§ 175. Postsecondary educational institutions; closing

(a) When an institution of higher education, whether or not chartered in this State, proposes to discontinue the regular course of instruction, either permanently or for a temporary period other than a customary vacation period, the institution shall:

(1) promptly inform the State Board;

(2) prepare the academic record of each current and former student in a form satisfactory to the State Board and including interpretive information required by the Board; and

(3) deliver the records to a person designated by the State Board to act as permanent repository for the institution's records, together with the reasonable cost of entering and maintaining the records.

(b) Persons acting as a repository may microfilm records received under this section.

(c) Students and former students of the discontinuing institution shall be entitled to verified copies of their records upon payment of a reasonable fee.

(d) When an institution of higher education is unable or unwilling to comply substantially with the record preparation and delivery requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the State Board shall bring an action in Superior Court to compel compliance with this section, and may in a proper case obtain temporary custody of the records.

(e) When an institution of higher education is unable or unwilling to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the State Board may expend State funds necessary to ensure the proper storage and availability of the institution's records. The Attorney General shall then seek recovery under this subsection, in the name of the State, of all of the State's incurred costs and expenses, including attorney's fees, arising from the failure to comply. Claims under this subsection shall be a lien on all the property of a defaulting institution, until all claims under this subsection are satisfied. The lien shall take effect from the date of filing notice thereof in the records of the town or towns where property of the defaulting institution is located.

(f) The State Board shall adopt rules under this section for its proper administration. The rules may include provisions for preparing and maintaining transferred records. Persons acting as a repository of records are bound only by maintenance provisions to which they agreed before receiving transferred records.

(g) The Association of Vermont Independent Colleges (AVIC) shall maintain a memorandum of understanding with each of its member colleges under which each member college agrees to:

(1) upon the request of AVIC, properly administer the student records of a member college that fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section; and

(2) contribute on an equitable basis and in a manner determined in the sole discretion of AVIC to the costs of another AVIC member or other entity selected by AVIC maintaining the records of a member college that fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section. (Added 1979, No. 49, § 1, eff. April 25, 1979; amended 2017, No. 49, § 36, eff. Oct. 1, 2017.)