Bill > S1976

Introduced Session

This bill establishes the "Minority-Serving State College and University Stabilization Program" in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education and makes an appropriation of $20 million for the bill's purposes. Under the bill, the program will provide grants to minority-serving State colleges and universities that experience: a declining enrollment of full-time undergraduate students of at least 10 percent during the two years immediately preceding the submission of a stabilization plan; and a reduction in full-time instructional faculty and staff due to fiscal reasons during the two years immediately preceding the submission of a stabilization plan. A minority-serving State college or university that wishes to participate in the program may submit a stabilization plan to the Secretary of Higher Education. The stabilization plan is required to contain the following: (1) a statement describing the nature of the fiscal distress experienced by the minority-serving State college or university; (2) a plan to address the declining enrollment of the minority- serving State college or university; (3) a plan to provide restoration and stabilization of staff and support for students; (4) strategies for deploying resources specifically to improve instructional and instructional support capacity and encourage the enrollment and retention of students; (5) input from faculty and staff employed at the college or university, which will be evidenced in the form of a letter of support from each of the majority representatives of the respective campus collective bargaining units; and (6) input from the broader community of the minority-serving State college or university, which will be evidenced in the form of a public hearing and formal authorization from the board of trustees of the college or university. The secretary is directed to establish the timelines and procedures for the submission of the stabilization plan. The bill directs the secretary to award grants under the program based upon review of the stabilization plan and subject to the limit of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the program. The secretary is required to make disbursements from the fund sufficient for qualified institutions to carry out their approved stabilization plans. The bill requires that, within 180 days of receiving a grant through the program, the minority-serving State college or university will submit a report to the secretary detailing the approved and proposed expenditures made with the funds. The college or university is required, within 180 days of the submission of the first report, to submit a second report to the secretary that details the expenditures made with the remaining funds. The reports are required to be made available on an Internet website that is operated by or on behalf of the minority-serving State college or university. Additionally, the bill directs the secretary to consult with the respective campus collective bargaining agents in order to review the reports. The secretary may seek input from the faculty and staff employed at the college or university and request additional financial information from the minority-serving State college or university in order to review the reports. To effectuate the provisions of the bill, there is appropriated to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the sum of $20,000,000, of which $10,000,000 will be appropriated from the General Fund and of which $10,000,000 will be appropriated from funds received by the State under the federal "American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act," Pub.L.117-2 including, but not limited to, funds allocated to the State under the federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund," or any other federal funding provided to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on institutions of higher education. A minority-serving State college or university that receives a grant pursuant to the provisions of this bill will be required to spend the funds in accordance with its approved stabilization plan. If, at the end of a fiscal year, there are unspent monies from the program, the secretary is directed by the bill to distribute these funds to all minority-serving State colleges and universities on a per student basis.

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Sandra Cunningham (D)*,  Nellie Pou (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee (on 03/03/2022)

Official Document