MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2006 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Human Services; Appropriations
By: Representative Montgomery
AN ACT TO CODIFY SECTION 37-143-10, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR A "MISSISSIPPI CRITICAL NEEDS NURSING FACULTY INCENTIVE PROGRAM" TO AUTHORIZE SALARY SUPPLEMENTS FOR NURSE FACULTY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following provision shall be codified as Section 37-143-10, Mississippi Code of 1972:
37-143-10. (1) There is established a "Mississippi Critical Needs Nursing Faculty Incentive Program." This program shall be implemented by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges to produce more nursing faculty at the schools of nursing in Mississippi in order to fill the health care needs of this state and to attract nursing faculty from other states to teach in Mississippi.
(2) Pursuant to specific appropriation therefor by the Legislature, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall implement a three-year across-the-board salary increase of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00) per fiscal year in fiscal year 2007, fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2009 for all registered nurses who are faculty in approved undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in the state. Pursuant to specific appropriation therefor by the Legislature, the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges shall implement a three-year across-the-board salary increase of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00) per fiscal year in fiscal year 2007, fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2009 for all registered nurses who are faculty in approved associate degree nursing programs in the state. This incentive is intended to bring salaries for nursing faculty within the average for the geographic area in which the State of Mississippi competes for nursing faculty, thereby retaining present faculty who would otherwise retire or accept employment in other states, and to attract nursing faculty from other states to teach in Mississippi. Salary supplements under this subsection shall be allocated to full-time nursing faculty who enter into contract with the appropriate school of nursing obligating themselves to spend a period of time of not less than three (3) years in teaching nursing at any accredited school of nursing in Mississippi, and shall be allocated to positions which are presently vacant and faculty positions currently funded by hospitals. Part-time faculty shall be eligible to receive a prorated salary supplement under this subsection based upon hours applied to teaching duties. Any person who does not render three (3) years' service as a nursing faculty in an approved school of nursing in Mississippi under this program, shall be liable to the appropriate board for one-third (1/3) of the total amount of the salary supplement granted under the program for each year that the person does not render such service, plus interest accruing at the current Stafford Loan rate at the time the person discontinues his service. If a claim for repayment under this subsection is placed in the hands of an attorney for collection, the obligor shall be liable for an additional amount equal to a reasonable attorney's fee. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges shall jointly establish such rules and regulations as deemed necessary and proper to carry out the purposes and intent of this subsection.
(3) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges may grant a deferral for cause when there is no employment position immediately available for a program participant. After any such period of deferral, the nurse faculty shall begin or resume the required teaching duties or shall become liable to the appropriate board for repayment of the salary supplement.
(4) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges shall jointly prepare an annual report for the Legislature, to be submitted by December 1 of each year beginning in 2006, which shall assess the impact of the Mississippi Critical Needs Nursing Faculty Incentive Program on the employment of registered nurses as faculty in approved schools of nursing. The report shall include, at a minimum, the number of persons who have participated in each component of the program each year and the number of persons who have actually rendered service as faculty in Mississippi schools of nursing under the program.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2006.