HF 3629

as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 03/10/2010 03:56pm

A bill for an act
relating to higher education; reorganizing the Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities; adjusting salaries; establishing a central office; increasing the
age for free classes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, sections 15A.081,
subdivision 7c; 135A.51, subdivision 2; 136F.40, subdivision 2; proposing
coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 136F; repealing Minnesota
Statutes 2008, section 136F.31.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 15A.081, subdivision 7c, is amended to
read:

Subd. 7c.

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities chancellor.

The Board of
Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities shall establish a salary range for
the position of chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. The board
shall submit the proposed salary range to the Legislative Coordinating Commission for
approval, modification, or rejection in the manner provided in section 3.855. The board
shall establish deleted text begin the deleted text end new text begin a new text end salary for the chancellor deleted text begin within the approved salary range deleted text end new text begin that does
not exceed the governor's salary new text end .

In deciding whether to approve a salary increase, the board shall consider the
performance of the chancellor in areas including educational leadership, student success,
system management, human resources, and affirmative action.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment for
contracts entered into on or after that date.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 135A.51, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Senior citizen.

"Senior citizen" means a person who has reached deleted text begin 62 deleted text end new text begin 66 new text end
years of age before the beginning of any term, semester or quarter, in which a course of
study is pursued, or a person receiving a railroad retirement annuity who has reached 60
years of age before the beginning of the term.

Sec. 3.

new text begin [136F.08] CENTRAL SYSTEM OFFICE.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin A central system office is established for the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to provide central support to the institutions
enrolling students and to assist the board in fulfilling its missions under section 136F.05.
The central office must not assume responsibility for services that are most effectively
and efficiently provided at the institution level. The central system office is under the
direction of the chancellor.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin General duties. new text end

new text begin The central system office must coordinate system level
responsibilities for financial management, personnel management, facilities management,
information technology, credit transfer, legal affairs, government relations, and auditing.
The central system office shall coordinate its services with the services provided at the
institution level so as not to duplicate any functions that are provided by institutions.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 136F.40, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Contracts.

(a) The board may enter into a contract with the chancellor,
a vice-chancellor, or a president, containing terms and conditions of employment. The
terms of the contract must be authorized under a plan approved under section 43A.18,
subdivision 3a. new text begin The salary established for a contract under this section must not exceed
the governor's salary. new text end

(b) Notwithstanding section 43A.17, subdivision 11, or other law to the contrary, a
contract under this section may provide a liquidated salary amount or other compensation
if a contract is terminated by the board prior to its expiration.

(c) Notwithstanding section 356.24 or other law to the contrary, a contract under
this section may contain a deferred compensation plan made in conformance with section
457(f) of the Internal Revenue Code.

new text begin (d) Any bonus authorized in a contract under this section or awarded by the board to
persons with a contract under this section must be based on a measure that recognizes the
relationship of increasing administrative costs on the tuition and debt amounts for students.
new text end

new text begin (e) To promote transparency and accountability, the board must provide timely and
complete information on its Web site on the compensation of persons with contracts
under this section.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment for
contracts entered into on or after that date.
new text end

Sec. 5. new text begin INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.
new text end

new text begin Notwithstanding any law or policy to the contrary, the Board of Trustees of the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities must ensure that the selection of projects
and the development of information technology systems and applications is undertaken
in a focused and strategic manner. All back office technology applications must be
fully developed and implemented prior to implementing any student services or other
information technology systems.
new text end

Sec. 6. new text begin MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES;
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
new text end

new text begin Notwithstanding any law or policy to the contrary, the Board of Trustees of the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities shall reorganize the centralized delivery of
information technology to institutions and students. Information technology services must
be located where they provide the largest economic benefits. The board must require
coordinated technology services and systems through information technology that is
located closest to the institutions and students who rely on these systems and services.
The board must also identify methods for and facilitate the regional delivery of technology
services. The board shall modify board policies to be consistent with the requirements of
this section and to accomplish the goal of eliminating duplication by providing services
closer to students.
new text end

