Florida Senate - 2022                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 7044
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì356900ÃÎ356900                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       Senator Pizzo moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with directory and title amendments)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 266 - 276
    4  and insert:
    5         (2) ACCREDITATION.—
    6         (a) By September 1, 2022, the Board of Governors or the
    7  State Board of Education, as applicable, shall identify and
    8  determine the accrediting agencies or associations best suited
    9  to serve as an accreditor for public postsecondary institutions.
   10  Such accrediting agencies or associations must be recognized by
   11  the database created and maintained by the United States
   12  Department of Education. A public postsecondary institution may
   13  not be accredited by the same accrediting agency or association
   14  for consecutive accreditation cycles. In the year following
   15  reaffirmation or fifth-year review by its accrediting agencies
   16  or associations, each public postsecondary institution must seek
   17  and obtain accreditation from an accrediting agency or
   18  association identified by the Board of Governors or State Board
   19  of Education, respectively, before its next reaffirmation or
   20  fifth-year review date. The requirements of this subsection are
   21  not applicable to those professional, graduate, departmental, or
   22  certificate programs at public postsecondary institutions that
   23  have specific accreditation requirements or best practices,
   24  including, but not limited to, law, pharmacy, engineering, or
   25  other similarly situated educational programs.
   26         (b) Once a public postsecondary institution is required to
   27  seek and obtain accreditation from an agency or association
   28  identified pursuant to paragraph (a), the institution shall
   29  provide quarterly reports of its progress to the Board of
   30  Governors or State Board of Education, as applicable. If each
   31  accreditation agency or association identified pursuant to
   32  paragraph (a) has refused to grant candidacy status to a public
   33  postsecondary institution, then the Board of Governors or State
   34  Board of Education, as applicable, may identify additional
   35  agencies or associations to which an institution may apply. If a
   36  public postsecondary institution is not granted candidacy status
   37  before its next reaffirmation or fifth-year review date, the
   38  institution may remain with its current accrediting agency or
   39  association.
   40  
   41  ====== D I R E C T O R Y  C L A U S E  A M E N D M E N T ======
   42  And the directory clause is amended as follows:
   43         Delete line 259
   44  and insert:
   45         Section 3. Effective upon this act becoming a law, section
   46  1008.47, Florida Statutes, is created to
   47  
   48  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   49  And the title is amended as follows:
   50         Delete lines 18 - 27
   51  and insert:
   52         requiring the Board of Governors and State Board of
   53         Education to identify and determine accrediting
   54         agencies or associations best suited for public
   55         postsecondary institutions by a specified date;
   56         providing requirements for such accrediting agencies
   57         or associations; prohibiting public postsecondary
   58         institutions from being accredited by the same agency
   59         or association for consecutive accreditation cycles;
   60         requiring public postsecondary institutions to obtain
   61         accreditation from accrediting agencies or
   62         associations identified by the Board of Governors or
   63         State Board of Education, respectively; providing that
   64         specified academic programs are exempt from such
   65         requirements; requiring institutions to provide
   66         specified reports to the Board of Governors or the
   67         State Board of Education; authorizing institutions to
   68         remain with current accreditors under certain
   69         circumstances; creating a cause of