Title 23.1, Title 23.1. Institutions of Higher Education; Other Educational and Cultural Institutions

A. To enhance the accessibility and affordability of higher education for all citizens of the Commonwealth, and assist families and individuals to save for qualified disability expenses, the Commonwealth Savers Plan is established as a body politic and corporate and an independen…

A. To assist the board in fulfilling its fiduciary duty as trustee of the funds of the Plan and to assist the chief executive officer in directing, managing, and administering the Plan's assets, the board shall appoint an Investment Advisory Committee to provide sophisticated, ob…

A. The board shall employ a chief executive officer to direct, manage, and administer the Plan. The chief executive officer may employ such staff as are necessary to accomplish the Plan's stated objectives. B. The chief executive officer shall demonstrate (i) extensive experience…

The board shall: 1. Administer the Plan established by this chapter; 2. Develop and implement programs for (i) the prepayment of undergraduate tuition, as defined in § 23.1-700, at a fixed, guaranteed level for application at a public institution of higher education; (ii) contrib…

A. As used in this section, "current obligations of the Plan" means amounts required for the payment of contract benefits or other obligations of the Plan, the maintenance of the Plan, and operating expenses for the current biennium. B. No act or undertaking of the board is a deb…

A. In acquiring, investing, reinvesting, exchanging, retaining, selling, and managing property for the benefit of the Plan, the board, and any person, investment manager, or committee to whom the board delegates any of its investment authority, shall act as trustee and shall exer…

A. Each prepaid tuition contract made pursuant to this chapter shall include the following terms and provisions: 1. The amount of payment or payments and the number of payments required from a purchaser on behalf of a qualified beneficiary; 2. The terms and conditions under which…

A. As used in this section: "Funded status" means the ratio of the assets of the Plan to the actuarially estimated value of tuition obligations of the Plan, expressed as a percentage. "Pricing reserve" means the percentage by which the actuarially determined prepaid tuition contr…

The assets of the Plan and their income are exempt from state and local taxation.

On or before December 15, the board shall post on its website and submit to the Governor, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, and the House Committees on Appropriations and Finance an annual statement of the receipts, disbursements, and current investments of the …

The accounts and records of the board showing the receipt and disbursement of funds from whatever source derived shall be in such form as the Auditor of Public Accounts prescribes, provided that such accounts correspond as nearly as possible to the accounts and records for such m…

Nothing in this chapter or in any prepaid tuition contract or savings trust agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter shall be construed as a promise or guarantee: 1. By the board or the Commonwealth of any admission to, continued enrollment at, or graduation from any publi…

The Commonwealth, the agencies and localities of the Commonwealth and their subdivisions, and any employer in the Commonwealth may agree, by contract or otherwise, to remit payments or contributions on behalf of an employee toward prepaid tuition contracts or savings trust accoun…

Insofar as the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the provisions of any other general, special, or local law, the provisions of this chapter shall control. This chapter constitutes full and complete authority, without regard to the provisions of any other law, for p…

A. No full-time student who enrolls for the first time in any baccalaureate public institution of higher education is eligible to register for his second semester or quarter unless he (i) has furnished, before the beginning of the second semester or quarter of enrollment, a healt…

Each public institution of higher education, in cooperation with the Department of Health, shall develop and implement educational programs for college students on the etiology, effects, and prevention of infection with human immunodeficiency virus.

A. The governing board of each public institution of higher education shall develop and implement policies that (i) advise students, faculty, and staff, including residence hall staff, of the proper procedures for identifying and addressing the needs of students exhibiting suicid…

A. As used in this section, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Digital student identification card" means a digital identification or digital wallet issued by a public institution of higher education to identify and authenticate a student's status or information. "…

A. Each resident assistant in a student housing facility at a public institution of higher education shall complete, prior to the commencement of his duties, training in the administration of an opioid antagonist to any student, faculty, or staff member who is believed to be expe…

A. The governing board of each public institution of higher education shall establish a comprehensive, prompt, and reliable first warning notification and emergency broadcast system for their students, faculty, and staff, both on and off campus. Such system shall be activated in …

A. The governing board of each public institution of higher education shall develop, adopt, and keep current a written crisis and emergency management plan. The plan shall (i) require the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund…

A. Each public institution of higher education shall establish policies and procedures for the prevention of violence on campus, including assessment of and intervention with individuals whose behavior poses a threat to the safety of the campus community. B. The governing board o…

