85-1503 Terms, defined.
85-1503. Terms, defined.For purposes of sections 85-1501 to 85-1540, unless the contextotherwise requires:(1) Community college means an educational institution operatingand offering programs pursuant to such sections;(2) Community college area means an area established by section 85-1504;(3) Board means the Community College Board of Governorsfor each community college area;(4) Full-time equivalent student means, in the aggregate,the equivalent of a registered student who in a twelve-month period is enrolledin (a) thirty semester credit hours or forty-five quarter credit hours ofclassroom, laboratory, clinical, practicum, or independent study course workor cooperative work experience or (b) nine hundred contact hours of classroomor laboratory course work for which credit hours are not offered or awarded.Avocational and recreational community service programs or courses are notincluded in determining full-time equivalent students or student enrollment;(5) Contact hour means an educational activity consistingof sixty minutes minus break time and required time to change classes;(6) Credit hour means the unit used to ascertain the educationalvalue of course work offered by the institution to students enrolling forsuch course work, earned by such students upon successful completion of suchcourse work, and for which tuition is charged. A credit hour may be offeredand earned in any of several instructional delivery systems, including, butnot limited to, classroom hours, laboratory hours, clinical hours, practicumhours, cooperative work experience, and independent study. A credit hour shallconsist of a minimum of: (a) Ten quarter or fifteen semester classroom contacthours per term of enrollment; (b) twenty quarter or thirty semester academictransfer and academic support laboratory hours per term of enrollment; (c)thirty quarter or forty-five semester vocational laboratory hours per termof enrollment; (d) thirty quarter or forty-five semester clinical or practicumcontact hours per term of enrollment; or (e) forty quarter or sixty semestercooperative work experience contact hours per term of enrollment. An institutionmay include in a credit hour more classroom, laboratory, clinical, practicum,or cooperative work experience hours than the minimum required in this subdivision.The institution shall publish in its catalog, or otherwise make known to thestudent in writing prior to the student enrolling or paying tuition for anycourses, the number of credit or contact hours offered in each such course.Such published credit or contact hour offerings shall be used to determinewhether a student is a full-time equivalent student pursuant to subdivision(4) of this section;(7) Classroom hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of formalizedinstruction on campus or off campus in which a qualified instructor applyingany combination of instructional methods such as lecture, directed discussion,demonstration, or the presentation of audiovisual materials is responsiblefor providing an educational experience to students;(8) Laboratory hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of educationalactivity on campus or off campus in which students conduct experiments, perfectskills, or practice procedures under the direction of a qualified instructor;(9) Clinical hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of educationalactivity on campus or off campus during which the student is assigned practicalexperience under constant supervision at a health-related agency, receivesindividual instruction in the performance of a particular function, and isobserved and critiqued in the repeat performance of such function. Adjunctprofessional personnel, who may or may not be paid by the college, may beused for the directed supervision of students and for the delivery of partof the didactic phase of the experience;(10) Practicum hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of educationalactivity on campus or off campus during which the student is assigned practicalexperiences, receives individual instruction in the performance of a particularfunction, and is observed and critiqued by an instructor in the repeat performanceof such function. Adjunct professional personnel, who may or may not be paidby the college, may be used for the directed supervision of the students;(11) Cooperative work experience means an internship or on-the-jobtraining, designed to provide specialized skills and educational experiences,which is coordinated, supervised, observed, and evaluated by qualified collegestaff or faculty and may be completed on campus or off campus, depending onthe nature of the arrangement;(12) Independent study means an arrangement between an instructorand a student in which the instructor is responsible for assigning work activityor skill objectives to the student, personally providing needed instruction,assessing the student's progress, and assigning a final grade. Credit hoursshall be assigned according to the practice of assigning credits in similarcourses;(13) Full-time equivalent student enrollment total