Senate Bill No. 39
(By Senators Sypolt and Deem)
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[Introduced
February 11, 2009; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18B-2A-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, relating to prohibiting abortions at state college or university
medical facilities except when the abortion is necessary to save the life of
the woman receiving the abortion.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18B-2A-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. INSTITUTIONAL BOARDS OF GOVERNORS.
§18B-2A-4. Powers and duties of governing boards generally.
Each governing board separately has the following
powers and duties:
(a) Determine, control, supervise and manage the
financial, business and education policies and affairs of the state institution
of higher education under its jurisdiction;
(b) Develop a master plan for the institution
under its jurisdiction.
(1) The ultimate responsibility for developing and
updating the master plans at the institutional level resides with the board of
Governors, but the ultimate responsibility for approving the final version of
the institutional master plans, including periodic updates, resides with the
commission or council, as appropriate.
(2) Each master plan shall include, but not be
limited to, the following:
(A) A detailed demonstration of how the master
plan will be used to meet the goals and objectives of the institutional compact;
(B) A well-developed set of goals outlining
missions, degree offerings, resource requirements, physical plant needs,
personnel needs, enrollment levels and other planning determinates and
projections necessary in a plan to assure that the needs of the institution's
area of responsibility for a quality system of higher education are addressed;
(C) Document the involvement of the commission or
council, as appropriate, institutional constituency groups, clientele of the
institution and the general public in the development of all segments of the
institutional master plan.
(3) The plan shall be established for periods of
not less than three nor more than five years and shall be revised periodically
as necessary, including the addition or deletion of degree programs as, in the
discretion of the appropriate governing board, are necessary;
(c) Prescribe for the institution under its
jurisdiction, in accordance with its master plan and compact, specific functions
and responsibilities to achieve the goals, objectives and priorities established
in articles one and one-d of this chapter to meet the higher education needs of
its area of responsibility and to avoid unnecessary duplication;
(d) Direct the preparation of a budget request for
the institution under its jurisdiction, which relates directly to missions,
goals and projections as found in the institutional master plan and the
institutional compact;
(e) Consider, revise and submit to the commission
or council, as appropriate, a budget request on behalf of the institution under
its jurisdiction;
(f) Review, at least every five years, all
academic programs offered at the institution under its jurisdiction. The review
shall address the viability, adequacy and necessity of the programs in relation
to established state goals, objectives and priorities, the institutional master
plan, the institutional compact and the education and workforce needs of its
responsibility district. As a part of the review, each governing board shall
require the institution under its jurisdiction to conduct periodic studies of
its graduates and their employers to determine placement patterns and the
effectiveness of the education experience. Where appropriate, these studies
should coincide with the studies required of many academic disciplines by their
accrediting bodies;
(g) Ensure that the sequence and availability of
academic programs and courses offered by the institution under its jurisdiction
is such that students have the maximum opportunity to complete programs in the
time frame normally associated with program completion. Each governing board is
responsible to see that the needs of nontraditional college-age students are
appropriately addressed and, to the extent it is possible for the individual
governing board to control, to assure core course work completed at the
institution under its jurisdiction is transferable to any other state
institution of higher education for credit with the grade earned;
(h) Subject to the provisions of article one-b of
this chapter, approve the teacher education programs offered in the institution
under its control. In order to permit graduates of teacher education programs to
receive a degree from a nationally accredited program and in order to prevent
expensive duplication of program accreditation, the commission may select and
use one nationally recognized teacher education program accreditation standard
as the appropriate standard for program evaluation;
(i) Use faculty, students and classified employees
in institutional-level planning and decision making when those groups are
affected;
(j) Subject to the provisions of federal law and
pursuant to the provisions of article nine of this chapter and to rules adopted
by the commission and the council, administer a system for the management of
personnel matters, including, but not limited to, personnel classification,
compensation and discipline for employees at the institution under its
jurisdiction;
(k) Administer a system for hearing employee
grievances and appeals. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, the procedure established in article two, chapter six-c of this code
is the exclusive mechanism for hearing prospective employee grievances and
appeals;
(l) Solicit and use or expend voluntary support,
including financial contributions and support services, for the institution
