Bill Text: MS HB830 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: College accreditation standards; require all offering postsecondary academic degrees to hold SACS accreditation.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2013-02-05 - Died In Committee [HB830 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2013-HB830-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Universities and Colleges
By: Representative Broomfield
House Bill 830
AN ACT TO REQUIRE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING WHICH OFFER ONE OR MORE POSTSECONDARY ACADEMIC DEGREES TO HOLD ACCREDITATION OF THE COMMISSION ON COLLEGE ACCREDITATION OF THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-101-241, 75-60-4 AND 75-60-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Beginning on July 1, 2016, any senior college or university, whether public or private, proprietary school or other entity which offers one or more postsecondary academic degrees as defined in Section 37-104-241, whether or not domiciled, incorporated or physically located in the State of Mississippi, shall be required by the appropriate Commission on College Accreditation or Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration to hold accreditation of the Commission on College Accreditation of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
SECTION 2. Section 37-101-241, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-101-241. (1) There is
hereby created the Commission on College Accreditation. Said commission shall
be composed of the Executive Director of the * * * Mississippi
Community College Board, the Commissioner of Higher Education, or their
designees, and three (3) additional members, one (1) of whom shall be selected
by the foregoing two (2) members and who shall represent the private colleges
within the state, and two (2) of whom shall be selected by the Mississippi
Association of Colleges. The latter three (3) members shall each serve for a
term of three (3) years.
(2) The commission shall meet and organize by electing from among its membership a chairman, a vice chairman and a secretary. The commission shall keep full and complete minutes and records of all its proceedings and actions.
(3) The commission shall have the power and authority, and it shall be its duty, to prepare an approved list of community, junior and senior colleges and universities or other entities which offer one or more postsecondary academic degrees and are domiciled, incorporated or otherwise located in the State of Mississippi. Postsecondary academic degrees include, but are not limited to, associate, bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees. The commission shall adopt standards which are in keeping with the best educational practices in accreditation and receive reports from the institutions seeking to be placed on the approved list.
(4) The above-described community, junior and senior colleges and universities or other entities must be approved annually by the commission in order to grant diplomas of graduation, degrees or offer instruction.
(5) The commission shall petition the chancery court of the county in which a person or agent offers one or more postsecondary academic degrees subject to the provisions of this chapter or advertises for the offering of such degrees without having first obtained approval by the commission, for an order enjoining such offering or advertising. The court may grant such injunctive relief upon a showing that the respondent named in the petition is offering or advertising one or more postsecondary academic degrees without having obtained prior approval of the commission. The Attorney General or the district attorney of the district, including the county in which such action is brought, shall, upon request of the commission, represent the commission in bringing any such action.
(6) The provisions of subsection (5) shall not apply to community, junior and senior colleges and universities with the main campus in Mississippi that were chartered, authorized or approved by the commission prior to July 1, 1988.
(7) Except as otherwise provided under Section 1 of this act, the provisions of this section shall not apply to the proprietary schools and colleges subject to regulation under Section 75-60-1 et seq.
(8) The Commission on College Accreditation may promulgate rules and regulations and establish appropriate fees for the implementation of this section.
(9) The commission shall have the power and authority, and it shall be its duty, to execute site visits when deemed necessary by the commission. The members of the commission and commission-appointed evaluation teams shall receive reasonable traveling expenses and other authorized expenses incurred in the performance of commission duties, together with other expenses of the operation of the commission. The members of the Commission on College Accreditation shall serve without salary compensation but shall receive a per diem and mileage as authorized by law including time of going to and returning from site visits of said commission, together with actual travel and hotel expenses incident to the site visits of the commission, and in the discharge of duties prescribed by the commission.
SECTION 3. Section 75-60-4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
75-60-4. (1) The * * * Mississippi
Community College Board shall appoint a "Commission on Proprietary
School and College Registration" to be composed of five (5) qualified
members, one (1) appointed from each of the five (5) Mississippi congressional
districts existing on January 1, 1992. The membership of said commission shall
be composed of persons who have held a teaching, managerial or other similar
position with any public, private, trade, technical or other school; provided,
however, that one (1) member of the commission shall be actively engaged in
teaching, managerial or other similar position with a privately owned trade,
technical or other school. The membership of said commission shall be
appointed by the board within ninety (90) days of the passage of this chapter.
