With the mayhem of the final days of the regular session given way to the relative calm of special session, it seemed like a good time to step back and take a look at the bills of most notable interest to WSU and the higher education community that have advanced to the governor’s desk.
So, here they are, in numerical order.
- House Bill 1586 authorizes branch campuses to offer doctoral degrees.
- House Bill 1663 removes the requirement that universities purchases prescribed amounts of equipment and services from the Department of Corrections.
- House Bill 1808, which was signed last week, requires high schools to offer dual credit courses to give students the opportunity to earn college credit. Universities would have to develop a list of courses for which credit could be given should incoming students achieve a qualifying score on proficiency exams or demonstrating certain competencies.
- House Bill 1822, signed into law this week, requires the Higher Education Coordinating Board to recognize and integrate an online, nonprofit university.
- Senate Bill 5304 would require the state’s Caseload Forecast Council to project how many students will be eligible for the College Bound Scholarship program.
- Senate Bill 5442, which the governor signed last week, allows universities the option of developing programs that would allow academically qualified students to earn a bachelor’s degree in three years.
- Senate Bill 5636 is the bill that creates a pathway for WSU to gain management control of the North Puget Sound University Center in Everett by 2014.