Amended in Senate July 2, 2014

Amended in Senate June 18, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 24, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1348

Introduced by Assembly Member John A. Pérez

February 22, 2013

An act to add Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 66550) to, and to repeal Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 66900) of, Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1348, as amended, John A. Pérez. Postsecondary education: California Higher Education Authority.

Existing law establishes the system of postsecondary education in this state, consisting of begin delete 4 end delete begin insert 5 end insert segments: the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, begin delete and end delete independent institutions of higher education, begin insert and private postsecondary educational institutions, end insert as defined. Existing law establishes the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) to be responsible for coordinating public, independent, and private postsecondary education in this state and to provide independent policy analyses and recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor on postsecondary education issues. The Budget Act of 2011 deleted funding and personnel from CPEC.

This bill would repeal the provisions establishing and providing for the duties of CPEC, and commencing July 1, 2015, would establish the California Higher Education Authority, under the administration of begin delete a 13-member end delete begin insert an 11-member end insert board of directors. The bill would specify the appointing authorities and the length of the terms of the members of the board of directors. begin insert The bill would establish a 9-member student advisory committee to advise the board of directors on all matters related to student fees and policies, student financial aid, student services, student life, and other appropriate educational policy. end insert The bill would also set forth the responsibilities of the authority relating to public and private postsecondary education in this state, to be carried out by the authority in accordance with a specified schedule. The bill would require the board of directors to convene a technical working group, including specified persons, to advise on data and policy matters before the board of directors.

Among other duties, the authority would be responsible for developing, presenting, and monitoring begin delete postsecondary education goals for the state, including, but not necessarily limited to, monitoring and reporting on the progress of the postsecondary segments toward their long-term goals end delete begin insert state goals for postsecondary education, and the development of appropriate metrics that shall be used to monitor and report on the progress of the postsecondary segments toward meeting those state goals, as specified end insert ; measuring, and reporting about, how efficiently and effectively the postsecondary segments are serving the state’s needs; making recommendations about how to improve the performance of the postsecondary segments; developing and recommending strategic finance policy to the Governor and the Legislature on topics including, but not necessarily limited to, the allocation of state appropriations among the postsecondary education segments, student fee policy, and student financial aid; developing and presenting basic policy parameters for capacity development or realignment, including, but not necessarily limited to, expansion or realignment of enrollment capacity among or within the postsecondary education segments, to meet the state’s higher education goals; reviewing, and making recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature relating to, major capacity decisions, such as changes in mission or the establishment of new campuses or centers, that are to be financed begin delete with state appropriations or state-approved student fees end delete begin insert from specified funding sources end insert ; and acting as a clearinghouse for postsecondary education information and as a primary source of information for the Legislature, the Governor, and other agencies, and succeeding to certain data management responsibilities of CPEC by developing and maintaining a comprehensive database in accordance with prescribed criteria.

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.  

Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 66550)
is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
to read:

 

Chapter  7.5. California Higher Education Authority

 

66550.  

(a) The California Higher Education Authority is
hereby established. The authority shall be governed by a
13-member board of directors, who shall be appointed in
accordance with the following:

(1) (A) Nine representatives of the general public appointed as
follows:

(i) Three members appointed by the Governor subject to
confirmation by a majority of the membership of the Senate.

(ii) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.

(iii) Three members appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules.

(B) The members initially appointed to the board of directors
under this paragraph shall serve staggered terms. Each of the
appointing entities in subparagraph (A) shall use one of their three
appointments to appoint a member for a two-year term
commencing on July 1, 2015, and ending on June 30, begin delete 2017, end delete begin insert 2017; end insert
one of their appointments to appoint a member for a four-year term
commencing on July 1, 2015, and ending on June 30, begin delete 2019, end delete begin insert 2019; end insert
and one of their appointments to appoint a member for a six-year
term commencing on July 1, 2015, and ending on June 30, 2021.
After the terms specified in this subparagraph have ended, all
subsequent appointments to the authority under this paragraph
shall be for six-year terms.

(C) A member appointed to the board of directors under this
paragraph may be reappointed for an additional term or terms.

