The Florida Senate

240.125  Postsecondary consortia; cooperation.--

(1)  Community colleges and universities serving the same students in a geographic and service area are encouraged to establish appropriate interinstitutional mechanisms to achieve cooperative planning and delivery of academic programs and related services, share a high-cost instructional facility and equipment, coordinate credit and noncredit outreach activities, have access to each other's library and media holdings and services, and provide cooperative campus activities and consultative relationships for the discussion and resolution of interinstitutional issues and problems which discourage student access or transfer.

(2)  Public community colleges and universities are encouraged to include independent colleges and universities and industries within their service areas in mutual planning of a comprehensive, complementary, cost-effective array of undergraduate and beginning graduate programs of study to serve that geographic area.

(3)  The Commissioner of Education is authorized to establish a Trust Fund for Postsecondary Cooperation. The trust fund shall be used to reward institutional creativity and initiative in assisting student articulation and in cooperating with local business and industry. These initiatives may include:

(a)  Local consortia or institutional arrangements.

(b)  Organized faculty and professional staff networks.

(c)  The use of adjunct faculty from industry.

(d)  Apprenticeship or cooperative training of students.

(4)  The Postsecondary Education Planning Commission shall review, set priorities for, and recommend to the commissioner proposals for use of the fund. The commissioner has authority to make grants from the trust fund.

(5)  The Postsecondary Education Planning Commission shall recommend to the State Board of Education rules to implement this section.

History.--s. 66, ch. 79-222; s. 7, ch. 83-325.