October 24, 2011

1. Louisiana’s Current Legal Framework of Postsecondary Education: An Overview of Legal Authority and Responsibilities October 24, 2011

3. Constitutional allocation of powers, duties and roles • Regents: Statewide planning, coordination, budgetary control and other enumerated powers of statewide leadership and direction • Management Boards of LSU System, Southern, UL System: Management powers not vested in Regents remain with management boards, including management and supervision of institutions under control of each system • Legislature: Appropriation authority and other legislative powers

4. Regents: Constitutional Functions (Article VIII, §5) • Planning, coordination, budgetary responsibility for higher ed • Represent the postsecondary education system • Formulate and revise Master Plan • Study merger of institutions, creation of new institutions and management boards; if one is proposed, make written recommendations within 1 year • Develop and adopt funding formula • Approve/eliminate degree programs, departments, etc. • Formulate and recommend operating and capital budget

5. Management Boards: Constitutional Functions (Art. VIII, §§ 6-7.1) • Management powers not specifically vested in Regents, including day to day supervision and operation, remain with Management Boards. §5 (E) • UL System: institutions not managed by LSU System, Southern or LCTCS. §6 • LSU System and Southern. §7 • LCTCS: community, vo-tech, associate- degree-only institutions. §7.1

6. Appropriation Powers and Process under the Constitution • Legislature appropriates funds to the Management Boards. §11 • Each Management Board administers funds appropriated to it as provided by law. §12 • Regents adopts funding formula, receives Management Boards’ budget proposals for each institution, submits budget recommendations and capital outlay rankings to governor and legislature; no authority to appropriate funds or make recommendations binding

7. Key Concerns and Questions • Unclear lines of authority in critical areas • What does “budgetary responsibility” mean? • How to ensure accountability • How to reflect master plan and funding formula priorities in appropriation of funds • How to align those priorities with management boards’ distribution and expenditures once they get appropriations • How to ensure fiscal viability of institutions and avoid adverse impact on educational services

8. Statutory Framework • Consistent with the Constitution, Legislature has enacted laws governing each of the above entities and functions (Title 17) • LSU A&M: R.S. 17:1421 – 1607 • LCTCS: R.S. 17: 1871 – 1875; 1821-1825; 1991-2048.61 • Southern: R.S. 17:1851-1855.2 • Regents: R.S. 17:3121-3139 • Proprietary Schools:R.S. 17:3141.1-3141.19

9. Regents: Important Statutory Functions • Constitutional functions also made statutory • Master Plan: formulation, timely revision, R.S. 17:3128 • Represent higher ed; advise governor and legislature. R.S. 17:3121(E) • Recommend budget for next year, including approved budget for current year, to governor and legislature. R.S. 17:3129; 39:32.1 • Recommend priorities for capital projects. • Revise/eliminate/approve/disapprove/modify existing program, department, division, or similar units of public institutions. R.S. 17:3125, 3126 • Study need/feasibility of new institution or branches, conversion of 2-year institutions to 4-year institutions. R.S. 17:3127

10. Regents: Key Statutory Functions (Contd.) • Formulate tuition and fee policy for public institutions and systems. R.S. 17:3129.5. • Develop guidelines for distribution of funds appropriated from Higher Education Initiatives Fund. R.S. 17:3129.6. • Develop student financial aid plan that supports Master Plan. R.S. 17:3129.7 • Along with BESE, provide for articulation. R.S. 17:3129.8 • Implement articulation & transfer programs. R.S. 17:3161 • Develop and administer accountability process for evaluation of public institutions. R.S. 17:3134. • Provide for dual enrollment program. R.S. 17:3137 • Enter into GRAD Act agreements with public institutions. R.S. 17:3139.

11. Regents: Other Statutory Functions • Appoint a commissioner of higher education to administer and implement board programs and policies. R.S. 17:3123.1. • Survey state colleges and universities for the purpose of establishing incubator facilities on qualified campuses. . . . R.S. 17:3128.1 • Require management boards to adopt and implement common core courses that articulate across institutions, taking into consideration the accreditation criteria of the institution receiving the credit. R.S. 17:3129.1. • Develop in collaboration with institutions and management boards, a program from the enrollment of Louisiana full-time classroom teachers and vocational-technical school instructors in courses of instruction for college credit offered on the main campus of said institutions, on a tuition-free basis, where space is available and where the applicant teacher or instructor meets any prerequisite course requirements and all other requirements of this Section. . . .R.S. 17:3129.3. • Administer Proprietary School law. R.S. 17:3141.1-3141.19

12. Management Board’s Statutory Functions • Supervise, manage and oversee operations of institutions under their respective jurisdictions. R.S. 17:3218, 17:3351 • Organize structure of system and institutions. R.S. 17:3301 • Award certificates, confer degrees, and issue diplomas; identify its core curricula. R.S. 17:3165 • Employ and approve employment, fix salaries, duties and functions of officers, faculty, personnel. R.S. 17:3302-3305 • Oversee financial operations of schools. R.S. 17:3351

13. Management Board’s: Statutory Functions (Contd.) • Under R.S. 17:3351, day-to-day operational control includes: • The right to recover debts owed; • Raise donations and other funds, federal grants, etc. • Receive and expend funds according to the master plan for higher education • Incur or issue debt with Bond Commission approval • Determine student fees, subject to legislative approval • Establish criteria for tuition waivers • Purchase land & buildings, subject to Regents approval • Sell, lease, exchange surplus property as allowed by law

14. Legal Concerns: Uncertainty in Critical Areas BoR powers v. Management Board powers • Unclear lines of authority between BoR’s constitutional powers and “as provided by law” and Management Boards’ “management powers not specifically vested in BoR” • Can the legislature supplement BoR’s powers if they are not “management powers”? • What does “budgetary responsibility” extend to? • What do “planning” and “coordination” extend to?

15. Legal Concerns: Uncertainty in Critical Areas (Contd.) • Budgeting powers: though BoR has statewide planning and coordination powers and budgetary responsibility under the constitution, its budget recommendations not binding • BoR’s statewide planning and coordination get “scrambled” in the appropriations process through institution-specific or regional interests • Post-appropriation process: appropriations made directly to management boards; no way to enforce adherence to BoR’s recommendations on allocation to institutions and expenditures • Unclear lines of authority even in dire circumstances such as financial exigency; no effective means to avoid adverse impact on educational services and fiscal viability

16. Factors to Consider • Any recommendation on a single board has to address: • Legal consequences of consolidating assets, liabilities and obligations of various distinct legal entities (i.e., different management boards) • Fundamental difference between day-to-day operational functions and the long-term, statewide planning functions