(D) No member appointed to the board of directors under this
paragraph may be an employee of a postsecondary institution in
this state or hold an official position, such as trustee or regent, with
a postsecondary institution in this state.

(E) In making appointments under this paragraph, the Governor,
the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Committee on Rules
shall consider the need for members to have skills, knowledge,
and experience related to postsecondary education, student financial
aid policy, statewide accountability, and workforce development,
and the value of the board of directors being broadly reflective of
the economic, cultural, and social diversity of the state.

(2) (A)  begin delete Four end delete begin insert Two end insert representatives of the students of the
postsecondary education segments appointed for one-year terms,
commencing on July 1, 2015, begin delete as follows: end delete begin insert each of whom shall be
enrolled at a California postsecondary education institution at the
time of appointment and during the term of service, except that a
student member who graduates from an institution with no more
than six months of his or her term remaining shall be permitted
to serve for the remainder of the term. The Governor shall appoint
the student members from persons nominated by student
organizations of each of the postsecondary education segments.
For each student member vacancy on the board of directors, the
student organizations may each submit a list of not less than three
and not more than five nominees. The student organization for
each segment shall be a composite group of at least five
representative student government associations, as determined by
the board of directors. end insert

begin delete

(i) One student of a campus of the California Community
Colleges, who shall have at least second year standing at that
campus, selected by the Governor from lists of names of at least
two, but not more than five, persons furnished by the governing
board of any statewide student organization that represents the
students of the California Community Colleges and the student
body organizations of the campuses of the California Community
Colleges.

(ii) One student of a campus of the California State University,
who shall have at least junior year standing at that campus, selected
by the Governor from lists of names of at least two, but not more
than five, persons furnished by the governing board of any
statewide student organization that represents the students of the
California State University and the student body organizations of
the campuses of the California State University.

(iii) One student of a campus of the University of California,
who shall have at least junior year standing at that campus, selected
by the Governor from lists of names of at least two, but not more
than five, persons furnished by the governing board of any
statewide student organization that represents the students of the
University of California and the student body organizations of the
campuses of the University of California.

(iv) One student of a member institution of the Association of
Independent California Colleges and Universities, selected by the
Governor from lists of names of at least two, but not more than
five, persons furnished by the chief executive officer of the
Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.

end delete

(B) A begin insert student end insert member appointed to the board of directors under
this paragraph may be reappointed for an additional term, as long
as he or she remains a student enrolled at a campus of the
postsecondary education segment that he or she represents.

begin insert

(C) A student member appointed to the board of directors under
this paragraph shall not be appointed from the same segment as
the outgoing student member or the other sitting student member.

end insert

(b) Each of the begin delete 13 end delete begin insert 11 end insert members of the board of directors shall
be a voting member. The members of the board of directors shall
elect a chairperson from their membership.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the appointment process
of the first members of the board of directors be completed before
July 1, 2015, so that the first meeting of the board of directors may
be convened as soon as possible after the terms of the initial
members commence on July 1, 2015.

(d) Each member of the board of directors shall receive actual
and necessary travel expenses and one hundred dollars ($100) for
each day he or she is attending to the official business of the
authority.

begin insert

(e) (1) A nine-member student advisory committee shall be
established to advise the board of directors on all matters related
to student fees and policies, student financial aid, student services,
student life, and other appropriate educational policy. The advisory
committee shall be appointed in accordance with the following:

end insert begin insert

(A) Three students of campuses of the California Community
Colleges, who shall have at least second year standing at their
respective campuses, selected by the board of directors from a list
of names of at least four, but not more than five, persons furnished
by the governing board of any statewide student organization that
represents the students of the California Community Colleges and
the student body organizations of the campuses of the California
Community Colleges.

end insert begin insert

(B) Two students of campuses of the California State University,
who shall have at least junior year standing at their respective
campuses, selected by the board of directors from a list of names
of at least three, but not more than five, persons furnished by the
governing board of any statewide student organization that
represents the students of the California State University and the
student body organizations of the campuses of the California State
University.

