Download Draft Bill Template and more Lecture notes Law in PDF only on Docsity!
2019 Page 1 of 14 1 S. 2 Introduced by Committee on Education 3 Date: 4 Subject: Education; miscellaneous 5 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to make 6 miscellaneous changes to education law. 7 An act relating to miscellaneous changes to education law 8 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 9 * * * Postsecondary Educational Institutions; Closing * * * 10 Sec. 1. 16 V.S.A. § 175 is amended to read: 11 § 175. POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS; CLOSING 12 (a)(1) The Association of Vermont Independent Colleges (AVIC) shall 13 maintain a memorandum of understanding with each covered college, which 14 are its member colleges and each college that was a member of AVIC within 15 the prior year, under which each covered college agrees to: 16 (A) upon the request of AVIC, properly administer the student 17 academic records of a covered college that fails to comply with the 18 requirements of this subsection; and 19 (B) contribute on an equitable basis and in a manner determined in 20 the sole discretion of AVIC to the costs of another covered college or other
2019 Page 2 of 14 1 entity selected by AVIC maintaining the records of a covered college that fails 2 to comply with the requirements of this subsection. 3 (2)(A) If an institution of higher education is placed on probation by its 4 accrediting agency, the institution shall: 5 (i) not later than five business days after learning that it has been 6 placed on probation, inform the State Board of Education of its status, and 7 (ii) not later than 60 days after being placed on probation, submit 8 an academic record plan for students to the State Board for approval. 9 (B) The academic record plan shall include an agreement with an 10 institution of higher education or other entity to act as a repository for the 11 institution’s records, with funds set aside, if necessary, for the permanent 12 maintenance of the academic records. 13 (C) If the State Board does not approve the plan, the State may take 14 action under subsections (d) and (e) of this section. 15 (3) When an institution of higher education, whether or not chartered in 16 this State, proposes to discontinue the regular course of instruction, either 17 permanently or for a temporary period other than a customary vacation period, 18 the institution shall: 19 (1)(A) promptly inform the State Board;
2019 Page 4 of 14 1 costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees, arising from the failure to 2 comply. Claims under this subsection shall be a lien on all the property of a 3 defaulting institution, until all claims under this subsection are satisfied. The 4 lien shall take effect from the date of filing notice thereof in the records of the 5 town or towns where property of the defaulting institution is located. 6 (f) The State Board shall adopt rules under this section for its proper 7 administration. The rules may include provisions for preparing and 8 maintaining transferred records. Persons acting as a repository of records are 9 bound only by maintenance provisions to which they agreed before receiving 10 transferred records. 11 (g) The Association of Vermont Independent Colleges (AVIC) shall 12 maintain a memorandum of understanding with each of its member colleges 13 under which each member college agrees to: 14 (1) upon the request of AVIC, properly administer the student records of 15 a member college that fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) 16 of this section; and
2019 Page 5 of 14 1 (2) contribute on an equitable basis and in a manner determined in the 2 sole discretion of AVIC to the costs of another AVIC member or other entity 3 selected by AVIC maintaining the records of a member college that fails to 4 comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section. 5 Sec. 2. TRANSITION 6 On or before August 1, 2019, the Association of Vermont Independent 7 Colleges (AVIC) shall amend its memorandum of understanding with its 8 member colleges under 16 V.S.A. § 175 to require that each member college 9 that terminates its membership with AVIC continue to comply with the terms 10 of the memorandum for a period of one year after the date of termination. 11 * * * Task Force on Campus Sexual Harm; Report * * * 12 Sec. 3. TASK FORCE ON CAMPUS SEXUAL HARM; REPORT 13 (a) Creation. There is created the Task Force on Campus Sexual Harm to 14 examine issues relating to responses to sexual harm, dating and intimate 15 partner violence, and stalking on campuses of postsecondary educational 16 institutions in Vermont. 17 (b) Membership. The Task Force shall be composed of the following 18 15 members: 19 (1) one current member of the House of Representatives, appointed by 20 the Speaker of the House;
2019 Page 7 of 14 1 (9) two students who are members of campus groups representing 2 traditionally marginalized communities, appointed by the Higher Education 3 Subcommittee of the Prekindergarten– 16 Council; 4 (10) one community-based restorative justice practitioner, appointed 5 by the Community Justice Network of Vermont; and 6 (11) one representative appointed by the Pride Center of Vermont. 7 (c) Powers and duties. The Task Force shall study the following: 8 (1) The pathways for survivors of sexual harm in postsecondary 9 educational institutional settings to seek healing and justice and 10 recommendations to increase or enhance those pathways. 11 (2) Issues with Vermont’s campus adjudication processes as identified 12 by survivors of sexual harm, dating and intimate partner violence, or stalking 13 in postsecondary educational institutional settings, including the interface 14 between campus adjudication processes and law enforcement. 15 (3) Issues relating to transparency, safety, and accountability of 16 outcomes in campus conduct adjudication processes for sexual harm, dating 17 and intimate partner violence, or stalking, including: 18 (A) current and best practices relating to outcomes conveyed 19 through a student’s transcript record; 20 (B) the effectiveness of acts passed in New York in 2015 to address 21 campus sexual assault and in Virginia in 2015 to include a notation “on the
2019 Page 8 of 14 1 transcript of each student who has been suspended for, has been permanently 2 dismissed for, or withdraws from the institution while under investigation for 3 an offense involving sexual violence under the institution’s code, rules, or set 4 of standards governing student conduct”; 5 (C) the effectiveness of requiring that student transcript records 6 note expulsions or suspensions in order to trigger follow-up conversations 7 between the transferring and receiving schools; and 8 (D) consideration of concerns raised by the Association of Title IX 9 Administrators with regard to transcript notation, in support of proposed 10 federal legislation known as the Safe Transfer Act (H.R.6523, 114th 11 Congress). 12 (4) How to improve survivor safety in campus adjudication processes. 13 (5) Any State policy changes that should be made in response to 14 Title IX changes at the federal level. 15 (6) How to enhance ties between postsecondary educational 16 institutions and community organizations that focus on domestic and sexual 17 violence. 18 (d) Assistance. For purposes of scheduling meetings and preparing 19 recommended legislation, the Task Force shall have the assistance of the 20 Office of Legislative Council.
