21-17-402 through 21-17-450.

21-17-402 through 21-17-450.

(a) This act constitutes full authority for the exercise of the incidental powers herein granted concerning the borrowing of money to defray wholly or in part the cost of any project authorized by the legislature appertaining to the university, or to refinance outstanding loans, or both, and the issuance of bonds or other securities to evidence loans or other obligations or to fund or refund outstanding securities, or any combination thereof, as the board may determine.

(b) No other act or law with regard to the authorization or issuance of securities or the exercise of any other power herein granted that requires an approval, or in any way impedes or restricts the carrying out of the acts herein authorized to be done shall be construed as applying to any proceedings taken under or acts done pursuant to this act, except as herein otherwise provided.

(c) The powers conferred by this act shall be in addition and supplemental to, and not in substitution for, and the limitations imposed by this act shall not affect the powers conferred by, any other law.

(d) Nothing contained in this act shall be construed as preventing the exercise of any power granted to the board or to the university acting by and through the board, or any officer, agent or employee thereof, by any other law.

(e) No part of this act repeals or affects any other law or part thereof, it being intended that this act shall provide a separate method of accomplishing its objectives and not an exclusive one.

21-17-450. Liberal construction.

This act being necessary to secure the public health, safety, convenience and welfare, shall be liberally construed to effect its purposes.  21-17-451. Contingent authorization for the university to acquire the national center for atmospheric research supercomputer center facility.

(a) Subject to the terms and conditions of this section, the University of Wyoming board of trustees is authorized to acquire the facility housing the national center for atmospheric research supercomputer center constructed and operated in accordance with the memorandum of understanding and final contract entered into pursuant to 2007 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 136, Section 336. The acquisition may be made by:

(i) Pursuant to subsection (b) of this section notwithstanding W.S. 21-17-408(b), pledging and, as required, using federal mineral royalties distributed to the university pursuant to W.S. 9-4-601(a)(iv) to fund the principal amount and accrued interest remaining to be paid on industrial development revenue bonds issued by Laramie County, Wyoming, and purchased by the state treasurer to fund the construction of the center facility; or

(ii) Pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the issuance of revenue bonds under the University Securities Law, W.S. 21-17-402 through 21-17-450.

(b) Any action taken by the board pursuant to paragraph (a)(i) or (ii) of this section shall be subject to the following terms and conditions:

(i) All final agreements have been executed for construction and operation of the center as required in 2007 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 136, Section 336(d);

(ii) The final agreements in paragraph (i) of this subsection include binding provisions as follows:

(A) If the national science foundation ceases to fund the center on or after July 1, 2019, the national center for atmospheric research shall provide written notice to the University of Wyoming at least one (1) year in advance of the date upon which funding will cease;

(B) If the national science foundation ceases to fund the center as provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, the university consortium for atmospheric research, which is the parent organization for the national center for atmospheric research, shall transfer ownership of all its interest in the center to the University of Wyoming so that the university holds one hundred percent (100%) ownership interest in the center facility.

(c) If the national science foundation ceases to fund the center as provided in subparagraph (b)(ii)(A) of this section, to the extent the board of trustees determines that the issuance of revenue bonds under the University Securities Law may more economically or otherwise better accomplish the purposes of this section, and no other source of revenue other than the pledge under paragraph (a)(i) of this section has been committed to meet the repayment obligations required by the industrial development revenue bonds, the board may issue its revenue bonds to repay the industrial development revenue bonds if the state treasurer still owns them.

(d) The university shall report any notification from the national center for atmospheric research under subparagraph (b)(ii)(A) of this section to the governor, state treasurer, joint appropriations interim committee and joint minerals, business and economic development interim committee of the legislature.

CHAPTER 18 - COMMUNITY COLLEGES

ARTICLE 1 - GENERALLY

21-18-101. Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Wyoming Community College System Code."

21-18-102. Definitions.

(a) As used in this act:

(i) "Academic program" means those programs approved by the commission which provide credits:

(A) Resulting in a two (2) year associate degree;

(B) Resulting in an applied baccalaureate degree;

(C) Resulting in a credit bearing credential such as a certificate; or  (D) Which may be transferred to an accredited four (4) year college or university.

(ii) "Administrative computing," means hardware and software components that support data processing activities for daily business operations and provide support for management information systems. Administrative computing shall be distinct from academic computing operations that support instructional programs;

(iii) "Assessed value" means the total assessed value of any community college district;

(iv) "Biennial funding report" means the current funds estimated by each college to be expended in a biennial period. For purposes of this paragraph, "current funds" shall be as defined by the national association of college and university business officers;

(v) "College system" means the community colleges and the community college commission established pursuant to this act;

(vi) "Commission" means the community college commission of Wyoming;

(vii) "Community college" means an institution established under this act;

(viii) "Community college district" means a body corporate established by statute as a subdivision of a county or counties that establishes or maintains a community college;

(ix) "Community service programs" means all programs, class activities and services sponsored by a college which are not for credit or part of an academic, vocational-technical or continuing education program;

(x) "Continuing education programs" means those programs, class activities and services sponsored by a college which provide job skills necessary to remain in or advance as a member of the work force which do not result in degrees or certificates;

(xi) "Coordination" means to facilitate collaborative interaction among state government, the boards of the individual community colleges, the community college commission and other entities;

(xii) "Full-time equivalency" means the number of approved academic or vocational-technical credit hours for each class for which students are enrolled divided by twelve (12). In calculating full-time equivalency, the census date of student enrollment as audited by the commission shall be used;

(xiii) "Governing board" or "board" means the community college district board;

(xiv) "School district" means any school district established pursuant to the laws of this state excluding community colleges and community college districts;

(xv) "Vocational-technical programs" means those programs approved by the commission which provide job skills necessary to enter, remain in or advance as a member of the work force and result in degrees or certificates;

(xvi) "Annual weighted average enrollment" means the total of three (3) consecutive academic years' full-time weighted equivalency enrollment in which the most recent academic year is multiplied by one-half (.5) and the immediately preceding two (2) academic years are multiplied by one-quarter (.25);

(xvii) "Distance education class" means a class in which the instructor and a majority of students are physically separated by time or space, and a communications source other than face to face in class instruction is used to provide synchronous or asynchronous instruction. A class which qualifies as a distance education class shall be considered a level one, level two or level three class as determined by the content of the course;

(xviii) "Full-time weighted equivalency enrollment" means full-time equivalency with credit hours for each class assigned a weighting system as follows:

(A) Repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 2, § 2.

(B) Each level one class credit hour shall be multiplied by one (1);  (C) Each level two class credit hour shall be multiplied by one and one-quarter (1.25);

(D) Each level three class credit hour shall be multiplied by one and one-half (1.5).

(xix) "Level one class" means a class guided by an instructor through course material via classroom lecture, limited field trips, multimedia, text book reading, written assignments and one-on-one tutorial wherein students rely on the instructor to lead the class and assign appropriate homework and tests based on class lecture;

(xx) "Level two class" means a class taught in a laboratory setting, supplemented but not solely based on lecture, textbook reading, field trips, writing assignments and the use of multimedia;

(xxi) "Level three class" means a class that is highly technical and requires significant ancillary equipment. Level three classes incorporate all methods of instruction with the primary emphasis of instruction centering on equipment and hands-on experiences;

(xxii) "Standard budget base amount" means a base budget amount of one hundred ninety-four million seven hundred two thousand one hundred thirty-one dollars ($194,702,131.00) adjusted by all increases and decreases enacted pursuant to W.S.