To repeal section 173.005, RSMo 1994, and sections 178.420 and 178.635, RSMo Supp. 1996, relating to higher education, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to the same subject.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

Section A. Section 173.005, RSMo 1994, and sections 178.420 and 178.635, RSMo Supp. 1996, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 173.005, 178.420, 178.635 and 1, to read as follows:

173.005. 1. There is hereby created a "Department of Higher Education", and the division of higher education of the department of education is abolished and all its powers, duties, functions, personnel and property are transferred as provided by this act.

2. The commission on higher education is abolished and all its powers, duties, personnel and property are transferred by type I transfer to the "Coordinating Board for Higher Education", which is hereby created, and the coordinating board shall be the head of the department. The coordinating board shall consist of nine members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate, and not more than five of its members shall be of the same political party. None of the members shall be engaged professionally as an educator or educational administrator at an institution under the jurisdiction of the coordinating board at the time appointed or during his or her term. The other qualifications, terms and compensation of the coordinating board shall be the same as provided by law for the curators of the University of Missouri. The coordinating board may, in order to carry out the duties prescribed for it in subsections 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 of this section, employ such professional, clerical and research personnel as may be necessary to assist it in performing those duties, but this staff shall not, in any fiscal year, exceed twenty-five full-time equivalent employees regardless of the source of funding. In addition to all other powers, duties and functions transferred to it, the coordinating board for higher education shall have the following duties and responsibilities:

(1) The coordinating board for higher education shall have approval of proposed new degree programs to be offered by the state institutions of higher education;

(2) In consultation with the heads of the institutions of higher education affected and against a background of carefully collected data on enrollment, physical facilities, manpower needs, institutional missions, the coordinating board for higher education shall establish guidelines for appropriation requests by those institutions of higher education; however, other provisions of this act notwithstanding, all funds shall be appropriated by the general assembly to the governing board of each public four-year institution of higher education which shall prepare expenditure budgets for the institution;

(3) No new state supported senior colleges or residence centers shall be established except as provided by law and with approval of the coordinating board for higher education;

(4) The coordinating board for higher education shall establish admission guidelines consistent with institutional missions;

(5) The coordinating board shall establish policies and procedures for institutional decisions relating to the residence status of students;

(6) The coordinating board shall establish guidelines to promote and facilitate the transfer of students between institutions of higher education within the state;

(7) The coordinating board shall collect the necessary information and develop comparable data for all institutions of higher education in the state. The coordinating board shall use this information to delineate the areas of competence of each of these institutions and for any other purposes deemed appropriate by the coordinating board;

(8) Compliance with requests from the coordinating board for institutional information and the other powers, duties and responsibilities, herein assigned to the coordinating board, shall be a prerequisite to the receipt of any funds for which the coordinating board is responsible for administering; and

(9) If any institution of higher education in this state, public or private, willfully fails or refuses to follow any lawful guideline, policy or procedure established or prescribed by the coordinating board, or knowingly deviates from any such guideline, or knowingly acts without coordinating board approval where such approval is required, or willfully fails to comply with any other lawful order of the coordinating board, the coordinating board may, after a public hearing, withhold or direct to be withheld from that institution any funds the disbursement of which is subject to the control of the coordinating board, or may remove the approval of the institution as an "approved institution" within the meaning of section 173.205, but nothing in this section shall prevent any institution of higher education in this state from presenting additional budget requests or from explaining or further clarifying its budget requests to the governor or the general assembly.

3. The coordinating board shall meet at least four times annually with an advisory committee who shall be notified in advance of such meetings. The coordinating board shall have exclusive voting privileges. The advisory committee shall consist of twenty-two members, who shall be the president or other chief administrative officer of the University of Missouri; the chancellor of each campus of the University of Missouri; the president of each state supported four-year college or university, including Harris-Stowe State College, Missouri Southern State College, Missouri Western State College, and Lincoln University; three representative public junior college presidents, selected by the public junior college presidents each biennium and representatives of each of five accredited private institutions selected biennially, under the supervision of the coordinating board, by the presidents of all of the state's privately supported institutions; but always to include at least one representative from one privately supported junior college, one privately supported four-year college, and one privately supported university. The conferences shall enable the committee to advise the coordinating board of the views of the institutions on matters within the purview of the coordinating board.

