A.1. This Item includes general and nongeneral fund appropriations to support institutional initiatives that help meet statewide goals described in the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act of 2005 (Chapters 933 and 945, 2005 Acts of Assembly).
2. Out of this appropriation, the university may allocate funds to expand enrollment capacity through expansion of distance learning, TELETECHNET and summer school.
B. Out of this appropriation, $431,013 the first year and $431,013 the second year from the general fund and $198,244 the first year and $198,244 the second year from nongeneral funds are designated for the educational telecommunications project to provide graduate engineering education. For supplemental budget requests, the participating institutions and centers jointly shall submit a report in support of such requests to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for review and recommendation to the Governor and General Assembly.
C. Notwithstanding § 55-297, Code of Virginia, Old Dominion University is hereby designated as the administrative agency for the Virginia Coordinate System.
D. Notwithstanding § 23-7.4:2 § 23.1-506, Code of Virginia, the governing board of Old Dominion University may charge reduced tuition to any person enrolled in one of Old Dominion University's TELETECHNET sites or higher education centers who lives within a 50-mile radius of the site/center, is domiciled in, and is entitled to in-state tuition charges in the institutions of higher learning in any state, or the District of Columbia, which is contiguous to Virginia and which has similar reciprocal provisions for persons domiciled in Virginia.
E. As Virginia's public colleges and universities approach full funding of the base adequacy guidelines and as the General Assembly strives to fully fund the general fund share of the base adequacy guidelines, these funds are provided with the intent that, in exercising their authority to set tuition and fees, the Board of Visitors shall take into consideration the impact of escalating college costs for Virginia students and families. In accordance with the cost-sharing goals set forth in § 4-2.01 b. of this act, the Board of Visitors is encouraged to limit increases on tuition and mandatory educational and general fees for in-state, undergraduate students to the extent possible.
F. Out of this appropriation, $320,000 the first year and $320,000 the second year from the general fund is designated to provide opportunity for 80 students per year to be engaged in STEM education using aerospace, high tech science, technology and engineering in partnership with NASA Wallops Flight Facility. Old Dominion University will collaborate with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and STEM educators to identify the students who will participate in the program each year. The designated funding in this paragraph will not be considered as a resource for purposes of funding guidelines.
G. Out of this appropriation, $465,100 and four positions the first year and $409,200 and four positions the second year from the general fund is designated to support modeling of socioeconomic impacts of recurrent flooding in support of the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency. The center, a collaborative partnership involving Old Dominion University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the College of William and Mary's Virginia Coastal Policy Center, shall work with municipalities both along coastal Virginia and throughout the Commonwealth to develop useful resilience strategies.
H. The 4-VA, a public-private partnership among George Mason University, James Madison University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, and CISCO Systems, Inc., utilizes emerging technologies to promote collaboration and resource sharing to increase access, reduce time to graduation and reduce unit cost while maintaining and enhancing quality. Instructional talent across the five institutions is leveraged in the delivery of programs in foreign languages, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The 4-VA Management Board can expand this partnership to additional institutions as appropriate to meet the goals of the 4-VA initiative. It is expected that funding will be pooled by the management board as required to support continuing efforts of the 4-VA priorities and projects.
I. Out of this appropriation, $4,554,021 the first year and $6,642,626 the second year from the general fund is designated to support the goals of access, affordability, quality and increased degrees. Given the increased investment from the general fund during this biennium, it is the expression of the General Assembly that the institution seek to minimize tuition and fee increases for in-state undergraduate students. This language shall be in effect for the 2016-2018 biennium only. The Board of Visitors shall set the tuition rates for the institution, and forward their action to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia within three business days of such action. The Council shall analyze the Board's actions and report such analysis to the Chairmen of House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees within three business days of receipt, at which point, the Board's action shall be final. The Director of the Council shall report the final Board actions to the Chairmen by August 1, 2016 and August 1, 2017.
J. Pursuant to § 4-1.02 d. 6.a) of this act and notwithstanding any other provision of law, appropriation reductions in the amount of $6,243,124 in the second year from the general fund for Old Dominion University specified in this Item may be distributed to programs within Educational and General Programs, grantees, or among programs other than Educational and General Programs, except Higher Education Student Financial Assistance.