Authority: Regional Grants and Contracts: Discretionary Inclusion; Eminent Scholars: Discretionary Inclusion; Outstanding Faculty Recognition Program: Discretionary Inclusion; Graduate and Undergraduate Assistance; § 23-38.19:1.

A. No amount, or part of an amount, listed for any subprogram in this appropriation shall be expended for any other subprogram in this appropriation.

Appropriations in this item are subject to the conditions specified in Paragraphs B, C, D and E hereof.

B. Eminent Scholars

1. This appropriation includes $7,071,960 the first year and $7,196,960 the second year from the general fund which is to be made available for attracting and retaining eminent scholars in institutions of higher education.

2. These sums shall be apportioned, in accordance with plans approved by the Secretary of Education, to institutions of higher education, to match the interest earned by endowments created for this purpose after June 30, 1966.

3. However, this stipulation shall not prohibit the appropriation and expenditure of interest earned on these endowments that exceed the match for the state appropriation.

C. Regional Grants and Contracts

1. Out of this appropriation the following sums for regional education and scholarships are made available, to be expended in accordance with agreements between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Southern Regional Education Board and for additional places in other out-of-state institutions:

a. For library science scholarships, $67,500 the first year and $67,500 the second year from the general fund.

b. For optometry scholarships, $209,807 the first year and $209,807 the second year from the general fund.

c. For forensic science scholarships, $34,600 the first year and $34,600 the second year from the general fund.

d. For the Commonwealth of Virginia's participation in the Southern Regional Educational Board initiative to increase the number of minority doctoral graduates, $217,000 the first year and $242,000 the second year from the general fund.

2. Out of the amounts for Regional Grants and Contracts the following sums are made available for third-year and fourth-year students from Accomack and Northampton Counties: $80,000 the first year and $80,000 the second year from the general fund for tuition grants for attendance at Salisbury State College and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, in the State of Maryland.

3. Out of the amounts for Regional Grants and Contracts the following sums are made available for forestry scholarships: $66,300 the first year and $66,300 the second year from the general fund, out of which shall be paid the cost differential in tuition for any Virginia student to pursue the third and/or fourth years in specialized courses in pulp and paper technology, and forest products or utilization at an accredited out-of-state school of forestry to which he is accepted, when such specialized courses leading to an accredited degree are not offered by a state institution of higher education in Virginia.

4. Out of this appropriation, $208,250 in the first year from the general fund shall be allocated for the final year of a pilot transfer program involving graduates of the two-year college transfer programs of the community colleges and Richard Bland College, and up to three of the Commonwealth's independent institutions as determined by the State Council of Higher Education. The per student subsidy for students at an independent college participating in the pilot program shall be the lesser of $3,500 or 50 percent of the tuition and required fees at the independent college. This amount shall be deducted from tuition on behalf of the student. Participating students shall not be eligible for Tuition Assistance Grants. The first-year amount shall be used to support the senior year of eligible students who entered the independent institutions in 1995-96.

5. This appropriation includes $75,000 from the general fund in the second year for the Clinical Faculty Program authorized in § 22.1-290.1, Code of Virginia. The State Council of Higher Education shall seek proposals from "Clinical Faculty Partnerships" composed of institutions of higher education and local school divisions for the training of teachers as clinical faculty, and for the payment of clinical faculty in the instruction of students seeking teaching degrees.

D. Outstanding Faculty Recognition Program

1. This appropriation includes $55,000 the first year and $55,000 the second year from the general fund for the Outstanding Faculty Recognition Awards program.

2. The State Council of Higher Education shall annually provide a grant of not more than $5,000 to no more than 13 faculty members selected to be honored under this program.

3. The faculty members shall be selected from public and private institutions of higher education in Virginia, but recipients of Outstanding Faculty Recognition Awards shall not be eligible for the Awards in subsequent years.

E. Virginia Graduate and Undergraduate Assistance Program

1. This appropriation includes $125,000 the first year and $125,000 the second year from the general fund for the Virginia Graduate and Undergraduate Assistance Program.

2. These sums shall be apportioned, in accordance with plans approved by the Secretary of Education, to institutions of higher education, to match interest earned on endowments created for this purpose after June 30, 1991, notwithstanding § 23-38.19:2, Code of Virginia.

3. However, this stipulation shall not prohibit the appropriation and expenditure of interest earned on these endowments that exceed the match for the state appropriation.