GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2007
SESSION LAW 2007-230
HOUSE BILL 642
AN ACT amending the law relating to community college performance STANDARDS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 115D-31.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115D-31.3.
Performance budgeting.Institutional performance accountability.
(a) Creation of
Accountability Measures and Performance Standards. - The State Board of
Community Colleges shall create new accountability measures and performance
standards to be used for performance budgeting for the Community College
System. Survey results shall be used as a performance standard only if the
survey is statistically valid. The State Board of Community Colleges shall
review annually the accountability measures and performance standards to ensure
that they are appropriate for use in performance budgeting.recognition
of successful institutional performance.
(b) through (d) Repealed by Session Laws 2000-67, s. 9.7, effective July 1, 2000.
(e) Mandatory Performance
Measures.Standards. - The State Board of Community Colleges shall
evaluate each college on the following 12 eight performance
standards:
(1) Progress of basic skills students,
(2) Passing rate for licensure and certification examinations,
(3) The
proportion of those who complete their goal,
(4) Employment
status of graduates,
(5)(3) Performance of students who
transfer to the university system,a four-year institution,
(6)(4) Passing rates in developmental
courses,
(7)(5) Success rates of developmental
students in subsequent college-level courses,
(8)(6) The level of satisfaction of
students who complete programs and those who do not complete programs,
(9)(7) Curriculum student retention and
graduation, and
(10) Employer satisfaction
with graduates,
(11)(8) Client
satisfaction with customized training, andtraining.
(12) Program enrollment.
The State Board may also evaluate each college on additional performance standards.
(f) Publication of
Performance Ratings. - Each college shall publish its performance on the 12 eight
measures standards set out in subsection (e) of this section
(i) annually in its electronic catalog or on the Internet and (ii) in its
printed catalog each time the catalog is reprinted.
The Community Colleges System Office shall publish the
performance of all colleges on all 12 measures in its annual Critical
Success Factors Report.eight standards.
(g) Performance
Budgeting; Recognition for Successful Institutional Performance. -
For the purpose of For the purpose of performance budgeting,recognition
for successful institutional performance, the State Board of Community
Colleges shall evaluate each college on six performance measures. These six
shall be the five set out in subdivisions (1) through (5) of subsection (e) of
this section and one selected by the college from the remainder set out in
subdivisions (6) through (11).the eight performance standards. For
each of these six eight performance measuresstandards on
which a college performs successfully, successfully or attains the
standard of significant improvement, the college may retain and carry
forward into the next fiscal year one-third of one percent (1/3 of 1%)one-fourth
of one percent (1/4 of 1%) of its final fiscal year General Fund
appropriations. If a college demonstrates significant improvement on a
standard that has been in use for three years or less, the college may also
carry forward one-fourth of one percent (1/4 of 1%) of its final fiscal year
General Fund appropriations for that standard.
(h) Performance
Budgeting; Recognition for Superior Exceptional Institutional Performance.
- Funds not allocated to colleges in accordance with subsection (g) of this
section shall be used to reward superior exceptional institutional performance.
After all State aid budget obligations have been met, the State Board of
Community Colleges shall distribute the remainder of these funds equally to
colleges that perform successfully on at least five of the sixeight
performance measures.standards and meet the following criteria:
(1) The passing rate on all reported licensure and certification examinations for which the community colleges have authority over who sits for the examination must meet or exceed seventy percent (70%) for first-time test takers; and
(2) The percentage of college transfer students with a grade point average of at least 2.0 after two semesters at a four-year institution must equal or exceed the performance of students who began college at that four-year institution.
The State Board may withhold the portion of funds for which a college may qualify as an exceptional institution while the college is under investigation by a State or federal agency or if its performance does not meet the standards established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the State Auditor's Office, or the State Board of Community Colleges. The State Board may release the funds at such time as the investigations are complete and the issues are resolved.
(i) Permissible Uses of Funds. - Funds retained by colleges or distributed to colleges pursuant to this section shall be used for the purchase of equipment, initial program start-up costs including faculty salaries for the first year of a program, and one-time faculty and staff bonuses. These funds shall not be used for continuing salary increases or for other obligations beyond the fiscal year into which they were carried forward. These funds shall be encumbered within 12 months of the fiscal year into which they were carried forward.
(j) Use of funds in low-wealth counties. - Funds retained by colleges or distributed to colleges pursuant to this section may be used to supplement local funding for maintenance of plant if the college does not receive maintenance of plant funds pursuant to G.S. 115D-31.2, and if the county in which the main campus of the community college is located:
(1) Is designated as a Tier 1 or Tier 2 county in accordance with G.S. 105-129.3;
(2) Had an unemployment rate of at least two percent (2%) above the State average or greater than seven percent (7%), whichever is higher, in the prior calendar year; and
(3) Is a county whose wealth, as calculated under the formula for distributing supplemental funding for schools in low-wealth counties, is eighty percent (80%) or less of the State average.
Funds may be used for this purpose only after all local funds appropriated for maintenance of plant have been expended."
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 9th day of July, 2007.
s/ Beverly E. Perdue
President of the Senate
s/ Joe Hackney
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Michael F. Easley
Governor
Approved 11:48 a.m. this 18th day of July, 2007