General Appropriations Bill H. 4700 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1998
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6 5A.1. (CHE: Contract for Services Program Fees) The amounts appropriated in this Section for "Southern Regional Education Board
7 Contract Programs" and "Southern Regional Education Board Dues" are to be used by the Commission to pay to the Southern Regional
8 Education Board the required contract fees for South Carolina students enrolled under the Contract for Services program of the Southern
9 Regional Education Board, in specific degree programs in specified institutions and the Southern Regional Education Board membership
10 dues. The funds appropriated may not be reduced to cover any budget reductions or be transferred for other purposes.
11 5A.2. (CHE: Desegregation Activities) Higher Education institutions shall continue to support and fund desegregation activities within
12 the allocations made to each agency.
13 5A.3. (CHE: Grants for Programs in Other States) Of the funds appropriated herein, not more than $25,000 may be used to make
14 grants to South Carolina residents enrolled in an accredited institution outside the State in a program (a) not offered in South Carolina,
15 or (b) a program which differs significantly from a program offered in South Carolina as determined by the Commission on Higher
16 Education. The amount awarded to any such student must be made directly to the institution for the account of the grantee.
17 5A.4. (CHE: Out-of-State School of the Arts) The funds appropriated herein for Out-of-State School of the Arts must be expended
18 for an SREB Contract Program, administered by the Commission, which will offset the difference between the out-of-state cost and in-state
19 cost for artistically talented high school students at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
20 5A.5. (CHE: Real Property Disposal) Before any local area higher education commission may dispose of any real property, the
21 approval of the Budget and Control Board must be obtained.
22 5A.6. (CHE: Councils Committees, Etc., Representation) Each four-year campus of each state-supported senior college and university
23 shall have the same representation on all formal and informal councils, advisory groups, committees, and task forces of the commission,
24 not including the formula advisory committee, as the independent four-year colleges. Representation on the Formula Advisory Committee
25 shall include from the S.C. Legislature the following voting members: two members of the Senate Finance Committee and two members
26 of the House Ways and Means Committee to be appointed by the respective chairman.
27 5A.7. (CHE: Access & Equity Programs) Of the funds appropriated herein for Desegregation Programs, the Commission on Higher
28 Education shall distribute at least $105,319 to South Carolina State University, $26,309 to Denmark Technical College, and $263,415 to
29 the Access and Equity Program. With the funds appropriated herein for formula funding increases, the colleges and universities shall
30 supplement their access and equity programs so as to provide, at a minimum, the same level of minority recruitment activities as provided
31 during the prior fiscal year.
32 5A.8. (CHE: Deadline for Mission Resource Requirement Changes) The allocations made for the immediate fiscal year following
33 March 1 of any year must not be adjusted due to any change in the formula Mission Resource Requirement (MRR) and any change in the
34 input data into the formula MRR after March 1 of the year. Any changes in allocation due to formula MRR changes must be held in
35 abeyance until the next year's allocation as required herein. By March 1, the Commission on Higher Education shall submit the final
36 formula MRR and the input data into the formula to the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate
37 Education Committee, and the House Education and Public Works Committee.
38 5A.9. (CHE: Reciprocal Tuition) The University of South Carolina's Aiken Campus and Aiken Technical College may offer in-state
39 tuition to any student whose legal residence is in the Richmond/Columbia County area of the neighboring state of Georgia as long as the
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1 Georgia Board of Regents continues its Georgia Tuition Program by which in-state tuition is offered to students residing in the
2 Aiken/Edgefield County Area of the State of South Carolina.
3 5A.10. (CHE: Penn Center) Of the funds appropriated to Higher Education formula, $174,000 shall be allocated to the University of
4 South Carolina - Beaufort for the Penn Center Project. The funds allocated shall not be used for any other purposes and shall not be
5 reduced due to budget reductions.
6 5A.11. (CHE: Midlands Tec Property Acquisition) Before disposal of the property on which the S.C. Fire Academy currently resides,
7 Midlands Technical College must first be given the option of acquiring this property.
8 5A.12. (CHE: Southeastern Manufacturing Technology Center) The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education shall review
9 annually the activities of the Southeastern Manufacturing Technology Center and make a budget recommendation to the General Assembly.
10 The funds appropriated to the University of South Carolina - Columbia for the Southeastern Manufacturing Technology Center may not
11 be used for any other purpose.
12 5A.13. (CHE: Greenville Higher Education Center Rent) Of the funds appropriated to higher education, $337,694 will be allocated
13 to Greenville Technical College to pay the annual rent for the Greenville Higher Education Center.
14 5A.14. (CHE: Property Disposal) The governing body for each technical college, public college and university shall review the real
15 property titled in the name of its institution to determine if such property is excess to the institution's anticipated needs and is available
16 for disposal. All real properties determined to be excess may be disposed of with the approval of the Budget and Control Board. The
17 proceeds of such sales are to be disposed of as follows: If the property was acquired as a gift, through tuition student fees, county funds,
18 or earned income, the proceeds may be retained by the selling institution for use in accord with established needs. The proceeds acquired
19 from the sale of real property acquired through unique State appropriations, State Capital Improvement Bonds, or formula funds are to
20 revert to the State's General Fund. The responsibility for providing any necessary documentation including but not limited to documenting
21 the fund source, of any real property proposed for sale rests with each respective institution.
22 5A.15. (CHE: SREB Funding) Funds appropriated for SREB contracts and dues may not be transferred or reduced.
23 5A.16. (CHE: Out-Of-State Tuition Subsidy Reduction) State-supported colleges and universities, including technical colleges, shall
24 not increase the tuition and fees charged to in-state undergraduate students until the institutions recapture and maintain one hundred percent
25 of the total education and general cost for out-of-state undergraduate students. No state funds can be used to provide undergraduate out-of-
26 state subsidies.
27 Should there be any in-state undergraduate tuition increase in violation of this section, the appropriations in this act to that institution
28 shall be reduced by the amount generated by that increase.
29 5A.17. (CHE: Advanced Placement) Students successfully completing advanced placement courses and receiving a score of three (3)
30 or above on the exam shall receive advanced placement credit for each course in all post-secondary public colleges in South Carolina.
31 5A.18. (CHE: African-American Loan Program) Of the funds appropriated to the Commission on Higher Education for the African-
32 American Loan Program, $130,000 shall be distributed to South Carolina State University and $100,000 shall be distributed to Benedict
33 College, and must be used for a loan program with the major focus of attracting African-American males to the teaching profession. The
34 Commission of Higher Education shall act as the monitoring and reporting agency for the African-American Loan Program. $100,000
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1 shall be distributed to South Carolina State University for the purpose of funding the 1890 Leadership Institute. Of the funds allocated
2 according to this proviso, no more than 10% shall be used for administrative purposes.
3 5A.19. (CHE: Scholarship and Grants Allocation) In instances where the equal division of the appropriated funds between need-based
4 grants and the Palmetto Fellows Program exceeds the capacity to make awards in either program, the Commission on Higher Education
5 has the authority to re-allocate the remaining funds between the two programs until these programs are fully implemented in FY 2000-
6 2001, after which an equal division between the two programs shall be maintained. A renewal applicant must have maintained a minimum
7 cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.
8 5A.20. (CHE: Palmetto Fellows Scholarship) It is the intent of the General Assembly to insure that the most academically gifted
9 students who applied for the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship during 1996-97 are awarded a scholarship for the purpose of keeping these
10 students in South Carolina. In addition to any student who has already been awarded a Palmetto Fellows Scholarship, any student who
11 will graduate from a high school in South Carolina and had applied and meets the following priority-ordered criteria shall be awarded a
12 Palmetto Fellow Scholarship insofar as funds are available:
13 1) All National Merit semifinalists,
14 2) All students who scored 1400 or better on their SAT (or its equivalent on the PSAT or the ACT),
15 3) All students who scored 1300 on their SAT or better (or its equivalent) with a 3.5 or better GPA, and
16 4) All students who ranked first in their class with a 3.75 or better GPA. All GPA's must be converted to a 4.0 scale.
17 Each Palmetto Fellows scholar will receive up to $5,000 annually for up to eight semesters to pursue a baccalaureate degree at
18 participating institutions. All other sources of grant funds must be applied to the unmet total cost of attendance before calculating the
19 scholarship award. The maximum amount may not exceed the cost of attendance. To fund these additional scholarships, the Commission
20 on Higher Education is authorized to use any carry forward funds from FY 96-97 in the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship account, as well
21 as using as much as is needed to fund the remaining scholarships from the contingent annual license tax imposed on operators of licensed
22 low-level radioactive waste disposal sites.
23 5A.21. (CHE: Performance Funding) Funds appropriated in this bill or any other appropriations bill designated as performance funding
24 shall be used to implement Act 359 of 1996. Of the performance indicators prescribed the following shall be used for FY 1997-98:
25 A. MISSION FOCUS
26 1. Approval of mission statement
27 a. The measure shall be the submission and approval of a mission statement that is in compliance with sector requirements specified
28 in Act 359.
29 B. QUALITY OF FACULTY
30 1. Compensation of FACULTY
31 a. The measure shall be FACULTY salaries by rank, discipline, and type of institution compared to national average, aspirational
32 peer group averages, or sector averages.
