WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4022
By Delegates Ellington, Hanna, Hamrick, Higginbottom and Espinosa
[Introduced January 08, 2020; Referred to the Committee on Education]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18B-1B-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, clarifying the qualifications of the Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission, retitling the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, and abolishing the statutory position of Vice Chancellor for State Colleges.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 1B. HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY COMMISSION.
§18B-1B-5. Employment of Chancellor for Higher Education; office; powers and duties generally; employment of Vice Chancellors and other staff.
(a) The commission, created by §18B-1B-1 of this code, shall employ a Chancellor for Higher Education who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and who serves at its will and pleasure.
(b) The commission shall set the qualifications for the position of chancellor and, when a vacancy occurs, shall conduct a thorough nationwide search for qualified candidates. A qualified candidate is one who meets at least the following criteria:
(1) Possesses an excellent academic and administrative background;
(2) Demonstrates strong communication skills;
(3) Has significant experience and an established national reputation as a professional in the field of higher education;
(4) Is free of institutional or regional biases; and
(5) Holds or retains no other administrative position within a system of higher education while employed as chancellor: Provided, That nothing contained in this subsection may preclude the Chancellor of the commission from also serving as the Chancellor Of The Council for Community and Technical College Education, as provided in §18B-2B-3 of this code.
(c) The commission shall conduct written performance evaluations of the chancellor annually and may offer the chancellor a contract not to exceed three years. At the end of each contract period, the commission shall review the evaluations and make a determination by vote of its members on continuing employment and compensation level.
(d) When filling a vacancy in the position of chancellor, the commission shall enter into an initial employment contract for one year with the candidate selected. At the end of the initial contract period, and each contract period thereafter, the commission shall review the evaluations and make a determination by vote of its members on continuing employment and compensation level for the chancellor.
(e) The commission sets the chancellor’s salary. The salary may not exceed by more than 20 percent the average annual salary of chief executive officers of state systems of higher education in the states that comprise the membership of the Southern Regional Education Board.
(f) The commission may
employ a Vice Chancellor Senior Director for Health Sciences who
serves at the will and pleasure of the commission. The Vice Chancellor Senior
Director for Health Sciences shall coordinate the West Virginia University
School of Medicine, the Marshall University School of Medicine and the West
Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and also shall provide assistance to
the governing boards on matters related to medical education and health
sciences. The Vice Chancellor Senior Director for Health Sciences
shall perform all duties assigned by the chancellor, the commission and state
law. In the case of If there is a vacancy in the office of Vice
Chancellor Senior Director of Health Sciences, the duties assigned
to this office by law are the responsibility of the chancellor or a designee.
(g) The commission shall employ a Vice Chancellor for Administration pursuant to §18B-4-2 of this code.
(h) The commission may
employ a Vice Chancellor for State Colleges who serves at the will and pleasure
of the commission. At a minimum, the Vice Chancellor for State Colleges shall
perform the following duties:
(1) Provide assistance
to the commission, the chancellor and the state colleges on matters related to
or of interest and concern to these institutions;
(2) Advise, assist and
consult regularly with the presidents and governing boards of each state
college;
(3) Serve as an advocate
and spokesperson for the state colleges to represent them and to make their
interests, views and issues known to the chancellor, the commission and
governmental agencies;
(4) Perform all duties
assigned by the chancellor, the commission and state law.
In addition, the Vice
Chancellor for State Colleges shall provide staff assistance to the presidents
and governing boards to the extent practicable
(i) (h) On behalf of the commission, the
chancellor may enter into agreements with any state agency or political
subdivision of the state, any state institution of higher education or any
other person or entity to enlist staff assistance to implement the powers and
duties assigned by the commission or by state law.
(j) (i) The chancellor is responsible for the
daily operations of the commission and has the following responsibilities
relating to the commission and the governing boards under its jurisdiction:
(1) To carry out policy and program directives of the commission;
(2) To develop and submit annual reports on the implementation plan to achieve the goals and objectives set forth in §18B-1-1a and §18B-1-1d of this code, and in the compacts;
(3) To prepare and submit to the commission for its approval the proposed budget of the commission including the offices of the chancellor and the vice chancellors;
(4) To assist the governing
boards in developing rules, subject to the provisions of §18B-1-6 of
this code. Nothing in this chapter requires the rules of the governing boards
to be filed pursuant to the rule-making procedures provided in §29A-3A-1 et
seq. of this code. The commission and the council, either separately or
jointly as appropriate, are responsible for ensuring that any policy which is
required to be uniform across the institutions is applied in a uniform manner;
(5) To consult with institutions on human relations policies and rules;
(6) To perform all other duties and responsibilities assigned by the commission or by state law.
(k) (j) The chancellor shall be reimbursed for all
actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of all assigned
duties and responsibilities.
(l) (k) The chancellor, with the commission,
advises the Legislature on matters of higher education in West Virginia. The Chancellor
shall work closely with the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education
Accountability and with the elected leadership of the state to ensure that they
are fully informed about higher education issues and that the commission fully
understands the goals, objectives and priorities for higher education that the
Legislature has established by law.
(m) (l) The chancellor may design and develop for
consideration by the commission new statewide or region-wide initiatives in
accordance with the goals set forth in §18B-1-1a and §18B-1D-1 et seq. of
this code, and the public policy agenda articulated by the commission. In those
instances where the initiatives to be proposed have a direct and specific
impact or connection to community and technical college education as well as to
baccalaureate and graduate education, the Chancellor for Higher Education and
the Chancellor for Community and Technical College Education shall design and
develop the initiatives jointly for consideration by the commission and the
council.
(n) (m) To further the goals of cooperation and
coordination between the commission and the State Board of Education, the
chancellor serves as an ex officio, nonvoting member of the state board. The
chancellor shall work closely with members of the State Board of Education and
with the State Superintendent of Schools to assure that the following goals are
met:
(1) Development and implementation of a seamless kindergarten-through-college system of education; and
(2) Appropriate coordination of missions and programs.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that the Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission may also serve simultaneously as the Chancellor of the Council for Community and Technical College Education, to retitle the Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences as Senior Director of Health Sciences, and to abolish the statutory position of Vice Chancellor for State Colleges.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.