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15-1661. Annual appropriation; enrollment audit; expenditure; balance; salaries

A. There shall be appropriated in the general appropriation bill for each fiscal year a sum of monies not less than eighty-five one-hundredths of one mill on the dollar of the assessed valuation of all taxable property in the state for the improvement, support and maintenance of the institutions under the Arizona board of regents' jurisdiction, including payment of salaries, current expenses, purchase of equipment, making necessary repairs, construction of new buildings, purchase of lands and in general for payment of all such expenses connected with the management of the institutions under the Arizona board of regents' jurisdiction. The department of revenue, upon compiling the aggregate assessed valuation of all taxable property within this state, shall compute the amount of monies so determined and certify such amount over its seal to the department of administration and the state treasurer.

B. The full-time equivalent student enrollment reported for the previous fiscal year by each university shall be audited annually by the auditor general. The auditor general shall report the results of the audit to the staffs of the joint legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting on or before October 15 of each year. On or before July 21 of each academic year, each university shall provide for the previous fall semester a certified report to the auditor general of the number of full-time equivalent students calculated by the university and a separate report only for those students who meet the residency requirements prescribed in section 15-1802. The university's records used to calculate full-time equivalent student enrollment shall be provided to the auditor general in an electronic format prescribed by the auditor general. Beginning in 2006, each university shall submit to the auditor general a summary of its full-time equivalent student enrollment accounting policies and procedures, compilation procedures and source records used for calculating full-time equivalent student enrollment. These accounting policies and procedures, compilation procedures and source records shall comply with policies developed on or before June 30, 2006 by the Arizona board of regents, in consultation with the auditor general and reviewed by the joint legislative budget committee. These policies shall include a review and recommendations of the necessity of minimum requirements for students enrolled in classes to qualify for appropriations pursuant to this section, including requirements that the class be a for-credit course that is necessary for the completion of a degree and that the student enrolled in the course be physically present in this state at the time the course is conducted. The basic actual full-time equivalent student enrollment shall be counted on the forty-fifth day after the basic actual full-time equivalent student enrollment classes begin for the fall and spring semesters, as published in the university catalogs, and divided by two. The Arizona board of regents shall also make recommendations of whether each professor or instructor should be required to review class rosters and make additions or deletions as necessary. If so, class rosters that reflect enrollment as of the forty-fifth day shall be provided by the registrar's office to each professor or instructor for every class section. The class roster shall indicate the course number, course title, time, instructor name and students enrolled. On the forty-fifth day class rosters, each professor or instructor shall indicate as withdrawn each student who has formally withdrawn from the course, and that student shall not be counted for state aid purposes. The official forty-fifth day rosters shall include a manual signature and date or an electronic authorization and date by the professor or instructor and shall include the following certification:

I hereby certify that the information contained in this class roster accurately reflects those students who are enrolled.

C. The Arizona board of regents shall also report the basic actual full-time equivalent student enrollment for only those students who meet the residency requirements prescribed in section 15-1802. The basic actual full-time equivalent student enrollment for only those students who meet the residency requirements prescribed in section 15-1802 that is reported by each university for the previous fiscal year shall be annually audited by the auditor general.

D. Students who have withdrawn or who have been withdrawn from classes as of the forty-fifth day shall not be counted for state aid purposes. A record shall be maintained that identifies student withdrawals by date of withdrawal, as of the forty-fifth day and after the forty-fifth day for the entire semester.

E. Amounts appropriated as provided by subsection A shall be paid as other claims against this state are paid.

F. The balance of appropriations as provided by subsection A at the end of the fiscal year, if any, shall not revert to the general fund but shall be carried forward for the continued use for which appropriated.

G. Monies appropriated to a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents for cost of living salary increases for university employees shall be used to provide cost of living salary increases to all university employees including graduate student assistants. If monies are appropriated to a university for salary increases based on merit, the monies shall be used to provide merit increases according to the merit pay plan adopted by the Arizona board of regents.

H. The Arizona board of regents shall determine current actual full-time equivalent student enrollment at each of the institutions under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents. Full-time equivalent student enrollment shall be calculated by adding the following:

1. The total number of enrolled fall and spring semester credit hours in 100-level credit courses and 200-level credit courses divided by fifteen.

2. The total number of enrolled fall and spring semester credit hours in 300-level credit courses and 400-level credit courses divided by twelve.

3. The total number of enrolled fall and spring semester credit hours in graduate level credit courses divided by ten.

I. The Arizona board of regents, in its annual budget request, shall not include funding for any student who is enrolled at an institution under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents and who has earned credit hours in excess of the undergraduate credit hour threshold, except that the undergraduate credit hour threshold shall not apply to students who are enrolled in a degree program that requires credit hours above the credit threshold. For the purposes of this subsection, the undergraduate credit hour threshold is one hundred fifty-five hours for students who attend a university under the jurisdiction of the board in fiscal year 2006-2007, one hundred fifty hours for students who attend a university under the jurisdiction of the board in fiscal year 2007-2008 and one hundred forty-five hours for students who attend a university under the jurisdiction of the board after fiscal year 2007-2008. The undergraduate credit hour threshold shall be based on the actual full-time equivalent student enrollment counted on the forty-fifth day after classes begin for the fall and spring semesters and any budget adjustment based on student enrollment shall occur in the fiscal year following the actual full-time equivalent student enrollment count. The undergraduate credit hour threshold shall not apply to credits earned in the pursuit of up to two baccalaureate degrees, credits earned in the pursuit of up to two state regulated licensures and certificates, credits earned in the pursuit of teaching certification, credits transferred from a private institution of higher education, credits transferred from an institution of higher education in another state, credits earned at another institution of higher education but that are not accepted as transfer credits at the university where the student is currently enrolled and credits earned by students who enroll at a university under the jurisdiction of the board more than twenty-four months after the end of that student's previous enrollment at a public institution of higher education in this state.