2023 Virginia Higher Education Legislation

HJ 541 Study; JLARC; cost efficiency of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. - Tabled in House Rules with Letter

Study; JLARC; cost efficiency of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study the cost efficiency of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and to identify opportunities to reduce the cost of public higher education in the Commonwealth by examining (i) teaching loads and productivity of faculty; (ii) the impact of faculty research on tuition and other costs; (iii) incentives created by existing faculty compensation models; (iv) design and utilization of facilities; (v) operation of enterprise

SB 1098 Public institutions of higher education; new programs of instruction; approval of the State Council - Killed in Senate Education and Health

Public institutions of higher education; new programs of instruction; approval of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and certain legislative committees required. Prohibits any public institution of higher education from implementing a new program of instruction or implementing a new curriculum for an existing program of instruction without first obtaining the approval of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health.

HB 1800 Public institutions of higher education; transparency - Killed in Senate Education and Health

HB 1743 Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive sealed bidding; Invitation to Bid; required statements - Left in House General Laws

Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive sealed bidding; Invitation to Bid; required statements. Requires every written Invitation to Bid issued pursuant to the Virginia Public Procurement Act to incorporate certain statements of qualifications for potential contractors related to responsible contracting, direct hiring, prevailing wages, and participation in apprenticeship programs.

HB 1738 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; state public bodies; meetings; virtual public access - Passed with amendments

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; state public bodies; meetings; virtual public access. Requires all state public bodies to provide public access to meetings through electronic communication means and to provide the public with the opportunity to comment at such meetings through such the use of such electronic communication means when public comment is customarily received. The bill contains technical amendments.

SB 1197 Public institutions of higher education; transparency. Killed in Senate Education and Health

Public institutions of higher education; transparency. Imposes several requirements on governing boards of public institutions of higher education relating to transparency, including requirements to (i) report by September 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and on Education and Health the number of diversity officers and government relations officers employed by the institution and the salary of each such officer and the total value of any contract with any outside individual or entity to provide lobbying services for the institution; (ii) record video of each meeting of the full board and its committees and make publicly available on the institution's website in a position of prominence a link

SB 910 Higher educational institutions, public; threat assessment teams, powers and duties. Passed with amendments

Public institutions of higher education; threat assessment teams; powers and duties. Requires each threat assessment team at each public institution of higher education, upon a preliminary determination that an individual poses an articulable and significant threat of violence to others, to (i) obtain criminal history record information and health records for such individual, (ii) notify the campus police department, local law enforcement, and the local attorney for the Commonwealth in writing within 24 hours of obtaining such criminal history record information and (iii) disclose any specific threat of violence posed by the individual as part of such notification. The bill permits each such threat assessment team to invite non-member representatives from campus to participate in individual cases and specifies that no such

HB 1916 Public institutions of higher education; threat assessment teams; powers and duties. Passed with amendments

Public institutions of higher education; threat assessment teams; powers and duties. Requires each threat assessment team at each public institution of higher education, upon a preliminary determination that an individual poses an articulable and significant threat of violence to others, to (i) obtain criminal history record information and health records for such individual, if available; (ii) notify the campus police department, local law enforcement, and the local attorney for the Commonwealth in writing within 24 hours; and (iii) disclose any specific threat of violence posed by the individual as part of such notification. The bill permits each such threat assessment team to invite nonmember representatives from campus to participate in individual cases and specifies that no such representative shall be considered a Continue Reading

HB 1889 Public institutions of higher education and certain other public educational institutions. Left in House Health Welfare and Institutions

Public institutions of higher education and certain other public educational institutions; certain immunization requirements prohibited. Prohibits any prospective or current full-time or part-time employee of a public institution of higher education or any of its centers or other subdivisions; the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority; Eastern Virginia Medical School; or any authority, center, or institute specified by the bill that enrolls or otherwise provides instruction to students from being required, as a condition of initial or continued employment, to be immunized against COVID-19. The bill also prohibits any prospective or current full-time or part-time

SB 1307 University of Virginia; board of visitors; membership. Tabled in House Rules

University of Virginia; board of visitors; membership. Expands the membership of the University of Virginia board of visitors to include two nonvoting advisory members consisting of one faculty member of the University and one staff member of the University. The advisory faculty member shall be selected by the University faculty and the advisory staff member shall be selected by the University staff in the manner deemed appropriate by the faculty and staff, respectively.

