§ 53A-1-410. Utah Futures. (Effective 5/13/2014)

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Education provider" means:

(i) a Utah institution of higher education as defined in Section 53B-2-101; or

(ii) a Utah provider of postsecondary education.

(b) "Student user" means:

(i) a Utah student in kindergarten through grade 12;

(ii) a Utah post secondary education student;

(iii) a parent or guardian of a Utah public education student; or

(iv) a Utah potential post secondary education student.

(c) "Utah Futures" means a career planning program developed and administered by the Department of Workforce Services, the State Board of Regents, and the State Board of Education.

(d) "Utah Futures Steering Committee" means a committee of members designated by the governor to administer and manage Utah Futures in collaboration with the Department of Workforce Services, the State Board of Regents, and the State Board of Education.

(2) The Utah Futures Steering Committee shall ensure, as funding allows and is feasible, that Utah Futures will:

(a) allow a student user to:

(i) access the student user's full academic record;

(ii) electronically allow the student user to give access to the student user's academic record and related information to an education provider as allowed by law;

(iii) access information about different career opportunities and understand the related educational requirements to enter that career;

(iv) access information about education providers;

(v) access up to date information about entrance requirements to education providers;

(vi) apply for entrance to multiple schools without having to fully replicate the application process;

(vii) apply for loans, scholarships, or grants from multiple education providers in one location without having to fully replicate the application process for multiple education providers; and

(viii) research open jobs from different companies within the user's career interest and apply for those jobs without having to leave the website to do so;

(b) allow all users to:

(i) access information about different career opportunities and understand the related educational requirements to enter that career;

(ii) access information about education providers;

(iii) access up-to-date information about entrance requirements to education providers;

(iv) apply for entrance to multiple schools without having to fully replicate the application process;

(v) apply for loans, scholarships, or grants from multiple education providers in one location without having to fully replicate the application process for multiple education providers; and

(vi) research open jobs from different companies within the user's career interest and apply for those jobs without having to leave the website to do so;

(c) allow an education provider to:

(i) research and find student users who are interested in various educational outcomes;

(ii) promote the education provider's programs and schools to student users; and

(iii) connect with student users within the Utah Futures website;

(d) allow a Utah business to:

(i) research and find student users who are pursuing educational outcomes that are consistent with jobs the Utah business is trying to fill now or in the future; and

(ii) market jobs and communicate with student users through the Utah Futures website as allowed by law;

(e) allow the Department of Workforce Services to analyze and report on student user interests, education paths, and behaviors within the education system so as to predictively determine appropriate career and educational outcomes and results; and

(f) allow all users of the Utah Futures' system to communicate and interact through social networking tools within the Utah Futures website as allowed by law.

(3) On or before October 1, 2014, the State Board of Education, after consulting with the Board of Business and Economic Development created in Section 63M-1-301, may select a technology provider, through a request for proposals process, to provide technology and support for Utah Futures.

(4) In evaluating proposals under Subsection (3) in consultation with the Board of Business and Economic Development, the State Board of Education shall ensure that the technology provided by a proposer:

(a) allows Utah Futures to license the selected service oriented architecture technologies;

(b) allows Utah Futures to protect all user data within the system by leveraging role architecture;

(c) allows Utah Futures to update the user interface, APIs, and web services software layers as needed;

(d) provides the ability for a student user to have a secure profile and login to access and to store personal information related to the services listed in Subsection (2) via the Internet;

(e) protects all user data within Utah Futures;

(f) allows the State Board of Education to license the technology of the selected technology provider; and

(g) provides technology able to support application programming interfaces to integrate technology of other third party providers, which may include cloud-based technology.

(5)

(a) On or before August 1, 2014, the evaluation panel described in Subsection (5)(b), using the criteria described in Subsection (5)(c), shall evaluate Utah Futures and determine whether any or all components of Utah Futures, as described in this section, should be outsourced to a private provider or built in-house by the participating state agencies.

(b) The evaluation panel described in Subsection (5)(a) shall consist of the following members, appointed by the governor after consulting with the State Board of Education:

(i) five members who represent business, including:

(A) one member who has extensive knowledge and experience in information technology; and

(B) one member who has extensive knowledge and experience in human resources;

(ii) one member who is a user of the information provided by Utah Futures;

(iii) one member who is a parent of a student who uses Utah Futures;

(iv) one member who:

(A) is an educator as defined in Section 53A-6-103; and

(B) teaches students who use Utah Futures; and

(v) one member who is a high school counselor licensed under Title 53A, Chapter 6, Educator Licensing and Professional Practices Act.

(c) The evaluation panel described in Subsections (5)(a) and (b) shall consider at least the following criteria to make the determination described in Subsection (5)(a):

(i) the complete functional capabilities of a private technology provider versus an in-house version;

(ii) the cost of purchasing privately developed technology versus continuing to develop or build an in-house version;

(iii) the data and security capabilities of a private technology provider versus an in-house version;

(iv) the time frames to implementation; and

(v) the best practices and examples of other states who have implemented a tool similar to Utah Futures.

(d) On or before September 30, 2014, the evaluation panel shall report the determination to:

(i) the State Board of Education;

(ii) the Executive Appropriations Committee; and

(iii) the Education Interim Committee.

Amended by Chapter 372, 2014 General Session