00 CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 35(L&C) am                                                                       
01 Relating to support for the Alaska Community College system within the                                                  
02 University of Alaska.                                                                                                   
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS, in 1962, the legislature created the Community College Act under                                              
05 AS 14.40.560 - 14.40.640; and                                                                                           
06  WHEREAS the legislature supported and endorsed the creation of community colleges                                      
07 throughout the State of Alaska to promote vocational, academic, developmental, and                                      
08 community education programs and courses of instruction to meet community and state needs;                              
09 and                                                                                                                     
10  WHEREAS the legislature supported the University of Alaska in its 1987                                                 
11 consolidation of Alaska's 12 accredited community colleges on condition that the Board of                               
12 Regents would ". . . preserve and maintain the community college mission, budget and                                    
13 identity"; and                                                                                                          
14  WHEREAS the legislature and the Board of Regents have been provided University                                         
01 of Alaska reports documenting the significant and continuing decline in "the community                                  
02 college" students attending the University of Alaska since the 1987 consolidation; and                                  
03  WHEREAS the legislature and the Board of Regents have been provided University                                         
04 of Alaska reports showing that community college student tuition has increased significantly                            
05 since the 1987 consolidation, which has had an adverse effect on participation and access to                            
06 higher education for rural, vocational education, continuing adult education, and nontraditional                        
07 student enrollment; and                                                                                                 
08  WHEREAS the legislature is aware that the overall long-range cost savings anticipated                                  
09 in the 1987 consolidation have not occurred and the community college mission and programs                              
10 have been diminished; and                                                                                               
11  WHEREAS the legislature, Governor, and University of Alaska's Board of Regents                                         
12 have recognized the importance of developing lifelong learning skills, work training programs,                          
13 and occupational retraining; and                                                                                        
14  WHEREAS the faculty, represented by the Alaska Community Colleges' Federation                                          
15 of Teachers, is responsible for the delivery of community college programs of education,                                
16 supports maintaining the community college mission, budget, and identity, and encourages a                              
17 legislative initiative to address this need;                                                                            
18  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Governor is urged to                                           
19 request the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education to establish a Community College                               
20 Committee for the purpose of evaluating whether to restore a statewide comprehensive                                    
21 community college system within the University of Alaska; and be it                                                     
22  FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan with proposed legislation for implementation                                            
23 be completed and submitted to the Governor and the Alaska State Legislature at least two                                
24 months before the opening of the First Session of the Twentieth Alaska State Legislature.