AN ACT Relating to creating a pilot program for community and technical colleges to offer bachelor degrees; amending RCW 28B.50.140; reenacting and amending RCW 28B.15.069; adding a new section to chapter 28B.50 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

Therefore, the legislature intends to encourage economic development by increasing access to bachelor degrees through expansion of upper-division capacity and the creation of bachelor degree programs at community and technical colleges on a pilot basis.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28B.50 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The college board shall select up to five community or technical colleges to develop and offer programs of study leading to bachelor degrees in high-demand fields of study. Colleges may submit an application to become a pilot college under this section to the college board. The college board shall review the applications and select the pilot colleges using objective criteria, including:

(a) The college demonstrates the capacity to make a long-term commitment of resources to build and sustain a high quality program;

(b) The college has or can readily engage faculty appropriately qualified to develop and deliver a high quality curriculum at the bachelor degree level;

(c) The college can demonstrate demand for the proposed program from a sufficient number of students within its service area to make the program cost-effective and feasible to operate;

(d) The college can demonstrate that employers demand the level of technical training proposed within the program, making it cost-effective for students to seek the degree; and

(e) The proposed program fills a skills gap in the local area or in the state's workforce.

(2)(a) A pilot college selected under this section may develop the curriculum for and design and deliver courses leading to a bachelor degree. However, degree programs developed under this section are subject to approval by the college board under RCW 28B.50.090 before a college may enroll students in upper-division courses.

(b) A pilot college selected under this section may not enroll students in upper-division courses before the 2017 fall academic quarter, except if the degree program has been previously authorized and funded by the legislature. Such program may begin to enroll students in upper-division courses when approved by the college board and accredited. Such program will be counted as one of the five programs authorized by this section.

(a) Pricing and cost models addressing different levels of tuition and state support and in relation to the goal of increasing the number of courses taught by full-time tenure track faculty;

(b) Providing adequate student advising and support services to ensure student success, including financial aid and other financial support services;

(c) Accreditation and academic quality, including acceptance of applied baccalaureate and baccalaureate degrees offered by community and technical colleges for purposes of postgraduate programs and employer demand;

(d) Regional demand for additional baccalaureate degrees; and

(e) Any other factors that the student achievement council or the state board for community and technical colleges deems relevant.

(2) The student achievement council shall conduct the study using existing resources, but may contract with a third-party organization, or request assistance from faculty and graduate research students from the institutions of higher education, for research and analysis services.

(3) The student achievement council shall report the study to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature by November 1, 2018, in accordance with the reporting requirements in RCW 43.01.036.

(4) This section expires August 1, 2019.

Sec. 4.  RCW 28B.15.069 and 2015 3rd sp.s. c 36 s 5 and 2015 3rd sp.s. c 4 s 945 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) The building fee for each academic year shall be a percentage of total tuition fees. This percentage shall be calculated by the office of financial management and be based on the actual percentage the building fee is of total tuition for each tuition category in the 1994-95 academic year, rounded up to the nearest half percent. After October 9, 2015, the dollar value of the building fee shall not be reduced below the level in the 2014-15 academic year adjusted for inflation. As used in this subsection, "inflation" has the meaning in RCW 28B.15.066(2).

(2) The governing boards of each institution of higher education, except for the technical colleges, shall charge to and collect from each student a services and activities fee. A governing board may increase the existing fee annually, consistent with budgeting procedures set forth in RCW 28B.15.045, by a percentage not to exceed the annual percentage increase in student tuition fees for resident undergraduate students: PROVIDED, That such percentage increase shall not apply to that portion of the services and activities fee previously committed to the repayment of bonded debt. These rate adjustments may exceed the fiscal growth factor. For the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium, each governing board is authorized to increase the services and activities fees by amounts judged reasonable and necessary by the services and activities fee committee and the governing board consistent with the budgeting procedures set forth in RCW 28B.15.045. The services and activities fee committee provided for in RCW 28B.15.045 may initiate a request to the governing board for a fee increase.

