Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
05/05/2022 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB66 | |
| SB95 | |
| SB182 | |
| SB36 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 66 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 95 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 182 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 36 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 36-U OF A REGENTS REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
4:39:33 PM
VICE CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the final order of business
would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 36(EDC), "An Act relating to
reporting requirements of the Board of Regents of the University
of Alaska."
4:40:07 PM
TIM LAMKIN, Staff, Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State
Legislature, introduced CSSB 36(EDC), on behalf of Senator
Stevens, prime sponsor. He paraphrased the sponsor statement
[included in the committee packet], which read as follows
[original punctuation provided]:
Senate Bill 36 is introduced in response to the
revocation of accreditation of the University of
Alaska-Anchorage School of Education in 2019.
One thought as to how the failure occurred includes
the idea that perhaps not enough Alaskans were aware
of the problems leading up to it. Establishing a
reporting requirement on the subject of UA system-wide
accreditation is an effort toward improved
communication and awareness, the intent being to help
avoid seeing such an unexpected accreditation loss
from happening again.
Other reporting requirements have been installed and
proven effective for the University of Alaska to
maintain clear lines of communication with the Alaska
Legislature. Including a biennial report on the status
of the UA's accreditations seems timely and
appropriate.
Thank you for your consideration of this important
policy proposal.
4:41:40 PM
PAUL LAYER, PhD, Vice President, Academics, Students, &
Research, University of Alaska, relayed that the Board of
Regents, which governed the University of Alaska, took its
oversight of accreditation very seriously. He explained that
the board would receive annual reports from both the chancellor
and the president on accreditation status to avoid the
communication breakdown that occurred in 2019. He opined that
the board took the public and the legislature's comments to
heart regarding responsibility for accreditation. He assured
the committee that reports on finances and future programs would
be provided to the board, as provided under current statute, in
addition to biennial updates on accreditation to the
legislature. He welcomed questions from committee members.
4:43:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN inquired about the word "remediate" on
page 2, line 15 of the bill.
4:44:59 PM
DR. LAYER noted that the Board of Regents had adopted similar
language in its current policy to allow for different scenarios
regarding accreditation. He asserted that the proposed
legislation would similarly allow for the scenarios described by
Representative Eastman, such as choosing not to pursue
reaccreditation were it to lapse.
MR. LAMKIN responded that in the instances described by
Representative Eastman, the plan outlined in the report could
state that there was no plan.
4:46:47 PM
VICE CHAIR CLAMAN observed that the loss of accreditation was a
massive break in communication. He characterized the incident
[in 2019] as troubling and sad. He described the proposed
legislation as a checklist to ensure that such events would
never occur again.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY described the measure as an accountability
measure in response to the loss in accreditation. She stated
her support for the bill.
4:48:09 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease at 4:48 p.m.
4:49:36 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR pointed out that [in Section 1], the
biennial report would be submitted to the House Chief Clerk's
Office and the Senate Secretary's Office to ensure that delays
in the organization of either body would not prevent the report
from being delivered.
4:50:33 PM
MR. LAMKIN characterized Representative Tarr's summation of
Section 1 as "reasonable." He explained that Section 1 was a
result of the report being sent to the House Education Standing
Committee during a year in which the Alaska House of
Representatives had not yet organized, which created confusion.
Therefore, consistent with other statutory reports, the bill
clarified that the biennial report shall be submitted to the
House Chief Clerk's Office and the Senate Secretary's Office in
addition to being presented to the education committees.
4:51:38 PM
VICE CHAIR CLAMAN, referencing the language on page 2, lines 1-4
of the bill, asked why the report must be presented to the
legislative committees on education if it was also being
delivered to the legislature via the House Chief Clerk's Office
and the Senate Secretary's Office.
MR. LAMKIN clarified that the bill distinguished between
deliverance to the legislature and reporting to the "legislative
committees having jurisdiction over education" to ensure that
the report would be completed in a timely manner and
communicated to the legislature via legislative hearings.
4:52:49 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN sought to confirm that a committee chair
would be responsible for scheduling a hearing on such a topic.
He suggested that the chair could choose not to prioritize the
presentation.
MR. LAMKIN supposed that the question could apply to a number of
statutory provisions, such as confirmation hearings. He said
the language could be loosened at the committee's discretion;
however, it was included to ensure that a lapse in accreditation
never occurred again.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN expressed reticence to the provision in
question.
4:54:42 PM
MR. LAMKIN reminded the committee that the report would be given
once every other year.
VICE CHAIR CLAMAN announced that CSSB 36(EDC) was held over.