(a) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the University of Maryland Global Campus:
(1) Operate as Maryland’s open university serving nontraditional students who reside in Maryland, the United States, and throughout the world;
(2) Provide the citizens of Maryland with affordable, open access higher education; and
(3) Continue as a leader in distributed higher education.
(b) (1) There is a University of Maryland Global Campus which is not a new constituent institution of the University System of Maryland.
(2) As a constituent institution of the University System of Maryland, the University of Maryland Global Campus is an instrumentality of the State.
(3) The exercise by the University of Maryland Global Campus of its powers, including its overseas operations, is the performance of an essential public function.
(c) The provisions of § 12–105(a) of this article do not apply to the overseas operations of the University of Maryland Global Campus. The institution may spend the appropriation without the approval of the Board of Public Works and without submitting a detailed budget schedule to the Board of Public Works.
(d) The University of Maryland Global Campus shall prepare an annual financial information statement for the next following fiscal year and shall submit the statement to the Department of Budget and Management each year before October 1. The annual financial information statement shall include for the next following fiscal year:
(1) An estimate of the total revenues of the University of Maryland Global Campus, including revenues from tuitions, fees, gifts, grants, and interest income;
(2) An estimate of the value of services which the other units of the University System of Maryland and other State agencies provide to the University of Maryland Global Campus; and
(3) An estimate of the total cost of salaries and personnel benefits for employees of the University of Maryland Global Campus.
(e) (1) The interest or income from the investment of the funds of the University of Maryland Global Campus by the State Treasurer shall be credited to the University of Maryland Global Campus.
(2) Any unexpended or unencumbered balance of the annual appropriation for the University of Maryland Global Campus, except any appropriation from the General Fund of the State, shall not revert to the General Fund of the State at the end of the State’s fiscal year.
(f) The University of Maryland Global Campus may:
(1) Purchase, lease, or rent motor vehicles for use in overseas programs; and
(2) Purchase, lease, or rent mechanical or electronic data or information processing equipment and related services for its overseas programs.
(g) (1) Each year the University of Maryland Global Campus shall cause an independent certified public accountant to prepare audited financial statements of the University of Maryland Global Campus in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards accompanied by the auditor’s report on the statements.
(2) The provisions of § 12–105(f) of this article do not apply to the University of Maryland Global Campus overseas programs.