Florida Senate - 2022                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 7044
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì130750xÎ130750                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                  Floor: WD            .                                
             03/03/2022 10:39 PM       .                                
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       Senator Pizzo moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (119334) (with directory
    2  and title amendments)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 266 - 276
    5  and insert:
    6         (2) ACCREDITATION.—
    7         (a) By September 1, 2022, the Board of Governors, for state
    8  universities, and the State Board of Education, for Florida
    9  College System institutions, shall identify and determine the
   10  accrediting agencies or associations best suited to serve as an
   11  accreditor for state universities and Florida College System
   12  institutions. Such accrediting agencies or associations must be
   13  recognized by the database created and maintained by the United
   14  States Department of Education. A state university or Florida
   15  College System institution may not be accredited by the same
   16  accrediting agency or association for consecutive accreditation
   17  cycles. In the year following reaffirmation or fifth-year review
   18  by their accrediting agencies or associations, each state
   19  university or Florida College System institution must seek and
   20  obtain accreditation from an accrediting agency or association
   21  identified by the Board of Governors or State Board of
   22  Education, respectively, before its next reaffirmation or fifth
   23  year review date. The requirements of this subsection are not
   24  applicable to those professional, graduate, departmental, or
   25  certificate programs at state universities or Florida College
   26  System institutions that have specific accreditation
   27  requirements or best practices, including, but not limited to,
   28  law, pharmacy, engineering, or other similarly situated
   29  educational programs.
   30         (b) If, after a necessary period of inquiry, a public
   31  postsecondary institution is not accepted by an accreditor of
   32  equal or higher quality than their current accreditor before the
   33  end of the current accreditation cycle, the institution may
   34  remain with its current accreditor to avoid loss of
   35  accreditation and loss of student access to federal financial
   36  aid.
   37  
   38  ====== D I R E C T O R Y  C L A U S E  A M E N D M E N T ======
   39  And the directory clause is amended as follows:
   40         Delete line 259
   41  and insert:
   42         Section 3. Effective upon this act becoming a law, section
   43  1008.47, Florida Statutes, is created to
   44  
   45  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   46  And the title is amended as follows:
   47         Delete lines 18 - 27
   48  and insert:
   49         requiring the Board of Governors and State Board of
   50         Education to identify and determine accrediting
   51         agencies or associations best suited for state
   52         universities and Florida College System institutions,
   53         respectively, by a specified date; providing
   54         requirements for such accrediting agencies or
   55         associations; prohibiting state universities and
   56         Florida College System institutions from being
   57         accredited by the same agency or association for
   58         consecutive accreditation cycles; requiring state
   59         universities and Florida College System institutions
   60         to obtain accreditation from accrediting agencies or
   61         associations identified by the Board of Governors or
   62         State Board of Education, respectively; providing that
   63         specified academic programs are exempt from such
   64         requirements; authorizing institutions to remain with
   65         current accreditors under certain circumstances;
   66         creating a cause of