Bill Text: AZ HB2147 | 2010 | Forty-ninth Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Eastern Arizona college
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-22 - Referred to House APPROP Committee [HB2147 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2010-HB2147-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: eastern Arizona college |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Forty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session 2010
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HB 2147 |
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Introduced by Representative Konopnicki
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AN ACT
amending section 15‑1409, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending Title 15, chapter 12, article 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-1453; amending section 15‑1466, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to community colleges.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-1409, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-1409. Provisional community college districts; formation; provisional community college district governing board; powers and duties
A. A provisional community college district shall contract with an existing community college district to provide instructional and student services within the provisional community college district.
B. The minimum assessed valuation and population requirements prescribed in section 15‑1402 do not apply to provisional community college districts.
C. A provisional community college district shall be formed and a provisional community college district governing board shall be elected in the same manner prescribed in sections 15‑1403, 15‑1404 and 15‑1441, except that the county board of supervisors by majority vote may adopt a resolution to submit the question of the formation of a provisional community college district and the approval of a proposed tax rate to fund the provisional community college district directly to the qualified electors of the county at a special or general election called for that purpose as prescribed in section 16‑204 and title 35, chapter 3, article 3. The resolution adopted by the county board of supervisors shall include a statement that the primary property tax levy limit for the provisional community college district shall be no less than the levy limit of the most recently formed community college district in this state.
D. Except as provided in this section, a provisional community college district governing board has the same powers and duties specified in section 15‑1444 for community college districts.
E. A provisional community college district shall not award degrees, certificates or diplomas.
F. A provisional community college district is not eligible to receive equalization aid pursuant to section 15‑1468 or state contribution for capital outlay for initial or additional campuses pursuant to section 15‑1463.
G. The state aid eligibility requirements prescribed in section 15‑1466, subsection G, paragraphs 1 and 2 do not apply to provisional community college districts.
H. Notwithstanding any other law, the same student shall not be counted twice as a full‑time equivalent student in both a provisional community college district and a community college district for state funding purposes because both districts are not entitled to state aid payments for the SAME students. Notwithstanding any other law, beginning with the fiscal year after the year in which the provisional community college district is formed and has established its primary tax rate, a district that provides services in a provisional district pursuant to section 15‑1470 shall no longer count these students in the district's full‑time equivalent student count, except for expenditure limitation purposes.
I. If a provisional community college district is converted into a community college district by the formation of a community college district pursuant to section 15‑1402, the provisional community college district is dissolved and any equipment, property, personnel, liabilities and assets are transferred to the community college district.
J. If a provisional community college district is formed in a county that provides reimbursement for the attendance of nonresident state students pursuant to section 15‑1469, that county shall continue to provide reimbursement payments to community college districts for the remainder of the fiscal year in which the provisional community college district is formed, provided that the county board of supervisors adopts a levy that is at least equal to the sum of the reimbursement payments and the amount of the community college services provided in the fiscal year immediately before the formation of the provisional community college district.
K. The board of supervisors of a county that has formed a provisional community college district may by majority vote may enter into an intergovernmental agreement to loan monies to the governing board of the provisional community college district in an amount that does not exceed two hundred thousand dollars. Any loan pursuant to this subsection shall be repaid from the next scheduled collection of property taxes to fund the provisional community college district. The annual interest charges on any loan pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed five per cent.
Sec. 2. Title 15, chapter 12, article 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-1453, to read:
15-1453. Eastern Arizona college; four-year degrees
Notwithstanding the two-year limitation prescribed in section 15-1401, beginning in fiscal year 2011-2012, eastern Arizona college as operated by the Graham county community college district governing board may offer four‑year baccalaureate degrees pursuant to the following requirements:
1. On or before September 15, 2010, the graham county community college district governing board shall submit to the joint legislative budget committee, at a minimum, the following information:
(a) The baccalaureate degree programs the district intends to offer to students the following fiscal year.
(b) The number of students expected to participate in each program offered by the district.
(c) An estimate of the number of 300-level and 400-level students that will be served by the district.
(d) The location of the campuses and colleges at which baccalaureate degree programs will be offered.
(e) The potential impact on the district's expenditure limitation.
2. On or before October 1, 2010, the Graham county community college district governing board shall submit a budget for the district that estimates a full‑time equivalent student enrollment for 300-level and 400‑level academic courses that will be offered by the district.
3. On or before September 15, 2010, the Graham county community college district governing board shall develop performance measures, which shall be included in the state budget.
4. The Graham county community college district governing board shall be prepared to offer 300-level and 400‑level academic courses at the beginning of the spring semester of 2012.
5. Universities under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents shall use the same criteria for admission to graduate degree programs for persons who have been awarded baccalaureate degrees by the Graham county community college district as are used for persons who have obtained baccalaureate degrees from traditional four-year postsecondary institutions that are accredited by a regional accreditation agency approved by the United States department of education.
