BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 895
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 23, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
AB 895 (Rendon) - As Amended: April 16, 2013
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: online education task force.
SUMMARY : Establishes the California Postsecondary Online
Education Task Force (task force) and requires the task force to
evaluate and collect data on the current status of postsecondary
online education in both public and private institutions in
California, and other states, as specified, and analyze methods
to implement online education programs in all California
postsecondary institutions. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the task force consisting of 15 members, who shall
be selected on or before March 31, 2014, in accordance with
the following:
a) Two faculty members from the California Community
Colleges (CCC), selected by the CCC Academic Senate;
b) Two faculty members from the California State University
(CSU), selected by the CSU Academic Senate;
c) Two faculty members from the University of California
(UC), selected by the UC Academic Senate;
d) One member of the non-faculty staff of the CCC, selected
by the CCC Chancellor;
e) One member of the non-faculty staff of the CSU, selected
by the CSU Chancellor;
f) One member of the non-faculty staff of the UC, selected
by the UC President;
g) One administrative officer or employee of the CCC,
selected by the CCC Chancellor;
h) One administrative officer or employee of the CSU,
selected by the CSU Chancellor;
i) One administrative officer or employee of the UC,
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selected by the UC President;
j) One CCC student, selected by the CCC Chancellor from a
list of the names of at least two students submitted to the
chancellor by the governing board of any statewide student
organization that represents CCC students and the student
body organizations of the CCC campuses;
aa) One CSU student, selected by the CSU Chancellor from a
list of the names of at least two students submitted to the
chancellor by the governing board of any statewide student
organization that represents CSU students of the and the
student body organizations of CSU campuses; and,
bb) One UC student, selected by the UC President from a list
of the names of at least two students submitted to the
president by the governing board of any statewide student
organization that represents UC students and the student
body organizations of the UC campuses.
2)Specifies that a member of the task force shall serve at the
pleasure of the entity that selected him/her.
3)Specifies the duties of the task force to include, but not
necessarily limited to, all of the following:
a) Evaluating and collecting data on the status of
postsecondary online education in both public and private
institutions, including out of state online education
providers offering online courses in California, including,
but not necessarily limited to, all of the following:
i) The number of students, course offerings, types of
course offerings, and full degree programs in each
institution,
ii) The average amount of student loan debt and the
status of repayment of these loans,
iii) The amount of money invested per student per
program,
iv) The completion rate of students enrolled full time
in online courses and part time in online courses,
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v) Data on student demographics, including, but not
limited to, matriculated compared to nonmatriculated
students, and students enrolled full time in online
courses compared to students enrolled part time in online
courses, and,
vi) Data on faculty teaching online, including, but not
limited to, tenure status, years of teaching in a
classroom compared to online teaching, and the number of
classes taught.
b) Identifying the role of online education programs in
California's public postsecondary education system;
c) Identifying evidence-based best practices, including,
but not necessarily limited to the following:
i) Identifying courses best and least suited for online
education, and,
ii) Identifying students best suited for online
education.
d) Determining and describing the fiscal impact of online
education on all of the following:
i) The students,
ii) The three segments of public postsecondary
education, and,
iii) The state General Fund.
e) Identifying resources, including, but not necessarily
limited to, fiscal resources, labor and staff, and
technological infrastructure and support, needed for the
effective delivery of online education; and,
f) Analyzing methods to implement online education programs
in California postsecondary institutions.
4)Requires the task force to submit a report, by January 1,
2016, and every two years thereafter, to the Legislature.
5)Specifies that the submitted reports shall include, but not
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necessarily be limited to, information obtained pursuant to
this measure, and recommendations of innovative online
education methods.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the California Distance Learning Policy, which
sets forth the guiding goal and principles for the utilization
of technology in California postsecondary education (Education
Code § 66940).
2)Establishes, until January 1, 2014, the California Virtual
Campus, under the stewardship of the 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 §
78910.10).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . According to the Legislative Analyst's
Office (LAO) 2013-2014 Analysis of the Higher Education 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.