end insert begin insert

(C) Two students of campuses of the University of California,
who shall have at least junior year standing at their respective
campuses, selected by the board of directors from a list of names
of at least three, but not more than five, persons furnished by the
governing board of any statewide student organization that
represents the students of the University of California and the
student body organizations of the campuses of the University of
California.

end insert begin insert

(D) Two student members of institutions of the Association of
Independent California Colleges and Universities, selected by the
board of directors from a list of names of at least three, but not
more than five, persons furnished by the chief executive officer of
the Association of Independent California Colleges and
Universities.

end insert begin insert

(2) The student advisory committee shall receive board of
directors’ meeting agenda items and associated documents in a
timely manner for its consideration and comments in advance of
the meeting.

end insert

66551.  

(a) The board of directors shall be authorized to enter
into agreements with any public or private agency, officer, person,
institution, corporation, association, or foundation for the
performance of acts or for the furnishing of services, facilities,
materials, goods, supplies, or equipment.

(b) The authority shall carry out all of the following
responsibilities according to the schedule in subdivision (d):

(1) Developing, presenting, and monitoring begin insert the state goals for end insert
postsecondary begin delete education goals for the state, including, but not
necessarily limited to, monitoring and reporting on the progress
of the postsecondary segments toward their long-term goals end delete
begin insert education as listed in Section 66010.91, and the development of
appropriate metrics pursuant to Section 66010.93 that shall be
used to monitor and report on the progress of the postsecondary
segments, as defined in Section 66010.95, toward meeting the state
goals end insert .

(2) Measuring, and reporting about, how efficiently and
effectively the postsecondary education segments are serving the
state’s needs.

(3) Making recommendations about how to improve the
performance of the postsecondary education segments.

(4) Developing information in order to assist state and local
policymakers and begin delete consumers end delete begin insert students and parents end insert in making
cost-effective investments in postsecondary education and training
to meet the long-term goal of a strong state economy and vibrant
communities.

(5) Developing and recommending strategic finance policy to
the Governor and the Legislature on topics including, but not
necessarily limited to, the allocation of state appropriations among
the postsecondary education segments, public postsecondary
student fee policy, and student financial aid.

(6) Developing and presenting basic policy parameters for
capacity development or realignment, including, but not necessarily
limited to, expansion or realignment of enrollment capacity among
or within the postsecondary education segments, to meet the state’s
higher education goals.

(7) Reviewing, and making recommendations to the Governor
and the Legislature relating to, major capacity decisions, such as
changes in mission or the establishment of new campuses, centers,
or programs that are to be financed with state begin delete appropriations or end delete
begin insert appropriations, end insert state-approved student fees begin insert , nonstate funds, or
state authorized bonds, or any combination of these sources of
financing end insert .

(8) (A) Acting as a clearinghouse for postsecondary education
information and as a primary source of information for the
Legislature, the Governor, and other agencies, and developing and
maintaining a comprehensive database that does all of the
following:

(i) Ensures comparability of data from diverse sources.

(ii) Supports longitudinal studies of individual students as they
progress through the state’s postsecondary educational institutions,
based upon the authority’s existing student database through the
use of a unique student identifier.

(iii) Is compatible with the California School Information
System and the student information systems developed and
maintained by the public segments of higher education, as
appropriate.

(iv) Provides Internet access to data, as appropriate, to the
sectors of higher education.

(v) Provides each of the postsecondary educational segments
access to the data made available to the authority for purposes of
the database, in order to support, most efficiently and effectively,
statewide, segmental, and individual campus educational research
information needs.

(B) The authority, in implementing this paragraph, shall comply
with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of
1974 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) relating to the disclosure of personally
identifiable information concerning students.

(C) The authority may not make available any personally
identifiable information received from a postsecondary educational
institution concerning students for any regulatory purpose unless
the institution has authorized the authority to provide that
information on behalf of the institution.

(D) The authority shall provide 30-day notification to the
chairpersons of the appropriate legislative policy and budget
committees of the Legislature, to the Director of Finance, and to
the Governor before making any significant changes to the student
information contained in the database.

