Title 20-A

There is established the Maine Community College System which shall be a body corporate and politic and a public instrumentality of the State and the exercise of the powers conferred by this chapter shall be deemed and held to be the performance of essential governmental function…

The basic mission of the Maine Community College System is to provide associate degree, diploma and certificate programs directed at the educational, career and technical needs of the State's citizens and the workforce needs of the State's employers. [PL 2011, c. 679, §23 (AMD).]…

The tasks of the system shall include, but not be limited to: [PL 1985, c. 695, §11 (NEW).] 1. Long-term and short-term training. Providing, in close cooperation with the private sector, both the long-term education and training required for certain career and technical occupatio…

The board of trustees is the policy-making authority of the system. [PL 1991, c. 140, §1 (AMD).] 1. Membership. The board of trustees consists of 13 appointed voting members, one ex officio voting member and 1 ex officio, nonvoting member as follows: A. [PL 1991, c. 140, §2 (RP).…

The powers and duties of the board of trustees shall include the following: [PL 1985, c. 695, §11 (NEW).] 1. Policies. To develop and adopt policies for the operation of the system, the Maine Community College System Office and the colleges; establish the presidents' council; and…

The board of trustees shall appoint the president of the system who must be qualified by education and experience and shall serve at the pleasure of the board of trustees.

The president of the system shall implement the policies of the board of trustees and be responsible for the operation of the system. The powers and duties of the president of the system include: [PL 1989, c. 878, Pt. I, §8 (AMD).] 1. Leadership. To develop policies, goals and ob…

The Maine Community College System Office shall implement the policies of the board of trustees and shall provide staff and technical assistance to each college and state-level coordination and leadership to the system.

The president of the system shall nominate the presidents for appointment by the board of trustees. The presidents must be qualified by education and experience and shall serve at the pleasure of the board of trustees.

The presidents shall implement the policies of the board of trustees and be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the colleges. The powers and duties of the presidents shall include the following. [PL 1989, c. 443, §48 (AMD).] 1. Administration of the colleges. The presiden…

The presidents' council is a nonvoting, advisory council composed of the presidents of the colleges to advise the board of trustees and the president of the system. The presidents' council shall advise the president of the system in the performance of the duties assigned under th…

The program of the community colleges shall be designed to educate, train and prepare high school graduates, or the equivalent, for possible employment as technicians or technologists, including health technicians and technologists, engineering assistants, business and office adm…

The colleges may seek and maintain membership in the appropriate regional accrediting association and shall strive to satisfy the requirements necessary to achieve and maintain accreditation as community colleges and to meet the requirements necessary to receive federal aid. When…

1. Scholarships and campus employment. The board of trustees shall develop and administer programs of scholarships and campus employment for college students. Scholarships must be based on evidence of individual need and worth. Students selected to receive a scholarship or campus…

The board of trustees shall establish and administer an Instructional Projects Revolving Fund to aid instruction at the colleges. The fund shall be used to pay necessary costs of projects which are carried out as part of the instructional program. No project may be undertaken unl…

The board of trustees shall prepare an annual report by January 1st of each year, to be submitted to the Governor and joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and over appropriations and financial affairs. This report must include: [PL 1991,…

The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may invite the system president to appear in January of each year before a joint session of the Legislature to address the Legislature on the status of the system and such other matters as the system pres…

Upon the development of any system-wide strategic planning document that has been approved by the board of trustees, the system shall distribute copies of that plan to each member of the Legislature.

1. Eligibility; plan contents. Subject to applicable bargaining agreements, the board of trustees may authorize persons employed in the faculty and instructors and the administrative staff bargaining units to participate in a defined contribution retirement plan offered by the bo…

The Maine Free Community College Program, referred to in this section as "the program," is established. The system shall waive tuition for no more than 2 years for an eligible student who meets the conditions under subsection 2. The availability of the tuition waiver is limited t…

There are established, under the Maine Community College System, the Maine Quality Centers, in this chapter referred to as the "centers." The mission of the centers is to meet the workforce education and training needs of new and expanding businesses in the State and provide new …

The primary purposes of the Maine Quality Centers are as follows: [PL 1993, c. 707, Pt. CC, §1 (NEW).] 1. Job creation. To encourage and facilitate the creation of new jobs in the State by offering customized education and training programs at the community colleges free of charg…

1. State and regional delivery. The centers are located at the Maine Community College System Office and the community colleges. Staff of the centers shall work in close coordination with the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Office of the Governor and other s…

If an education or training requirement can not be delivered directly by a community college, staff of the centers shall work with other education and training providers to develop and deliver the program.