meansthe total of full-time equivalent students enrolled in a community collegein any fiscal year;(14) General academic transfer course means a course offeringin a one-year or two-year degree-credit program, at the associate degree levelor below, intended by the offering institution for transfer into a baccalaureateprogram. The completion of the specified courses in a general academic transferprogram may include the award of a formal degree;(15) Applied technology or occupational course means a courseoffering in an instructional program, at the associate degree level or below,intended to prepare individuals for immediate entry into a specific occupationor career. The primary intent of the institutions offering an applied technologyor occupational program shall be that such program is for immediate job entry.The completion of the specified courses in an applied technology or occupationalprogram may include the award of a formal degree, diploma, or certificate;(16) Academic support course means a general education academiccourse offering which may be necessary to support an applied technology oroccupational program;(17) Class 1 course means an applied technology or occupationalcourse offering which requires the use of equipment, facilities, or instructionalmethods easily adaptable for use in a general academic transfer program classroomor laboratory;(18) Class 2 course means an applied technology or occupationalcourse offering which requires the use of specialized equipment, facilities,or instructional methods not easily adaptable for use in a general academictransfer program classroom or laboratory;(19) Full-time equivalent student means a full-time equivalent studentsubject to the following limitation: The number of credit and contact hourswhich shall be counted by any community college area in which a tribally controlledcommunity college is located shall include credit and contact hours awardedby such tribally controlled community college to students for which such institutionreceived no federal reimbursement pursuant to the Tribally Controlled CommunityCollege Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. 1801;(20) Full-time equivalent total means the total of all full-timeequivalents accumulated in a community college area in any fiscal year;(21) Reimbursable educational unit means a full-time equivalentstudent multiplied by (a) for a general academic transfer course or an academicsupport course, a factor of one, (b) for a Class 1 course, a factor of oneand fifty-hundredths, (c) for a Class 2 course, a factor of two, (d) for atribally controlled community college general academic transfer course oracademic support course, a factor of two, (e) for a tribally controlled communitycollege Class 1 course, a factor of three, and (f) for a tribally controlledcommunity college Class 2 course, a factor of four;(22) Reimbursable educational unit total means the totalof all reimbursable educational units accumulated in a community college areain any fiscal year;(23) Special instructional term means any term which is lessthan fifteen weeks for community colleges using semesters or ten weeks forcommunity colleges using quarters;(24) Statewide reimbursable full-time equivalent total meansthe total of all reimbursable full-time equivalents accumulated statewidefor the community college in any fiscal year;(25) Tribally controlled community college means an educationalinstitution operating and offering programs pursuant to the Tribally ControlledCommunity College Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. 1801; and(26) Tribally controlled community college state aid amountmeans:(a) For fiscal years before fiscal year2010-11, the quotient of the amount of state aid to be distributedpursuant to the Community College Foundation and Equalization Aid Act forthe current fiscal year to a community college area in which a tribally controlledcommunity college is located divided by the reimbursable educational unittotal for such community college area for the immediately preceding fiscalyear, with such quotient then multiplied by the average reimbursable educationalunits derived pursuant to subdivision (19) of this section for the immediatelypreceding fiscal year; and(b) For fiscal year 2010-11,the amount of state aid provided to a tribally controlled community collegepursuant to section 90-517. SourceLaws 1975, LB 344, § 2; Laws 1977, LB 459, § 10; Laws 1979, LB 363, § 1; Laws 1984, LB 890, § 1; Laws 1987, LB 329, § 1; Laws 1988, LB 802, § 30; Laws 1991, LB 663, § 45; Laws 1992, LB 921, § 1; R.S.Supp.,1992, § 79-2637; Laws 1993, LB 239, § 25; Laws 1995, LB 241, § 1; Laws 1997, LB 269, § 68; Laws 1999, LB 67, § 1; Laws 2005, LB 38, § 3; Laws 2007, LB342, § 40; Laws 2010, LB1072, § 7.Effective Date: April 15, 2010 Cross ReferencesCommunity College Foundation and Equalization Aid Act, see section 85-2201. AnnotationsChapter 79, article 26, the Technical Community College Area Act, is not in violation of Article VIII, section 1A, of the Constitution. State ex rel. Western Technical Com. Col. Area v. Tallon, 196 Neb. 603, 244 N.W.2d 183 (1976).