BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1056
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Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
AB 1056 (Fong) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: community colleges.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC)
Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) to implement a procedure to
facilitate the electronic transmission of student transcripts.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes Legislative intent that CCC students have their
educational records transferred between higher education
segments and colleges electronically using a system that
satisfies specified criteria including record security,
expeditious transfer, reduced operational costs, minimized
delays, compatibility with other technological infrastructure,
and compatibility with systems developed by other CCC
districts, the State Department of Education (CDE), the
California State University (CSU), and the University of
California (UC).
2)Requires, by January 1, 2012, the CCCCO to implement a
procedure that complies with all of the aforementioned
criteria to facilitate the electronic receipt and transmission
of student transcripts by districts.
3)Requires, by January 1, 2013, and contingent upon funding by
state, federal, or philanthropic sources for this purpose, all
CCC districts to implement a process, consistent with the
aforementioned criteria, for the receipt and transmission of
electronic student transcripts.
4)Provides that if the Commission on State Mandates determines
that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those
costs shall be made.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background : Since July 2007, the Statewide
Electronic Transcript Exchange Program (eTranscript CA) has
offered an internet-based tool for requesting, viewing and
AB 1056
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transmitting academic transcripts. The project was developed
and sponsored by the CCC Technology Center and offers services
to CCC, CSU, UC, and California's independent and private
colleges. As of September 2010, 57 institutions were
participating in the program. Quantifiable benefits of the
program include a savings of $4 to $10 per transcript by
reducing paper, postage, and labor costs, easier access to
student records, reduced mistakes and fraud.
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, the process of
mailing thousands of paper-based student transcripts from one
institution of higher education to another is neither timely nor
cost-effective. The paper-based transcripts can take 2-3 weeks
to be delivered, which can delay a student's enrollment in
classes and/or hinder their ability to transfer. Further
compounding the problems are budget cuts forcing colleges to
reduce the number of staff that process transcripts. The author
notes that with the passage of the Student Transfer Achievement
Reform Act (SB 1440 of 2010), CCC anticipates transfer rates to
significantly increase, necessitating a more efficient manner of
transferring credits to be applied at CSU. This bill is
intended to further the efforts of eTranscript CA for an easily
accessible and cost-effective process for electronically
delivering CCC student transcripts between institutions.
Is legislation necessary ? As previously noted, eTranscript CA
is already underway. Legislation requiring the CCCCO to develop
an electronic transcript transfer process is duplicative of this
existing effort. However, legislation is needed to require the
CCC districts to participate in the electronic transcript
program. In addition to requiring CCCCO to develop an
electronic transcript program, this bill would require CCC
districts to implement an electronic transcript program by
January 1, 2013, provided that funds are made available for this
purpose.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Community Colleges Board of Governors
Community College League of California
Los Rios Community College District
Merced College
AB 1056
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Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960