Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 133-2-3 - Definitions3.1. "Academically Underprepared Student" means a West Virginia resident student, pursuing an associate or bachelor's degree, who has at least one of the following risk factors:3.1.1. Cumulative high school grade point average below 2.50; or3.1.2. Admitted to the institution based on standardized test scores (ACT, SAT, or ACCUPLACER) that would qualify the student for developmental or remedial placement in mathematics or English based on placement criteria established by 133 C.S.R. 21, Freshman Assessment and Placement Standards.3.2. "Adults or Adult Students" means West Virginia Resident students with an approximate age of 25 and older, calculated by subtracting the individual's year of birth from the submission year for those data used in the calculation of model outcomes.3.3. "Awards per 100 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Students" means the combined total number of unique students earning at least one associate or bachelor's degree within an academic year for every 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate degree-seeking students.3.4. "Base Appropriation" means the amount of funding that an institution receives through a state appropriation for its operations and for which there are no significant restrictions on expenditure, and excluding funds appropriated specifically to support the schools of medicine, and related health sciences functions, at Marshall University and West Virginia University.3.5. "Chancellor" means the Chancellor for Higher Education, as that term is defined by W. Va. Code § 18B-1B-5, or his or her designee.3.6. "Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Code" means a numerical identifier assigned by the National Center for Education Statistics to an academic discipline to support tracking and reporting data at the field-of-study level.3.7. "Commission" means the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission as established by W. Va. Code § 18B-1B-1, et seq.3.8. "Degrees Awarded" means the combined total number of students earning associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, post-master's certificates, doctoral degrees or law degrees during an academic year. Students earning multiple degrees within an academic year shall be counted as a single outcome for model calculations. In such cases, the outcome score will be calculated based on the degree that yields the institution the highest possible total score with all premium multipliers applied.3.9. "Focus Population" means West Virginia resident students identified as academically underprepared, adults, and/or low-income based on the criteria defined by this Rule. 3.10. "Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Student" is an enrollment metric calculated by dividing the total number of credit hours generated by an undergraduate degree-seeking student in credit-bearing classes during the summer, fall, and spring semesters of an academic year by 30.3.11. "Higher Education Price Index (HEPI)" is an inflation index designed specifically to track the main cost drivers in higher education and to measure the change in the price of the goods and services purchased by colleges and universities as measured by the Commonfund Institute.3.12. "Hold-Harmless Provision" means a safeguard in the funding formula designed to provide stability and predictability in the formula by preventing an institution's outcomes-based funding allotment from decreasing by more than five percent (5%) from one academic year to the next.3.13. "Low-Income Student" means a West Virginia resident student who, based on current and historical records, is identified as having received financial assistance through the Federal Pell Grant program for at least one semester at any State institution of higher education.3.14. "On-Time Completion" refers to a graduate who completed a bachelor's degree within four academic years, based on the year and semester in which they were reported as a first-time freshman and the year and semester in which they were reported as completing a bachelor's degree. The bachelor's degree must be completed at the same institution at which the student was first identified as a first-time freshman.3.15. "Premium" is a mathematical weighting factor applied to certain formula calculations for West Virginia resident students identified as belonging to one or more focus populations, to associate or bachelor's degrees awarded in fields identified as State Priority Fields, and/or to bachelor's degrees completed within four years, as defined in Section 3.14 of this rule.3.16. "Progression Outcomes" means the number of full-time and part-time associate or bachelor's degree-seeking students whose cumulative credits earned at the institution at the beginning of a semester are less than the established credit hour threshold benchmarks of 30, 60, or 90 student credit hours and whose cumulative credit hours earned at the end of the semester are equal to or greater than the credit hour threshold benchmarks during the academic year. Credits transferred in from other institutions are not included in the calculations.3.17. "Research and Development Metrics" means the amount of funding expended on research and development activities as reported on the institution's audited financial statement under the Operating Expenses category within both the natural and functional classifications.3.18. "Residual Funds" means funding that is not obligated through formula calculations as a result of a decline from one year to the next in the total number of outcomes across all institutions.3.19. "Scaling Factor" is a mathematically derived value used in formula calculations for the purpose of adjusting outcome values across different metrics to values of comparable magnitude.3.20. "State Priority Programs" means associate degree or bachelor's degree programs identified by the West Virginia Department of Commerce as being aligned with occupations in high or critical demand statewide.3.21. "West Virginia Resident" or "Resident" means an individual enrolled at a public college or university with an in-state tuition and fee status as defined by 133 C.S.R. 25, Residency Classification for Admission and Fee Purposes.