MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Universities and Colleges; Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Gollott, Hewes, Woodfield, Gordon, Cuevas, Moffatt, Lee, Robertson

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-102-3 AND 37-102-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING AND THE STATE BOARD FOR COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGES TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT TO ENHANCE HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR GULF COAST RESIDENTS; TO CLARIFY BUDGET ALLOCATIONS TO DEGREE-GRANTING UNIVERSITY BRANCH CAMPUSES; 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. (1) 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 chapter.

(2) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges may enter into an interagency agreement and promulgate such joint rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the purpose of enhancing higher education opportunities for residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast counties.

SECTION 2. Section 37-102-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-102-7. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall submit to the Legislature budget requests with off-campus and branch-campus programs being an identified part of the total general support budget request for universities by being a separate item within the budget request of the respective university which offers the program. Said budget request shall include (a) a statement of all actual or estimated receipts and disbursements for such off-campus or branch-campus programs; (b) a comparison of the estimated state expenditure per full-time equivalent student studying at the off-campus site or branch campus as compared to the estimated state expenditure per full-time equivalent student studying at the parent university's main campus; and (c) such other information as may be required by the Legislative Budget Office. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall allocate to branch campuses owning substantial land and buildings state funds adequate to maintain those buildings in addition to such instructional funds as shall be necessary to provide branch campus students a quality of instruction equal to that available on the parent university campus.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1998.