GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	2 

SENATE BILL 505
Education/Higher Education Committee Substitute Adopted 5/6/93

Short Title:  Comm. Coll. Study.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:
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March 18, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND FUTURE EXCELLENCE TASK FORCE TO EXAMINE THE MISSION OF THE NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM, AND TO MAKE AN APPROPRIATION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is established the Community Colleges and Future Excellence Task Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to undertake a comprehensive review of the mission of the North Carolina Community College System in order to ensure that it is well-prepared to meet changing educational and economic needs as the State moves into the Twenty-first Century.  As part of its review, the Task Force shall:
(1)	Thoroughly examine the mission and structure of the community college system based upon a regional review of program needs in order to facilitate the most efficient use of system resources.  This examination shall include:
a.	Defining enlarged service areas for community colleges based upon the needs of the respective service areas,
b.	Evaluating the need to consolidate, eliminate, or modify the status of existing community colleges and multicampus and off-campus centers,
c.	Assessing the distribution of physical facilities, programs, and resources in regions for the purpose of eliminating competition among the community colleges for students in overlapping service areas,
d.	Identifying any unproductive, low-quality, unnecessary, or duplicative programs, and
e.	Considering the impact of distance learning technologies on future programming.
(2)	Assess the manner in which the community college system can most effectively meet the current and future needs of business and industry and the adult population of North Carolina.
(3)	Develop a regional program structure to facilitate effective program planning, efficient use of resources, the implementation of statewide curriculum standards, and consolidated high-quality programs.  The regional structure shall be the unit used for the purposes of comprehensive planning and budgeting in the community college system.  The criteria used by the Task Force in determining the manner in which the community college system shall be restructured into newly defined regions may include, in addition to other appropriate criteria, the following:
a.	Location of the nearest college, campus, or off-campus center;
b.	New or anticipated population to be served;
c.	Existing and proposed transportation corridors and facilities;
d.	Programs proposed compared to the location of the nearest similar program;
e.	Feasibility of delivering programs using technology;
f.	Use and availability of facilities of local school systems;
g.	Potential impact on enrollment of nearby institutions; and
h.	Geographical redistribution of college transfer programs.
(4)	Establish guidelines for multicampus colleges and off-campus centers that recognize the availability of technology and transportation, that locate any new facilities to minimize the impact on existing colleges, campuses, and centers, and that apply regional program-sharing principles.  There shall be no new colleges, multicampus colleges, or off-campus centers established within the North Carolina Community College System until the State Board adopts these guidelines, at which time the moratorium shall be lifted.
(5)	Develop a program-based funding system, including a full-time equivalency component and specific goal performance components, in order to encourage the community colleges to meet particular State needs or goals.  The Task Force may propose an initial set of goals.
(6)	Establish standards for the periodic review of community college programs including standards for the termination of programs.
(7)	Develop an articulation policy that assures students taught at any institution under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education, the State Board of Community Colleges, or the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina may transfer credit to other institutions within these systems in order to eliminate the necessity of repetition of instruction in the same areas so that costs to the student and to the State are minimized.
(8)	Design, within the community college system, Programs for Excellence, which shall be world-class model programs in each curriculum program area, to be implemented throughout the community college system at each of the institutions authorized to offer each program.  These Programs shall include model curricula, establish curriculum standards, and update curricula in response to changes in technologies and market conditions.
(9)	Any additional issue the Task Force considers appropriate.
Sec. 2.  The Task Force shall consist of the following 18 members: 
(1)	Three Senators, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
(2)	Three members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(3)	Three representatives of business and industry, appointed by the Governor.
(4)	One member of the State Board of Community Colleges, appointed by the chair of that Board.
(5)	Two members of boards of trustees, one each from two institutions under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Community Colleges, appointed by the State Board.
(6)	Two students attending separate North Carolina Community Colleges, one in a rural community and one in an urban community, appointed by the President of the North Carolina Community College System.
(7)	One parent of a student attending a North Carolina Community College, appointed by the President of the North Carolina Community College System.
(8)	The President of the North Carolina Community College System, or the President's designee.
(9)	The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, or the Superintendent's designee.
(10)	The President of The University of North Carolina, or the President's designee.
All appointments shall be made within 30 days following adjournment of the 1993 Regular Session of the 1993 General Assembly.
Sec. 3.  The President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall designate one Senator as cochair and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall designate one Representative as cochair.  The cochairs shall jointly call the first meeting, and shall preside at alternate meetings.
Sec. 4.  Any vacancy shall be filled by the original appointing authority.
Sec. 5.  Members of the Task Force shall receive subsistence and travel expenses at the rates set forth in G.S. 120-3.1, 138-5, and 138-6, as applicable.
Sec. 6.  The Task Force cochairs may contract for professional, clerical, or consultant services as provided by G.S. 120-32.02, and may purchase or contract for the materials and services it needs.  The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Administrative Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist in the work of the Task Force.  The House of Representatives' and the Senate's Supervisors of Clerks, upon the direction of the Legislative Services Commission, shall assign clerical staff to the Task Force.  The expenses relating to the clerical employees shall be borne by the Task Force.  Facilitation of the work of the Task Force may be contracted to an individual who has an excellent national reputation in the area of community colleges and their missions.
Sec. 7.  The Task Force may, with the approval of the Legislative Services Commission, meet in the State Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building.
Sec. 8.  The Task Force shall make an interim report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee no later than April 15, 1994, and shall make a final report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee no later than January 15, 1995, at which time the Task Force shall terminate.
Sec. 9.  Upon the request of the Task Force, all State departments and agencies, all local governments and their subdivisions, and all institutions under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Community Colleges shall furnish the Task Force with any information in their possession or available to them. 
Sec. 10.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the General Assembly the sum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for each fiscal year of the 1993-95 biennium to fund the work of the Task Force.
Sec. 11.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1993.