Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-1626, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE15-1626. General administrative powers and
duties of board
A. The board shall:
1. Have and exercise the powers necessary for the
effective governance and administration of the institutions under its control.
To that end, the board may adopt, and authorize each university to adopt, such
regulations, policies, rules or measures as are deemed necessary and may
delegate in writing to its committees, to its university presidents, or their
designees, or to other entities under its control, any part of its authority
for the administration and governance of such institutions, including those
powers enumerated in section 15‑1625, subsection B, paragraphs 2 and 4,
paragraphs 3, 4, 8, 9, 11 and 12 of
this subsection and subsection B of this section. Any delegation of
authority may be rescinded by the board at any time in whole or in part.
2. Appoint and employ and determine the compensation
of presidents with such power and authority and for such purposes in connection
with the operation of the institutions as the board deems necessary.
3. Appoint and employ and determine the compensation
of vice‑presidents, deans, professors, instructors, lecturers, fellows
and such other officers and employees with such power and authority and for
such purposes in connection with the operation of the institutions as the board
deems necessary, or delegate its authority pursuant to paragraph 1 of this
subsection.
4. Remove any officer or employee when the interests
of education in this state so require in accordance with its personnel rules
and policies.
5. Fix tuitions and fees to be charged and
differentiate the tuitions and fees between institutions and between residents,
nonresidents, undergraduate students, graduate students, students from foreign
countries and students who have earned credit hours in excess of the credit
hour threshold. For the purposes of this paragraph, the undergraduate credit
hour threshold is one hundred fifty‑five hours for students who attend a
university under the jurisdiction of the board in fiscal year 2006-2007, one
hundred fifty hours for students who attend a university under the jurisdiction
of the board in fiscal year 2007-2008 and one hundred forty‑five hours
for students who attend a university under the jurisdiction of the board after
fiscal year 2007-2008. The undergraduate credit hour threshold shall be based
on the actual full‑time equivalent student enrollment counted on the
twenty-first day after classes begin for the fall semester of 2005 and every
fall semester thereafter and any budget adjustment based on student enrollment
shall occur in the fiscal year following the actual full-time equivalent
student enrollment count. The undergraduate credit hour threshold shall not
apply to degree programs that require credit hours above the credit hour
threshold, credits earned in the pursuit of up to two baccalaureate degrees,
credits earned in the pursuit of up to two state regulated licensures or certificates,
credits earned in the pursuit of teaching certification, credits transferred
from a private institution of higher education, credits transferred from an
institution of higher education in another state, credits earned at another
institution of higher education but that are not accepted as transfer credits
at the university where the student is currently enrolled and credits earned by
students who enroll at a university under the jurisdiction of the board more
than twenty-four months after the end of that student's previous enrollment at
a public institution of higher education in this state. On or before October
15 of each year, the board shall report to the joint legislative budget
committee the number of students who were enrolled at universities under the
jurisdiction of the board during the previous fiscal year who met or exceeded
the undergraduate credit hour threshold prescribed in this paragraph. The
amount of tuition, registration fees and other revenues included in the
operating budget for the university adopted by the board as prescribed in
paragraph 13 of this subsection shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35‑146
and 35‑147. All other tuition and fee revenue shall be retained by each
university for expenditure as approved by the board, except that the
universities shall not use any tuition or fee revenue to fund or support an
alumni association.
6. Except as provided in subsection H of this
section, adopt rules to govern its tuition and fee setting process that provide
for the following:
(a) At least one public hearing at each university
as an opportunity for students and members of the public to comment upon any
proposed increase in tuition or fees.
(b) Publication of the notice of public hearing at
least ten days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in
Maricopa county, Coconino county and Pima county. The notice shall include the
date, time and location of the public hearing.
(c) Public disclosure by each university of any
proposed increases in tuition or fees at least ten days prior to the public
hearing.
(d) Final board action on changes in tuition or fees
shall be taken by roll call vote.
The procedural requirements of
subdivisions (a), (b), (c) and (d) apply only to those changes in tuition or
fees that require board approval.
7. Pursuant to section 35‑115, submit a budget
request for each institution under its jurisdiction that includes the estimated
tuition and fee revenue available to support the programs of the institution as
described in the budget request. The estimated available tuition and fee
revenue shall be based on the tuition and registration fee rates in effect at
the time the budget request is submitted with adjustments for projected changes
in enrollment as provided by the board.
8. Establish curriculums and designate courses at
the several institutions which in its judgment will best serve the interests of
this state.
9. Award such degrees and diplomas upon the
completion of such courses and curriculum requirements as it deems appropriate.
10. Prescribe qualifications for admission of all
students to the universities. The board shall establish policies for
guaranteed admission that assure fair and equitable access to students in this
state from public, private, charter and home schools. For the purpose of
determining the qualifications of honorably discharged veterans, veterans are
those persons who served in the armed forces for a minimum of two years and who
were previously enrolled at a university or community college in this state.
