28B.76.290.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 28B.76.290 and 1993 c 77 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     The board shall coordinate educational activities among all segments of higher education taking into account the educational programs, facilities, and other resources of both public and independent two and four-year colleges and universities. The four-year institutions and the state board for community and technical colleges shall coordinate information and activities with the board. The board shall have the following additional responsibilities:
     (1) Promote interinstitutional cooperation;
     (2) Establish minimum admission standards for four-year institutions, including a requirement that coursework in American sign language or an American Indian language shall satisfy any requirement for instruction in a language other than English that the board or the institutions may establish as a general undergraduate admissions requirement. Minimum admission standards established by the board shall accommodate the nontraditional course schedules and integrated academic and vocational curricula offered by career and technical education and skills centers so that the standards are not a barrier to admission for students enrolled in these programs;
     (3) Establish transfer policies;
     (4) Adopt rules implementing statutory residency requirements;
     (5) Develop and administer reciprocity agreements with bordering states and the province of British Columbia;
     (6) Review and recommend compensation practices and levels for administrative employees, exempt under chapter 28B.16 RCW, and faculty using comparative data from peer institutions;
     (7) Monitor higher education activities for compliance with all relevant state policies for higher education;
     (8) Arbitrate disputes between and among four-year institutions or between and among four-year institutions and community colleges at the request of one or more of the institutions involved, or at the request of the governor, or from a resolution adopted by the legislature. The decision of the board shall be binding on the participants in the dispute;
     (9) Establish and implement a state system for collecting, analyzing, and distributing information;
     (10) Recommend to the governor and the legislature ways to remove any economic incentives to use off-campus program funds for on-campus activities; and
     (11) Make recommendations to increase minority participation, and monitor and report on the progress of minority participation in higher education.