SB 1295 Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing boards; curriculum transparency. Killed in Senate Education and Health

Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing boards; curriculum transparency. Directs the governing board of each public institution of higher education to (i) adopt policies or guidelines for soliciting industry input in the institution's program review processes and curriculum development at the unit or department level and (ii) develop procedures for incorporating the attainment of industry credentials into the institution's existing degree programs to increase degree relevancy and ensure more seamless pathways from higher education to the workforce.

SB 1172 State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; work group on standardized registered nursing. Passed with amendments

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; work group on standardized registered nursing curriculum; fast path nursing program. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, the Board of Nursing, and representatives from for-profit institutions offering RN education and diploma programs to convene a work group to make recommendations for the development of a fast path nursing program for the purpose of establishing a standardized, universally accepted, and transferrable core curriculum for all registered nursing degree or diploma programs offered in each comprehensive community college, baccalaureate institution of higher education, and any other entity offering an RN degree or diploma program in the Commonwealth, including hospitals and for-profit institutions.

SB 1110 Public institutions of higher education; student accounts; withholding transcripts. Killed in House Education

Public institutions of higher education; student accounts; withholding transcripts. Prohibits any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth from conditioning the provision of an academic transcript to a current or former student on the payment of an outstanding debt to such institution if the student is requesting the transcript for the purpose of (i) applying for employment, (ii) applying for financial aid, (iii) pursuing opportunities in the Armed Forces or National Guard, or (iv) pursuing postsecondary opportunities in career or technical job training. The bill also prohibits any public institution of higher education from conditioning the provision or release of a

SB 1130 Institutions of higher education; Get Skilled, Get a Job, Get Ahead Program.

Killed in House Education

Institutions of higher education; Get Skilled, Get a Job, Get Ahead Program. Authorizes the Virginia Community College System (the System), in collaboration with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (the Council), each participating comprehensive community college and baccalaureate public institution of higher education, and the Virginia Office of Education Economics (VOEE), to select the degree and certificate programs eligible for financial assistance under the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Get Ahead (G3) Program. Current law requires the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, in consultation with the System, the Council, and the staffs of the

SB 1030 Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing board; student tuition and fees. Killed in Senate Finance and Appropriations

Public institutions of higher education; duties of governing board; student tuition and fees; requests for certain information. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to adopt policies and procedures requiring the release to each student or, if such student is a dependent, the parent of each student enrolled at such institution of an itemized list of how such student's individual annual tuition and other mandatory fees are allocated, including the exact amount of such student's tuition and mandatory fees that are used to subsidize financial aid grants and scholarships for other students at such institution. The bill requires such policies and procedures to include a provision allowing any student or the parent of any student to opt out of receiving such itemized list.

SB 991 Higher educational institutions, public; immunization requirements. Killed in Senate Education and Health

Public institutions of higher education; immunization requirements. Declares that the General Assembly has the sole authority to impose immunization requirements on students enrolled in public institutions of higher education and any policy or any revision to any policy of a public institution of higher education relating to immunization requirements is void to the extent that it is inconsistent with the law of the Commonwealth. The bill also expands the scope of exemptions from such immunization requirements by (i) providing that any student shall be exempt from the immunization requirements or from the health history requirement if the student or, if such student is under the age of 18, the parent of such student objects on the grounds that compliance with the requirement would conflict with the student's or the parent's religious tenets or practices and (ii) removing the exception providing that the religious exemption to any immunization requirement shall not apply if the Board of Health declares an emergency or epidemic of disease.

HB 1870 Higher educational institutions; immunity from disciplinary action in certain cases. Passed with amendments

Institutions of higher education; immunity from disciplinary action in certain cases involving a good faith report of an act of sexual violence. Removes the exemption of the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors from the requirement to include in its policy, code, rules, or set of standards governing sexual violence a provision for immunity from disciplinary action for certain individuals who make good faith reports of acts of sexual violence. The bill also requires that the governing board of each public and nonprofit private institution of higher education extend such provision of disciplinary immunity to disclosures of curfew violation where such disclosure is made in conjunction with a good faith report of an act of sexual violence. Under current law, such boards are only required to include a provision for disciplinary immunity from disclosures of personal consumption of drugs or alcohol made in conjunction with a good faith report of an act of sexual violence.

HJ 511 Study; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; offering reduced rate in-state tuition. Left in House Rules

Study; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; offering reduced rate in-state tuition rates at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth to dependents of public elementary and secondary school teachers in the Commonwealth; report. Requests the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to study, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the feasibility and efficacy of offering the dependents of public elementary and secondary school teachers in the Commonwealth reduced rate in-state tuition at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth for the purpose of improving retention rates of public school teachers in the Commonwealth.