Radford - Degree Awards

Item 182 #1h

Language
Page 173, line 18, strike "$128,257,092" and insert "$128,771,322".
Page 173, line 18, strike "$128,257,092" and insert "$129,285,552".

Page 173, after line 39, insert:
"C. 1. Out of this appropriation, $514,230 the first year and $1,028,460 the second year from the general fund is designated to address increased degree production in Data Science and Technology, Science and Engineering, Healthcare, and Education. 2. Degree production shall be measured for Bachelors, Masters, Doctorates and First Professional awards as follows:

a. Data Science and Technology awards shall be based on completion data contained in the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, C-16 completion report;

b. Science and Engineering awards shall be based on completion data contained in the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), C-1 A1 completion report for the following programs Biological and Biomedical Science (26), Engineering (14) less those already counted in paragraph 2 a., Engineering Technologies (15), and Physical Sciences (42);

c. Healthcare awards shall be based on completion data contained in the SCHEV C-1 A1 completion report for the Health Professions and Related Programs (51); and

d. Education awards shall be based on completion data contained in the SCHEV C-1 A1 completion report for the Education Programs (13).

3. Radford University is expected to increase:

a. Data Science and Technology awards by 3 in the first year and 5 in the second year.

b. Science and Engineering awards by 2 in the first year and 5 in the second year.

c. Healthcare awards by 5 in the first year and 10 in the second year.

d. Education awards by 5 in the first year and 10 in the second year.

e. The 2016-17 year will serve as the base year for these purposes.

4. SCHEV shall report on the progress toward these goals to the Chairman of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees report on the progress toward these goals annually beginning August 2019.

5. Out the amounts designated for degree production $150,000 the first year and $300,000 the second year is designated to support a flat-fee degree pilot initiative for education programs.  Radford University shall offer alternative tuition or fee structures, including discounted tuition, flat tuition rates, discounted student fees, or student fee and student services flexibility, to any first-time, incoming freshman undergraduate student who (i) has established domicile, as that term is defined in § 23.1-500 et seq., in the Commonwealth and (ii) enrolls full time with the intent to earn a degree in a program that leads to employment as a teacher in the region. Such an alternative tuition or fee structure may be renewed each year if the recipient maintains continuous full-time enrollment. If a recipient fails to maintain continuous full-time enrollment, subsequently enrolls in a noneligible degree program, or fails to complete the eligible degree program within four years, the institution shall convert the financial benefit received by the student to a financial obligation payable by the student to the institution on terms established by the institution."