§18B-1D-1 Legislative intent and purpose; short title; rules required. - West Virginia Statutes

§18B-1D-1. Legislative intent and purpose; short title; rules required.
(a) The intent of the Legislature in the enactment of this article is to outline and organize the elements of accountability for public higher education into an effective, coherent system to provide guidance to the state institutions of higher education, the commission and the council and to clarify the roles, relationships and responsibilities between and among these entities, the citizens of West Virginia and elected state officials. The main purposes of the accountability system are as follows:

(1) To develop agreement on higher education goals, objectives and priorities through negotiation and consensus-building between elected officials acting on behalf of the citizens of the state and the commission and the council and institutions which receive public funds and provide education services;

(2) To create a seamless education system and hold boards and institutions accountable for meeting state goals and objectives.

(3) To provide a data-driven, step-by-step process to determine the progress of public higher education in addressing established goals, objectives and priorities;

(4) To promote cooperation and collaboration among all entities which are involved in the delivery of public education in West Virginia; and

(5) To provide for generation, collection and dissemination of data on which sound state-level policy decisions can be based. Possible uses of this data include the following:

(A) Identifying institutions and systems that increase quality and productivity; and

(B) Creating a mechanism to target a portion of state appropriations to institutions and systems based on performance in meeting established state goals and objectives.

(b) This article, together with section one-a, article one of this chapter and section four, article one, chapter eighteen of this code, shall be known as and may be cited as Vision 2020: An Education Blueprint for Two Thousand Twenty.

(c) By the first day of October, two thousand eight, the commission and the council shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of section six, article one of this chapter and article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code concerning the accountability system for higher education outlined in this article.

(1) The commission and the council may propose rules jointly or separately and may choose to address all of the accountability system in a single rule or may propose additional rules to cover specific elements.

(2) At a minimum, the rules shall address the respective responsibilities of the various parties, the development of statewide master plans, the process of entering into institutional and state compacts, performance indicators and institution and state-level reporting to ensure that higher education is accountable to the citizens of West Virginia.