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260C.4 Duties of state board.

The state board for community colleges shall:

1. Adopt and establish policies for programs and services of the department which relate to community colleges.

2. Prescribe standards and procedures for the approval of practitioner preparation programs and professional development programs under section 256.7, subsection 3.

3. Review and make recommendations that relate to community colleges in the five-year plan for the achievement of educational goals.

4. Adopt the following interim annual approval process, which shall be in effect for community colleges until the implementation of section 260C.47.

a. For purposes of this section, "approval standards" shall include standards for administration, qualifications and assignment of personnel, curriculum, facilities and sites, requirements for awarding of diplomas and other evidence of educational achievement, guidance and counseling, support services for students with special needs, instruction, instructional materials, maintenance, and library.

b. The department of education shall supervise and evaluate the educational program in the several community colleges of the state for the purpose of the improvement and approval of such institutions.

c. The director of the department of education shall make recommendations and suggestions in writing to each community college if the department determines, after due investigation, that deficiencies exist.

d. The director of the department of education shall maintain a list of approved community colleges, and the director shall remove from the approved list for cause, after due investigation and notice, a community college which fails to comply with the approval standards. A community college which is removed from the approved list pursuant to this section is ineligible to receive state financial aid during the period of removal. The director shall allow a reasonable period of time, which shall be at least one year, for compliance with approval standards if a community college is making a good faith effort and substantial progress toward full compliance or if failure to comply is due to factors beyond the control of the board of directors of the merged area operating the institution. In allowing time for compliance, the director shall follow consistent policies, taking into account the circumstances of each case. The reasonable period of time for compliance may be, but need not be, given prior to the one-year notice requirement that is provided in this section.

e. The director of the department of education shall give a community college which is to be removed from the approved list at least one year's notice. The notice shall be given by registered or certified mail addressed to the superintendent of the community college and shall specify the reasons for removal. The notice shall also be sent by ordinary mail to each member of the board of directors of the community college, and to the news media which serve the merged area where the school is located; but any good faith error or failure to comply with this sentence shall not affect the validity of any action by the director. If, during the year, the community college remedies the reasons for removal and satisfies the director that it will thereafter comply with the laws and approval standards, the director shall continue the community college on the approved list and shall transmit to the community college notice of the action by registered or certified mail.

f. At any time during the year after notice is given, the board of directors of the community college may request a public hearing before the director of the department of education, by mailing a written request to the director by registered or certified mail. The director shall promptly set a time and place for the public hearing, which shall be either in Des Moines or in the affected merged area. At least thirty days' notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given by registered or certified mail addressed to the superintendent of the community college. At least ten days before the hearing, notice of the time and place of the hearing and the reasons for removal shall also be published by the department in a newspaper of general circulation in the merged area where the community college is located.

g. At the hearing the community college may be represented by counsel and may present evidence. The director of the department of education may provide for the hearing to be recorded or reported. If requested by the community college at least ten days before the hearing, the director shall provide for the hearing to be recorded or reported at the expense of the community college, using any reasonable method specified by the community college. Within ten days after the hearing, the director shall render a written decision, and shall affirm, modify, or vacate the action or proposed action to remove the community college from the approved list. The board of directors of the community college may request a review of the decision of the director by the state board. The state board may affirm, modify, or vacate the decision, or may direct a rehearing before the director.

h. This subsection is void and shall be stricken from the Code effective June 30, 1995, except as provided in section 260C.47.

Section History: Recent form

90 Acts, ch 1253, §34 ~IC91, § 280A.22B ~IC93, § 260C.22B ~I93 Acts, ch 82, § 2 ~IC95, §260C.4

Internal References

Referred to in § 260C.47

Footnotes

Continuation of approval process under subsection 4 if agreement not reached by July 1, 1994; § 260C.47(1)


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