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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fourth Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
Arizona nurses academy
Purpose
Establishes the Arizona Nurses Academy (Academy) under the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) in consultation with eligible postsecondary institutions (institutions) and outlines requirements for the Academy.
Background
The Arizona Constitution establishes ABOR as the governing entity for the university system. There are three public universities in Arizona that consists of Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona (Ariz. Const. art. 11 § 5). ABOR has general authority relating to the universities that includes fixing tuition rates and fees, establishing curricula, designating courses and prescribing student admission qualifications to the universities (A.R.S. § 15-1626).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires institutions to implement an Academy to provide incentives for students to enter the nursing profession and commit to practice in Arizona at certain facilities.
2. Requires ABOR, in consultation with the institutions, to develop and implement a centralized administrative process for the Academy.
3. Requires the centralized administrative process to include:
a) a marketing and promotion plan to recruit for the Academy;
b) data collection and reporting;
c) tracking postgraduation service requirements;
d) distributing monies in the Academy Fund (Fund) between the institutions; and
e) collecting reimbursement from individuals who fail to meet service obligations.
4. Allows the Academy to include new or existing nursing programs that are patient-focused and that use proven, research-based models of best practices.
5. Allows institutions to develop a portfolio of nursing programs to offer as part of the Academy.
6. Requires programs offered by the Academy to include accelerated models for critical need areas, including hospitals, community health centers, skilled nursing facilities and public schools located in rural communities and on Indian reservations.
7. Requires each institution to develop formalized partnerships within Arizona to build commitments for nurse employment on completion of the Academy.
8. Requires the deployment of nurses who have completed the Academy to be based on the needs of each system and the community that is being served, as well as their individual skills.
9. Requires each institution, after all other financial gifts, aid or grants have been received by the student, to provide to each full-time student enrolled in the Academy with an annual scholarship for tuition and fees of the following amounts:
a) $5,000 per year for a maximum of four years or eight semesters for undergraduate students; or
b) $3,000 per year for a maximum of two years or four semesters for community college students.
10. Requires, if an Academy student does not successfully complete the academic year in good standing, the student to reimburse ABOR the total amount of scholarship received.
11. Requires, for each academic year the student receives a scholarship, a student to agree to practice nursing for one year in Arizona.
12. Prohibits, if a scholarship does not cover the remaining cost of a student's tuition and fees after other aid is received, an institution from charging a student the remaining difference.
13. Allows an institution, if the scholarship amount exceeds the tuition and fees, to appropriate the remaining amount to support the Academy's costs.
14. Requires a student, if the student does not fulfill the obligation to practice nursing in Arizona, to reimburse ABOR for the proportional amount of the scholarship that the student received that corresponds to the number of years committed to practice in Arizona that were not fulfilled.
15. Requires ABOR to establish a process for:
a) assessing a student's ability to repay the financial assistance received and determine the terms of repayment, if the student is physically or mentally unable to fulfill the requirements of the Academy; and
b) deferring service or repayment based on adopted factors.
16. Establishes the Fund consisting of legislative appropriations made for administering the Academy.
17. States that the monies in the Fund are continuously appropriated and exempt from lapsing.
18. Requires ABOR to administer the Fund and establish criteria for distributing monies to institutions each fiscal year for the costs of the Academy.
19. Restricts the monies in the Fund to only be used for:
a) reimbursing Academy scholarships after all other gifts, aid and grants; and
b) implementing a marketing and promotion plan to recruit and retain students and administer the Academy.
20. Prohibits the annual expenditures for marketing, promoting and administering the Academy from exceeding three percent of Fund monies each fiscal year.
21. Allows institutions to use monies remaining in the Fund at the end of each fiscal year for the costs of the Academy in the following fiscal year.
22. Requires, by August 1 of each fiscal year, the state General Fund appropriation for the Academy for the current fiscal year to be reduced by the amount remaining from the previous fiscal year.
23. Requires ABOR, beginning March 1, 2021, to annually report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting on the:
a) total number of students enrolled in the Academy by institution in the current academic year; and
b) estimated amount of monies committed from the Fund in the current fiscal year.
24. Requires ABOR to submit an annual report, beginning September 1, 2021, to the Governor and the Legislature and provide a copy to the Secretary of State on the:
a) total number of students enrolled in the Academy at each institution;
b) percentage of students who complete each year of the Academy and plan to continue to the subsequent year, delineated by each nursing program offered by each institution;
c) number of nurses who complete a program in the Academy by each institution;
d) number of nurses currently practicing in Arizona as part of the scholarship agreement;
e) number of students who have defaulted on their obligation and are in repayment agreements, have deferred repayment agreements or have completed repayment agreements;
f) methodology for distributing any monies appropriated for the Academy to each institution and the amounts distributed; and
g) amount of unused monies in the Fund from the prior fiscal year.
25. Defines institutions and tuition and fees.
26. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
1. Adds a home health agency under contract with the Department of Developmental Disabilities to the facilities that a student can practice nursing after graduating from the Academy.
2. Makes technical changes.
Senate Action
APPROP 2/11/20 DPA 9-0-0
Prepared by Senate Research
February 13, 2020
LMM/kja