Bill Text: NJ S2742 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires county colleges to develop plan to achieve three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent for full-time degree-program students by 2021-2022 academic year.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-11-03 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee [S2742 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S2742-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires county colleges to develop plan to achieve three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent for full-time degree-program students by 2021-2022 academic year.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the graduation rates of county colleges and supplementing chapter 64A of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The board of trustees of a county college, in consultation with the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, shall develop a plan to achieve a three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent for full-time students enrolled in an associate degree program regularly requiring four semesters to complete, by the 2021-2022 academic year.
In developing the plan, the board shall factor into the graduation rate the number of students who transfer to a four-year institution of higher education prior to graduation from the county college.
b. The board of trustees shall establish a study committee to advise and make recommendations to the board on the plan to achieve a three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent required pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The committee shall consist of three members of the board of trustees, one faculty member selected in consultation with the majority representative of the faculty union, and one student.
c. The board shall review the recommendations made by the committee and submit the plan by January 1, 2018 to the Secretary of Higher Education for approval. The board shall not submit the plan prior to its review of the committee's recommendations. In the event that the secretary:
(1) approves the plan, the board shall transmit a copy of the approved plan to the New Jersey Presidents' Council, the Senate Higher Education Committee, and the Assembly Higher Education Committee, or their successor committees; or
(2) does not approve the plan, the secretary shall provide to the board, in writing, the reasons for the disapproval of the plan. Upon receiving the secretary's reasons for disapproving the plan, the board shall develop a new plan, in consultation with the council, and resubmit the plan to the secretary within 90 days.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each board of trustees of a county college to develop a plan to achieve a three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent for full-time students enrolled in an associate degree program, by the 2021-2022 academic year. In developing the plan, the board will factor into the graduation rate the number of students who transfer to a four-year institution of higher education prior to graduation from the county college. The plan must be developed in consultation with the New Jersey Council of County Colleges and submitted for approval to the Secretary of Higher Education by January 1, 2018.
The bill also requires the board of trustees to establish a study committee to advise and make recommendations to the board on the plan to achieve a three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent. The committee would consist of three members of the board, one faculty member selected in consultation with the majority representative of the faculty union, and one student. The board will not submit the plan prior to its review of the committee's recommendations.
Under the bill, if the secretary approves the plan, the board is required to transmit a copy of the approved plan to the New Jersey Presidents' Council, the Senate Higher Education Committee, and the Assembly Higher Education Committee. If the secretary does not approve the plan, the secretary will provide the board, in writing, with the reasons for the disapproval. Upon receiving the secretary's reasons for disapproving the plan, the board is required to develop a new plan, in consultation with the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, and resubmit the plan to the secretary within 90 days.
