2004 Minnesota Statutes

CHAPTER 41D. Minnesota agriculture education leadership council

     41D.01 Minnesota Agriculture Education Leadership 
  Council. 

    Subdivision 1.    Establishment; membership.  (a) The 
 Minnesota Agriculture Education Leadership Council is 
 established.  The council is composed of 16 members as follows: 

    (1) the chair of the University of Minnesota agricultural 
 education program; 

    (2) a representative of the commissioner of education; 

    (3) a representative of the Minnesota State Colleges and 
 Universities recommended by the chancellor; 

    (4) the president and the president-elect of the Minnesota 
 Association of Agriculture Educators; 

    (5) a representative of the Future Farmers of America 
 Foundation; 

    (6) a representative of the commissioner of agriculture; 

    (7) the dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and 
 Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota; 

    (8) two members representing agriculture education and 
 agriculture business appointed by the governor; 

    (9) the chair of the senate Committee on Agriculture, 
 General Legislation and Veterans Affairs; 

    (10) the chair of the house Committee on Agriculture; 

    (11) the ranking minority member of the senate Committee on 
 Agriculture, General Legislation and Veterans Affairs, and a 
 member of the senate Education Committee designated by the 
 Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on Rules and 
 Administration; and 

    (12) the ranking minority member of the house Agriculture 
 Committee, and a member of the house Education Committee 
 designated by the speaker. 

    (b) An ex officio member of the council under paragraph 
 (a), clause (1), (4), (7), (9), (10), (11), or (12), may 
 designate a permanent or temporary replacement member 
 representing the same constituency. 

    Subd. 2.    Powers and duties.  Specific powers and 
 duties of the council are to: 

    (1) develop recommendations to the legislature and the 
 governor and provide review for agriculture education programs 
 in Minnesota; 

    (2) establish a grant program to foster and encourage the 
 development of secondary and postsecondary agriculture education 
 programs; 

    (3) coordinate and articulate Minnesota's agriculture 
 education policy across all programs and institutions; 

    (4) identify the critical needs for agriculture educators; 

    (5) serve as a link between the agribusiness sector and the 
 agriculture education system to communicate mutual concerns, 
 needs, and projections; 

    (6) establish and maintain an increased awareness of 
 agriculture education and its continued need to all citizens of 
 Minnesota; 

    (7) operate the Minnesota Center for Agriculture Education 
 created in section 41D.03; 

    (8) gain broad public support for agriculture education in 
 Minnesota; and 

    (9) report annually on its activities to the senate 
 Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and the house 
 Agriculture Committee. 

    Subd. 3.    Council officers; terms and compensation of 
 appointees; staff.  (a) The chair of the senate Agriculture, 
 General Legislation and Veterans Affairs Committee and the chair 
 of the house Agriculture Committee, or their designees, are the 
 cochairs of the council. 

    (b) The council's membership terms, compensation, filling 
 of vacancies, and removal of members are as provided in section 
 15.0575. 

    (c) The council may employ an executive director and any 
 other staff to carry out its functions. 

    Subd. 4.    Expiration.  This section expires on June 
 30, 2008. 

    HIST: 1997 c 183 art 3 s 2; 2001 c 6 s 1-3; 2003 c 107 s 27; 
 2003 c 130 s 12; 2003 c 133 art 2 s 1 

     41D.02 Agriculture education grant program. 

    Subdivision 1.    Establishment.  The Minnesota 
 Agriculture Education Leadership Council shall establish a 
 program to provide grants under subdivisions 2 and 3 to 
 educational institutions and other appropriate entities for 
 secondary and postsecondary agriculture education programs. 

    Subd. 2.    Elementary and secondary agricultural 
 education.  The council may provide grants for: 

    (1) planning and establishment costs for elementary and 
 secondary agriculture education programs; 

    (2) new instructional and communication technologies; and 

    (3) curriculum updates. 

