Education Universities And Colleges - Digest of Bills

Digest of Bills - 2005

EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES

S.B. 05-3 Colorado achievement scholarship program. Creates the Colorado achievement scholarship program ("program") for the purposes of promoting pre-collegiate curriculum and increasing access to postsecondary education. Directs collegeinvest to administer the program. Specifies who is eligible to receive a scholarship under the program. Creates the college achievement scholarship trust ("fund") for payment of the direct and indirect costs of implementing, marketing, and administering the program.

Requires the board of directors ("board") of collegeinvest to adopt any policies necessary for the implementation and administration of the program. Specifies that the policies adopted by the board shall be approved by the executive director of the Colorado commission on higher education. Directs the board to provide annual reports to the education committees of the senate and house of representatives on the status of the program.

Authorizes the board to organize and transfer funds to nonprofit entities for the purpose of investing the moneys in the fund and in any other trusts and funds under collgeinvest's control.

APPROVED by Governor April 7, 2005
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2005

S.B. 05-51 Private educational institutions - exemption from Private Occupational Education Act of 1981. Specifies that a private educational institution that is accredited by an agency recognized by the United States department of education, that confers post-graduate degrees, and that offers programs or courses that are not defined as occupational education is exempt from the provisions of the "Private Occupational Education Act of 1981".

APPROVED by Governor April 14, 2005
EFFECTIVE August 8, 2005
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

S.B. 05-53 Colorado national guard - tuition assistance program. Repeals the requirement that a Colorado national guard member ("member") serve one year in the Colorado national guard ("national guard") for each semester for which the national guard tuition assistance program ("program") pays tuition. Requires the department of military and veterans affairs ("department") to establish the basis for the tuition assistance at the university of Colorado health sciences center.

Specifies that a member must serve in the national guard during the period of time that the member is receiving tuition assistance. Requires a member who leaves the national guard in violation of the member's agreement with the national guard during an academic term for which the member is receiving tuition assistance to repay to the department the amount of tuition assistance granted for that academic term. Clarifies that the department shall promulgate military regulations, and not rules under the administrative procedures act, for the administration of the program.

APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2005
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2005

S.B. 05-66 Colorado energy research institute - research and education programs - appropriation. Directs the Colorado energy research institute to:

● Consult with the department of natural resources about its progress in meeting its statutory goals; and

● Conduct the following specific research and educational programs to be paid for from the unencumbered balance available in the oil and gas environmental response fund:

● Collect data on the economic impact of energy industries on municipalities and counties; establish an energy economics database and the establishment of internet access to such database; develop reliable means of forecasting; and support the analysis, interpretation, and periodic publication of the findings of the economic analysis;

● Research those sectors of geoscience and engineering that are most critical to renewable energy and the continued enhanced production of natural gas and oil from Rocky Mountain reservoirs;

● Inform the public, legislative and regulatory bodies, and working professionals about new technologies and their relationship to traditional sources of energy to promote the public's understanding of how its everyday energy needs are met;

● Facilitate economic development by steering resources to local economic incubators in regions where energy development is occurring and by providing grants for job training and education resources;

● Pay the membership dues of the energy council; and

● Provide grants for the development of a central resource for building trade professionals to advance energy-efficient design and construction.

Increases the limit on the 2-year average of the unobligated portion of the oil and gas environmental response fund to $2 million.

Appropriates from the oil and gas environmental response fund $1,675,000 to the department of higher education, $75,000 to the governor's office for allocation to the office of energy management and conservation, and $56,000 to the legislative department for the implementation of the act.

APPROVED by Governor May 25, 2005
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2005

S.B. 05-132 College opportunity fund program - stipend payments - capital construction - community colleges - administrative costs - travel policies - appropriation. Specifies that a student who is eligible to receive a stipend ("student") may receive a stipend for graduate-level courses that apply toward the student's undergraduate degree. Requires the Colorado student loan program to reduce the amount of the stipend per credit hour for all students, subject to joint budget committee approval, if moneys in the college opportunity fund in any fiscal year are not sufficient to pay the rate per credit hour established by the general assembly.

Effective July 1, 2006, allows an eligible student to receive a stipend payment for basic skills courses, courses taken under the "Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act", and high school fast-tracks courses. Correspondingly repeals the ability of a governing board to receive fee-for-service contract payments for these courses. Specifies that stipend payments received for basic skills courses shall not apply to the student's 145 lifetime-credit-hour limitation. Requires an institution of higher education, upon request, to use its waiver authority to waive the 145 lifetime-credit-hour limitation for courses taken under the "Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act" and high school fast tracks courses. Allows the Colorado student loan program to charge a one-time fee to the state board of community colleges and occupational education for the actual cost related to the computer system changes necessary to allow stipend payments for these courses.

