§18B-1D-8 Institutional and system report cards.
§18B-1D-8. Institutional and system report cards.
(a) The purpose of the institutional and statewide report cards is to make information available to parents, students, faculty, staff, state policymakers and the general public on the quality and performance of public higher education. The focus of the report cards is to determine annual progress of the commission, the council and institutions under their respective jurisdictions toward achieving state goals and objectives identified in this article and section one-a, article one of this chapter and system goals and objective contained in the statewide master plans of the commission and council created pursuant to section five of this article.
(b) The information contained in the report cards shall be consistent and comparable between and among state institutions of higher education. If applicable, the information shall allow for easy comparison with higher education-related data collected and disseminated by the Southern Regional Education Board, the United States Department of Education and other education data-gathering and data-disseminating organizations upon which state policymakers frequently rely in setting policy.
(c) The rules required by subsection (c), section one of this article shall provide for the collection, analysis and dissemination of information on the performance of the state institutions of higher education, including health sciences education, in relation to the findings, goals and objectives set forth in this article and section one-a, article one of this chapter and those contained in the statewide master plans of the commission and council developed pursuant to section five of this article.
(1) The objective of this portion of the rule is to ensure that the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability and others identified in subsection (a) of this section are provided with full and accurate information while minimizing the institutional burden of recordkeeping and reporting.
(2) This portion of the rule shall identify various indicators of student and institutional performance that, at a minimum, must be reported annually, set forth general guidelines for the collection and reporting of data and provide for the preparation, printing and distribution of report cards under this section.
(d) The report cards shall be analysis-driven, rather than simply data-driven, and shall present information in a format that can inform education policymaking. They shall include an executive summary which outlines significant trends, identifies major areas of concern and discusses progress toward meeting state and system goals and objectives. They shall be brief and concise, reporting required information in nontechnical language. Any technical or supporting material to be included shall be contained in a separate appendix.
(e) The statewide report card shall include the data for each separately listed, applicable indicator identified in the rule promulgated pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and the aggregate of the data for all public institutions of higher education.
(f) The statewide report card shall be prepared using actual institutional, state, regional and national data, as applicable and available, indicating the present performance of the individual institutions, the governing boards and the state systems of higher education. Statewide report cards shall be based upon information for the current school year or for the most recent school year for which the information is available, in which case the year shall be clearly noted.
(g) The president or chief executive officer of each state institution of higher education shall prepare and submit annually all requested data to the commission at the times established by the commission.
(h) The higher education central office staff, under the direction of the Vice Chancellor for Administration, shall provide technical assistance to each institution and governing board in data collection and reporting and is responsible for assembling the statewide report card from information submitted by each governing board.
(i) The statewide report card shall be completed and disseminated with copies to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability prior to the first day of January of each year and the staff of the commission and the council shall prepare a report highlighting specifically the trends, progress toward meeting goals and objectives and major areas of concern for public higher education, including medical education, for presentation to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability at the interim meetings in January, two thousand nine, and annually thereafter.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code to the contrary, the following statutorily mandated reports are not required to be prepared and submitted annually unless a member of the Legislature makes a specific request for a particular report:
(1) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (a), section forty-eight, article three, chapter five-a of this code, on vehicle fleets;
(2) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (e), section ten, article one of this chapter, on plans, accomplishments and recommendations in implementing a cooperative relationship between Potomac State College and Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College;
(3) An annual report, pursuant to paragraphs (A) and (B), subdivision (10), subsection (a), section four, article one-b of this chapter, concerning higher education performance and enrollment data;
(4) An annual report, pursuant to paragraph (A), subdivision (11), subsection (b), section six, article two-b of this chapter, concerning community and technical college performance;
(5) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (b), section seven, article five of this chapter, on all sales of obsolete, unusable or surplus commodities;
(6) An annual report, pursuant to section eight, article five of this chapter, on purchases from West Virginia businesses;
(7) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (j), section one, article ten of this chapter, on the amount of auxiliary fees collected to replace state funds subsidizing auxiliary services;
(8) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (c), section five, article thirteen of this chapter, on technical assistance provided to qualified businesses within approved research parks, research zones or technology centers;
(9) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (e), section six, article eighteen of this chapter, on the status of the Eminent Scholars Endowment Trust Fund; and
(10) An annual report, pursuant to subsection (e), section one, article three, chapter eighteen-c of this code, relevant to the health education loan program.
(k) For a reasonable fee, the Vice Chancellor for Administration shall make copies of the report cards, including any appendices of supporting material, available to any individual requesting them.