    Subd. 3.    Postsecondary education.  The council may 
 provide grants for: 

    (1) new instructional and communication technologies; and 

    (2) special project funding, including programming, 
 in-service training, and support staff. 

    HIST: 1997 c 183 art 3 s 3; 1999 c 241 art 5 s 1 

     41D.03 Minnesota Center for Agriculture Education. 

    Subdivision 1.    Governance.  The Minnesota Center for 
 Agriculture Education is governed by the Minnesota Agriculture 
 Education Leadership Council. 

    Subd. 2.    Powers and duties of council.  (a) The 
 council has the powers necessary for the care, management, and 
 control of the Minnesota Center for Agriculture Education and 
 all its real and personal property.  The powers shall include, 
 but are not limited to, those listed in this subdivision. 

    (b) The council may employ necessary employees, and 
 contract for other services to ensure the efficient operation of 
 the Center for Agriculture Education. 

    (c) The council may receive and award grants.  The council 
 may establish a charitable foundation and accept, in trust or 
 otherwise, any gift, grant, bequest, or devise for educational 
 purposes and hold, manage, invest, and dispose of them and the 
 proceeds and income of them according to the terms and 
 conditions of the gift, grant, bequest, or devise and its 
 acceptance.  The council shall adopt internal procedures to 
 administer and monitor aids and grants. 

    (d) The council may establish or coordinate evening, 
 continuing education, and summer programs for teachers and 
 pupils. 

    (e) The council may determine the location for the 
 Minnesota Center for Agriculture Education and any additional 
 facilities related to the center, including the authority to 
 lease a temporary facility. 

    (f) The council may enter into contracts with other public 
 and private agencies and institutions for building maintenance 
 services if it determines that these services could be provided 
 more efficiently and less expensively by a contractor than by 
 the council itself.  The council may also enter into contracts 
 with public or private agencies and institutions, school 
 districts or combinations of school districts, or educational 
 cooperative service units to provide supplemental educational 
 instruction and services. 

    Subd. 3.    Center account.  There is established in the 
 state treasury a center for agriculture education account in the 
 special revenue fund.  All money collected by the council, 
 including rental income, shall be deposited in the account.  
 Money in the account, including interest earned, is appropriated 
 to the council for the operation of its services and programs. 

    Subd. 4.    Employees.  The employees hired under this 
 subdivision and any other necessary employees hired by the 
 council shall be employees of the University of Minnesota. 

    Subd. 5.    Policies.  The council may adopt 
 administrative policies about the operation of the center. 

    Subd. 6.    Public postsecondary institutions; providing 
 space.  Public postsecondary institutions shall provide space 
 for the Minnesota Center for Agriculture Education at a 
 reasonable cost to the center to the extent that space is 
 available at the public postsecondary institutions. 

    Subd. 7.    Purchasing instructional items.  Technical 
 educational equipment may be procured for programs of the 
 Minnesota Center for Agriculture Education by the council either 
 by brand designation or in accordance with standards and 
 specifications the council may adopt, notwithstanding chapter 
 16C. 

    HIST: 1997 c 183 art 3 s 4; 1998 c 384 s 6; 1998 c 386 art 2 s 
 19 

     41D.04 Resource, magnet, and outreach programs. 

    Subdivision 1.    Resource and outreach.  The center 
 shall offer resource and outreach programs and services 
 statewide aimed at the enhancement of agriculture education 
 opportunities for pupils in elementary and secondary school. 

    Subd. 2.    Center responsibilities.  The center shall: 

    (1) provide information and technical services to 
 agriculture teachers, professional agriculture organizations, 
 school districts, and the Department of Education; 

    (2) gather and conduct research in agriculture education; 

    (3) design and promote agriculture education opportunities 
 for all Minnesota pupils in elementary and secondary schools; 
 and 

    (4) serve as liaison for the Department of Education to 
 national organizations for agriculture education. 

    HIST: 1997 c 183 art 3 s 5; 2003 c 130 s 12