(a) Unless otherwise designated, the presidents of the community and technical colleges facilitate formation of community and technical college/career and technical education consortia in the state. Each consortium includes representatives of community and technical colleges, public career and technical education centers and state baccalaureate institutions offering associate degrees. The consortium is responsible for carrying out the following actions:

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(1) Completing a comprehensive assessment of the district to determine what education and training programs are necessary to meet the short- and long-term workforce development needs of the district and to identify the high-demand, high-wage occupations within the service district and develop programs of study, based on the findings, that consist of a curriculum of courses leading to an industry-recognized credential, a certificate of applied science degree or an associate degree;

(2) Coordinating efforts with regional labor market information systems to identify the ongoing needs of business and industry, both current and projected, and to provide information to assist in an informed program of planning and decision-making. The priority of each consortium is to identify the high-demand, high-wage occupations within the service district and, in conjunction with the public schools, develop integrated secondary and post-secondary programs of study that lead to an industry-recognized credential, a certificate of applied science degree or an associate degree;

(3) Developing integrated secondary and post-secondary programs of study that lead to an industry-recognized credential, a certificate of applied science degree or an associate degree to satisfy a workforce need as determined by the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce shall on occasion, but at least annually, provide written notification to the State Board of Education and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education a determination of areas of workforce need;

(4) Increasing the integration of secondary and post-secondary curriculum and programs that are targeted to meet regional and state labor market needs, including implementing seamless programs of study, including West Virginia EDGE, Advanced Career Education, Registered Apprenticeships and any program that allows students to earn college credit while they are still in high school;

 (5) Ensuring that the programs of study include coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant career and technical education content. The programs shall provide for student movement through a coordinated, nonduplicative progression of courses that align secondary education with community and technical college education to prepare students to succeed at the community and technical college level and in high-wage, high-demand occupations;

(6) Planning and developing a unified effort between the community and technical colleges and public career and technical education to meet the documented workforce development needs of the district and state through individual and cooperative programs; shared facilities, faculty, staff, equipment and other resources; and the development and use of distance learning and other education technologies;

(7) Collaborating and developing jointly the collaborative programming for adults between the community and technical colleges and the public career and technical centers. The focus of these collaborative efforts is the development of advanced skill programming that builds on the secondary curriculum and allows career and technical education graduates to acquire more in-depth preparation in their occupational area of interest;

(8) As a consortium, regularly reviewing and revising curricula to ensure that the work force needs are met; developing new programs and phasing out or modifying existing programs, as appropriate, to meet such needs; and streamlining procedures for designing and implementing customized training programs;

(9) Planning and implementing integrated professional development activities for secondary and post-secondary faculty, staff and administrators;

(10) Ensuring that program graduates have attained the competencies required for successful employment through the involvement of business, industry and labor in establishing student credentialing;

(11) Assessing student knowledge and skills which may be gained from multiple sources so that students gain credit toward program completion and advance more rapidly without repeating course work in which they already possess competency;

(12) Cooperating with workforce investment boards to establish one-stop-shop career centers with integrated employment and training and labor market information systems that enable job seekers to assess their skills, identify and secure needed education training, and secure employment, and that allow employers to locate available workers;

(13) Increasing the integration of adult literacy, adult basic education, federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and community and technical college programs and services to expedite the transition of adults from welfare to gainful employment, including cooperating with the State Department of Education to provide adult basic education programs on each community and technical college campus in the state where developmental education services are provided; and

(14) Establishing a single point of contact for employers and potential employers to access education and training programs throughout the district.

(b) The community and technical college education consortium shall cooperate with the regional workforce investment board in the district and shall participate in any development or amendment to the regional workforce investment plan.

(c) To carry out the provisions of this section, community and technical college/career and technical education consortia planning districts are established and defined as follows:

(1) Northern Panhandle District includes Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel counties.

(A) The facilitating institution is West Virginia Northern Community and Technical College.

(B) Participating institutions include West Virginia Northern Community and Technical College; John Marshall High School; Cameron High School; John D. Rockefeller IV Career Center; and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(2) North Central West Virginia District includes Monongalia, Marion, Preston, Taylor, Barbour, Randolph, Doddridge, Harrison, Braxton, Lewis, Calhoun, Gilmer and Upshur counties.

(A) The facilitating institution is Pierpont Community and Technical College.

