Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H4/5/21
2 93rd General Assembly A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2021 HOUSE BILL 1854
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5 By: Representatives M. Gray, Barker, M. Davis, Murdock, McNair, M. Hodges, Dotson, Warren, Vaught,
6 Hollowell
7 By: Senator D. Wallace
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9 For An Act To Be Entitled
10 AN ACT TO CREATE THE BACCALAUREATE DEGREE PROGRAM FOR
11 STATE-SUPPORTED TWO-YEAR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
12 EDUCATION; TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER
13 PURPOSES.
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16 Subtitle
17 TO CREATE THE BACCALAUREATE DEGREE
18 PROGRAM FOR STATE-SUPPORTED TWO-YEAR
19 INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION; AND TO
20 DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
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23 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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25 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 51, Subchapter 1, is amended
26 to add an additional section to read as follows:
27 6-51-106. Baccalaureate Degree Program Two-year institutions of
28 higher education.
29 (a) There is created, by the end of the 2022-2023 academic year,
30 within the Division of Higher Education a program that shall establish and
31 implement a Baccalaureate Degree Program for state-supported two-year
32 institutions of higher education to offer education and training that leads
33 to applied baccalaureate degrees and workforce baccalaureate degrees in high-
34 demand career fields that shall include without limitation Bachelor of
35 Science in Nursing degrees.
36 (b) The division shall work with the following entities without
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 As Engrossed: H4/5/21 HB1854
1 limitation to establish and implement the program under subsection (a) of
2 this section:
3 (1) The Department of Health;
4 (2) The Arkansas State Board of Nursing; and
5 (3) Any other individual or entity involved in applied or
6 workforce education.
7 (c) The division shall develop an application process and procedure by
8 which each state-supported two-year institution of higher education may apply
9 to participate in the program under this section.
10 (d) Offering education or training that leads to baccalaureate degrees
11 under this section does not convert a state-supported two-year institution of
12 higher education to a four-year institution of higher education as long as
13 the total number of baccalaureate degrees offered under this section accounts
14 for less than ten percent (10%) of the degrees or certificates awarded by the
15 state-supported two-year institution of higher education.
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17 SECTION 2. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. It is found and determined by the
18 General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that the ongoing public health
19 emergency has increased the strain on the state's public health system and
20 resources; that the shortage of nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing
21 degree has been emphasized by the ongoing public health emergency; that there
22 are additional high-demand career fields that have been highlighted by the
23 ongoing public health emergency; and that this act is immediately necessary
24 in order to create accelerated, streamlined, and more affordable
25 opportunities by which those choosing health care, nursing, and other high-
26 demand career fields as their vocation may obtain advanced degrees to enter
27 the high-need workforce earlier and at less cost. Therefore, an emergency is
28 declared to exist, and this act being immediately necessary for the
29 preservation of the public peace, health, and safety shall become effective
30 on:
31 (1) The date of its approval by the Governor;
32 (2) If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed by the Governor,
33 the expiration of the period of time during which the Governor may veto the
34 bill; or
35 (3) If the bill is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is
36 overridden, the date the last house overrides the veto.
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