The terms and provisions of the compact referred to in RCW 28B.70.010 are as follows:
WHEREAS, Many of the Western States individually do not have sufficient numbers of potential students to warrant the establishment and maintenance within their borders of adequate facilities in all the essential fields of technical, professional and graduate training, nor do all of the states have the financial ability to furnish within their borders institutions capable of providing acceptable standards of training in all of the fields mentioned above; and
WHEREAS, It is believed that the Western States, or group of such states within the Region, cooperatively can provide acceptable and efficient educational facilities to meet the needs of the Region and of the students thereof;
NOW, THEREFORE, The States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, and the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, do hereby covenant and agree as follows:
The commissioners from each state and territory shall be appointed by the governor thereof as provided by law in such state or territory. Any commissioner may be removed or suspended from office as provided by the law of the state or territory from which he shall have been appointed.
The term of each commissioner shall be four years: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That the first three commissioners shall be appointed as follows: one for two years, one for three years, and one for four years. Each commissioner shall hold office until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. If any office becomes vacant for any reason, the governor shall appoint a commissioner to fill the office for the remainder of the unexpired term.
One or more commissioners from a majority of the compacting states and territories shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
Each compacting state and territory represented at any meeting of the Commission is entitled to one vote.
The commissioners shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses from the funds of the Commission.
The Commission may elect such committees as it deems necessary for the carrying out of its functions.
The Commission shall establish and maintain an office within one of the compacting states for the transaction of its business and may meet at any time, but in any event must meet at least once a year. The chairman may call such additional meetings and upon the request of a majority of the commissioners of three or more compacting states or territories shall call additional meetings.
The Commission shall submit a budget to the governor of each compacting state and territory at such time and for such period as may be required.
The Commission shall, after negotiations with interested institutions, determine the cost of providing the facilities for graduate and professional education for use in its contractual agreements throughout the Region.
On or before the fifteenth day of January of each year, the Commission shall submit to the governors and legislatures of the compacting states and territories a report of its activities for the preceding calendar year.
The Commission shall keep accurate books of account, showing in full its receipts and disbursements, and said books of account shall be open at any reasonable time for inspection by the governor of any compacting state or territory or his designated representative. The Commission shall not be subject to the audit and accounting procedure of any of the compacting states or territories. The Commission shall provide for an independent annual audit.
For this purpose the Commission may enter into contractual agreements
(a) with the governing authority of any educational institution in the Region, or with any compacting state or territory to provide such graduate or professional educational services upon terms and conditions to be agreed upon between contracting parties and
(b) with the governing authority of any educational institution in the Region or with any compacting state or territory to assist in the placement of graduate or professional students in educational institutions in the Region providing the desired services and facilities, upon such terms and conditions as the Commission may prescribe.
It shall be the duty of the Commission to undertake studies of needs for professional and graduate educational facilities in the Region, the resources of meeting such needs, and the long-range effects of the compact on higher education; and from time to time prepare comprehensive reports on such research for presentation to the Western Governors' Conference and to the legislatures of the compacting states and territories. In conducting such studies, the Commission may confer with any national or regional planning body which may be established. The Commission shall draft and recommend to the governors of the various compacting states and territories, uniform legislation dealing with problems of higher education in the Region.
For the purposes of this compact the word "Region" shall be construed to mean the geographical limits of the several compacting states and territories.
Unless such default shall be remedied within a period of two years following the effective date of such default, this compact may be terminated with respect to such defaulting state or territory by affirmative vote of three-fourths of the other member states or territories.
Any such defaulting state may be reinstated by (a) performing all acts and obligations upon which it has heretofore defaulted, and (b) application to and the approval by a majority vote of the Commission.