Authority: Title 23.1, Chapter 14, Code of Virginia.

A. This Item includes general and nongeneral fund appropriations to support institutional initiatives that help meet statewide goals described in the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act of 2005 (Chapters 933 and 945, 2005 Acts of Assembly).

B. As Virginia's public colleges and universities approach full funding of the base adequacy guidelines and as the General Assembly strives to fully fund the general fund share of the base adequacy guidelines, these funds are provided with the intent that, in exercising their authority to set tuition and fees, the Board of Visitors shall take into consideration the impact of escalating college costs for Virginia students and families. In accordance with the cost-sharing goals set forth in § 4-2.01 b. of this act, the Board of Visitors is encouraged to limit increases on tuition and mandatory educational and general fees for in-state, undergraduate students to the extent possible.

C. 1. Out of this appropriation, $667,670 the first year and $667,670 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 Science (40);

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. Christopher Newport University is expected to maintain increases in:

a. Data Science and Technology awards of 5 annually over the base year.

b. Science and Engineering awards of 15 annually over the base year.

c. 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 Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees annually.