BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 386
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 386 (Levine)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(May 30, 2013) |SENATE: |38-0 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY : Expresses the intent of the Legislature that by the
beginning of the 2015-16 academic year, students enrolled at the
California State University (CSU) be provided an opportunity to
enroll in online courses available at other CSU campuses, and
that on or before January 1, 2015, for purposes of measuring the
effectiveness of online education, the Trustees of the CSU shall
establish a series of uniform definitions for online education;
authorizes any CSU student enrolled at a CSU campus to enroll in
an online course provided by another CSU campus; requires the
CSU Trustees, on or before January 1, 2015, to establish an
easily accessible online database of online courses available at
the CSU; states that the CSU Trustees, on or before January 1,
2017, report to the Legislature on performance data on online
courses as specified; and, states that on or before October 1,
2017, the Legislative Analyst submit a status update to the
Legislature regarding CSU's implementation of the measure as
specified.
The Senate amendments :
1)Specify that the CSU shall use moneys appropriated in Item
6610-001-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2013 (AB
110 (Blumenfield), Chapter 20, Statutes of 2013) for one-time
startup costs related to specified sections of the bill.
2)Make clarifying and technical changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the California Distance Learning Policy, which
sets forth the guiding goals and principles for the
utilization of technology in California postsecondary
education (Education Code (EC) Section 66940).
AB 386
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2)Establishes, until January 1, 2014, the California Virtual
Campus, under the stewardship of the California Community
Colleges (CCC) Board of Governors and pursuant to annual
Budget Act funding to, among other things, enhance the
awareness of, and access to, highly engaging online courses of
study, increase access to next generation Internet services,
21st century workforce development programs, and e-government
services for students and staff served or employed by
education entities and students served primarily online
through partnerships with public libraries and community-based
organizations (EC Section 78910.10).
3)Allows any student enrolled in any campus of the three public
segments (University of California, CSU or CCC) who meet
certain criteria, to enroll without formal admission to any of
the segments, with certain specified conditions (EC Section
66750 et seq.).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the fiscal impact associated with this measure
entails the following: 1) Cross-enrollment system: The CSU
estimates that establishing a cross-enrollment system that meets
the requirements of this bill will cost $1,090,000 over two
years. Annual operational costs would be approximately
$250,000, primarily to maintain the course database, enrollment
system, and transcript integration (for grading); 2) Authority
to cross-enroll: Once the system is established, the authority
for students to cross-enroll is unlikely to result in
significant costs to the CSU. Individual campuses will have the
authority to charge registration fees to students who
cross-enroll which should mitigate any administrative costs;
and, 3) Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) report: Potentially
significant workload to produce two required reports.
COMMENTS : According to the author, the CSU is a leading
institution in online education; currently offering more than
13,300 fully online or hybrid courses. Within the CSU there is
tremendous potential for increased access through
cross-enrollment in online courses. This bill will provide
students matriculated at any CSU campus with a streamlined point
of access to online courses provided by any of the 23 CSU
campuses.
According to the LAO 2013-14 Analysis of the Higher Education
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Budget, distance learning offers numerous benefits. These
include providing greater access to educational and training
opportunities due to increased scheduling flexibility, as well
as allowing campuses to serve more students without needing
additional physical infrastructure. According to the, LAO there
is no common definition of distance learning among California's
public postsecondary institutions, making it impossible for the
Legislature and segments to measure workload and track
enrollment trends.
Online education at the CSU. Launched in January 2013, CSU
Online is the newest platform of services that supports students
and faculty in teaching and learning through online programs.
CSU Online will host both graduate and undergraduate programs,
but has an initial focus on former students who have had to drop
out of the CSU and are looking to complete their degrees.
Previous legislation. Several online education related measures
have been introduced in the last couple of years; most of them
were held on the Suspense Files in the Assembly and Senate
Appropriations Committees.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
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