6. The Graham county community college district is entitled to state aid pursuant to section 15-1466 and state aid per capita for capital outlay pursuant to section 15-1464 during the first and second years in which the district offers 300-level and 400-level academic courses based on the district's estimate of the full-time equivalent student enrollment in those courses for the first and second years in which the district offers them. The graham county community college district's state aid payments shall be adjusted during the third year of offering 300-level and 400-level academic courses based on any discrepancies between the estimated full-time equivalent student enrollment during the first two years in which the district offered 300-level and 400‑level academic courses and the actual full‑time equivalent student enrollment for those two years as determined by the auditor general pursuant to section 15-1466.01.
7. The Graham county community college district shall continue to provide a program of two years' training in the arts, sciences and humanities, including associate degree programs, terminal courses of a technical and vocational nature and basic adult education courses.
8. The graham county community college district full-time equivalent student enrollment shall be determined as follows:
(a) Divide the total number of enrolled credit hours per academic year in all 200-level and below academic courses by thirty.
(b) Divide the total number of enrolled credit hours per academic year in 300-level and 400-level academic courses by twenty-four.
9. The Graham county community college district shall not receive state aid for dual enrollment courses for nonacademic courses.
10. The Graham county community college district governing board shall comply with any contracts and agreements with other political subdivisions of this state that are in effect on the effective date of this section.
11. Tuition for full‑time enrollment in 300‑level and 400‑level courses offered by the Graham county community college district shall be at least fifty per cent less than the average tuition paid for full‑time enrollment at universities under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents.
12. The Graham county community college district shall not offer baccalaureate degrees in more than ten program areas. These degrees shall be based on a study of the following:
(a) The needs and demands of the job market and the economy of rural Arizona and the region that the Graham county community college district serves.
(b) The opportunity for students to obtain degrees in these program areas from other public and private postsecondary institutions.
Sec. 3. Section 15-1466, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-1466. State aid; eligibility; limitations
A. Subject to legislative appropriation, the legislature shall determine and appropriate the amount of state aid each fiscal year to each district possessing the qualifications as prescribed in this chapter.
B. The state shall determine the amount of state aid, as prescribed in subsection D of this section, appropriated to each district for the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year for which the state aid is being calculated.
C. Each district qualified under this chapter shall have its state aid adjusted in an amount that reflects the growth or decrease in the full‑time equivalent student count of the district calculated as follows:
1. Calculate the growth or decrease in the actual, audited full‑time equivalent student count between the second and third most recent fiscal years prior to the fiscal year for which the state aid is being calculated for each district.
2. Calculate the average appropriation per full‑time equivalent student for all districts by dividing the amount determined in subsection B of this section by the actual, audited full‑time equivalent student count for all districts in the most recent fiscal year, except that for the graham county community college district, the appropriation shall be a minimum of five thousand five hundred sixty-four dollars for students enrolled in 300‑level and 400-level academic courses. The appropriation prescribed in this paragraph for the graham county community college district shall be adjusted each year to reflect changes in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, United States average, as published by the United States department of labor, bureau of statistics.
3. Multiply the amount calculated in paragraph 1 of this subsection by the average appropriation calculated in paragraph 2 of this subsection. This amount equals the adjustment required pursuant to this section.
D. The total amount appropriated to each district each fiscal year in accordance with this section shall serve as the amount of state aid to be adjusted in the next fiscal year. A district is eligible for growth funding pursuant to this section only for the portion of its most recent audited full-time student equivalent count that exceeds the audited full‑time student equivalent count recorded for the district for the most recent fiscal year in which an adjustment was previously made pursuant to subsection C of this section.
E. To be eligible for state aid, a district shall:
1. Be equipped with suitable buildings, equipment and campus.
2. Have at least three hundred twenty full‑time equivalent students attending in the district.
3. Have complied with all of the requirements of the district board, including budgets and curriculum.
F. The total amount of state monies that may be spent in any fiscal year by a district for operating state aid shall not exceed the amount appropriated or authorized by section 35‑173 for that purpose. Notwithstanding section 15‑1444, this section shall not be construed to impose a duty on an officer, agent or employee of this state to discharge a responsibility or to create any right in a person or group if the discharge or right would require an expenditure of state monies in excess of the expenditure authorized by legislative appropriation for that specific purpose, including any duties prescribed in an employment contract entered into pursuant to section 15‑1444, subsection A, paragraph 6.
G. In addition to the formula to determine the state aid appropriations prescribed in this section, the state may pay additional amounts for state aid to a district based on requests included in the district's budget request.
H. This section does not entitle a community college operated by a qualified Indian tribe to state aid for community colleges pursuant to this chapter.