(3) Tuition and services and activities fees consistent with subsection (2) of this section shall be set by the state board for community and technical colleges for community college summer school students unless the community college charges fees in accordance with RCW 28B.15.515.

(4) Subject to the limitations of RCW 28B.15.910, each governing board of a community college may charge such fees for ungraded courses, noncredit courses, community services courses, and self-supporting courses as it, in its discretion, may determine, consistent with the rules of the state board for community and technical colleges.

(5) The governing board of a college offering an applied baccalaureate degree program under RCW 28B.50.810 or a bachelor degree program described in section 2 of this act may charge tuition fees for those courses above the associate degree level at rates consistent with rules adopted by the state board for community and technical colleges, not to exceed tuition fee rates at the regional universities.

Sec. 5.  RCW 28B.50.140 and 2015 3rd sp.s. c 4 s 946 are each amended to read as follows:

Each board of trustees:

(1) Shall operate all existing community and technical colleges in its district;

(2) Shall create comprehensive programs of community and technical college education and training and maintain an open-door policy in accordance with the provisions of RCW 28B.50.090(3);

(3) Shall employ for a period to be fixed by the board a college president for each community and technical college and, may appoint a president for the district, and fix their duties and compensation, which may include elements other than salary. Compensation under this subsection shall not affect but may supplement retirement, health care, and other benefits that are otherwise applicable to the presidents as state employees. The board shall also employ for a period to be fixed by the board members of the faculty and such other administrative officers and other employees as may be necessary or appropriate and fix their salaries and duties. Except for increments provided with local resources during the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium, compensation and salary increases under this subsection shall not exceed the amount or percentage established for those purposes in the state appropriations act by the legislature as allocated to the board of trustees by the state board for community and technical colleges. The state board for community and technical colleges shall adopt rules defining the permissible elements of compensation under this subsection;

(4) May establish, in accordance with RCW 28B.77.080, new facilities as community needs and interests demand. However, the authority of boards of trustees to purchase or lease major off-campus facilities shall be subject to the approval of the student achievement council pursuant to RCW 28B.77.080;

(5) May establish or lease, operate, equip and maintain dormitories, food service facilities, bookstores and other self-supporting facilities connected with the operation of the community and technical college;

(6) May, with the approval of the college board, borrow money and issue and sell revenue bonds or other evidences of indebtedness for the construction, reconstruction, erection, equipping with permanent fixtures, demolition and major alteration of buildings or other capital assets, and the acquisition of sites, rights-of-way, easements, improvements or appurtenances, for dormitories, food service facilities, and other self-supporting facilities connected with the operation of the community and technical college in accordance with the provisions of RCW 28B.10.300 through 28B.10.330 where applicable;

(7) May establish fees and charges for the facilities authorized hereunder, including reasonable rules and regulations for the government thereof, not inconsistent with the rules of the college board; each board of trustees operating a community and technical college may enter into agreements, subject to rules of the college board, with owners of facilities to be used for housing regarding the management, operation, and government of such facilities, and any board entering into such an agreement may:

(a) Make rules for the government, management and operation of such housing facilities deemed necessary or advisable; and

(b) Employ necessary employees to govern, manage and operate the same;

(8) May receive such gifts, grants, conveyances, devises and bequests of real or personal property from private sources, as may be made from time to time, in trust or otherwise, whenever the terms and conditions thereof will aid in carrying out the community and technical college programs as specified by law and the rules of the state college board; sell, lease or exchange, invest or expend the same or the proceeds, rents, profits and income thereof according to the terms and conditions thereof; and adopt rules to govern the receipt and expenditure of the proceeds, rents, profits and income thereof;

(9) May establish and maintain night schools whenever in the discretion of the board of trustees it is deemed advisable, and authorize classrooms and other facilities to be used for summer or night schools, or for public meetings and for any other uses consistent with the use of such classrooms or facilities for community and technical college purposes;

(10) May make rules for pedestrian and vehicular traffic on property owned, operated, or maintained by the district;

(11) Shall prescribe, with the assistance of the faculty, the course of study in the various departments of the community and technical college or colleges under its control, and publish such catalogues and bulletins as may become necessary;

