1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; removing restrictions on 
  1.3             appropriations; amending Laws 1995, chapter 212, 
  1.4             article 1, sections 3, subdivision 2; and 4, 
  1.5             subdivision 2. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Laws 1995, chapter 212, article 1, section 3, 
  1.8   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.9   Subd. 2.  Instructional Expenditures 
  1.10  The legislature estimates that 
  1.11  instructional expenditures will be 
  1.12  $214,536,000 each year for the 
  1.13  technical colleges. 
  1.14  The legislature estimates that 
  1.15  instructional expenditures will be 
  1.16  $145,565,000 each year for community 
  1.17  colleges. 
  1.18  The legislature estimates that 
  1.19  instructional expenditures will be 
  1.20  $253,612,000 each year for state 
  1.21  universities. 
  1.22  During the biennium neither the board 
  1.23  nor campuses shall plan or develop 
  1.24  doctoral level programs or degrees 
  1.25  until after they have received the 
  1.26  recommendation of the house and senate 
  1.27  committees on education, finance, and 
  1.28  ways and means. 
  1.29  This appropriation includes continued 
  1.30  support of at least $400,000 each year 
  1.31  for the Mid-Tec and Heartland 
  1.32  Telecommunications Networks. 
  1.33  This appropriation includes $40,000 
  1.34  each year for American Indian 
  1.35  outreach.  The legislature anticipates 
  1.36  this money will assist the Fond Du Lac 
  2.1   campus to recruit, advise, and retain 
  2.2   American Indian students. 
  2.3   It is the intent of the legislature to 
  2.4   hold the Minnesota state colleges and 
  2.5   universities accountable for making 
  2.6   budgetary and policy decisions that 
  2.7   provide students with access to high 
  2.8   quality education and training 
  2.9   programs.  Significant and demonstrable 
  2.10  progress toward the goals in this 
  2.11  subdivision and in section 6, 
  2.12  subdivision 2, are expected in this 
  2.13  biennium for consideration in funding 
  2.14  decisions in the next supplemental 
  2.15  budget and in the 1998-1999 biennial 
  2.16  budget. 
  2.17  The commissioner of finance shall place 
  2.18  $5,000,000 of the second year 
  2.19  appropriation in a performance 
  2.20  incentive account.  The commissioner 
  2.21  shall release $1,000,000 of this amount 
  2.22  to the board of trustees each time that 
  2.23  it demonstrates that it has achieved 
  2.24  one of the following performance 
  2.25  measures: 
  2.26  (1) increase the percentage of the 
  2.27  budget directed to instruction and 
  2.28  academic resources; 
  2.29  (2) increase the number of credits 
  2.30  issued through telecommunications 
  2.31  between fiscal year 1995 and fiscal 
  2.32  year 1996; 
  2.33  (3) increase the retention of new 
  2.34  entering freshman on state university 
  2.35  campuses who continue into the 
  2.36  sophomore year between fiscal year 1995 
  2.37  and fiscal year 1996 by at least two 
  2.38  percent.  The appropriation shall be 
  2.39  distributed to those campuses that 
  2.40  achieve the increase; 
  2.41  (4) increase the percentage of students 
  2.42  in two-year programs who graduate 
  2.43  within two years of admission, and the 
  2.44  percentage of students in four-year 
  2.45  programs who graduate within four years 
  2.46  of admission by at least two percent.  
  2.47  The appropriation shall be distributed 
  2.48  to campuses that achieve the increase; 
  2.49  and 
  2.50  (5) increase in placement rates for 
  2.51  occupational programs and transfer 
  2.52  rates for academic programs for 
  2.53  community and technical colleges. 
  2.54  The legislature expects the board of 
  2.55  trustees to demonstrate its commitment 
  2.56  to enhancing educational quality, 
  2.57  including high priority initiatives 
  2.58  that capitalize on opportunities 
  2.59  created by merger for:  joint programs 
  2.60  with the University of Minnesota for 
  2.61  faculty, staff, and administrative 
  2.62  development; enhanced opportunities for 
  2.63  students of color; and opportunities 
  3.1   for using technology to the advantage 
  3.2   of students and faculty. 
  3.3   The legislature further expects the 
  3.4   board of trustees to make difficult 
  3.5   choices in its allocations, based on 
  3.6   critical evaluations of its campuses 
  3.7   and programs, including actions to 
  3.8   address the 14 duplicate two-year 
  3.9   programs located within 35 miles of 
  3.10  each other, as identified by the 
  3.11  legislative auditor, for which no 
  3.12  action has yet been taken. 