2019 Page 10 of 14 1 § 1010 for not more than seven meetings. These payments shall be made 2 from monies appropriated to the Agency of Education. 3 (h) Appropriation. The sum of $10,248.00 is appropriated to the Agency of 4 Education from the General Fund in fiscal year 2020 for per diem 5 compensation and reimbursement of expenses for nonlegislative members of 6 the Task Force. The sum of $3,066.00 is appropriated to the General 7 Assembly from the General Fund in fiscal year 2020 for per diem 8 compensation and reimbursement of expenses for legislative members of the 9 Task Force. 10 * * * Delivery of Vermont Technical College 11 Certificate and Degree Programs at CTE Centers; Study; 12 Pilot Program * * * 13 Sec. 4. DELIVERY OF VERMONT TECHNICAL COLLEGE 14 CERTIFICATE AND DEGREE PROGRAMS AT CAREER 15 TECHNICAL EDUCATION CENTERS IN VERMONT; STUDY; 16 PILOT PROGRAM 17 (a) Findings and purpose: 18 (1) Vermont has as a goal of 70 percent of the Vermont workforce 19 having a credential of value by 2025; 20 (2) most of the current and future jobs will require some education 21 beyond high school;
2019 Page 11 of 14 1 (3) approximately 40 percent of Vermont high school graduates do not 2 pursue education beyond high school; 3 (4) a growing percentage of the Vermont workforce is in need of skills 4 attainment or upgrade; 5 (5) college has become increasingly less affordable to Vermonters; 6 (6) Vermont Technical College (VTC) and Vermont’s career technical 7 education centers (CTE centers) have expressed a desire for a stronger 8 partnership to foster pathways for students attending CTE centers and high 9 schools to attend college; and 10 (7) the General Assembly desires to initiate assessment and planning for 11 the delivery of accredited college education at CTE centers in Vermont as a 12 means of enabling more Vermonters to access quality college-level technical 13 education that will lead to well-paying jobs and careers. 14 (b) Study by VTC. 15 (1) VTC shall study how to best deliver all or a portion of fully 16 accredited VTC certificate and degree programs at CTE centers in Vermont, 17 with the goals of: 18 (A) enabling more students to access education beyond high school; 19 (B) providing pathways to VTC; 20 (C) enabling more students to obtain a degree from VTC; and 21 (D) meeting economic development and workforce education needs.
2019 Page 13 of 14 1 technical support from the Agency of Education in conducting the pilot 2 program. The pilot program shall commence on July 1, 2019 with the goal of 3 awarding associate degrees in the fall of 2020. In structuring the pilot 4 program, VTC shall consider: 5 (1) alignment of degree programs with workforce priority needs and 6 career pathways identified by the Agency of Education; 7 (2) existing models around the United States or internationally that 8 deliver all or a portion of accredited college programs at high schools or 9 secondary technical centers, with a special focus on rural regions and regions 10 with declining populations; 11 (3) sustainable funding models, including costs for students, institutions, 12 and adults; 13 (4) the financial risks of programmatic and funding model changes, with 14 the goals of not negatively impacting the accreditation status or the financial 15 status of any institution, and 16 (5) management of class scheduling and CTE partnerships to assure 17 access and programmatic success. 18 (d) Reports. On or before December 15, 2019, VTC shall submit a written 19 report to the House and Senate Committees on Education and the State Board 20 of Education with its findings and recommendations from the study required 21 under subsection (b) of this section and the pilot program required under
2019 Page 14 of 14 1 subsection (c) of this section. On or before December 15, 2020, VTC shall 2 submit a supplemental written report to the House and Senate Committees on 3 Education and the State Board of Education with its findings and 4 recommendations from the pilot program required under subsection (c) of this 5 section. 6 (e) Appropriation. The sum of $200,000.00 is appropriated for fiscal year 7 2019 from the General Fund to VTC to provide funding for the study required 8 under subsection (b) of this section and the pilot program required under 9 subsection (c) of this section. VTC may apply funding appropriated under this 10 section to retain appropriate expertise to assist it in structuring and conducting 11 the pilot program. 12 * * * Effective Date * * * 13 Sec. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE 14 This act shall take effect on passage.
