BILL NUMBER: AB 867 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 23, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Nava and Arambula
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Galgiani)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Beall, Block, Buchanan,
Caballero, Carter, Conway, Coto, Davis, De Leon, DeVore,
Fong, Gilmore, Hagman, Huber, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
John A. Perez, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torrico, Tran, and Villines)
(Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Correa,
Cox, DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Florez, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete
McLeod, Romero, Runner, Strickland, and Walters)
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Article 9 (commencing with Section 89280) to Chapter
2 of Part 55 of Division 8 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
relating to nursing degrees.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 867, as amended, Nava. California State University: Doctor of
Nursing Practice degree.
Existing law establishes the California State University and its
various campuses under the administration of the Trustees of the
California State University. Existing law requires the California
State University to offer undergraduate and graduate instruction
through the master's degree in the liberal arts and sciences and
professional education, including teacher education.
This bill would authorize the California State University to award
the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The bill would distinguish
the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the doctor of philosophy
degree offered at the University of California. The bill would
require the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program to be designed
to enable professionals to earn the degree while working full time,
train nurses for advanced practice, and prepare clinical faculty to
teach in postsecondary nursing programs.
The bill would require initial funding to come from existing
budgets, without diminishing the quality of undergraduate programs or
reducing enrollment therein.
The bill would require the California State University to annually
report on the status of the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree
program, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 9 (commencing with Section 89280) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 55 of Division 8 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 9. Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree
89280. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The State of California faces an ever-increasing nursing
shortage that jeopardizes the health and well-being of the state's
citizens.
(b) Colleges and universities need to expand nursing education
programs to prepare more nurses to meet the state's growing demand
for nurses. An estimated state shortage of 47,600 registered nurses
is expected by 2010, and by 2020 the shortage is projected to reach
116,600 according to the Governor's California Nurse Education
Initiative Annual Report, September 2006.
(c) Well-trained nursing faculty and practitioners are critical to
the ability to expand nursing programs.
(d) Because of the urgent need to prepare and graduate increased
numbers of nurses, it is the intent of the Legislature to grant the
California State University authority to offer the Doctor of Nursing
Practice degree, as an exception to the Master Plan for Higher
Education.
89281. (a) Notwithstanding Section 66010.4, in order to meet
specific nursing education needs in California, the California State
University may award the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, as
described in this section.
(b) The authority to award the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree
is limited to the discipline of nursing practice. The Doctor of
Nursing Practice degree offered by the California State University
shall be distinguished from the doctor of philosophy degree offered
at, or in conjunction with, the University of California.
(c) The Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program offered by the
California State University shall train nurses for advanced
nursing practice and prepare clinical faculty to teach in
postsecondary nursing education programs. focus on the
preparation of clinical faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing
education programs and may also train nurses for advanced nursing
practice or nurse leadership, or both. The degree program shall not
replace or supplant master's degree nursing programs offered, as of
January 1, 2010, by the California State University. The degree
program shall be designed to enable professionals to earn the degree
while working full time.
(d) A Doctor of Nursing degree program established by the
California State University is not exempt from any review and
approval processes, including those performed by the California
Postsecondary Education Commission.
(d)
(e) In implementing subdivision (a), the California
State University shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) Funding on a per full-time equivalent student (FTES) basis for
each new student in the degree program shall be within the
California State University's enrollment growth levels as agreed to
in the annual Budget Act. Enrollments in the degree program shall not
alter the California State University's ratio of graduate
instruction to total enrollment, and shall not diminish enrollment
growth in university undergraduate programs. Funding provided from
the state for each FTES shall be at the agreed-upon marginal costs
calculation that the California State University receives for
graduate enrollment.
(2) The California State University shall provide any initial
funding needed for the degree program authorized by this article from
within existing budgets for academic programs support, without
diminishing the quality of program support offered to California
State University undergraduate programs. Funding for the degree
program shall not reduce undergraduate enrollments at the California
State University.
89282. If the California State University establishes a Doctor of
Nursing Practice degree program pursuant to Section 89281, the
university shall report on the status of the degree program to the
California Postsecondary Education Commission, the Legislative
Analyst's Office, and the appropriate budget subcommittees in each
house of the Legislature. The report shall be submitted annually,
prior to any legislative budget subcommittee hearing related to the
degree program.