The Players

• Governor
• General Assembly
• Attorney General
• Secretary of Education
• State Council of Higher Education
• Boards of Visitors
• Other Cabinet Secretaries and Agencies

Governor

• Appoints all members to Boards of Visitors and the State Council of Higher Education
• Prepares and submits a biennial budget
• Signs or vetoes all legislation including the budget bill
• Issues Executive Orders

Attorney General

• Serves as general counsel to the educational institutions
• Reviews all contracts
• Approves all real estate transactions
• Provides training on a host of legal issues (FOIA, conflict of interest, proper use of state equipment, etc.)

Secretary of Education

• Oversees all education and cultural-related executive branch agencies including the Department of Education, the State Council of Higher Education, VCCS, public colleges and universities, state museums, library of Virginia, and the Southwest Virginia higher Education Center
• Receives and reviews operating and capital budget requests
• Provides feedback on institutional strategic plans
• Issues the Consolidated Salary authorization and approves variances
• Monitors Council and Board meetings
• Advises the Governor on educational policy issues

General Assembly

• Adopts a biennial budget
• Introduces, debates, and votes on legislation
• Establishes joint subcommittees and commissions to study issues
• Requests studies and reports

State Council of Higher Education

• Coordinates the system of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia

• Prepares a strategic plan for the system

• Conducts studies as the Council deems appropriate or as may be requested by the

• Governor or the General Assembly

• Develops policies, formulae, and guidelines for the fair and equitable distribution and use of public funds among the public institutions of higher education

• Administers the TAG program and other state-funded financial aid programs

• Approves institutions of higher education to confer or award degrees

• Develops guidelines for the assessment of student achievement

• Reviews and approves or disapproves all enrollment projections

• Reviews biennially and approves or disapproves all changes in inventory of educational and general space

• Reviews and approves or disapproves all new academic programs

• Reviews and requires the discontinuance of any academic program when the council determines that such a program is (i) nonproductive or (ii) supported by state funds and is unnecessarily duplicative of academic programs

• Develops and administers a uniform comprehensive data information system designed to gather all information necessary to the performance of the Council’s duties

• Establishes uniform standards and systems of accounting, record keeping and statistical reporting for the public institutions of higher education

• Reviews and approves or disapproves the creation of any department, school, college, branch, division or extension of any public institution of higher education

• Reviews and approves or disapproves any proposed change in the mission of any presently existing public institutions

• Prepares plans, administers federal programs, and receives and disburses any federal funds in accordance with the responsibilities assigned to it by the federal statutes or regulations

• Administers the program in the Virginia Plan for Equal Opportunity

• Develops educational programs for Boards of Visitors

Boards of Visitors (Note: statutory authority varies by institution)

• Oversee university or college operations
• Approve requests for appropriations
• Appoint the President
• Ensure that the President complies with all board and statutory directives
• Control and expend all funds
• Make all rules and regulations concerning the university
• Direct the affairs of the college
• review the curriculum and make changes as necessary
• Set tuition and fees
• Confer degrees
• Lease, sell or convey any and all real estate with the approval of the Governor
• Establish rules and regulations for the admission of students
• Establish rules and regulations for the conduct of students
• Establish rules and regulations for the employment of professors, teachers, instrucotrs, and all other employees and provide for their dismissal for failure to abide by such rules and regulations

Other Cabinet Secretaries and Agencies

• Secretary of Administration
• Department of General Services (DGS)
• Department of Personnel and Training (DPT)
• Secretary of Finance
• Department of Planning and Budget (DPB)
• Department of Accounts (DOA)
• Department of Treasury (DOT)
• Virginia College Building Authority (VCBA)
• Secretary of Technology
• Department of Technology Planning (DPT)
• Century Date Change Initiative (CDCI)

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Posted: September 9, 1999
By The Educational Policy Institute of Virginia Tech
sjanosik@vt.edu