Senate renews effort to revamp state colleges

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new move to create a statewide board to oversee Florida's 28 state and community colleges is part of a major bill filed Wednesday by Senate Education Chairwoman Dorothy Hukill.

The legislation (SB 540), filed for the 2018 session, revives elements of a 2017 Senate bill that would have revamped the state-college system but was vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott.

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In addition to the new board, Hukill's bill would revise performance standards for state colleges and would modify the process for awarding baccalaureate degrees.

Scott, in vetoing the 2017 bill, noted that the Legislature cut the state-college budget by about $30 million while substantially increasing funding for the state university system. In his veto message, he specifically objected to a cap on baccalaureate degrees in the bill and for “unnecessarily increasing red tape” in the system.

Hukill, R-Port Orange, said the concerns raised by critics of the prior bill have been taken into account in crafting the new legislation.

“I think it will fare better,” Hukill said. “I still believe it's a recognition of how important the community college, state college system is in Florida.”

Hukill said the legislation, which is a priority for Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, emphasizes that the “primary” role of the state college system is to produce two-year associate degree graduates, with a secondary role of providing four-year baccalaureate degrees.

The prior bill included a trigger that would have capped the growth of four-year degrees if a college's baccalaureate students exceeded 8 percent of the overall enrollment.

The new bill would set the individual school baccalaureate-enrollment cap at 20 percent, with a systemwide cap of 10 percent.

The legislation would also create a State Board of Community Colleges, a 13-member panel appointed by the governor, to oversee the college system with its 800,000 students and $2.24 billion budget.

The college system operated under a separate board for two decades, but that arrangement ended with a government reorganization in 2003. The colleges were moved under the State Board of Education, which has the primary responsibility for overseeing Florida's pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade system.

The new college board would be similar to the state university system's Board of Governors.

In a statement, Negron called the college system a “critical component of our state's education and economic development infrastructure” and said the proposed board would allow the system to retain its “local focus while elevating the statewide leadership presence needed to continue to meet the needs of growing local and regional economies throughout Florida.”

As lawmakers prepare to again consider creating a college-system oversight board, the issue also could be taken up by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission.

Sherry Plymale, a member of the Constitution Revision Commission, has filed a proposal (P0025) that would create a college board in the state Constitution.

Negron appointed Plymale to the commission, which has the ability to place constitutional changes directly on the 2018 ballot.

Another provision in Hukill's bill would measure the performances of colleges based on how many students earn their degrees and academic certificates by completing programs within “100 percent” of the expected time.

For instance, students in associate-degree programs would be measured against a two-year completion standard, as opposed to the current performance metric, which is based on three-year and four-year completion rates for associate degree graduates.

The metrics are important because they are used to rank colleges each year and distribute performance funding, which amounted to $60 million in the current academic year.

Hukill said changes for the state colleges will be coupled with a commitment from Senate leaders to increase funding for the system in the new state budget.

On Monday, Hukill's committee heard testimony from state college officials who are seeking funding to restore the $30 million budget cut, hire more faculty, provide more counseling services and create more programs aligned with the state's demand for high-skill jobs.