(E) The authority shall use the data received from the state’s
postsecondary educational institutions to determine the percentage
of California high school graduates estimated to be eligible for
admission to the University of California and the California State
University. The authority shall first report this estimate no later
than begin delete January 1, 2016 end delete begin insert January 1, 2017 end insert .

(c) The authority shall pursue an integrated approach to the
state’s postsecondary education policy by collaborating with public
and private postsecondary educational institutions in California to
address the state’s postsecondary education needs and goals.

(d) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that the authority carry
out the responsibilities in subdivision (b) in accordance with the
schedule in paragraph (2):

(2) (A) Commencing July 1, 2015, the authority shall carry out
the responsibilities in paragraph (8) of subdivision (b).

(B) Commencing July 1, 2016, the authority shall carry out the
responsibilities in paragraphs begin insert (1), end insert (6) begin insert , end insert and (7) of subdivision (b).

(C) Commencing July 1, 2017, the authority shall carry out the
responsibilities in paragraphs begin delete (1) end delete begin insert (2) end insert to (5), inclusive, of
subdivision (b).

66552.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert The board of directors shall appoint an executive
officer of the authority, who shall serve at the pleasure of the board
of directors. The executive officer shall be authorized to appoint
additional staff of the authority as necessary.

begin insert

(b) The board shall prescribe rules for the transaction of its
own affairs in accordance with all the following requirements and
limitations:

end insert begin insert

(1) The votes of all members shall be recorded.

end insert begin insert

(2) Effective action shall require the affirmative vote of a
majority of all the duly appointed members of the board, not
including vacant seats on the board.

end insert begin insert

(3) The affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the duly appointed
members of the board, not including vacant seats on the board,
shall be required to appoint the executive officer.

end insert

66553.  

(a) The board of directors shall convene a technical
working group to advise on data and policy matters before the
board of directors. The working group shall include the following
persons:

(1) The chief executive officer of each of the segments of public
postsecondary education, or designee of the chief executive officer.

(2) The chair, or the designee of the chair, of the largest
association of the independent California colleges and universities
that are formed and operated as nonprofit corporations in this state
and are accredited by a regional accreditation agency recognized
by the United States Department of Education.

(3) The chair, or designee of the chair, of the Bureau for Private
Postsecondary Education advisory committee.

(4) The chair, or designee of the chair, of the California Student
Aid Commission.

(5) The chair, or designee of the chair, of the academic senate
for each of the segments of public postsecondary education.

(6) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, or designee of the
Superintendent.

(b) The technical working group shall receive board of directors
meeting agenda items and association documents in a timely
manner for its consideration and comments in advance of the
meeting.

66554.  

Notwithstanding any other law:

(a) On and after July 1, 2015, the authority shall succeed to the
data management responsibilities granted to the former California
Postsecondary Education Commission pursuant to subdivision (m)
of former Section 66903 as it existed on December 31, 2013, and
as currently set forth in paragraph (8) of subdivision (b) of Section
66551. The authority may disclose data it receives or maintains
under this section only as specifically authorized to do so in
paragraph (8) of subdivision (b) of Section 66551, and shall dispose
of data it receives only in accordance with applicable state and
federal law.

(b) The authority is authorized to require the governing boards
and the institutions of public postsecondary education to submit
data on plans and programs, costs, selection and retention of
students, enrollments, plant capacities, and other matters pertinent
to effective planning, policy development, and articulation and
coordination, and shall furnish information concerning these
matters to the Governor and to the Legislature as requested by
them.

66555.  

This chapter shall become operative on July 1, 2015.

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 66900) of Part
40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code is repealed.

SEC. 3.  

The appointment to the technical working group of
the chair, or designee of the chair, of the Bureau for Private
Postsecondary Education advisory committee pursuant to paragraph
(3) of subdivision (a) of Section 66553 of this act shall become
operative only if an act that becomes operative on or before January
1, 2015, amends or repeals Section 94950 of the Education Code
to delay or eliminate the January 1, 2015, repeal date of the
California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 (Chapter
8 (commencing with Section 94800) of Part 59 of Division 10 of
Title 3 of the Education Code).