4. The University of Missouri, Lincoln University, and all other state governed colleges and universities, chapters 172, 174 and 175, RSMo, and others, are transferred by type III transfers to the department of higher education subject to the provisions of subsection 2 of this section.

5. The state historical society, chapter 183, RSMo, is transferred by type III transfer to the University of Missouri.

6. The state anatomical board, chapter 194, RSMo, is transferred by type II transfer to the department of higher education.

7. All the powers, duties and functions vested in the division of public schools and state board of education relating to junior college state aid and the supervision, formation of districts and all matters otherwise related to the state's relations with junior college districts and matters pertaining to junior colleges in public school districts, chapters 163 and 178, RSMo, and others, are transferred to the coordinating board for higher education by type I transfer. Provided, however, that all responsibility for administering the federal-state programs of vocational-technical education, except for the 1202a post-secondary educational amendments of 1972 program, shall remain with the department of elementary and secondary education. The department of elementary and secondary education and the coordinating board for higher education shall cooperate in developing the various plans for vocational-technical education; however, the ultimate responsibility will remain with the state board of education.

8. The administration of sections 163.171 and 163.181, RSMo, relating to teacher-training schools in cities, is transferred by type I transfer to the coordinating board for higher education.

9. All the powers, duties, functions, personnel and property of the state library and state library commission, chapter 181, RSMo, and others, are transferred by type I transfer to the coordinating board for higher education, and the state library commission is abolished. The coordinating board shall appoint a state librarian who shall administer the affairs of the state library under the supervision of the board.

10. All the powers, duties, functions, and properties of the state poultry experiment station, chapter 262, RSMo, are transferred by type I transfer to the University of Missouri, and the state poultry association and state poultry board are abolished. In the event the University of Missouri shall cease to use the real estate of the poultry experiment station for the purposes of research or shall declare the same surplus, all real estate shall revert to the governor of the state of Missouri and shall not be disposed of without legislative approval.

178.420. Unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context, the following words and phrases as used in sections 178.420 to 178.580 mean:

(1) "Prevocational education", education of less than college grade which gives children an elementary acquaintance with different vocational activities, arts or occupations and better prepares them to make an intelligent choice of a vocation;

(2) "Linn State Technical College", a public institution of higher education subject to the approval of the coordinating board of higher education, with an independent governing board, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate, that has been designated by the general assembly to provide only postsecondary vocational and technical education programs leading to the granting of certificates, diplomas, associate of applied science degrees or a combination thereof, but not including associate of the arts or baccalaureate or higher degrees, the controlling purpose of which is to prepare students for profitable employment;

(3) "Vocational education", education of less than college grade, the controlling purpose of which is to fit for profitable employment.

178.635. 1. The board of regents of Linn State Technical College shall organize in the manner provided by law for the board of curators of the University of Missouri. The powers, duties, authority, responsibilities, privileges, immunities, liabilities and compensation of the board of Linn State Technical College in regard to Linn State Technical College shall be the same as those prescribed by statute for the board of curators of the University of Missouri in regard to the University of Missouri, except that Linn State Technical College shall be operated only as a state technical college. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize Linn State Technical College to become a community college or a university offering four-year or graduate degrees.

2. All lawful bonded indebtedness incurred by the issuance of revenue bonds, as defined in section 176.010, RSMo, by Linn State Technical College, shall not be deemed to be an indebtedness of the state of Missouri or the board of regents of Linn State Technical College [after the date upon which the conditions of section 178.631 are met. Such indebtedness shall be retired through tuition revenues] pursuant to section 176.040, RSMo.

     Section 1. 1. In any action challenging any rule promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this act, the agency, as defined in section 536.010, RSMo, promulgating such rule shall be required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the rule or threatened application of the rule is valid, authorized by law, not in conflict with any law, and not arbitrary and capricious.

     2. The court shall award reasonable fees and expenses, as defined in section 536.085, RSMo, to any party who prevails in such action.

     3. All rules promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this act shall expire on August twenty eighth of the year after the year in which the rule became effective, unless the general assembly extends the rule or set of rules by statute beyond such date to a date specified by the general assembly.

     4. Any rulemaking authority granted pursuant to the provisions of this act is subject to any rulemaking authority contained in chapter 536, RSMo, including any subsequent amendments to chapter 536, RSMo.

     5. The provisions of this section shall terminate if legislation amending the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo, has been signed into law prior to the effective date of this act.