H. B. 2601
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Trump)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced February 2, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter eighteen-c of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six, relating to
creating a lifelong education and technical studies grant
opportunity program for part-time adult students at approved
institutions of higher education; setting forth findings and
declaration of legislative intent; defining certain terms;
providing for an advisory board; setting forth the powers
and duties of the senior administrator; providing for campus
level administration; establishing eligibility requirements;
establishing priority for grants for students in particular
areas of study; providing for the payment of grants; establishing guidelines for the unused portions of grants;
and providing for legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eighteen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article six, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 6. LIFELONG EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL STUDIES GRANT
OPPORTUNITY.
§18C-6-1. Legislative findings, intent and purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the current
number of adult citizens with some education or technical
training beyond high school in West Virginia is low in comparison
to other states. Statewide, less than two per cent of all West
Virginians aged twenty-five and over attended a state college
system or university system institution in the fall semester, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five. In order to increase the
college-going rate of adults in this state, lifelong learning
opportunities must be made available to adult learners in a wide
variety of education and technical fields of study. It is the
purpose of this article to encourage adults to enter and remain in college, especially community and technical colleges, to
improve current workplace skills and to develop new ones in order
to compete for well-paying jobs in the global economy. There is
also a growing need to provide education and training to
displaced workers to help them return to the work force. In
order to encourage adults to pursue lifelong learning
opportunities in greater numbers, a new grant program based on
demonstrated need and entitled "Lifelong Education and Technical
Studies Grant Opportunity" is hereby created. The program will
provide grants to adults with demonstrated need who are pursuing
associate, technical and baccalaureate education on a part-time
basis. All approved institutions of higher education, including
community and technical colleges, will benefit. In addition, the
state's ability to attract and keep businesses will be enhanced
by the increased numbers of skilled and highly educated adults in
the work-force.
§18C-6-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, the following words have the
meanings ascribed to them.
(a) "Approved institution of higher education" means a state
institution of higher education as defined in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this code, and Alderson- Broaddus College, Appalachian Bible College, Bethany College, the
College of West Virginia, Davis and Elkins College, Ohio Valley
College, Salem-Teikyo University, the University of Charleston,
West Virginia Wesleyan College and Wheeling Jesuit University,
all in West Virginia, and any other institution of higher
education in this state, public or private, approved by the
senior administrator.
(b) "Lifelong education and technical studies grant
opportunity" means the grant program authorized and established
by the provisions of this article.
(c) "Senior administrator" means the senior administrator
defined in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this
code.
§18C-6-3. Advisory board created.
(a) The grant program established and authorized by this
article shall be administered by the senior administrator.
Moneys appropriated or otherwise available for such purpose shall
be allocated by line item to an appropriate account in the state
treasury to be known as the "Lifelong education and technical
studies grant opportunity" account. Expenditures from the account shall be for the purposes set forth in this article.
(b) There is hereby created a lifelong education and
technical studies grant opportunity advisory board to advise and
assist the senior administrator in carrying out his or her
responsibilities under this article.
(c) The advisory board shall consist of nine members. Four
members shall be voting ex officio members, including:
(1) The secretary of education and the arts or his or her
designee;
(2) The secretary of the department of health and human
resources or his or her designee;
(3) The commissioner of the bureau of employment programs or
his or her designee; and
(4) The vice chancellor of community and technical colleges.
Five members who are residents of this state shall be
appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the
Senate. Of the five members appointed by the governor, one shall
be appointed from each of the following:
(A) Business and industry;
(B) Labor;
(C) Independent colleges;
(D) The human resource investment council; and
(E) One member appointed at large.
No more than three of the members appointed by the governor
may be a member of the same political party. At its first
meeting, and annually thereafter, the advisory board shall select
one of its members as chairperson. Members serve without
compensation, but shall be reimbursed from funds appropriated
under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section for
expenses, including travel expenses, actually incurred by a
member in the official conduct of the business of the advisory
board at the same rate as is paid the employees of the state.
(d) Appointed members shall serve for a term of four years
and may be reappointed for one additional term. Any member whose
term has expired shall serve until his or her successor has been
appointed. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve
only for the unexpired term. In cases of a vacancy in the office
of a member, such vacancy shall be filled by the governor in the
same manner as the original appointment.
(e) The advisory board shall meet at least two times each
year to review the grant program and to provide the senior
administrator with advice and assistance in proposing legislative rules and in carrying out his or her responsibilities under this
article.