In making the first appointments, two (2) members shall be appointed for three
(3) years, two (2) members for four (4) years, and one (1) member for five (5)
years. Thereafter, all members shall be appointed for a term of five (5)
years. If one (1) of the members appointed by the board resigns or is
otherwise unable to serve, a new member shall be appointed by the commission to
fill the unexpired term. All five (5) members of the commission have full
voting rights. The members shall not be paid for their services, but may be
compensated for the expenses necessarily incurred in the attendance at meetings
or in performing other services for the commission at a rate prescribed under
Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, plus actual expenses and mileage as
provided by Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972. Members of the
commission shall annually elect a chairman from among its members.
(2) The * * * Mississippi
Community College Board shall appoint such staff as may be required for the
performance of the commission's duties and provide necessary facilities.
(3) The * * * Mississippi
Community College Board shall levy only fees authorized in this chapter
only in such amounts as may be required for the performance of the commission's
duties.
(4) In addition to the fees authorized in this chapter, the * * * Mississippi Community College Board is authorized to levy and collect fees from proprietary schools and colleges (a) to recover the cost of audits, investigations and hearings relating to such institutions, and (b) to recover the cost of activities conducted under Section 73-15-25 relating to the accreditation of practical nursing programs.
(5) It shall be the purpose
of the Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration to establish
and implement the registration program as provided in this chapter. All
controversies involving the registration of such schools shall be initially
heard by a duly authorized hearing officer of the commission before whom a
complete record shall be made. After the conclusion of the hearing, the duly
authorized hearing officer of the commission shall make a recommendation to the
commission as to the resolution of the controversies, and the commission, after
considering the transcribed record and the recommendation of its hearing
officer, shall make its decision which becomes final unless the school or
college or other person involved shall appeal to the * * * Mississippi
Community College Board, which appeal shall be on the record previously
made before the commission's hearing officer except as may be provided by rules
and regulations adopted by the * * * Mississippi Community
College Board. All appeals from the * * * Mississippi
Community College Board shall be on the record and shall be filed in the
Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi.
(6) The commission shall require all institutions, whether vocational, technical or otherwise, to be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). This requirement applies whether or not the institution is domiciled, incorporated or physically located in the State of Mississippi.
SECTION 4. Section 75-60-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
75-60-5. * * * The provisions of this chapter do not apply
to the following categories of courses, schools or colleges:
(a) Tuition-free courses or schools conducted by employers exclusively for their own employees;
(b) Schools, colleges,
technical institutes, community colleges, junior colleges or universities under
the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher
Learning or the * * * Mississippi Community
College Board;
(c) Schools or courses of instruction under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Cosmetology, State Board of Barber Examiners or the State Board of Massage Therapy;
(d) Courses of instruction required by law to be approved or licensed, or given by institutions approved or licensed, by a state board or agency other than the Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration; however, a school so approved or licensed may apply to the Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration for a certificate of registration to be issued in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;
(e) Correspondence courses;
(f) Nonprofit private schools offering academic credits at primary or secondary levels, or conducting classes for exceptional education as defined by regulations of the State Department of Education;
(g) Private nonprofit colleges and universities or any private school offering academic credits at primary, secondary or postsecondary levels;
(h) Courses of instruction conducted by a public school district or a combination of public school districts;
(i) Courses of instruction conducted outside the United States;
(j) A school that offers only instruction in subjects that the Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration determines are primarily for a vocational, personal improvement or cultural purposes and that does not represent to the public that its course of study or instruction will or may produce income for those who take that study or instruction;
(k) Courses conducted primarily on an individual tutorial basis, where not more than one (1) student is involved at any one time, except in those instances where the Commission on Proprietary School and College Registration determines that the course is for the purpose of preparing for a vocational objective;
(l) Kindergartens or similar programs for preschool-age children.
* * *
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.