  3.13  Each college and university shall 
  3.14  demonstrate to the board that, in the 
  3.15  face of severe budget constraints, it 
  3.16  has identified those programs and 
  3.17  functions that are central to the 
  3.18  mission of that campus and are most 
  3.19  critical to meeting student needs, and 
  3.20  that the campus has redirected 
  3.21  resources to those identified areas to 
  3.22  protect the core educational 
  3.23  enterprise.  Further, each campus shall 
  3.24  demonstrate that it has taken actions 
  3.25  to improve the productivity of faculty, 
  3.26  administrators, and staff. 
  3.27  The amounts for library access; Fond du 
  3.28  Lac American Indian student outreach; 
  3.29  incentives for co-located campuses; 
  3.30  increased instructional appropriations; 
  3.31  performance funding; instructional 
  3.32  equipment; conversion to semesters; 
  3.33  systemwide computer system development 
  3.34  for accounting, payroll, personnel, 
  3.35  procurement, and student records; staff 
  3.36  training for use of systems; staff 
  3.37  restructuring, separation payments, and 
  3.38  unemployment insurance; and development 
  3.39  of library collections and curriculum 
  3.40  at Metro State University are for these 
  3.41  purposes only and shall be 
  3.42  nonrecurring.  The amounts are 
  3.43  $8,741,000 in fiscal year 1996 and 
  3.44  $16,147,000 in fiscal year 1997, and 
  3.45  shall be included in the base budget 
  3.46  calculation for the next biennium. 
  3.47     Sec. 2.  Laws 1995, chapter 212, article 1, section 4, 
  3.48  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.49  Subd. 2.  Operations and
  3.50  Maintenance                          395,432,000    396,421,000
  3.51  (a) Instructional Expenditures 
  3.52  The legislature estimates that 
  3.53  instructional expenditures will be 
  3.54  $421,089,000 the first year and 
  3.55  $421,696,000 the second year. 
  3.56  The university is requested to examine 
  3.57  the feasibility of establishing a 
  3.58  higher education research center to 
  3.59  provide applied research on public 
  3.60  policy trends, issues, and problems in 
  3.61  higher education, particularly as they 
  3.62  apply to Minnesota. 
  4.1   The commissioner of finance shall place 
  4.2   $5,000,000 of the second year 
  4.3   appropriation in a performance 
  4.4   incentive account.  The $5,000,000 is a 
  4.5   nonrecurring appropriation.  The 
  4.6   commissioner shall release $1,000,000 
  4.7   of this amount to the board of regents 
  4.8   each time the university presents 
  4.9   evidence that it has achieved one of 
  4.10  the following performance measures: 
  4.11  (1) increases at the Twin Cities 
  4.12  campus, excluding general college, in 
  4.13  the percent of 1996 new entering 
  4.14  freshmen ranking in the top 25 percent 
  4.15  of their high school class; 
  4.16  (2) increases in the rate of retention 
  4.17  of 1995 new entering freshmen; 
  4.18  (3) increases in the number of 1996 new 
  4.19  entering freshmen who are minority 
  4.20  students and increases in the percent 
  4.21  of faculty hired in 1995-1996 who are 
  4.22  women or minorities; 
  4.23  (4) increases in the five-year 
  4.24  graduation rate measured between August 
  4.25  1994 and August 1996; and 
  4.26  (5) increases in the number of credits 
  4.27  issued through telecommunications 
  4.28  between fiscal year 1995 and fiscal 
  4.29  year 1996. 
  4.30  If money is not appropriated in 
  4.31  separate legislation for the rural 
  4.32  physicians program, $300,000 of this 
  4.33  appropriation shall be added to the 
  4.34  Duluth two-year medical school to 
  4.35  enhance the efforts to train rural 
  4.36  physicians.  This is a nonrecurring 
  4.37  appropriation. 
  4.38  The amounts for U-2000; wheat and 
  4.39  barley scab research; performance 
  4.40  funding; 1994 U-2000 supplement; and 
  4.41  part of the Cambridge Bank reduction 
  4.42  restoration are for those purposes only 
  4.43  and shall be nonrecurring during the 
  4.44  biennium, but shall be included in the 
  4.45  base budget calculation for the next 
  4.46  biennium.  The amounts are $26,268,000 
  4.47  in fiscal year 1996 and $27,532,000 in 
  4.48  fiscal year 1997. 
  4.49  (b) Noninstructional Expenditures 
  4.50  The legislature estimates that 
  4.51  noninstructional expenditures will be 
  4.52  $104,994,000 each year.