SECTION 2TTT. CITI Fund

(a) There is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund known as the CITI Fund for the continuation of the Commonwealth Information Technology Initiative, or CITI, statewide. The University of Massachusetts shall hold the CITI Fund in an account or accounts separate from other funds or accounts. Amounts credited to the CITI Fund shall be used by the President of the University of Massachusetts or the president's designee, under subsection (b) and in consultation with the advisory board established in subsection (d).

(b) The public purpose of the CITI Fund shall be to provide funding for a collaborative approach to information technology education through a series of open competitions for grants to K–20 educational institutions in the areas of: (1) educator development—to ensure that K–20 faculty in all public higher education institutions and elementary and secondary schools have the skills to teach courses that meet industry current and future information technology needs; (2) curriculum enhancement—to update existing courses and programs of computer science, management information systems and computer engineering in public higher education and to update academic discipline courses to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge through the understanding and application of information technology in the K–12 level; (3) IT across the curriculum—to implement the integration of information technology education into all aspects of non-technical disciplines and areas of study; and (4) regional cooperation—create geographically-based alliances among schools and industry to leverage faculty, courses and other resources for information technology education.

(c) The president of the University of Massachusetts shall, not later than July 1, annually report to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies, the joint committee on labor and workforce development, the joint committee on education and the joint committee on higher education. The report shall include: (i) a list of grant recipients; (ii) the associated grant amounts; (iii) the amounts of nonstate funding leveraged as a result of the grants, including in-kind and other non-cash contributions; (iv) the purposes of the grants; (v) an annual statement of cash inflows and outflows detailing the sources and uses of funds; (vi) a forecast of future payments based on current binding obligations; and (vii) a detailed breakdown of the purposes and amounts of administrative costs charged to the fund.

(d) There shall be an advisory board for the CITI Fund which shall consist of 12 members: 8 of whom shall be appointed by the governor, of which at least 2 shall be employed by a public institution of higher education in the commonwealth, at least 2 shall be employed at a public school for grades K–12 and at least 2 shall be employed by a corporation based in the commonwealth. One member shall be appointed by the speaker of the house, member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives, 1 member shall be appointed by the president of the senate and 1 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate. The advisory board shall meet at least quarterly or when called by the president of the University of Massachusetts.