Accountability process for decentralization (language only)

Item 4-5.08 #6c

Language
Page 597, after line 44, insert:
"f.1a).  Institutions of higher education participating in any decentralization pilot program identified in this act shall develop, to the satisfaction of the responsible Cabinet Secretary, a memorandum of understanding that shall include, but not be limited to, a description of the duty or authority being delegated, policies and procedures with which the institution must comply, and criteria upon which the institution will be evaluated periodically by the responsible Cabinet Secretary.  The participating institution of higher education shall submit the memorandum of understanding to the responsible Cabinet Secretary by September 1, 2003.   The Cabinet Secretary and participating institutions shall have the necessary memoranda of understanding signed and in effect no later than October 15, 2003.
b) If a memorandum of understanding is already in effect for an existing pilot program, the participating institutions of higher education shall review the memorandum and recommend to the responsible Cabinet Secretary any changes needed to ensure that it contains all of the stipulations specified herein.
2.a) The responsible Cabinet Secretary shall communicate all existing decentralization memoranda of understanding to the Auditor of Public Accounts by November 1, 2003. Any subsequent memoranda of understanding or addenda to existing memoranda shall be communicated to the Auditor of Public Accounts within 10 business days after the memoranda have been signed.
b) Based on the memorandum of understanding, the responsible Cabinet Secretary, or his designee, shall conduct an evaluation of each institution participating in a pilot program at least once every two years.  Evaluations of the nongeneral fund capital outlay pilot programs shall be conducted pursuant to paragraph b.1. of this section.
c) The Secretary shall report all evaluation findings and recommendations to the Governor and Chairmen of Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees.
d)  To the extent an institution participating in a pilot program is not performing to the satisfaction of the responsible Cabinet Secretary, the institution shall have 90 calendar days from receipt of the Secretary’s written evaluation in which to develop a remediation plan.  The institution shall submit the plan to the appropriate Cabinet Secretary and the Auditor of Public Accounts.  
e) The Auditor of Public Accounts shall conduct a functional audit of the delegated program authority within 180 calendar days of receiving the institution’s plan.  Based on his findings, the Auditor of Public Accounts shall recommend to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees whether the institution shall continue in the pilot program.  
3.  To the extent institutions are performing satisfactorily under the pilot programs, it is the intent of the General Assembly that they be removed from the pilot program and be delegated authority in the Code of Virginia to administer the specified duty or function on an on-going basis.
4.  If during any independent audit conducted by the Auditor of Public Accounts, the audit discloses that an institution is not performing within the terms of the memoranda of understanding or their addenda, the Auditor shall report this information to the Governor, the responsible Cabinet Secretary, and the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees.  The responsible Cabinet Secretary shall consider this an evaluation in accordance with paragraph 3. a. and act accordingly.
5.  The responsible Cabinet Secretary shall establish eligibility criteria for institutions currently not participating in each of the pilot programs and report those criteria to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees by October 1, 2003.  Institutions wishing to participate in a pilot program for the first time shall submit a letter of interest to the appropriate Cabinet Secretary.  Within 90 calendar days of the receipt of the institution’s request to participate, the responsible Cabinet Secretary shall determine whether the institution meets the eligibility criteria and, if appropriate, establish a pilot program at the institution.  The Cabinet Secretary shall report to the Governor and Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriation Committees by December 1 of each year all institutions that have applied for inclusion in a pilot program and whether the institution has been granted authority to participate in the pilot program."

Explanation
(This amendment is part of a package to delegate additional authority to institutions of higher education for handling administrative functions on campus. This amendment establishes a clear process for delegating authority to institutions of higher education through decentralization pilot programs and for evaluating the performance of those institutions on a routine basis.)