A. For purposes of this section: "Campus" means (i) any building or property owned or controlled by an institution of higher education within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner relatin…

A. Richard Bland College and each baccalaureate public institution of higher education and nonprofit private institution of higher education shall establish, and the State Board shall adopt a policy requiring each comprehensive community college to establish, a written memorandum…

Each baccalaureate public institution of higher education shall either: 1. Staff its on-campus student health center with at least one on-campus certified sexual assault forensic examiner, as defined in § 32.1-162.15:2, for the purpose of administering a physical evidence recover…

A. By October 31 of each year, the System, Richard Bland College, each baccalaureate public institution of higher education, and each nonprofit private institution of higher education shall certify to the Council that it has reviewed its sexual violence policy and updated it as a…

A. The governing board of each public institution of higher education shall develop and implement policies requiring that a human trafficking awareness and prevention training program be provided to and completed by all first-year students as a part of such institution's first-ye…

A. The governing board of each public institution of higher education shall develop and implement policies requiring that a campus safety and emergency preparedness training program be provided to and completed by all first-year students by the last day of each student's first ac…

A. The governing board of each public institution of higher education may establish a campus police department and employ campus police officers and auxiliary police forces upon appointment as provided in §§ 23.1-811 and 23.1-812. Such employment is governed by the Virginia Perso…

The governing board of each private institution of higher education may establish, in compliance with the provisions of this article, a campus police department and employ campus police officers upon appointment as provided in § 23.1-812. Except as such provisions apply exclusive…

The governing board of each public institution of higher education and private institution of higher education, for the further preservation of public peace, safety, and good order of the campus community, may establish, equip, and maintain an auxiliary police force. When called …

A. Prior to appointment as a campus police officer or member of an auxiliary police force, each individual shall be investigated by the campus police department of the institution applying for the order of appointment or, if none has been established, by the police department of …

All individuals appointed and employed as campus police officers or members of an auxiliary police force pursuant to this article shall comply with the requirements for law-enforcement officers as established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services pursuant to Chapter 1 (§…

An individual appointed as a campus police officer or a member of an auxiliary police force shall exercise his powers only as long as he remains employed or activated by the institution named in the order of the appointment. The appointment order entered by the circuit court shal…

A. As used in this section: "Campus" means (i) any building or property owned or controlled by an institution of higher education located within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner rela…

A. For purposes of this subsection, "facial recognition technology" means an electronic system for enrolling, capturing, extracting, comparing, and matching an individual's geometric facial data to identify individuals in photos, videos, or real time. "Facial recognition technolo…

A. The governing board of any public institution of higher education that leases, rents, or owns satellite campuses, public buildings, and other property located beyond the limits of such institution has and may exercise full police power over such property and individuals using …

Criminal incident information of any campus police department established pursuant to § 23.1-810, including (i) the date, time, and general location of the alleged crime; (ii) a general description of injuries suffered or property damaged or stolen; and (iii) the name and address…

Nothing in this article shall abridge the authority of the governing board of a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education to establish security departments, whose officers and employees shall not have the powers and duties set forth in § 23…

For the purposes of this article, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Bullying" means the same as that term is defined in § 22.1-276.01. "Hazing" means the same as that term is defined in § 18.2-56. "Institution" or "institution of higher education" means any nonpro…

Each institution shall provide to each current member, new member, and potential new member of each student organization with new members hazing prevention training that includes extensive, current, and in-person education about hazing, the dangers of hazing, including alcohol in…

A. The governing board of each institution of higher education shall include as part of its policy, code, rules, or set of standards governing hazing a provision for immunity from disciplinary action based on hazing or personal consumption of drugs or alcohol where such disclosur…

A. Each institution shall maintain and publicly report actual findings of violations of the institution's code of conduct or of federal or state laws pertaining to hazing that are reported to campus authorities or local law enforcement. Investigations that do not result in findin…

A. As used in this section, "sexual violence" means physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person's will or against a person incapable of giving consent. B. The registrar of each (i) private institution of higher education that is eligible to participate in the Tuition Assist…

A. Each public institution of higher education and private institution of higher education may provide any diploma or other proof of education to requesting individuals or entities using the method that it deems most appropriate, in either electronic or paper form. B. The Council…

A. Each public institution of higher education shall release an academic transcript directly to the employer or prospective employer of a student currently or formerly enrolled at such institution upon the request of the student. B. No public institution of higher education shall…