Authorizes the Colorado student loan program to authorize an advance from the college opportunity fund to a governing board and, upon such authorization, requires the state treasurer to make the advance without interest to the governing board to assist the governing board in managing its cash flow. Requires an advance to be repaid within the same state fiscal year in which the advance is made.

Authorizes a governing board to approve and commence, without prior approval of the Colorado commission on higher education (CCHE), capital construction projects that are constructed, operated, and maintained without state capital construction or general fund moneys if the capital construction project costs less than $1,000,000. Authorizes a governing board to approve and commence, without prior approval of the CCHE, capital construction projects that are not constructed with state moneys but may be operated and maintained with state moneys if the project costs less than $500,000.

For the 2004-05 fiscal year, changes the required reduction in state-funded administrative costs for the community college's system office from 35 to 20 percent.

Specifies that any rules adopted by the state controller or the department of personnel and administration that impose restrictions or requirements pertaining to the use of travel services or travel agencies shall not apply to a governing board or state institution of higher education.

Specifies that, on and after July 1, 2005, if the department of higher education and the CCHE advertise and publicize a specific stipend dollar amount, the dollar amount may not exceed the amount most recently set by the joint budget committee or adopted by the general assembly and the advertisement or publication materials shall note that the stipend amount is subject to change by the general assembly.

Appropriates $8,553 for the administration of the act and reduces the administration appropriation to the CCHE by the same amount and 0.3 FTE.

APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2005
PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 2, 2005
PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2006

S.B. 05-158 In-state tuition - military discharge - appropriation. Specifies that a member of the armed forces is eligible for in-state tuition status if the member is domiciled in Colorado for 12 continuous months prior to enlistment and returns to Colorado within 6 months following discharge from the military.

Reduces the appropriation for fee-for-service contracts by $60,000, and increases the appropriation for stipend payments for students by the same amount. Reduces the tuition spending authority of the governing boards by $188,708 based on an anticipated reduction in tuition revenue.

APPROVED by Governor May 27, 2005
EFFECTIVE May 27, 2005

S.B. 05-194 Fort Lewis college - change in admission standards. Changes the admission standards for Fort Lewis college from "moderately selective" to "selective".

APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2005
EFFECTIVE May 12, 2005

S.B. 05-204 Colorado state university system - board of governors. Requires that, of the 9 voting members of the board of governors of the Colorado state university system ("CSU board"), at least one member either reside in southern Colorado or be a graduate of Colorado state university - Pueblo, and at least 2 members have some connection with agriculture, one of whom either resides in southern Colorado or is a graduate of Colorado state university - Pueblo.

VETOED by Governor June 2, 2005

S.B. 05-213 Commission on higher education - reporting requirements to the general assembly. Repeals the requirement that the Colorado commission on higher education submit periodic reports to the education committees of the senate and the house of representatives concerning the effectiveness of the review of teacher preparation programs, the early childhood professional loan repayment program, and the teacher loan forgiveness pilot program and requires that the commission provide notice that such reports are available to the committee members upon request.

APPROVED by Governor June 1, 2005
EFFECTIVE June 1, 2005

H.B. 05-1027 Colorado commission on higher education - higher education admission guidelines - college preparatory courses - notice. Directs the Colorado commission on higher education ("commission") to adopt a policy to obtain the names and addresses of students enrolled in Colorado public high schools who took the standardized college entrance exam or the precollegiate exam. Further directs the commission to send annual notice to the parent or legal guardian of each of those students concerning the scores required by the higher education admission guidelines ("guidelines"), the availability of precollegiate skills courses, and the availability of a course work plan to address the guidelines. Requires each school district board of education and the state charter school institute board to provide, upon request of a student's parent or legal guardian, the opportunity for a student to develop a plan for academic remediation.

APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2005
EFFECTIVE May 24, 2005

H.B. 05-1041 Higher education foundations - open records - exclusions - annual report. Specifies that, for purposes of the open records act, "public records" includes all writings relating to the requests for disbursement or expenditure of funds, the approval or denial of requests for disbursement or expenditure of funds, or the disbursement or expenditure of funds by an institutionally related foundation, an institutionally related health care foundation, or an institutionally related real estate foundation, to, on behalf of, or for the benefit of the institution or any employee of the institution. Defines institutionally related foundation, institutionally related health care foundation, and institutionally related real estate foundation for purposes of the open records act. Specifies the documents and records that are not considered public records for these 3 entities for purposes of the open records act.

Requires each state institution of higher education annually to submit to the governor and general assembly a complete listing, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, of all endowments, gifts, and bequests made to, or expenditure in excess of $250 made on behalf of, a state institution of higher education during the immediately preceding state fiscal year.

APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2005
EFFECTIVE May 24, 2005