Bill Text: NJ A896 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Minority-Serving County College Stabilization Act" in Office of Secretary of Higher Education; appropriates $15 million.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A896 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A896-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Minority-Serving County College Stabilization Act" in Office of Secretary of Higher Education; appropriates $15 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning minority-serving county colleges, supplementing chapter 64A of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Minority-Serving County College Stabilization Act."
2. The Legislature finds and declares that minority-serving county colleges play an essential role in helping students from diverse and at-risk backgrounds succeed in our State. These institutions of higher education face unique challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Legislature finds that additional resources should be provided for their support.
3. As used in this act:
"Minority-serving county college" means a county college established pursuant to chapter 64A of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, in which at least 50 percent of undergraduate students enrolled at the institution are members of racial or ethnic minority groups.
4. a. There is established in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the "Minority-Serving County College Stabilization Program." The purpose of the program shall be to provide grants to minority-serving county colleges that experience:
(1) a declining enrollment of full-time undergraduate students of at least 10 percent during the two years immediately preceding the submission of a stabilization plan pursuant to subsection b. of this section; and
(2) a reduction in full-time instructional faculty and staff due to fiscal reasons during the two years immediately preceding the submission of a stabilization plan.
b. A minority-serving county college that wishes to participate in the program shall submit a stabilization plan to the Secretary of Higher Education. The stabilization plan shall contain the following:
(1) a statement describing the nature of the fiscal distress experienced by the minority-serving county college;
(2) a plan to address the declining enrollment of the college;
(3) a plan to provide restoration and stabilization of staff and support for students, which may include the recall of faculty and staff whose employment at the college was recently terminated or not renewed;
(4) strategies for deploying resources specifically to improve institutional instruction and instructional support capacity and encourage the enrollment and retention of students;
(5) input from the faculty and staff employed at the college, which shall be evidenced in the form of a letter of support from each of the majority representatives of the respective campus collective bargaining units;
(6) input from the broader community of the college, which shall be evidenced in the form of a public hearing and formal authorization from the board of trustees of the college; and
(7) the grant amount requested by the college that is deemed necessary to implement the stabilization plan.
The secretary shall establish the timelines and procedures for the submission of the stabilization plan.
c. The secretary shall award grants under the program based upon review of the stabilization plan submitted pursuant to subsection b. of this section and subject to the limit of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the program. The secretary shall make disbursements in amounts that are sufficient for qualified institutions to carry out their approved stabilization plans.
5. a. Within 180 days of receiving a grant pursuant to section 4 of this act, the minority-serving county college shall submit a report to the Secretary of Higher Education detailing the approved and proposed expenditures made with the funds. The minority-serving county college shall, within 180 days of the submission of the first report, submit a second report to the secretary that details the expenditures made with the remaining funds. The reports shall be made available on an Internet website that is operated by or on behalf of the minority-serving county college.
b. The secretary shall consult with each of the majority representatives of the respective campus collective bargaining units in order to review the reports. The secretary may seek input from the faculty and staff employed at the minority-serving county college and request additional financial information from the minority-serving county college in order to review the reports.
6. To effectuate the provisions of this act, there is appropriated to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the sum of $15,000,000, of which $7,500,000 shall be appropriated from the General Fund and $7,500,000 shall, to the extent permitted by federal law, be appropriated from funds received by the State under the federal "American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act," Pub.L.117-2, including, but not limited to, funds allocated to the State under the federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund," or any other federal funding provided to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. A minority-serving county college that receives a grant pursuant to this act shall spend the funds in accordance with its approved stabilization plan. If, at the end of a fiscal year, there are unspent monies from the program, the secretary shall distribute these funds to all minority-serving county colleges on a per student basis.
7. The Office of the Secretary of Higher Education shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
8. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the "Minority-Serving County College Stabilization Program" in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education and makes an appropriation of $15 million for the bill's purposes.
Under the bill, the program will provide grants to minority-serving county colleges that experience: a declining enrollment of full-time undergraduate students of at least 10 percent during the two years immediately preceding the submission of a stabilization plan; and a reduction in full-time instructional faculty and staff due to fiscal reasons during the two years immediately preceding the submission of a stabilization plan.
A minority-serving county college that wishes to participate in the program may submit a stabilization plan to the Secretary of Higher Education. The stabilization plan is required to contain the following:
(1) a statement describing the nature of the fiscal distress experienced by the minority-serving county college;
(2) a plan to address the declining enrollment of the minority- serving county college;
(3) a plan to provide restoration and stabilization of staff and support for students;
(4) strategies for deploying resources specifically to improve instructional and instructional support capacity and encourage the enrollment and retention of students;
(5) input from faculty and staff employed at the college, which will be evidenced in the form of a letter of support from each of the majority representatives of the respective campus collective bargaining units;
(6) input from the broader community of the minority-serving county college, which will be evidenced in the form of a public hearing and formal authorization from the board of trustees of the college; and
(7) the grant amount requested by the county college.
The secretary is directed to establish the timelines and procedures for the submission of the stabilization plan.
The bill directs the secretary to award grants under the program based upon review of the stabilization plan and subject to the limit of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the program. The secretary is required to make disbursements from the fund sufficient for qualified institutions to carry out their approved stabilization plans.
The bill requires that, within 180 days of receiving a grant through the program, the minority-serving county college will submit a report to the secretary detailing the approved and proposed expenditures made with the funds. The college is required, within 180 days of the submission of the first report, to submit a second report to the secretary that details the expenditures made with the remaining funds. The reports are required to be made available on an Internet website that is operated by or on behalf of the minority-serving county college. Additionally, the bill directs the secretary to consult with the respective campus collective bargaining agents in order to review the reports. The secretary may seek input from the faculty and staff employed at the college and request additional financial information from the minority-serving county college in order to review the reports.
To effectuate the provisions of the bill, there is appropriated to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the sum of $15,000,000, of which $7,500,000 will be appropriated from the General Fund and of which $7,500,000 will be appropriated from funds received by the State under the federal "American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act," including, but not limited to, funds allocated to the State under the federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund," or any other federal funding provided to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on institutions of higher education. A minority-serving county college that receives a grant pursuant to the provisions of this bill will be required to spend the funds in accordance with its approved stabilization plan. If, at the end of a fiscal year, there are unspent monies from the program, the secretary is directed by the bill to distribute these funds to all minority-serving county colleges on a per student basis.