(B) Participating institutions include Pierpont Community and Technical College; Glenville State College; Randolph County Technical Center; Monongalia County Technical Education Center; United Technical Center; Marion County Technical Center; Fred W. Eberle Technical Center; Calhoun Gilmer Career Center; Taylor County Technical Center; and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(3) Mid-Ohio Valley District includes Tyler, Pleasants, Ritchie, Wood, Wirt, Jackson and Roane counties.

(A) The facilitating institution is West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

(B) Participating institutions include West Virginia University at Parkersburg; Roane-Jackson Technical Center; Wood County Technical Center; Mid-Ohio Valley Technical Institute and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(4) Potomac Highlands District includes Tucker, Pendleton, Grant, Hardy, Mineral and Hampshire counties.

(A) The facilitating institution is Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College.

(B) Participating institutions include Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College; South Branch Career and Technical Center; Mineral County Technical Center; and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(5) Shenandoah Valley District includes Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties.

(A) The facilitating institution is Blue Ridge Community and Technical College.

(B) Participating institutions include Blue Ridge Community and Technical College; James Rumsey Technical Institute; and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(6) Advantage Valley District includes Fayette, Kanawha, Clay, Putnam, Cabell, Mason and Wayne counties.

(A) The facilitating institution for Cabell, Mason and Wayne counties is Mountwest Community and Technical College. The facilitating institution for Clay, Fayette, Kanawha and Putnam counties is BridgeValley Community and Technical College.

(B) Participating institutions include Mountwest Community and Technical College; BridgeValley Community and Technical College; Carver Career and Technical Education Center; Garnet Career Center; Ben Franklin Career and Technical Center; Putnam Career and Technical Center; Cabell County Career-Technology Center; Mason County Career Center; and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(7) Southern Mountains District includes Lincoln, Boone, Logan, Mingo, Wyoming and McDowell counties.

(A) The facilitating institution is Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College.

(B) Participating institutions include Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College; Boone County Career and Technical Center; Wyoming County Career and Technical Center; Ralph R. Willis Career and Technical Center; McDowell County Career and Technology Center; Mingo Extended Learning Center; and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(8) Southeastern District includes Raleigh, Summers, Fayette, Nicholas, Webster, Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Monroe and Mercer counties.

(A) The facilitating institution is New River Community and Technical College.

(B) Participating institutions include New River Community and Technical College; BridgeValley Community and Technical College; Bluefield State College; Academy of Careers and Technology; Fayette Institute of Technology; Summers County High School; Monroe County Technical Center; Mercer County Technical Education Center; Nicholas County Career and Technical Center; and other public career and technical centers offering post-secondary programs.

(9) Cochairs preside over each consortium as follows:

(A) The president of the facilitating community and technical college, or his or her designee; and

(B) A career and technical education center administrator, or his or her designee, representing one of the participating institutions and selected by the consortium administrative leaders.

(d) In the role of the facilitating institution of the consortium, the college:

(1) Communicates to the council and state board;

(2) Facilitates the delivery of comprehensive community and technical college education in the region, which includes the seven areas of comprehensive community and technical college education delivery as required by § 18B-3C-6 of this code;

(3) Facilitates development of a statement of commitment signed by all participating institutions in the region setting forth how community and technical college education will be delivered; and

(4) Submits annually the Carl D. Perkins local planning guide to the council and the state board.

(e) The state board and council shall jointly promulgate guidelines for the administration of this section. The guidelines shall be affirmatively adopted by both the board and the council. At a minimum, such guidelines shall provide for the following:

(1) Participating institutions are not subordinate to the facilitating institution but shall sign the statement of commitment to participate.

(2) Integrated secondary and post-secondary programs of study that lead to an industry-recognized credential, a certificate of applied science degree or an associate degree shall be reduced to written partnership agreements;

(3) The programs of study must meet the requirements of the accrediting entity for the community and technical college awarding the associate degrees;

(4) That partnership agreements must be approved by the State Superintendent of Schools and the Chancellor for the Council for Community and Technical College Education; and

(5) Any other provisions necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.

(f) The State Superintendent of Schools and the Chancellor for the Council for Community and Technical College Education are responsible for annually evaluating the progress made in meeting the goals for each consortium through the development and collection of performance indicator data.

(g) The State Superintendent of Schools and the Chancellor for the Council for Community and Technical College Education shall annually report to the Governor and the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability on the implementation of this section.