MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Universities and Colleges
By: Representative Broomfield
AN ACT TO REQUIRE CERTAIN DISCLOSURE OF JOB PLACEMENT RATES, CERTAIN QUALIFICATIONS OF INSTRUCTORS AND CERTAIN GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES FOR PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) Prior to enrollment, an institution subject to the Mississippi Proprietary School and College Registration Law shall provide a prospective student with statistics for job "placement in the field" of study. The statistics provided shall be based on all students who graduated from the program in the last three (3) academic years. A placement may only be counted as "placement in the field," if all of the following requirements are met:
(a) The placement is in an occupation that the institution has identified as one (1) of the specific occupations for which the program was designed to prepare students, using the United States Department of Labor's Standard Occupational Classification codes.
(b) The skills obtained through the educational program provided the student with a significant advantage in obtaining the position.
(c) If no licensing examination is required for employment in the field of study, the student is gainfully employed in his or her field of study within six (6) months of graduation. If employment in the field of study requires passage of a licensing examination, the student must be gainfully employed in his or her field of study within six (6) months of the announcement of examination results for the first examination available after graduation.
(d) The student is employed in a single position in his or her field of study for at least thirteen (13) weeks, working at least seventeen and one-half (17 1/2) hours per week in one (1) of the occupations identified under paragraph (a) of this subsection.
The institution shall separately report placements for (i) graduates working less than thirty-five (35) hours per week in a single position in their fields of study, and (ii) graduates working thirty-five (35) hours or more per week in a single position in their fields of study. Institutions shall also make available to prospective students a list of the employment positions used to calculate the job placement rates.
(2) Institutions subject to the Mississippi Proprietary School and College Registration Law shall ensure that all instructors have a level of credentials appropriate to the courses they teach. The minimum appropriate credentials are:
(a) For associate's degree courses not intended for transfer to a baccalaureate program: a bachelor's degree in the teaching discipline or an associate's degree and demonstrated competence in the teaching discipline.
(b) For associate's degree courses intended for transfer to a baccalaureate program: a master's degree in the teaching discipline or a master's degree with a concentration (at least eighteen (18) graduate semester hours) in the teaching discipline.
(c) For general education courses at the undergraduate level: a master's degree in the teaching discipline, or a master's degree with a concentration (at least eighteen (18) graduate semester hours) in the teaching discipline.
(d) For baccalaureate degree courses: a master's degree in the teaching discipline, or a master's degree with a concentration (at least eighteen (18) graduate semester hours) in the teaching discipline.
(e) For graduate degree courses: a doctoral or terminal degree in the teaching discipline or a related discipline.
(3) (a) Students of institutions subject to the Mississippi Proprietary School and College Registration Law shall have the right to file complaints against the institution directly with the Mississippi Commission of Proprietary Schools and College Registration at any time. If the commission finds that the student has not followed the institution's grievance process, the commission may decline to act until the student has exhausted the institution's process. However, the commission shall retain records of all complaints, including those it declined to act upon, and shall make such records available to the public with personal identifying information of the student removed. If and when the commission does take up a student's complaint, the student shall be included in all meetings and copied on all communications between the commission and the institution regarding the complaint.
(b) Institutions subject to the Mississippi Proprietary School and College Registration Law shall publish and implement procedures for student grievances. The procedures shall not require more than three (3) steps prior to providing a hearing. No more than five (5) steps shall be required before adjudication of the conflict is referred to the Commission of Proprietary Schools and College Registration.
(c) Aggrieved parties shall be allowed representation by attorneys or other representatives in grievance proceedings with the institution or the commission.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.