Sec. 7. new text begin MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES SYSTEM
OFFICE REORGANIZATION.
new text end

new text begin Notwithstanding any law or policy to the contrary, the Board of Trustees of the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities shall reorganize the system's central service
office so that services provided by the academic and student affairs division are provided
at each institution for students enrolled at the campuses associated with that institution.
The board shall modify board policies to be consistent with providing academic and
student affairs at the system level in which students are enrolled. Any academic affairs
or student services must be provided at the institution or campus level and must not be
duplicated at the central system level.
new text end

Sec. 8. new text begin STREAMLINED MNSCU SYSTEM OFFICE.
new text end

new text begin Notwithstanding any law or policy to the contrary, the Board of Trustees of the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities shall streamline services provided through
the system's central service office to reduce expenditures, better target the use of state
resources, and provide services at the most appropriate and efficient level so as not to
duplicate any services provided at the institutional level. At a minimum, the board shall
eliminate the development division with responsibility for the foundation, identify an
appropriate location for the firefighter training program, and transfer responsibility for that
program; transfer all responsibility for multicultural and diversity to institutions; transfer
all responsibility for customized training to the campuses that deliver customized training;
and merge the responsibilities of the public affairs and government affairs divisions.
These actions must be implemented so as to achieve budgetary savings and efficiencies in
delivery of services and the accomplishment of the academic mission. The board must
revise any board policies in a way that is consistent with the requirements of this section.
new text end

Sec. 9. new text begin RESTRUCTURING HIGHER EDUCATION AND ELIMINATION OF
DUPLICATION; REPORT.
new text end

new text begin The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities shall
do a comprehensive evaluation of the academic and technical programs offered in the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to identify potential for consolidation or
elimination of duplication. The board must report by January 20, 2011, to the committees
of the legislature with responsibility for higher education finance on ways to achieve a
20 percent savings in state appropriation through the consolidation of these programs
and through the elimination of duplication. The report must have specific cost savings
recommendations that can be implemented in the 2011-2012 academic year.
new text end

Sec. 10. new text begin CREDIT TRANSFER; MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES.
new text end

new text begin (a) The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities must
develop and implement a plan to improve credit transfers within the system. At a
minimum, the board must:
new text end

new text begin (1) enhance the availability of easily used information on transferring and tracking
credits;
new text end

new text begin (2) improve training for all staff involved with credit transfer;
new text end

new text begin (3) identify barriers to transferring credits including intellectual property issues for
faculty and devise methods to eliminate these barriers; and
new text end

new text begin (4) identify discrepancies in the treatment of transferring and accepting credits
by various institutions within the system and devise methods to improve the uniform
treatment of credit transfers.
new text end

new text begin (b) The board must convene working groups of affected faculty, staff, and
administrators representing institutions and academic and technical disciplines in the
system to work on issues and barriers to credit transfer. The purpose of the working
groups is to develop specific actions that will remove any barriers to credit transfer and to
improve the ease and transparency of credit transfer for students.
new text end

new text begin (c) The board of trustees must report to the legislature by January 15, 2012, on the
plans for and progress towards improvements in the transfer of credits. Any proposal to
develop and implement a mandatory or voluntary common course numbering system for
the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities must not be required until after the receipt
of the report under this section.
new text end

Sec. 11. new text begin CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE SUNSET.
new text end

new text begin The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities must
develop a plan to phase out centers of excellence as a systemwide initiative. Beginning
in fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, any amount of the base operations and maintenance
appropriation attributable to centers of excellence under Minnesota Statutes, section
136F.31, must not be separately allocated by the board, but must be included in the total
amount available for allocation to all institutions.
new text end

Sec. 12. new text begin APPROPRIATION REDUCTIONS.
new text end

new text begin Any reduction in appropriations for the biennium ending June 30, 2011, for the
central system office of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities must not be passed
through to any institution or campus. The board of trustees must not charge any institution
for appropriation reductions made to the central office.
new text end

Sec. 13. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 136F.31, new text end new text begin is repealed.
new text end