Week of January 21 updates

Both Senate Appropriations and House Budget met this week to discuss the Governor’s proposed budget with the state departments. House Education Appropriations Committee also met on Wednesday afternoon, where they heard testimony from DHE and DESE. Next week, the committee plans to take testimony from COPHE leaders on behalf of the higher educational institutions.
Bill referral was extremely high this past week and we expect committee hearings to ramp up starting early next week.
The Geyer Awards were held Tuesday evening at the Governor’s Mansion. Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe and former UM System Chief of Staff, Dr. David Russell were recognized for their dedication to higher education. Despite the cold and drizzly weather, there was a great turnout of legislators, faculty, staff and alumni!
House Bill 400 (Rep. Chuck Basye)
HB 400 would expand the Missouri Returning Heroes Act, which caps tuitions for undergraduate veterans at $50 per credit hour before federal and state aid for combat veterans that served after 9/11/2001, to include combat veterans that served prior to 9/11/2001. It would also place a cap of 30% on tuition and fees for qualified combat veterans pursuing a graduate degree for a period of 20 years after an honorable discharge
House Bill 573 (Rep. Dean Dohrman) & Senate Bill 259 (Rep. Gary Romine)
These bills emphasize that all procedures in Title IX matters should be fundamentally fair to all parties, and therefore create a process for the Administrative Hearing Commission to conduct hearings for formal Title IX complaints by students at a student’s request. They require Title IX decision makers to apply the clear and convincing evidence standard, while preponderance of the evidence standard is used in both equity cases and student conduct cases at the University of Missouri and at most large universities across the country.

The University’s Equity Resolution policies have been reviewed and we believe that the process outlined in those policies provides fundamental fairness to all parties. For example, both parties are afforded the right to appeal any action that ends the process as to that party, both parties equally have the right to interim measures and amnesty in appropriate situations, and both parties have the right to refuse to have an allegation resolved through Conflict Resolution or Administrative Resolution Processes, requiring instead that the allegation be resolved through the Hearing Panel Resolution Process.

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