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Higher-education subcommittee moves several bills forward, from regulatory tweaks to coach training
Summary
The subcommittee recommended multiple higher-education bills for reporting, including renaming a CHEVE post, exempting short noncredit courses from certain regulation, adding faculty and staff to boards of visitors, and requiring mental-health training for coaches.
The Senate Education and Health Higher Education Subcommittee on Monday recommended a package of higher-education measures for reporting to the full committee, moving bills on regulatory changes, board representation, student services and mental-health training forward.
Among the items the panel moved: a technical change to rename the head of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (CHEVE) from "director" to "executive director" (House Bill 18,78); an exemption for short nondegree project-management courses from certain CHEVE regulatory requirements (House Bill 19,95); a bill to require public colleges and universities to add a faculty member and a staff member chosen by peers as nonvoting members of boards of visitors (House Bill 16,21); and a mandate that intercollegiate coaches receive mental-health first aid training within a year of hire (House Bill 2,420).
Delegate Bennett Parker told the committee that HB 19,95 "was brought to me by a small business owner in my district" who runs 2-to-3-day workshops to prepare students for nationally recognized certifications and faces CHEVE enrollment-agreement and annual recertification costs that the sponsor said amount to "tens of thousands of dollars per year." The sponsor said the bill aims to level the playing field between Virginia-based nondegree providers and out-of-state online providers.
On HB 16,21 proponents said the bill would give faculty and staff a direct voice on boards where those groups are often unrepresented. Harry Sabo, president of United Campus Workers of Virginia, said the measure would "codify a best practice into law" by allowing faculty and staff to select their representatives. Testimony noted that staff compose roughly 52% to 75% of campus workforces and that two institutions already include faculty and staff as nonvoting members of boards of visitors.
The committee also addressed several bills that mirrored Senate measures and adopted conforming changes where needed: HB 15,95, tied to the Virginia National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program and the adjutant general’s regulatory role; HB 16,94, requiring a joint report from the Department of Veterans Services and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia on survivors and dependents eligible for a military survivors' education grant; and HB 25,48, which incorporated related Senate provisions (substitute adopted and conformed).
Other votes: HB 2,240, which establishes a campus food-access program funded by gifts, grants and private donations and calls for campus meal-donation mechanisms or vouchers alongside on-campus food pantries or food-bank partnerships, was recommended for reporting. HB 18,05 standardizing disability documentation by accepting an individualized education program (IEP) valid in the last three years of high school as proof for accommodations was also recommended for reporting.
Motions to recommend reporting were moved and seconded for the listed measures; where recorded, votes were unanimous or carried. The committee recorded the following tallies and procedural outcomes in the hearing record (see "Votes at a glance" below).