§18C-6-4. Powers and duties of the senior administrator.
(a) Subject to the provisions of this article and within the
limits of appropriations made by the Legislature, the senior
administrator is authorized and empowered to:
(1) Prepare and supervise the issuance of public information
concerning this grant program for adult part-time students;
(2) Prescribe the form and regulate the submission of
applications for grants;
(3) Administer or contract for the administration of such
examinations as may be prescribed by the senior administrator;
(4) Provide criteria for the selection of qualified
recipients of grants by approved institutions;
(5) Authorize approved institutions to award grants;
(6) Accept grants, gifts, bequests and devises of real and
personal property for the purposes of the grant program;
(7) Cooperate with approved institutions of higher education
in the state and their governing boards in the administration of
this grant program, providing that such grant program shall be
administered at the campus level in so far as is practicable;
(8) Assist approved institutions of higher education in
making the final decision pertaining to residency of an applicant
for a grant or renewal of a grant;
(9) Employ or engage such professional, administrative,
clerical and other employees to serve at the will and pleasure
and under the control of the senior administrator as may be
necessary to carry out the duties and responsibilities assigned
to such administrator under the provisions of this article; and
(10) Prescribe the duties and fix the compensation of all
such employees.
(b) Seventy-five thousand dollars or ten percent of any
appropriation for this program, whichever is less, may be
retained by the senior administrator for any necessary
administrative costs including necessary travel expenses of
advisory board members.
§18C-6-5. Eligibility.
A person shall be eligible for consideration for a grant
under this article if the person:
(1) Is twenty-five years of age or older;
(2) Is a citizen of the United States;
(3) Has been a resident of this state for one year immediately preceding the date of application for a grant or a
renewal of a grant;
(4) Enrolls as a part-time student in an approved
institution of higher education; and
(5) Meets the qualifications of financial need as
established by legislative rule.
§18C-6-6. Grant procedures.
(a) The grant recipient may attend any approved institution
of higher education in this state. The institution is not
required to accept the recipient for enrollment, but is free to
exact compliance with its own admission requirements,
standards and policies. Grants shall only be made to
undergraduate, part-time students. Grants are renewable as long
as the grantee is maintaining satisfactory academic standing,
making normal progress toward completion of the course of study
and continues to be eligible, as determined by the institution.
(b) Grants shall be made without regard to the applicant's
race, creed, color, sex, national origin, ancestry or whether the
applicant has a disability. The senior administrator may enter
into reciprocal agreements with other states providing grants for
part-time students if such states provide grants to residents of this state who are attending institutions of higher education on
a part-time basis in those states.
(c) The senior administrator and the advisory board shall
identify areas of professional, vocational and technical
expertise that may be of critical need in this state and, to the
extent feasible, give priority for grants to students who are
pursuing instruction in those areas of identified shortages.
(d) Payment of all grants shall be made directly to the
institution. In the event that a grant recipient transfers from
one approved institution of higher education to another such
institution, the grant may be transferred if approved by the
senior administrator.
(e) If the recipient terminates enrollment during the
academic year, the unused portion of the grant shall be returned
by the institution to the senior administrator for transfer to
the appropriate account and allocation for expenditure pursuant
to the provisions of this article.
(f) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for
this purpose, the first grants under this program shall be
available to eligible students beginning the first day of
January, two thousand.
§18C-6-7. Legislative rules.
Subject to the provisions of this article, the senior
administrator, by and with the advice and assistance of the
advisory board, shall propose legislative rules, including
emergency legislative rules, to be effective on the first day of
January, two thousand. Such rules shall, in addition to other
matters:
(1) Establish financial need eligibility criteria;
(2) Establish priorities for eligible applicants and shall
ensure that applicants receiving public assistance be given
priority, if such public assistance does not include job training
or other educational assistance; and
(3) Give priority to eligible applicants attending community
and technical colleges.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a college
grant program entitled "Lifelong Education and Technical Studies
Grant Opportunity" or "LETSGO" for part-time adult students at
approved institutions of higher education. The bill provides
that eligible part-time students aged 25 years or older may
receive grants to help defray the cost of part-time academic
course work. An advisory committee, composed of nine members is
established to advise and assist the senior administrator in
carrying out the program. The bill provides that the first grants under this program shall be available to eligible students
beginning the first day of January, two thousand.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.