No prior failing grades received by the veteran at the university or community
college in this state may be considered.
11. Adopt any energy conservation standards
promulgated by the department of administration for the construction of new
buildings.
12. Employ for such time and purposes as the board
requires attorneys whose compensation shall be fixed and paid by the board.
Litigation to which the board is a party and for which self‑insurance is
not provided may be compromised or settled at the direction of the board.
13. Adopt annually an operating budget for each
university equal to the sum of appropriated general fund monies and the amount
of tuition, registration fees and other revenues approved by the board and
allocated to each university operating budget.
14. In consultation with the state board of
education and other education groups, develop and implement a program to award
honors endorsements to be affixed to the high school diplomas of qualifying
high school pupils and to be included in the transcripts of pupils who are
awarded endorsements. The board shall develop application procedures and
testing criteria and adopt testing instruments and procedures to administer the
program. In order to receive an honors endorsement, a pupil must demonstrate
an extraordinary level of knowledge, skill and competency as measured by the
testing instruments adopted by the board in mathematics, English, science and
social studies. Additional subjects may be added at the determination of the
board. The program is voluntary for pupils.
15. Require the publisher of each literary and
nonliterary textbook used in the universities of this state to furnish computer
software in a standardized format when software becomes available for
nonliterary textbooks, to the Arizona board of regents from which braille
versions of the textbooks may be produced.
16. Require universities that provide a degree in
education to require courses that are necessary to obtain a provisional
structured English immersion endorsement as prescribed by the state board of
education.
17. Beginning July 1, 2007, purchase United States
flags for each classroom that are manufactured in the United States and that
are at least two feet by three feet and hardware to appropriately display the
United States flag and purchase a legible copy of the Constitution of the
United States and the Bill of Rights, and display the flags in each classroom
in accordance with title 4 of the United States Code and display a legible copy
of the Constitution of the United States and the bill of rights adjacent to the
flag.
18. To facilitate the transfer of military personnel
and their dependents to and from the public schools of this state, pursue, in
cooperation with the state board of education, reciprocity agreements with
other states concerning the transfer credits for military personnel and their
dependents. A reciprocity agreement entered into pursuant to this paragraph
shall:
(a) Address procedures for each of the following:
(i) The transfer of student records.
(ii) Awarding credit for completed course work.
(iii) Permitting a student to satisfy the graduation
requirements prescribed in section 15-701.01 through the successful performance
on comparable exit-level assessment instruments administered in another state.
(b) Include appropriate criteria developed by the
state board of education and the Arizona board of regents.
19. Establish
a center at Arizona state university to collect, maintain and provide access to
information on elections, redistricting and state demographics, including
publicly available information from the united states census bureau and the
independent redistricting commission.
B. The board shall adopt personnel rules. All
nonacademic employees of the universities are subject to these rules except for
university presidents, university vice‑presidents, university deans,
legal counsel and administrative officers. The personnel rules shall be
similar to the personnel rules under section 41‑783. The rules shall
include provisions for listing available positions with the department of
economic security, competitive employment processes for applicants,
probationary status for new nonacademic employees, nonprobationary status on
successful completion of probation and due process protections of
nonprobationary employees after discharge. The board shall provide notice of
proposed rule adoption and an opportunity for public comment on all personnel
rules proposed for adoption.
C. The board may employ legal assistance in
procuring loans for the institutions from the United States government. Fees
or compensation paid for such legal assistance shall not be a claim upon the
general fund of this state but shall be paid from funds of the institutions.
D. The board shall approve or disapprove any
contract or agreement entered into by the university of Arizona hospital with
the Arizona health facilities authority.
E. The board may adopt policies which authorize the
institutions under its jurisdiction to enter into employment contracts with
nontenured employees for periods of more than one year but not more than five
years. The policies shall prescribe limitations on the authority of the
institutions to enter into employment contracts for periods of more than one
year but not more than five years, including the requirement that the board
approve the contracts.
F. The board may adopt a plan or plans for employee
benefits which allow for participation in a cafeteria plan that meets the
requirements of the United States internal revenue code of 1986.
G. The board may establish a program for the
exchange of students between the universities under the jurisdiction of the
board and colleges and universities located in the state of Sonora, Mexico. Notwithstanding subsection A, paragraph 5 of this section, the program may provide
for in‑state tuition at the universities under the jurisdiction of the
board for fifty Sonoran students in exchange for similar tuition provisions for
up to fifty Arizona students enrolled or seeking enrollment in Sonoran colleges
or universities. The board may direct the universities to work in conjunction
with the Arizona‑Mexico commission to coordinate recruitment and
admissions activities.
H. Subsection A, paragraph 6, subdivisions (a), (b),
(c) and (d) of this section do not apply to fee increases that are set by
individual universities and that do not require approval by the Arizona board
of regents before the fee increase becomes effective. END_STATUTE