33 C. INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY
34 1. Class size and student/teacher ratio
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1 a. The measure shall be the average class size by sector, discipline, level, and mode of delivery compared to the average of
2 aspirational peer groups and the ratio of full-time equivalent students to full-time equivalent teaching FACULTY compared to
3 the average of aspirational peer groups or sector averages.
4 2. Credit hours taught by instructional staff
5 a. The measure shall be the average number of credit hours taught by full-time teaching faculty and full-time equivalent teaching
6 faculty, by level and sector compared to aspirational peer groups or sector averages.
7 3. Program and degree accreditation
8 a. The measure shall be the number of programs listed in the Inventory of Academic Degree Programs' holding accreditation from
9 a recognized accrediting agency as a percent of the total number of programs listed in the Inventory of Academic Degree
10 Programs' for which accreditation is available.
11 4. Ratio of full-time faculty as compared to other full-time employees
12 a. The measure shall be the total number of all full-time faculty members paid from unrestricted Educational and General Funds
13 as a percent of the total number of all full-time employees paid from unrestricted Educational and General Funds.
14 D. ADMINISTRATIVE EFFICIENCY
15 1. Percentage of administrative costs as compared to academic costs
16 a. The measure shall be academic costs as a percentage of total educational and general expenditures compared to administrative
17 costs (institutional support) as a percentage of total educational and general expenditures.
18 2. Amount of general overhead costs
19 a. The measure shall be general overhead cost per full-time equivalent student.
20 E. ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS
21 1. SAT and ACT scores
22 a. The measure shall be the scores of first-time entering freshmen.
23 2. SC residents a priority (under-graduate education)
24 a. The measure shall be based on the enrollment of in-state undergraduate students compared to total undergraduate students.
25 F. GRADUATES' ACHIEVEMENTS
26 1. Scores of graduates' on post-undergraduate professional, graduate, or employment-related examinations and certification tests.
27 a. The measure shall be the percentage of total students taking certification examinations who pass the examination on the first
28 attempt and, if data is available, the percentage of the total students who pass the examination on subsequent attempts.
29 G. USER-FRIENDLINESS OF INSTITUTION
30 1. Transferability of Credits
31 a. The measure shall be the extent to which criteria, established and approved by the Commission in consultation with the higher
32 education community, are achieved by the institution.
33 2. Accessibility to the institution of all citizens of the State
34 a. The measure shall be the percent of other race undergraduate students enrolled, the total number of credit hours generated off-
35 campus in counties where no comparable program is offered by a public institution, the total number of credit hours generated
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1 in-state through distance education.
2 H. RESEARCH FUNDING
3 1. Amount of public and private sector grants
4 a. The measure shall be the expenditure of the current fiscal year's public and private sector research grants, gifts and local support.
5 The methodology for the distribution of performance funding to the institutions shall be based on each institutions' achievement of a
6 set of benchmarks which include both sector benchmarks and Institutional benchmarks. Sector benchmarks are to be developed by the
7 Commission on Higher Education. Institutional benchmarks are to be developed, as part of a strategic plan, by each institution with
8 consent of the Commission on Higher Education. This methodology is to take into consideration sector averages and institutional
9 beginning averages in order for each institution to have the opportunity to move toward their institutional benchmark and their sector
10 benchmark. 1997-98 data shall serve as the base-line for these indicators and the remaining indicators required for full implementation
11 in Fiscal Year 1999-2000 as required by Act 359 of 1996.
12 5A.22. (CHE: Palmetto Fellow Scholarships Regulations) This proviso is intended to provide direction to the Commission on Higher
13 Education in developing the regulations for the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship program and to ensure that the intent of the General
14 Assembly concerning these awards and the concerns raised in the public hearing on the awards process are addressed. These regulations
15 must be developed and resubmitted for use in the 1997-98 academic year by CHE in concert with the standing subcommittees of the
16 General Assembly to which the regulations were originally referred in time for the appropriate Committees to take immediate action upon
17 the commencement of the 1998 Legislative session. Criteria may include, but are not limited to, academic achievement, contributions to
18 school and/or community, and work experience. A nationally recognized organization should be used to assist in the development of an
19 equitable rating instrument and methodology for scholarship awards. The minimum criteria necessary in order to apply for a Palmetto
20 Fellow in 1997-98 shall be an SAT or equivalent ACT score of 1200, a GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and the top 5% of the class. An essay
21 shall not be used as part of the application process.
22 5A.23. (CHE: Tuition/Fees Tied to Higher Educ. Price Index) Tuition and Fees at state supported higher education institutions in
23 South Carolina shall not be increased more than the previous year's Higher Education Price Index. If an institution's tuition and fees
24 are below the southeastern average for tuition and fees, then this restriction does not apply.
25 5A.24. (CHE: SREB Scholarships) Of the funds appropriated to CHE, $48,650 must be used to increase funding for SREB
26 scholarships.
27