Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 4 > Article 5 - Commission On Special Investigations

• ADA: means the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Applicant: means any one or more in combination of parents, community members, teachers, school administrators, or institutions of higher education in this state who are interested in organizing a public charter school and:

  (A) Have obtained 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or have submitted an application for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, or be a state institution of higher education as defined in §. See West Virginia Code 18-5G-2

• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• approval: when used in reference to action by the commission or the council, means action in which the governance rationale of a governing board under its jurisdiction is given due consideration, and the action of the commission is to additionally establish whether the proposed institutional action is consistent with law and established policy and is an appropriate advancement of the public interest. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authorizer: means the entity empowered under this article to review applications, decide whether to approve or reject applications, enter into charter contracts with applicants, oversee public charter schools, and decide whether to renew or not renew charter contracts. See West Virginia Code 18-5G-2
• Auxiliary enterprise: means an entity that exists to furnish goods or services to students, faculty, staff or others. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• board: means the institutional boards of Governors, individually or collectively, created pursuant to subsection (b), section one, article two-a of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 18B-18-2
• board: means a county board of education. See West Virginia Code 18-1-1
• boards: means the institutional boards of governors created by §. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• Campus community: includes students, administrators, faculty, and staff at the institution of higher education, and their invited guests. See West Virginia Code 18B-20-1
• Capital project management: means planning, designing, bidding and providing construction administration and oversight of architectural, engineering and construction contracts and projects. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Chancellor: means the Chancellor for Higher Education where the context refers to a function of the Higher Education Policy Commission. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• Collaboration: means entering into an agreement with one or more providers of education services in order to enhance the scope, quality, or efficiency of education services. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• commission: means the commission created by §. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• confirmation: when used in reference to action by the commission, means action in which substantial deference is allocated to the governing authority of a governing board under its jurisdiction and the action of the commission is to review whether the proposed institutional action is consistent with law and established policy. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• contract: means a fixed-term, renewable contract between a public charter school's governing board and an authorizer that identifies the roles, powers, responsibilities, operational duties, accountability, and performance expectations for each party to the contract, consistent with the requirements of this article. See West Virginia Code 18-5G-2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Council: means the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education created by §. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deferred maintenance: means repair, maintenance and renewal of capital facilities which should be part of normal maintenance management, but which have been postponed to a future budget cycle or until funds become available. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Educational and general capital fees: means the fees collected from students to pay debt service for capital improvement bonds issued by the commission and governing boards for educational and general facilities, for the maintenance of those facilities and to fund capital improvements in those facilities on a cash basis. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• extraordinary circumstances: means , a situation involving life-safety issues, issues that would result in extensive damage to a facility if not addressed immediately, any unforeseen opportunity to use external funds and any other situation the commission or council determines should warrant special consideration. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Harassment: means an expression that is unwelcome, so severe, pervasive, and subjectively and objectively offensive that a student is effectively denied equal access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the state institution of higher education or sexual harassment as defined by federal law and federal regulations applicable to state institutions of higher education. See West Virginia Code 18B-20-1
• institution under the jurisdiction of the commission: means all state institutions of higher education including Marshall University and West Virginia University and their respective governing boards. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Life-safety: means a condition existing on a campus that, if not corrected immediately, would jeopardize the safety and property of students, faculty, staff and the visiting public. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Maintenance: means the work necessary within a budget cycle to realize the originally anticipated life of a fixed asset, including buildings, fixed equipment and infrastructure. See West Virginia Code 18B-19-2
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• obligations: shall mean those evidences of debt which the governing boards may buy, sell, endorse, or guarantee under the provisions of this article. See West Virginia Code 18C-2-2
• operating budget: means for any fiscal year an institution's total unrestricted education and general funding from all sources, including, but not limited to, tuition and fees and legislative appropriation, and any adjustments to that funding as approved by the commission or council based on comparisons with peer institutions or to reflect consistent components of peer operating budgets. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• Outdoor areas of campus: means the generally accessible outside areas of campus where members of the campus community are commonly allowed, such as grassy areas, walkways, or other similar common areas and does not include outdoor areas where access is restricted from a majority of the campus community. See West Virginia Code 18B-20-1
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Petit jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Public charter school: means a public school or program within a public school that is authorized in accordance with the provisions of this article and meets the general criteria, governance structure and statutory compliance requirements described in §. See West Virginia Code 18-5G-2
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• rules: means a regulation, standard, policy, or interpretation of general application and future effect. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• School: means the students and teachers assembled in one or more buildings, organized as a unit. See West Virginia Code 18-1-1
• School-sponsored media: means any material that is prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast, in any media, by a student journalist at a public high school, college, or university under the supervision of a student media adviser and distributed or generally made available to members of the student body. See West Virginia Code 18B-21-3
• Senior administrator: means the vice chancellor for administration employed pursuant to section two, article four, chapter . See West Virginia Code 18C-1-2
• State: means one of the several states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
• State board: means the West Virginia Board of Education. See West Virginia Code 18-5G-2
• State board: means the West Virginia Board of Education. See West Virginia Code 18-1-1
• State institution of higher education: means any university, college, or community and technical college under the jurisdiction of a governing board as defined in §. See West Virginia Code 18B-20-1
• State institution of higher education: means any university, college, or community and technical college under the jurisdiction of a governing board as that term is defined in this section. See West Virginia Code 18B-1-2
• State superintendent: means the state superintendent of free Schools. See West Virginia Code 18-1-1
• Student: means any person who is enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis in a state institution of higher education. See West Virginia Code 18B-20-1
• Student: means any person that is eligible for attendance in a public school in West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 18-5G-2
• Student journalist: means a public high school, college, or university student who writes, edits, photographs, records, or prepares information for inclusion in school-sponsored media. See West Virginia Code 18B-21-3
• Student media adviser: means an individual employed, appointed, or designated by a public high school, college, or university to supervise or provide instruction relating to school-sponsored media. See West Virginia Code 18B-21-3
• Student organization: means an officially recognized group at a state institution of higher education, or a group seeking official recognition, comprised of admitted students that receive, or are seeking to receive, benefits through the institution of higher education as defined in this section. See West Virginia Code 18B-20-1
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• superintendent: means a county superintendent of schools. See West Virginia Code 18-1-1
• Teacher: means a teacher, supervisor, principal, superintendent, public school librarian or any other person regularly employed for instructional purposes in a public school in this state. See West Virginia Code 18-1-1
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• undertaking: shall mean the official act of the governing boards, or senior administrator acting under the direction of the boards, in connection with the acquisition or disposition of all or any part of obligations or interest therein which the governing boards are authorized to buy or sell hereunder. See West Virginia Code 18C-2-2
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• West Virginia Professional Charter School Board: means the board created pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 18-5G-2