Florida Senate - 2011                                    SB 1732
       
       
       
       By Senator Lynn
       
       
       
       
       7-01235B-11                                           20111732__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to postsecondary education; requiring
    3         the Board of Governors of the State University System,
    4         in coordination with the Higher Education Coordinating
    5         Council, to develop a plan for establishing certain
    6         comprehensive undergraduate universities; requiring
    7         the Board of Governors to submit a plan to transfer a
    8         Florida College System institution to the State
    9         University System; providing conditions for the plan;
   10         requiring the State Board of Education, in
   11         coordination with the Higher Education Coordinating
   12         Council, to examine options to realign adult basic
   13         education and career education programs; requiring the
   14         State Board of Education to submit a plan for the
   15         consolidation of certain programs, to clarify
   16         jurisdictional responsibility and funding, and to
   17         establish an implementation schedule; repealing s.
   18         1000.07, F.S., relating to the Florida Business and
   19         Education Collaborative; amending s. 1001.64, F.S.;
   20         requiring a community college board of trustees to ask
   21         the Commissioner of Education to authorize an
   22         investigation of a college president by the Department
   23         of Education’s inspector general in specified
   24         circumstances; requiring the inspector general to
   25         report on the investigation and make recommendations;
   26         requiring the inspector general to refer any potential
   27         legal violation to the Commission on Ethics, the
   28         Department of Law Enforcement, the state attorney, or
   29         other appropriate authority; amending s. 1007.27,
   30         F.S.; requiring the Department of Education to
   31         identify certain courses for which a state university
   32         has established a higher score for awarding credit;
   33         authorizing the statewide articulation agreement to
   34         allow a state university board of trustees to
   35         establish scores on advance placement exams which the
   36         university will accept for course credit; deleting a
   37         provision authorizing the exemption of certain
   38         students from a requirement to enroll in a summer
   39         term; repealing s. 1007.33(6), F.S., relating to an
   40         exemption from provisions governing the approval
   41         process for baccalaureate degrees; providing an
   42         effective date.
   43  
   44  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         Section 1. The Board of Governors of the State University
   47  System, in coordination with the Higher Education Coordinating
   48  Council, shall develop a plan to examine the potential for
   49  establishing comprehensive undergraduate universities that would
   50  not be research universities but would have programs dedicated
   51  and limited to undergraduate instruction. The Board of Governors
   52  shall submit the plan to the Governor, the President of the
   53  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by
   54  January 31, 2012. The plan must include the identification of
   55  conditions that could result in the transfer of a Florida
   56  College System institution to the State University System. Such
   57  conditions may include those in which a Florida College System
   58  institution:
   59         (1) Enrolls more than 20 percent of its students in upper
   60  division programs; or
   61         (2) Constructs dormitories after July 1, 2011.
   62         Section 2. The State Board of Education, in coordination
   63  with the Higher Education Coordinating Council, shall examine
   64  options for realigning adult basic education and career
   65  education programs. By January 31, 2012, the State Board of
   66  Education shall submit to the Governor, the President of the
   67  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a plan
   68  to consolidate adult basic education and career education
   69  programs within school districts and Florida College System
   70  institutions. The plan must clarify jurisdictional
   71  responsibility and funding and establish an implementation
   72  schedule for realigning the programs.
   73         Section 3. Section 1000.07, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
   74         Section 4. Subsection (3) of section 1001.64, Florida
   75  Statutes, is amended to read:
   76         1001.64 Community college boards of trustees; powers and
   77  duties.—
   78         (3) A board of trustees shall have the power to take action
   79  without a recommendation from the president and shall have the
   80  power to require the president to deliver to the board of
   81  trustees all data and information required by the board of
   82  trustees in the performance of its duties. A board of trustees
   83  shall ask the Commissioner of Education to authorize an
   84  investigation of the president’s actions by the department’s
   85  inspector general if the board considers such investigation
   86  necessary. The inspector general shall provide a report
   87  detailing each issue under investigation and shall recommend
   88  corrective action. If the inspector general identifies potential
   89  legal violations, he or she shall refer the potential legal
   90  violations to the Commission on Ethics, the Department of Law
   91  Enforcement, the state attorney, or another appropriate
   92  authority.
   93         Section 5. Subsections (2), (6), and (10) of section
   94  1007.27, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   95         1007.27 Articulated acceleration mechanisms.—
   96         (2) The Department of Education shall identify the minimum
   97  scores, maximum credit, and course or courses for which credit
   98  is to be awarded for each College Level Examination Program
   99  (CLEP) general examination, CLEP subject examination, College
  100  Board Advanced Placement Program examination, and International
  101  Baccalaureate examination. In addition, the department shall
  102  identify such courses in the general education core curriculum
  103  of each state university and community college and shall
  104  identify courses for which a state university has established a
  105  higher score for the awarding of credit in accordance with the
  106  statewide articulation agreement.
  107         (6) Advanced placement shall be the enrollment of an
  108  eligible secondary student in a course offered through the
  109  Advanced Placement Program administered by the College Board.
  110  Postsecondary credit for an advanced placement course shall be
  111  limited to students who score a minimum of 3, on a 5-point
  112  scale, on the corresponding Advanced Placement Examination. The
  113  specific courses for which students receive such credit shall be
  114  identified in the statewide articulation agreement required by
  115  s. 1007.23(1). The statewide articulation agreement may
  116  authorize a state university board of trustees to establish the
  117  scores on advanced placement exams which the university will
  118  accept for course credit. Students of Florida public secondary
  119  schools enrolled pursuant to this subsection shall be exempt
  120  from the payment of any fees for administration of the
  121  examination regardless of whether or not the student achieves a
  122  passing score on the examination.
  123         (10) Any student who earns 9 or more credits from one or
  124  more of the acceleration mechanisms provided for in this section
  125  is exempt from any requirement of a public postsecondary
  126  educational institution mandating enrollment during a summer
  127  term.
  128         Section 6. Subsection (6) of section 1007.33, Florida
  129  Statutes, is repealed.
  130         Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.