Amendment #112 to H4461

College affordability commission

Representatives O'Connell of Taunton, DeCoste of Norwell, Diehl of Whitman, Durant of Spencer, Dwyer of Woburn and McKenna of Webster move to amend the bill by adding the following section:-

“SECTION XX: There shall be a special commission to investigate the issue of college affordability.  The commission shall examine and make recommendations on the contributing factors to rising tuition and fee costs at institutes of higher education in the commonwealth. For the purposes of this section, the term “institutes of higher education” shall include public and private institutes of higher education. The commission may hold public hearings.

The commission’s investigation shall include, but not be limited to, the following areas: (i)employee expenditures including, but not limited to, employee issued credit cards and expense accounts;  (ii) vacation and sick time policies for administrative employees; (iii) salaries, bonuses and stipends for administrative employees and professors including, but not limited to, tenured and non-tenured, associate and part-time professors and instructors who are members of collective bargaining units and who are considering joining collective bargaining units; (iv) professor class load;  (v) the number of administrative positions at institutes of higher education and their descriptions; (vi) the cost and benefit of construction projects on campuses of institutes of higher education; (vii) endowments and annual profits of institutes of higher education; (viii) mandatory fees charged to students beyond the price of tuition charges, including technology and laboratory fees; (ix) the affordability of college textbooks including, but not limited to, the costs and benefits of open source textbooks; (x) ways for an institute of higher education to directly credit a student’s account with funds to pay for books and supplies in accordance with 34 C.F.R. 668.164(c)(2);  (xi) the cost differences and composition of online credit hours versus on-campus credit hour; (xii) and other areas the commission deems appropriate to review and investigate.

The commission shall consist of the following members:  four persons appointed by the governor, one of whom shall serve as the chair, one of whom shall have expertise in finance and investment, two of whom shall be parents or guardians of current college students; one member of the senate to be appointed by the senate president; one member of the senate to be appointed by the senate minority leader; one member of the house to be appointed by the speaker; one member of the house to be appointed by the minority leader; a representative of the University of Massachusetts office of the president; a representative of the University of Massachusetts director of libraries;  two members of the Student Advisory Council to the board of education;  a representative from the Massachusetts Office of Financial Assistance; a representative from the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority;  a representative from the department of higher education; a member of the board of higher education; a representative of the Massachusetts State College Association; a representative of the Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office; a representative of Pioneer Institute; a member of the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, Inc.; and a member of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, Inc. “