BILL REQ. #:  H-0703.1 

Read first time 02/02/09.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to high-cost critical programs; and amending RCW 28B.76.290 and 28B.76.020.

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;
     (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; and
     (12) In close collaboration with the workforce training and education coordinating board, identify high-cost critical programs as defined in RCW 28B.76.020 and manage competitive processes for awarding funds for those programs. Institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 and private independent institutions are eligible to apply for funding and may submit proposals.

Sec. 2   RCW 28B.76.020 and 1985 c 370 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((For the purposes of)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter((:)) unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Board" means the higher education coordinating board((; and)).
     (2) "Four-year institutions" means the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Western Washington University, and The Evergreen State College.
     (3) "High-cost critical program" means an undergraduate or graduate certificate or degree program:
     (a) In which the number of students per year prepared for employment from in-state programs is substantially fewer than the number of projected job openings per year in that field, either statewide or in a substate region;
     (b) In which the documented cost of instruction is significantly higher than the median cost of instruction for other degree or certificate programs offered at the same institution of higher education;
     (c) That prepares completers for professions with high job vacancy rates that are not anticipated to be alleviated without additional program capacity or by in-migration of educated workers from other states; and
     (d) That is widely acknowledged to provide high public value.