BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1056
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1056 (Fong) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
The bill requires community colleges to electronically transmit
student transcripts. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Chancellor's Office of the California Community
Colleges (CCCO), by January 1, 2012, to implement a procedure
complying with legislative intent that CCC students have their
educational records transferred electronically between higher
education segments and colleges 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 all CCC districts, by January 1, 2013, and contingent
upon funding by state, federal, or philanthropic sources for
this purpose, to implement a process, consistent with the
above criteria, for the receipt and transmission of electronic
student transcripts.
FISCAL EFFECT
Currently about 43 community college districts are not
electronically transmitting student transcripts. Assuming
one-time technology costs of about $30,000 for programming,
statewide reimbursable costs to implement the system at these
districts would be $1.3 million. (General Fund, Prop. 98.)
As with districts currently using the statewide system described
AB 1056
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below, the above districts would pay an annual fee of about
$5,000 per college. These costs are more than offset by
transcript processing fees and by savings in current paper-based
operations at these colleges.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Since July 2007, the Statewide Electronic
Transcript Exchange Program (eTranscript CA) has offered an
internet-based tool for requesting, viewing and transmitting
academic transcripts. This project, developed and sponsored by
the CCC Technology Center, 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 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.
2)Purpose . 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. 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081