MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Universities and Colleges

By: Representative Peranich

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-102-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IN COOPERATION WITH THE STATE BOARD FOR COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGES TO STUDY THE NEED AND ADVISABILITY OF OFFERING COURSES FOR COLLEGE CREDIT AT THE LOWER UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL AND ADVANCED CENTERS FOR TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS AT OFF-CAMPUS SITES OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 37-102-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-102-3. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall not permit its universities to offer courses for college credit at the lower undergraduate level at an off-campus site unless approved by the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, in cooperation with the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, shall study the need and advisability of offering (a) courses for college credit at the lower undergraduate level, and (b) advanced centers for technology partnerships for industrial training and professional development for credit and noncredit courses, at the following off-campus sites by four-year public state institutions of higher learning: the Mississippi Gulf Coast counties; Greenville, Mississippi; Columbus, Mississippi; McComb, Mississippi; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Meridian, Mississippi; Laurel, Mississippi; and any other proposed area of the state. Any such study shall take into account the ongoing programs of the community and junior colleges in the State of Mississippi when said board authorizes off-campus programs created under this chapter. It is the intent of the Legislature to meet the educational needs of students who do not have ready access to the educational opportunities that they desire. It is the further intent of this chapter that university off-campus programs established hereunder will in no way usurp the responsibilities of the public junior colleges of the State of Mississippi. The board shall establish such rules and regulations as it deems necessary and proper to carry out the purposes and intent of this act.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.