The President of the Maine Community College System shall provide to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over economic development matters an annual report that must include the following for each business assisted under this chapter: the name and …

1. Establishment; purpose. The Put ME to Work Program, referred to in this section as "the program," is established within the centers. The program must facilitate the establishment of job training programs at community colleges in this State by working with private businesses an…

The Maine Community College System in cooperation with the Department of Education is authorized to provide comprehensive administrative and financial services to the Maine Career Advantage program, to assist high school students in making a successful transition from secondary s…

The goals of the program as delineated by its articles of incorporation and bylaws are: [PL 1993, c. 392, §2 (NEW).] 1. Education and training. To provide higher education and training opportunities for youth in this State to become highly skilled and productive members of the wo…

To assist the State in increasing higher education attainment and developing a skilled workforce, the program shall provide career and college transition services to young adults who are not currently enrolling in higher education and who could benefit from enrolling in a communi…

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. [PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. HHHH, §1 (NEW).] 1. President of the system. "President of the system" means the President of the Maine Community College System. 2. System. "Sy…

The president of the system shall establish the Health Workforce Retraining Program for the purpose of making these education and training programs available to eligible businesses and organizations, including, but not limited to, hospitals, long-term care facilities and other he…

1. Establishment. The Health Care Training Fund, referred to in this section as the "program fund," is established as a dedicated fund to be directed and administered by the president of the system and held by the Treasurer of State. The Treasurer of State shall keep the program …

The president of the system shall adopt rules to implement this chapter. Rules adopted pursuant to this chapter are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II‑A.

Any person who is required to present for and submit to registration under the United States Military Selective Services Act, 50 United States Code, Section 451, et seq., and who fails to do so is ineligible to receive any state funded grant, scholarship or loan made available to…

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. [PL 1991, c. 372, §2 (NEW).] 1. Center. "Center" means a community-based area health education center that is designated in accordance with section 12857 or that exis…

The Area Health Education Center at the University of New England is designated as the system. The system operates statewide and consists of a program office at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine and centers. The statewide consortium for health professi…

The mission of the system is to improve the distribution, supply, quality, utilization and efficiency of health personnel in underserved geographical, cultural or medical specialty areas of the State by encouraging the regionalization and decentralization of educational responsib…

The system shall: [PL 1991, c. 372, §2 (NEW).] 1. Recruitment and retention. Develop and implement strategies that support the efforts of state and private agencies to enhance recruitment and retention of health professionals in inadequately served geographical, cultural and medi…

The University of New England shall appoint a system director who meets federal area health education center requirements. The director is responsible for the administration of the system in accordance with policies established under this chapter.

Each center is an autonomous unit of the system. Each center must be exempt from federal income taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 501(a), pursuant to the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 501(c)(3). Each center must have a …

The system shall cooperate with health profession students and programs that receive state support through the Finance Authority of Maine or other state entities. The system may provide clinical training and other support to those students and programs as appropriate.

This chapter does not prohibit an existing or proposed area health education center program from operating in the State separate from the system.

No later than January 1, 2022, and biennially thereafter, the Department of Labor, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall update the educational outcome database. For the purposes of this section, "educational outcome database" means the Department of Labor's edu…

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. [PL 2015, c. 435, §1 (NEW).] 1. Authority. "Authority" means the Finance Authority of Maine. 2. Fund. "Fund" means the Maine Science, Technology, Engineering and Math…

The Maine Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Loan Program is established to increase the number of students in this State pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of science, computer science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The authority s…

1. Fund established. The Maine Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Loan Fund is created as a nonlapsing, interest-earning, revolving fund to carry out the purposes of this chapter. 2. Funds. The authority may receive, invest and expend on behalf of the fund money fro…