Governor Brown has encouraged state colleges and universities to
expand their online offerings. The 2013-2014 budget allocates
$16.9 million to CCC and $10 million to both the CSU and UC
systems for online education. All 112 campuses of the CCCs
offer online education, and the California Virtual Campus
provides course information and class schedules for all CCCs.
Cal State Online, an initiative focusing on helping students
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finish course work to obtain degrees, was launched in January
2013. The UC system launched UC Online last year, which offers
courses to non-UC and UC students for credit.
Need for the bill . According to the author, no working group
currently exists to study the possible outcomes for students and
faculty if offerings of online courses in the UC and CSU systems
are increased. Information to policymakers and the public on
these outcomes at public institutions offering online courses is
limited. The author states, "Quality of education,
accessibility, affordability, cheating, ownership and
development of curriculum, and career counseling and mentorship
access, are some of the concerns faculty members have in regard
to online education expansion." With this in mind, this bill
would bring policymakers, stakeholders and subject matter
experts together to carefully evaluate and create a thoughtful
approach to implementing online education in our higher
education institutions.
Issues to consider .
1)Role of the private postsecondary institutions ? This measure
requires the task force to evaluate and collect data on the
status of postsecondary online education in both public and
private institutions. The committee may want to consider if
representatives from both private non-profit and for-profit
California postsecondary institutions should have membership
on the task force.
2)Sunset ? The bill requires the task force, on or before
January 1, 2016, and every two years thereafter, to submit a
report to the Legislature. The committee may want to consider
adding a sunset to this measure.
3)Proposed California Higher Education Authority . AB 1348 (John
A. Pérez), which will be presented in this committee today,
proposes to create the California Higher Education Authority.
This Authority, among other things, will be tasked with
developing, presenting, and monitoring postsecondary education
goals for the state. The committee may want to consider if
the proposed Authority should be the entity to gather and
collect data and best practices as it relates to online
education for all California postsecondary institutions and
report to the Legislature on key findings and recommendations.
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Other measures to address online education . There are several
online education related measures pending Legislative action
this session:
1)AB 386 (Levine), which will be taken up today in the committee
hearing, would require that by the beginning of the 2015-16
academic year, students enrolled at the CSU be provided an
opportunity to enroll in online courses available at other CSU
campuses, would authorize any CSU student enrolled at a CSU
campus to enroll in an online course provided by another CSU
campus, and would require the CSU Trustees, on or before
January 1, 2015, to establish an easily accessible online
database of online courses available at the CSU.
2)AB 387 (Levine), which will be taken up today in the committee
hearing, would require the CSU to have a uniform definition of
online education, beginning January 1, 2017; would require the
CSU Trustees to report performance data about online education
to the Legislature every two years until 2021; would require,
in the development of new programs and instruction at each CSU
campus, that not less than 10% of new course offerings be
online courses; and, would require the CSU Trustees, on or
before January 1, 2015, to report to the Legislature on the
feasibility of developing an accelerated bachelor's degree
completion program consisting of online courses, aimed at
students who started college, but never obtained a degree.
3)AB 944 (Nestande), which will be taken up today in the
committee hearing, would require the Trustees of the CSU and
the Board of Governors of CCC and request the Regents of the
UC, to report to the Legislature, by January 1, 2016, and
every two years thereafter, on workload and key performance
data on distance learning courses.
4)SB 520 (Steinberg), which will be taken up on April 24, 2013,
in the Senate Education Committee, would, among other things,
create the California Online Student Access Platform under the
joint administration of the UC President, the Chancellor of
the CSU, and the CCC Chancellor, with the academic senates of
the respective segments, and would require the platform to
provide an efficient statewide mechanism for online course
providers to offer transferable courses for credit and to
create a pool of these online courses.
5)SB 547 (Block), which will be taken up on April 24, 2013, in
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the Senate Education Committee, would, among other things,
require the academic senates of the UC, the CSU, and the CCC
to jointly develop and identify online courses that would be
made available to students of each of the three segments for
enrollment by the fall of 2014.
Prior legislation . AB 626 (Blumenfield, 2011), which remained
in this committee, would have established a definition for
"distance learning." AB 851 (Nestande, 2011), which was similar
in nature to AB 944 (as described above), failed passage in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Faculty Association (Sponsor)
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
Service Employees International Union
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960