CHAPTER 679

An Act to repeal §§ 28-192 through 28-218 of the Code of Virginia, the
mumbers of which were assigned by the Virginia Code Commisswn
and the provisions of which were enacted as Chapter 405 of the Acts
of Assembly of 1964, approved March 81, 1964, relating to Area
Vocational and Technical Schools; and to amend the Code of Virginia
by adding in Title 28 thereof a chapter numbered 16 including
sections numbered 28-214 through 28-231, creating a Department of
Community Colleges and a State Board for Community Colleges, pre
scribing their powers and duties, and providing for the establishme
and maintenance of a State-wide system of comprehensive community

colleges. Ht 388]
Approved April 6, 1966

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 23-192 through 28-213 of the Code of Virginia, the numbers
sions of which were enacted as Chapter 405 of the Acts of Assembly of
1964, approved March 31, 1964, are repealed.

2. That the Code of Virginia be amended by adding in Title 23 thereof
a ses numbered 16 including sections numbered 23-214 through 23-281,
as follows:

§ 23-214. As used in this chapter:

(a) “Comprehensive Community College’ means an institution of
eo education which offers instruction in one or more of the following

elds:

(1) freshman and sophomore courses in arts and sciences acceptable
for transfer in baccalaureate degree programs,

(2) diversified technical curricula including programs leading to the
associate degree,

i‘ 8) vocational and technical education leading directly to employ-
ment,

(4) courses in general and continuing education for adults in the
above fields.

(b) “State Board for Community Colleges” means the State agency
responsible for the establishment, control, and administration of all com-
prehensive community colleges.

(c) “Local Community College Board” means the board established
to act in an advisory capacity to the State Board and to perform such
duties with respect to the operation of a single comprehensive community
college as may be delegated to it by the State Board.

(d) “Vocational and technical education” means vocational or tech-
nical training, or retraining, which is given in school classes (including
field or laboratory work incidental thereto), under public supervision and
control, exclusive of those vocational and technical programs provided and
administered by, or through, the public school system and is conducted as
part of a program designed to fit individuals for gainful employment as
semiskilled or skilled, workers or technicians in recognized occupations.

(e) “Area vocational and technical school” means a vocational or
technical school used exclusively, or principally, for providing vocational
and technical education to persons who have completed, or left, high
school, or are recommended for transfer by the school last attended, and
who are available for full-time study in preparation for entering the labor
market, or for part-time study after entering the labor market.

§ 23-215. There is hereby created a Department of Community Col-
leges, hereinafter sometimes referred to as the “Department”, which shall
be under the control of the State Board for Community Colleges. herein-
after sometimes referred to as the “State Board” or “Board”. The State
Board shall be responsible, through the exercise of the powers and per-
formance of the duties set forth in this act, for the establishment, control,
and administration of a State-wide system of publicly supported compre-
hensive community colleges.

§ 23-216. (a) The State Board shall consist of fifteen members
appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the General Assem-
bly if in session, and if not, at its next succeeding session. The first
appointments shall be four members for one year, four members for two
years, four members for three years and three members for four years,
and thereafter all such appointments shall be made for terms of four
years each, except that appointments to fill vacancies shall be for the
unexpired terms. No person having served on the State Board for two
successive terms shall be eligible for reappointment to the State Board for
two years thereafter; provided, that a person appointed to fill a vacancy
may serve two additional successive terms.

_ (b) The State Board shall be composed of persons selected from the
any public institution of higher education, or of any school subject to the
control of the State Board, or any member of the General Assembly, or
any member of the State Board of Education, shall be eligible for appoint-
ment to the Board. All members of the Board shall be deemed members
at large charged with the responsibility of serving the best interests of
the whole State. No member shall act as the representative of any par-
ticular region or of any particular institution of higher education.

§ 23-217. (a) The Board shall select a chairman from its member-
ship, and under rules adopted by itself may elect one of its members as
vice chairman.

(b) The members of the Board shall receive no salaries. They shall
be paid their actual expenses incurred in performance of their duties as
members of the Board and, in addition thereto shall be paid the sum of
twenty dollars a day for each day or portion thereof in which they are
engaged in the performance of their duties.

(c) Before entering upon the discharge of his duties, each member
of the Board shall take an oath that he will faithfully and honestly execute
the duties of his office during his continuance therein.

