85-1503. Terms, defined.

For purposes of sections 85-1501 to 85-1540, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Community college means an educational institution operating and offering programs pursuant to such sections;

(2) Community college area means an area established by section 85-1504;

(3) Board means the Community College Board of Governors for each community college area;

(4) Full-time equivalent student means, in the aggregate, the equivalent of a registered student who in a twelve-month period is enrolled in (a) thirty semester credit hours or forty-five quarter credit hours of classroom, laboratory, clinical, practicum, or independent study course work or cooperative work experience or (b) nine hundred contact hours of classroom or laboratory course work for which credit hours are not offered or awarded. Avocational and recreational community service programs or courses are not included in determining full-time equivalent students or student enrollment. The number of credit and contact hours to be counted by any community college area in which a tribally controlled community college is located shall include credit and contact hours awarded by such tribally controlled community college to students for which such institution received no federal reimbursement pursuant to the federal Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978, 25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.;

(5) Contact hour means an educational activity consisting of sixty minutes minus break time and required time to change classes;

(6) Credit hour means the unit used to ascertain the educational value of course work offered by the institution to students enrolling for such course work, earned by such students upon successful completion of such course work, and for which tuition is charged. A credit hour may be offered and earned in any of several instructional delivery systems, including, but not limited to, classroom hours, laboratory hours, clinical hours, practicum hours, cooperative work experience, and independent study. A credit hour shall consist of a minimum of: (a) Ten quarter or fifteen semester classroom contact hours per term of enrollment; (b) twenty quarter or thirty semester academic transfer and academic support laboratory hours per term of enrollment; (c) thirty quarter or forty-five semester vocational laboratory hours per term of enrollment; (d) thirty quarter or forty-five semester clinical or practicum contact hours per term of enrollment; or (e) forty quarter or sixty semester cooperative work experience contact hours per term of enrollment. An institution may include in a credit hour more classroom, laboratory, clinical, practicum, or cooperative work experience hours than the minimum required in this subdivision. The institution shall publish in its catalog, or otherwise make known to the student in writing prior to the student enrolling or paying tuition for any courses, the number of credit or contact hours offered in each such course. Such published credit or contact hour offerings shall be used to determine whether a student is a full-time equivalent student pursuant to subdivision (4) of this section;

(7) Classroom hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of formalized instruction on campus or off campus in which a qualified instructor applying any combination of instructional methods such as lecture, directed discussion, demonstration, or the presentation of audiovisual materials is responsible for providing an educational experience to students;

(8) Laboratory hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of educational activity on campus or off campus in which students conduct experiments, perfect skills, or practice procedures under the direction of a qualified instructor;

(9) Clinical hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of educational activity on campus or off campus during which the student is assigned practical experience under constant supervision at a health-related agency, receives individual instruction in the performance of a particular function, and is observed and critiqued in the repeat performance of such function. Adjunct professional personnel, who may or may not be paid by the college, may be used for the directed supervision of students and for the delivery of part of the didactic phase of the experience;

(10) Practicum hour means a minimum of fifty minutes of educational activity on campus or off campus during which the student is assigned practical experiences, receives individual instruction in the performance of a particular function, and is observed and critiqued by an instructor in the repeat performance of such function. Adjunct professional personnel, who may or may not be paid by the college, may be used for the directed supervision of the students;

(11) Cooperative work experience means an internship or on-the-job training, designed to provide specialized skills and educational experiences, which is coordinated, supervised, observed, and evaluated by qualified college staff or faculty and may be completed on campus or off campus, depending on the nature of the arrangement;

(12) Independent study means an arrangement between an instructor and a student in which the instructor is responsible for assigning work activity or skill objectives to the student, personally providing needed instruction, assessing the student's progress, and assigning a final grade. Credit hours shall be assigned according to the practice of assigning credits in similar courses;

(13) Full-time equivalent student enrollment total means the total of full-time equivalent students enrolled in a community college in any fiscal year;

(14) General academic transfer course means a course offering in a one-year or two-year degree-credit program, at the associate degree level or below, intended by the offering institution for transfer into a baccalaureate program. The completion of the specified courses in a general academic transfer program may include the award of a formal degree;

(15) Applied technology or occupational course means a course offering in an instructional program, at the associate degree level or below, intended to prepare individuals for immediate entry into a specific occupation or career. The primary intent of the institutions offering an applied technology or occupational program shall be that such program is for immediate job entry. The completion of the specified courses in an applied technology or occupational program may include the award of a formal degree, diploma, or certificate;

(16) Academic support course means a general education academic course offering which may be necessary to support an applied technology or occupational program;

(17) Class 1 course means an applied technology or occupational course offering which requires the use of equipment, facilities, or instructional methods easily adaptable for use in a general academic transfer program classroom or laboratory;

(18) Class 2 course means an applied technology or occupational course offering which requires the use of specialized equipment, facilities, or instructional methods not easily adaptable for use in a general academic transfer program classroom or laboratory;

(19) Reimbursable educational unit means a full-time equivalent student multiplied by (a) for a general academic transfer course or an academic support course, a factor of one, (b) for a Class 1 course, a factor of one and fifty-hundredths, (c) for a Class 2 course, a factor of two, (d) for a tribally controlled community college general academic transfer course or academic support course, a factor of two, (e) for a tribally controlled community college Class 1 course, a factor of three, and (f) for a tribally controlled community college Class 2 course, a factor of four;

(20) Reimbursable educational unit total means the total of all reimbursable educational units accumulated in a community college area in any fiscal year;

(21) Special instructional term means any term which is less than fifteen weeks for community colleges using semesters or ten weeks for community colleges using quarters;

(22) Statewide reimbursable full-time equivalent total means the total of all reimbursable full-time equivalents accumulated statewide for the community college in any fiscal year;

(23) Tribally controlled community college means an educational institution operating and offering programs pursuant to the federal Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978, 25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; and

(24) Tribally controlled community college state aid amount means the quotient of the amount of state aid to be distributed pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (3) of section 85-2234 for such fiscal year to a community college area in which a tribally controlled community college is located divided by the reimbursable educational unit total for such community college area for the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year for which aid is being calculated, with such quotient then multiplied by the reimbursable educational units derived from credit and contact hours awarded by a tribally controlled community college to students for which such institution received no federal reimbursement pursuant to the federal Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978, 25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., for the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year for which aid is being calculated.

Source

Annotations

Chapter 79, article 26, the Technical Community College Area Act, is not in violation of Article VIII, section 1A, of the Constitution. State ex rel. Western Technical Com. Col. Area v. Tallon, 196 Neb. 603, 244 N.W.2d 183 (1976).