S.B. 124

1

EDUCATION RESOURCE CENTERS
2 2001 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Beverly Ann Evans
5 This act requires the Utah Education Network to work with rural county governments to
6 establish Educational Resource Centers to increase access to telecommunications for
7 postsecondary education and offer access to worldwide databases. The act has a $743,000
8 appropriation and takes effect July 1, 2001.
9 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
10 AMENDS:
11 53B-17-104, as enacted by Chapter 33, Laws of Utah 1995
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
13 Section 1. Section 53B-17-104 is amended to read:
14 53B-17-104. Responsibilities of UEN related to telecommunications for education.
15 (1) Subject to applicable rules of the Federal Communications Commission, the State
16 Board of Regents, the State Board of Education, and the University of Utah, UEN shall:
17 (a) coordinate statewide services of public radio and television;
18 (b) (i) develop, maintain, and operate statewide distribution systems for KUED, KUER,
19 KULC, EDNET, and UtahLink including radio and television translator systems, an educational
20 microwave distribution system, data network and other telecommunications services distribution
21 systems appropriate for providing video, audio, and data telecommunication services in support
22 of public and higher education to as many communities as may be economically and technically
23 feasible and lawfully permissible under the various operating licenses, and, in conjunction with
24 these operations, cooperate with state and local governmental and educational agencies and
25 provide leadership and consulting service in regards to signal distribution;
26 (ii) work with the county governments of the state's most rural counties to establish
27 Educational Resource Centers that:

28 (A) would be sited in at least Beaver, Daggett, Garfield, Juab, Kane, Morgan, Piute, Rich,
29 and Wayne Counties;
30 (B) consist of four-classroom facilities provided by the counties, with the state providing
31 funding for equipment at the sites and ongoing costs;
32 (C) would bring the full benefits of the UEN satellite system within the reach of every
33 resident in those counties, including increased access to postsecondary education; and
34 (D) would offer county residents access to worldwide databases through multimedia
35 computers and allow access to advising services through online technologies.
36 (c) represent the state with privately owned telecommunications systems to gain access
37 to their networks for the delivery of programs and services sponsored or produced by public and
38 higher education;
39 (d) acquire, produce, coordinate, and distribute a variety of programs and services of an
40 educational, cultural, informative, and entertaining nature designed to promote the public interest
41 and welfare of the state;
42 (e) coordinate with the state system of higher education to acquire, produce, and distribute
43 broadcast and nonbroadcast college credit telecourses, teleconferences, and other instructional and
44 training services;
45 (f) coordinate with the State Office of Education and school districts to acquire, produce,
46 and distribute broadcast and nonbroadcast telecourses, teleconferences, and other instructional and
47 training services to the public schools;
48 (g) act as a clearing house for the materials, courses, publications, media, software, and
49 other applicable information related to the items addressed in Subsections (1)(e) and (f);
50 (h) coordinate with the State Office of Education to assist in providing the public schools
51 of Utah with the following services:
52 (i) broadcast during school hours of educational and administrative programs approved
53 and scheduled by the State Board of Education;
54 (ii) studio production and technical assistance for the creation of educational programs;
55 (iii) duplication of program masters for broadcast purposes;
56 (iv) nonstudio production services for the compilation of various production elements into
57 completed programs;
58 (v) program previewing; and

59 (vi) shared responsibility with the Utah State Office of Education for ITV awareness and
60 utilization;
61 (i) cooperate with state and local governmental agencies to provide teleconference and
62 training services;
63 (j) consult with the steering committee authorized in Section 53B-17-102 and other
64 technology coordinating committees established by the State Board of Education and State Board
65 of Regents in acquiring, producing, and distributing instructional services on all media, and with
66 public advisory committees in acquiring, producing, and distributing public radio and television
67 programs on KUER and KUED;
68 (k) coordinate the statewide development and implementation of the electronic highway
69 for education, which shall include video, audio, and data interconnections utilizing satellite,
70 microwave, fiber-optic, and other transmission media;
71 (l) coordinate through the UEN steering committee the technology initiatives for public
72 and higher education which are under the direction of the State Office of Education and the Office
73 of the Commissioner of Higher Education;
74 (m) coordinate through the UEN steering committee, public education's Educational
75 Technology Initiative authorized under Title 53A, Chapter 1, Part 7;
76 (n) utilize statewide economic development criteria in the design and implementation of
77 the educational telecommunications infrastructure; and
78 (o) assure that public service entities such as educators, public service providers, and
79 public broadcasters are granted access to the telecommunications infrastructures that are developed
80 in the state.
81 (2) This section neither regulates nor restricts a privately-owned company in the
82 distribution or dissemination of education programs.
83 Section 2. Appropriation.
84 (1) There is appropriated from the General Fund for fiscal year 2001-02 only, $743,000
85 to the University of Utah to be used by the Utah Education Network to fund the Educational
86 Resource Centers established under Subsection 53B-17-104 (1)(b)(ii).
87 (2) Of the total appropriation, $441,000 shall be allocated for one-time costs for electronic
88 equipment required at the centers and $302,000 shall be allocated for ongoing costs.
89 Section 3. Effective date.

90 This act takes effect on July 1, 2001.




Legislative Review Note
as of 1-12-01 11:17 AM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel