                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

STEM PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP ESTABLISHED; DUTIES (§ 23.1-308)

A. To (i) increase the number of students completing degrees in the high-demand,
high-impact STEM fields and other high-demand, anticipated-shortage fields such
as the health care-related professions and (ii) help develop and guide the
implementation of a comprehensive plan for higher degree attainment in these
fields, the Secretaries of Education and Finance, in cooperation with the House
Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance
and Appropriations and on Education and Health, shall form a public-private
partnership comprised of private-sector leaders, distinguished representatives
from the scientific community, including retired military personnel, government
scientists, and researchers, educational experts, relevant state and local
government officials, and such other individuals as they deem appropriate.

B. The partnership shall advise on, and may collaborate with public and private
entities to develop and implement strategies to address, such priority issues as
(i) determining the need for additional high-demand degree enrollment, capacity,
and resources at public institutions of higher education and private
institutions of higher education; (ii) incentivizing greater coordination,
innovation, and private collaboration in kindergarten through secondary school
STEM and other high-demand degree initiatives; (iii) determining and refining
best practices in STEM instruction and leveraging those best practices to
promote STEM education in both the Commonwealth&#8217;s institutions of higher
education and its elementary and secondary schools; (iv) enhancing teacher
education and professional development in STEM disciplines; (v) strengthening
mathematics readiness in secondary schools through earlier diagnosis and
remediation of deficiencies; (vi) providing financial incentives to increase
STEM enrollment and degree production at the Commonwealth&#8217;s institutions
of higher education; (vii) providing assistance to public institutions of higher
education and private institutions of higher education in the acquisition and
improvement of STEM-related facilities and equipment; (viii) providing STEM
incentives in early pathway programs at institutions of higher education and in
the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program; (ix) assessing degree programs
using such economic opportunity metrics as marketplace demand, earning
potential, and employer satisfaction and other indicators of the historical and
projected economic value and impact of degrees to provide useful information on
degrees to students as they make career choices and to state policy makers and
university decision makers as they decide how to allocate scarce resources; (x)
aligning state higher education efforts with marketplace demands; and (xi)
determining such other issues as the partnership deems relevant to increasing
the number of students completing degrees in STEM and other high-demand fields
at institutions of higher education.

HISTORY: 2011, cc. 828, 869, § 23-38.87:19; 2016, c. 588; 2017, c. 314.