BILL REQ. #:  S-1408.1 

Read first time 02/10/2005.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education.

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

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the United States military academy at West Point, Virginia, the naval academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the air force academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado actively combat a history of prior discrimination and have strong policies to admit a diverse student body. The military service academies work to create a truly integrated officer corps. The legislature finds that the standards that are appropriate for creating diversity at these prestigious institutions are also appropriate for entrance into our state's four-year institutions of higher education. The standards that are good enough for selecting students who will be called upon to give their lives for this nation should also apply when selecting students who are simply starting their college careers. These same policies that make our military strong will strengthen our classrooms and campuses and provide for our short and long-term economic effectiveness.

Sec. 2   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. In establishing minimum entrance standards, the board shall include policies identical to those used by the United States military academy to create a diverse student body;
     (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)) 41.06 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.