under its jurisdiction;
(m) Appoint a president for the institution under
its jurisdiction subject to the provisions of section six, article one-b of this
chapter;
(n) Conduct written performance evaluations of the
president pursuant to section six, article one-b of this chapter;
(o) Employ all faculty and staff at the
institution under its jurisdiction. The employees operate under the supervision
of the president, but are employees of the governing board;
(p) Submit to the commission or council, as
appropriate, no later than November 1 of each year an annual report of the
performance of the institution under its jurisdiction during the previous fiscal
year as compared to established state goals, objectives, and priorities, and
goals stated in its master plan and institutional compact;
(q) Enter into contracts or consortium agreements
with the public schools, private schools or private industry to provide
technical, vocational, college preparatory, remedial and customized training
courses at locations either on campuses of the public institution of higher
education or at off-campus locations in the institution's responsibility
district. To accomplish this goal, the boards may share resources among the
various groups in the community;
(r) Provide and transfer funding and property to
certain corporations pursuant to section ten, article twelve of this chapter;
(s) Delegate, with prescribed standards and
limitations, the part of its power and control over the business affairs of the
institution to the president in any case where it considers the delegation
necessary and prudent in order to enable the institution to function in a proper
and expeditious manner and to meet the requirements of its master plan and
institutional compact. If a governing board elects to delegate any of its power
and control under the provisions of this subsection, it shall enter the
delegation in the minutes of the meeting when the decision was made and shall
notify the commission or council, as appropriate. Any delegation of power and
control may be rescinded by the appropriate governing board, the commission or
council, as appropriate, at any time, in whole or in part, except that the
commission may not revoke delegations of authority made by the governing boards
of Marshall University or West Virginia University as they relate to the state
institutions of higher education known as Marshall University and West Virginia
University;
(t) Unless changed by the commission or the
council, as appropriate, continue to abide by existing rules setting forth
standards for acceptance of advanced placement credit for the institution under
its jurisdiction. Individual departments at a state institution of higher
education may, upon approval of the institutional faculty Senate, require higher
scores on the advanced placement test than scores designated by the governing
board when the credit is to be used toward meeting a requirement of the core
curriculum for a major in that department;
(u) Consult, cooperate and work with the State
Treasurer and the State Auditor to update as necessary and maintain an efficient
and cost-effective system for the financial management and expenditure of
special revenue and appropriated state funds at the institution under its
jurisdiction that ensures that properly submitted requests for payment be paid
on or before due date but, in any event, within fifteen days of receipt in the
State Auditor's office;
(v) In consultation with the appropriate
chancellor and the Secretary of the Department of Administration, develop,
update as necessary and maintain a plan to administer a consistent method of
conducting personnel transactions, including, but not limited to, hiring,
dismissal, promotions and transfers at the institution under its jurisdiction.
Each personnel transaction shall be accompanied by the appropriate standardized
system or forms which shall be submitted to the respective governing board and
the Department of Finance and Administration;
(w) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
code to the contrary, transfer funds from any account specifically appropriated
for its use to any corresponding line item in a general revenue account at any
agency or institution under its jurisdiction as long as such transferred funds
are used for the purposes appropriated;
(x) Transfer funds from appropriated special
revenue accounts for capital improvements under its jurisdiction to special
revenue accounts at agencies or institutions under its jurisdiction as long as
such transferred funds are used for the purposes appropriated;
(y) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
code to the contrary, acquire legal services that are necessary, including
representation of the governing board, its institution, employees and officers
before any court or administrative body. The counsel may be employed either on a
salaried basis or on a reasonable fee basis. In addition, the governing board
may, but is not required to, call upon the Attorney General for legal assistance
and representation as provided by law; and
(z) Contract and pay for disability insurance for
a class or classes of employees at a state institution of higher education under
its jurisdiction; and
(aa) The governing
boards shall prohibit the performance of an abortion at any institution or
facility under the respective jurisdiction of the governing boards, except when
the performance of the abortion is necessary to save the life of the woman
receiving the abortion.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit
abortions at state college or university medical facilities, except when the
abortion is necessary to save the life of the woman receiving the abortion.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be
stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.