Florida Senate - 2019 SB 194
By Senator Stargel
22-01521A-19 2019194__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to higher education; amending s.
3 1001.706, F.S.; requiring the Office of the Inspector
4 General of the Board of Governors to verify certain
5 information for accuracy; requiring the Board of
6 Governors to match specified information; requiring
7 the board to enter into a data-sharing agreement with
8 the Department of Economic Opportunity; providing
9 requirements for such agreement; amending s. 1007.23,
10 F.S.; requiring, by a specified academic year, Florida
11 College System institutions and state universities to
12 execute agreements to establish “2+2” targeted pathway
13 programs; providing requirements for such agreements;
14 specifying requirements for student participation;
15 requiring the State Board of Education and the Board
16 of Governors to collaborate to eliminate barriers in
17 executing pathway articulation agreements; amending s.
18 1007.27, F.S.; requiring district school boards to
19 notify students about credit-by-examination and dual
20 enrollment equivalency lists; providing an effective
21 date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subsection (5) of section
26 1001.706, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (i) is
27 added to that subsection, to read:
28 1001.706 Powers and duties of the Board of Governors.—
29 (5) POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO ACCOUNTABILITY.—
30 (e) The Board of Governors shall maintain an effective
31 information system to provide accurate, timely, and cost
32 effective information about each university. The board shall
33 continue to collect and maintain, at a minimum, management
34 information as such information existed on June 30, 2002. The
35 Office of the Inspector General of the board shall annually
36 verify the accuracy of the data used to implement ss. 1001.7065
37 and 1001.92.
38 (i) The Board of Governors shall match individual student
39 information with information in the files of state and federal
40 agencies that maintain educational and employment records. The
41 board must enter into an agreement with the Department of
42 Economic Opportunity which allows access to the individual
43 reemployment assistance wage records maintained by the
44 department. The agreement must protect individual privacy and
45 require that student information be used only for the purposes
46 of auditing or evaluating higher education programs offered by
47 state universities.
48 Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 1007.23,
49 Florida Statutes, to read:
50 1007.23 Statewide articulation agreement.—
51 (7) By the 2019-2020 academic year, to strengthen Florida’s
52 “2+2” system of articulation and improve student retention and
53 on-time graduation, each Florida College System institution
54 shall execute at least one “2+2” targeted pathway articulation
55 agreement with one or more state universities, and each state
56 university shall execute at least one such agreement with one or
57 more Florida College System institutions to establish “2+2”
58 targeted pathway programs. The agreement must provide students
59 who graduate with an associate in arts degree and who meet
60 specified requirements guaranteed access to the state university
61 and a degree program at that university, in accordance with the
62 terms of the “2+2” targeted pathway articulation agreement.
63 (a) To participate in a “2+2” targeted pathway program, a
64 student must:
65 1. Enroll in the program before completing 30 credit hours,
66 including, but not limited to, college credits earned through
67 articulated acceleration mechanisms pursuant to s. 1007.27;
68 2. Complete an associate in arts degree; and
69 3. Meet the university’s transfer requirements.
70 (b) A state university that executes a “2+2” targeted
71 pathway articulation agreement must meet the following
72 requirements in order to implement a “2+2” targeted pathway
73 program in collaboration with its partner Florida College System
74 institution:
75 1. Establish a 4-year, on-time graduation plan for a
76 baccalaureate degree program, including, but not limited to, a
77 plan for students to complete associate in arts degree programs,
78 general education courses, common prerequisite courses, and
79 elective courses;
80 2. Advise students enrolled in the program about the
81 university’s transfer and degree program requirements; and
82 3. Provide students who meet the requirements under this
83 paragraph with access to academic advisors and campus events and
84 with guaranteed admittance to the state university and a degree
85 program of the state university, in accordance with the terms of
86 the agreement.
87 (c) To assist the state universities and Florida College
88 System institutions with implementing the “2+2” targeted pathway
89 programs effectively, the State Board of Education and the Board
90 of Governors shall collaborate to eliminate barriers in
91 executing “2+2” targeted pathway articulation agreements.
92 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 1007.27, Florida
93 Statutes, is amended to read:
94 1007.27 Articulated acceleration mechanisms.—
95 (2)(a) The Department of Education shall annually identify
96 and publish the minimum scores, maximum credit, and course or
97 courses for which credit is to be awarded for each College Level
98 Examination Program (CLEP) subject examination, College Board
99 Advanced Placement Program examination, Advanced International
100 Certificate of Education examination, International
101 Baccalaureate examination, Excelsior College subject
102 examination, Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education
103 Support (DANTES) subject standardized test, and Defense Language
104 Proficiency Test (DLPT). The department shall use student
105 performance data in subsequent postsecondary courses to
106 determine the appropriate examination scores and courses for
107 which credit is to be granted. Minimum scores may vary by
108 subject area based on available performance data. In addition,
109 the department shall identify such courses in the general
110 education core curriculum of each state university and Florida
111 College System institution.
112 (b) Each district school board shall notify students who
113 enroll in articulated acceleration mechanism courses or who take
114 examinations pursuant to this section of the credit-by
115 examination equivalency list adopted by rule by the State Board
116 of Education and the dual enrollment course and high school
117 subject area equivalencies approved by the state board pursuant
118 to s. 1007.271.
119 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.