(12) May grant to every student, upon graduation or completion of a course of study, a suitable diploma, degree, or certificate under the rules of the state board for community and technical colleges that are appropriate to their mission. The purposes of these diplomas, certificates, and degrees are to lead individuals directly to employment in a specific occupation or prepare individuals for a bachelor's degree or beyond. Technical colleges may only offer transfer degrees that prepare students for bachelor's degrees in professional fields, subject to rules adopted by the college board. In adopting rules, the college board, where possible, shall create consistency between community and technical colleges and may address issues related to tuition and fee rates; tuition waivers; enrollment counting, including the use of credits instead of clock hours; degree granting authority; or any other rules necessary to offer the associate degrees that prepare students for transfer to bachelor's degrees in professional areas. Only colleges under RCW 28B.50.810 or section 2 of this act may award baccalaureate degrees. The board, upon recommendation of the faculty, may also confer honorary associate of arts degrees, or if it is authorized to award baccalaureate degrees may confer honorary bachelor of applied science degrees, upon persons other than graduates of the community college, in recognition of their learning or devotion to education, literature, art, or science. No degree may be conferred in consideration of the payment of money or the donation of any kind of property;

(13) Shall enforce the rules prescribed by the state board for community and technical colleges for the government of community and technical colleges, students and teachers, and adopt such rules and perform all other acts not inconsistent with law or rules of the state board for community and technical colleges as the board of trustees may in its discretion deem necessary or appropriate to the administration of college districts: PROVIDED, That such rules shall include, but not be limited to, rules relating to housing, scholarships, conduct at the various community and technical college facilities, and discipline: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That the board of trustees may suspend or expel from community and technical colleges students who refuse to obey any of the duly adopted rules;

(14) May, by written order filed in its office, delegate to the president or district president any of the powers and duties vested in or imposed upon it by this chapter. Such delegated powers and duties may be exercised in the name of the district board;

(15) May perform such other activities consistent with this chapter and not in conflict with the directives of the college board;

(16) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, may offer educational services on a contractual basis other than the tuition and fee basis set forth in chapter 28B.15 RCW for a special fee to private or governmental entities, consistent with rules adopted by the state board for community and technical colleges: PROVIDED, That the whole of such special fee shall go to the college district and be not less than the full instructional costs of such services including any salary increases authorized by the legislature for community and technical college employees during the term of the agreement: PROVIDED FURTHER, That enrollments generated hereunder shall not be counted toward the official enrollment level of the college district for state funding purposes;

(17) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, may offer educational services on a contractual basis, charging tuition and fees as set forth in chapter 28B.15 RCW, counting such enrollments for state funding purposes, and may additionally charge a special supplemental fee when necessary to cover the full instructional costs of such services: PROVIDED, That such contracts shall be subject to review by the state board for community and technical colleges and to such rules as the state board may adopt for that purpose in order to assure that the sum of the supplemental fee and the normal state funding shall not exceed the projected total cost of offering the educational service: PROVIDED FURTHER, That enrollments generated by courses offered on the basis of contracts requiring payment of a share of the normal costs of the course will be discounted to the percentage provided by the college;

(18) Shall be authorized to pay dues to any association of trustees that may be formed by the various boards of trustees; such association may expend any or all of such funds to submit biennially, or more often if necessary, to the governor and to the legislature, the recommendations of the association regarding changes which would affect the efficiency of such association;

(19) May participate in higher education centers and consortia that involve any four-year public or independent college or university in accordance with RCW 28B.77.080;

(20) Shall perform any other duties and responsibilities imposed by law or rule of the state board; and

(21) May confer honorary associate of arts degrees upon persons who request an honorary degree if they were students at the college in 1942 and did not graduate because they were ordered into an internment camp. The honorary degree may also be requested by a representative of deceased persons who meet these requirements. For the purposes of this subsection, "internment camp" means a relocation center to which persons were ordered evacuated by Presidential Executive Order 9066, signed on February 19, 1942.

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