2017 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 17 - Education
RS 17:3140 - Evaluation of the state's delivery of public postsecondary education delivery system

§3140. Evaluation of the state's delivery of public postsecondary education delivery system

            A. The Board of Regents shall conduct a comprehensive review of the present postsecondary education system in the state and recommend the optimal delivery of postsecondary education in the future that will meet the needs of the state's citizens and industries while maximizing the state's resources. The review shall be of the state as a whole and of its workforce development areas as provided in R.S. 23:2192, which shall be referred to in this Section as "regions".

            B. The board shall submit a written report detailing its findings and recommendations relative to the assets, needs, gaps, and barriers to creating a comprehensive, efficient, and cost-effective public postsecondary education system in Louisiana to the Senate and House committees on education by no later than forty-five days before the 2017 Legislative Session. The report shall include, for the state as a whole and each region, the following:

(1) A description of assets, including:

            (a) The role, scope, and mission of each institution of public postsecondary education in the state.

            (b) Academic and non-academic programs, including those below the certificate level and non-credit technical skills courses, offered at each public postsecondary education institution, excluding continuing education courses but including:

            (i) Program enrollment and completion data for the last five years.

            (ii) Academic discipline cost per full-time equivalent student for the current academic year.

            (c) Current centers of excellence, as defined by the Board of Regents, in each institution, with explanation of how each center fits into the institution's role, scope, and mission and aids in meeting the workforce and economic development needs of the region or the state as a whole.

            (d) A list of each facility and all immovable property owned or leased by the state's public postsecondary institutions. The list shall also include a description of each facility as follows:

            (i) Age of the facility.

            (ii) Square footage.

            (iii) Usage.

            (iv) Space usage and the methodology used to determine such usage.

            (v) Condition of the facility.

            (vi) Building defect data, including cited code violations for the most recent twelve-month period.

            (vii) Bonded indebtedness and contractual obligations.

            (viii) Prioritized list of capital outlay needs for both new construction and deferred maintenance, with costs estimates where available.

            (e) Institutional data as provided pursuant to R.S. 17:3139.2(5), and the following:

            (i) Amount of institutional financial aid provided to students.

            (ii) Faculty information including total faculty and percent by full-time and part-time status; student-to-faculty ratios; percentage distribution of full-time instructional faculty by rank; full-time instructional average salary by rank; part-time faculty and assistants as a percent of total instructional faculty; number of full-time administrators; the demographics of all full-time faculty and administrators including race, gender, years of experience, and degrees held; and number of full-time staff.

            (iii) Percentage of lower-level classes taught by teaching and research assistants.

            (iv) Percentage of students enrolled in remedial courses.

            (v) Percentage of students admitted by exception to admission standards.

            (vi) Employment rates by program.

            (2) Description of needs to meet the current and forecasted educational demand to ensure the state's public postsecondary education system is operating in a comprehensive, efficient, cost-effective, and integrated manner.

            (a) Educational demand shall be determined for the state as a whole and for each region and shall consider:

            (i) Academic needs of the citizens.

            (ii) Research goals of the state's public postsecondary education institutions and local industries.

            (iii) Necessary public service activities, such as matters related to statewide health, economic, and environmental issues.

            (iv) Economic development needs.

            (v) Current and emerging workforce needs as forecasted through the Comprehensive Labor Market Information System, as provided in R.S. 23:71 et seq., including needs arising from the targeted cluster industries as provided in R.S. 23:76.

            (b) The report shall also include any issues related to accurately forecasting educational demand.

            (3) Description of gaps, which for the purpose of this Section, are defined as either needs that exceed assets, or assets that exceed needs.

            (4) Recommendations regarding how to efficiently and cost-effectively close the gaps to deliver postsecondary education by each region in order to meet the forecasted educational demand. Each recommendation shall identify the anticipated savings or costs associated with each action and whether any of the following are needed:

            (a) Merging of two or more existing postsecondary institutions.

            (b) Converting a non-degree granting postsecondary institution to an institution that grants degrees.

            (c) Converting a college or university which is limited to offering degrees of a lower rank than baccalaureate to a college or university that offers baccalaureate degrees.

            (d) Converting a college or university which offers baccalaureate degrees to a college or university that is limited to offering degrees of a lower rank.

            (e) Transferring a college or university from one postsecondary management board to another.

            (f) Closing a postsecondary educational institution.

            (g) Donating a college or university to a private entity or creating a private entity to receive such donation.

            (h) Closing or consolidating any program at an institution or coordinating any program across certain institutions.

            (i) Adding a center of excellence to an institution, shifting a center of excellence to a different institution, or coordinating resources between institutions to develop a joint center of excellence.

            (j) Sharing facilities between institutions in a region or closing or demolishing certain facilities.

            (k) Centralizing administrative services.

            (5) Description of barriers, including:

            (a) Bonded indebtedness, contractual obligations, and fitness of facilities.

            (b) Accreditation issues.

            (c) Compatibility of administrative services.

            (d) Funding.

            (e) Staffing.

            (f) Regional economic impacts.

            (g) Financial impact on the institutions.

            (h) Culture and tradition.

            (6) An executive summary of recommendations to ensure that the state's public postsecondary education enterprise is operating in a comprehensive, efficient, cost-effective, and integrated manner that best meets the educational demand of the state and each region.

            C. The Department of Economic Development, the Louisiana Workforce Commission, and each public postsecondary institution, management board, and system shall fully cooperate with the Board of Regents and shall provide such data and assistance as the board may request.

NOTE: §3140 as repealed by Acts 2016, No. 619, §2, eff. July 1, 2017.

§3140. Repealed by Acts 2016, No. 619, §2, eff. July 1, 2017.

            Acts 2016, No. 619, §1, eff. June 17, 2016; Acts 2016, No. 619, §2, eff. July 1, 2017.