(d) The Board shall meet at least four times annually, and on call
of the chairman when in his opinion additional meetings are expedient
or necessary.

(e) Seven members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for all
purposes.

(f) The main office of the Board shall be in the city of Richmond,
Virginia.

(¢g) The Board is empowered to promulgate necessary rules and
regulations for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.

§ 23-218. (a) The Board is authorized and directed to prepare and
administer a plan providing standards and policies for the establishment,
development and administration of comprehensive community colleges
under its authority. It shall determine the need for comprehensive com-
munity colleges, develop a State-wide plan for their location and a time
schedule for their establishment. In the development of such plan, a prin-
cipal objective shall be to provide and maintain a system of comprehensive
community colleges through which appropriate educational opportunities
and programs to accomplish the purposes set forth in subsection (a) of
§ 23-214 shall be made available throughout the State. In providing these
offerings, the Board shall recognize the need for excellence in all curricula
and shall endeavor to establish and maintain standards appropriate to the
various purposes the respective programs are designed to serve.

(b) The Board shall have the authority to control and expend funds
appropriated by law, and to fix tuition fees and charges. The Board may
exercise the powers conferred by Chapter 3 of this title as any other
educational institution as defined in § 23-14.

(c) The Board shall be authorized, with the approval of the Governor,
to accept from any government or governmental] department or agency or
any public or private body or from any other source, grants or contri-
butions of money or property which the Board may use for or in aid of
any of its purposes.

§ 23-219. The Board shall have the right to confer diplomas, cer-
tificates and associate degrees.

§ 23-220. The State Board shall establish policies providing for the
creation of a Local Community College Board for each institution estab-
lished under this chapter and the procedures and regulations under which
and support, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed
by the State Board.

§ 23-221. The State Board shall adhere to the policies of the State
Council of Higher Education for the coordination of higher education as
required by law.

In any area served by a comprehensive community college, no institu-
tion of higher learning which conducts extension programs shall, after the
effective date of this chapter, offer courses of study similar to those offered
by a comprehensive community college, except as authorized by the State
Council of Higher Education. Whenever practicable, the State Board shall
provide facilities to such institutions of higher learning for conducting
extension programs not in conflict with the provisions of this chapter.

§ 23-221.1. There is hereby created an Advisory Committee on Com-
munity Colleges which shall consist of one member of the Senate and one
member of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly and five addi-
tional members to be appointed by the Governor. The Chairman of the
Advisory Committee shall be designated by the Governor. The Advisory
Committee shall advise the State Board, at least annually but more fre-
quently if the State Board requests, on all matters relating to accredita-
tion of any of the institutions specified in § 23-222 (a) and on any other
matter which may be referred to it by the State Board and shall perform
such other duties as may be prescribed in this chapter. Five members of
the Advisory Committee shall constitute a quorum for all purposes, and
any action taken by the Advisory Committee may be by a majority vote
of those present.

§ 23-222. (a) Effective July one, nineteen hundred sixty-seven, all
physical facilities, assets and programs of instruction in the fields speci-
fied in § 23-214 (a) of the following institutions shall be transferred to
and placed under the control and administration of the State Board for
Community Colleges.

_ Eastern Shore Branch of the School of General Studies of the Univer-
sity of Virginia,

Lynchburg Branch of the School of General Studies of the University
of Virginia,

Patrick Henry College of the University of Virginia,

Clifton Forge-Covington Branch of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute,

Roanoke Technical Institute of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute,

_ Roanoke Center of the School of General Studies of the University of
Virginia, and

Wytheville Branch of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Provided, however, that no such transfer shall take place with respect
to any individual institution specified in the next preceding paragraph
until the Advisory Committee on Community Colleges certifies to the State
Board and the Governor that such individual institution has demonstrated
the requirements necessary for accreditation by the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools. If such certification by the Advisory Committee
is not made with respect to any individual institution prior to July one,
nineteen hundred sixty-seven, then certification shall only be made between
July one and August one of any succeeding year, and such transfer shall
take piace on July one next following the date on which such certification
6 made.

The college or university of which any individual institution is a part
shall cooperate in obtaining certification for such institution. As soon as
practicable, the State Board shall request individual accreditation of the
institutions specified in this section by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools.

Notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph (a) or any other
the State Board and the governing body of the college or university of
which any such individual institution is a part, and with the approval of
the Governor, such transfer may take place prior to July one, nineteen
hundred sixty-seven, or any date subsequent thereto.

_. (b) Effective July one, nineteen hundred sixty-six, the physical facil-
ities, assets, and programs of existing technical colleges and all assets of
the existing State Board and Department of Technical Education shall be
transferred to and placed under the control and administration of the
State Board for Community Colleges.

(c) Effective July one, nineteen hundred sixty-six, all educational pro-
grams for post high school age youth and adults in existing Area Vocational
and Technical schools under the State Board of Education shall be trans-
ferred to and placed under the control and government of the State Board
for Community Colleges.

(d) All the real estate and personal property now existing and here-
tofore standing in the name of institutions or Boards included in sub-
sections (a) and (b) of this section shall, on the dates set forth in such
subsections, be transferred to and taken as standing in the name of the
State Board for Community Colleges.

(e) In effecting the transfers specified in this section, the State Board
for Community Colleges shall respect any existing financial investment
of local communities in these institutions by establishing policies which
will insure an equitable method of financing future developments.

_ § 28-228. (a) A Director of Community Colleges, hereinafter some-
times called the Director, shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to
confirmation by the General Assembly, for a term coincident with that of
the Governor making the appointment. Any vacancy shall be filled by
appointment by the Governor, subject to the confirmation of the General
Assembly. The Director shall be the chief executive officer of the Depart-
ment. The Director shall, without additional compensation, serve as secre-
tary to the State Board for Community Colleges.

(b) The salary of the Director shall be fixed by the General Assembly.

(c) Before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, the
Director shall qualify by taking and subscribing the oath required of all
Officers of the State.

§ 23-224. (a) It shall be the duty of the Director of Community
Colleges to formulate such rules and regulations, and provide for such
assistance in his office as shall be necessary for the proper performance of
the duties prescribed by the provisions of this chapter.

(b) The State Board shall prescribe the duties of the Director, in
addition to those duties otherwise prescribed for him by law, and, in its
discretion, approve the appointment by the Director of such agents and
employees as may be needed by the Director and the Department in the
exercise of the functions, duties and powers conferred and imposed by
law and in order to effect a proper organization to carry out its duties.

§ 23-225. The functions, duties, powers and titles of the agents and
employees provided for in § 23-224, their salaries and remunerations, not
in excess provided therefor by law, shall be fixed by the Director with the
approval, of the State Board and subject to the provisions of Chap. 9
of Title 2.

§ 23-226. Proper bonds shall be required of all agents and employees
who shall handle any funds which may come into custody of the Depart-
ment. The premiums on the bonds shall be paid from funds appropriated
by the State for the administration of the provisions of this chapter.

§ 23-227. The Director shall submit to the Governor and publish an
annual report, not later than four months after the close of each fiscal
year, showing for each year the total amount of money paid or distributed
by the Department, the total number of persons receiving instruction
during such period, and such other information as the Director may deem
advisable to show the operations of the Department.

§ 23-228. The Director shall prescribe the forms of applications,
reports, affidavits and such other forms as shall be required in the admin-
istration of this chapter.

§ 23-229. (a) Subject to the direction of the Board, the Director
shall cooperate with agencies of the United States in relation to matters
set forth in this chapter, and in any reasonable manner that may be neces-
sary for the State to qualify for and to receive grants or aid from such
federal agencies.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude any other agency, board
or officer of the State from being designated as the directing or allo-
cating agency, board or officer for the distribution of federal grants-in-aid
or the performance of other duties to the extent necessary to qualify for
and to receive grants-in-aid for programs and institutions under the
administration of the State Board for Community Colleges.

§ 23-230. The Director is authorized to receive, for and on behalf of
the State and its subdivisions, from the United States and agencies there-
of, and from any and all other sources, grants-in-aid and gifts, made for
the purpose of providing, or to assist in providing, any vocational and
technical, or other, education or educational programs authorized by this
chapter, including expenses of administration. All such funds shall be paid
into the State treasury.

§ 23-231. The Director shall enforce the standards established by
the Board for personnel employed in the administration of this chapter
and remove or cause to be removed each employee who does not meet such

ards.

2. This act shall be in force on and after July one, nineteen hundred
sixty-six. .