BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 520
AUTHOR: Steinberg
AMENDED: April 25, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: May 1, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
NOTE : This bill was previously heard by this committee on
April 24, 2013. Testimony was provided but no vote was
taken. The bill has been amended and the analysis has been
updated to reflect the amendments.
SUBJECT : California Online Student Access Platform.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the President of the University of
California (UC), the Chancellor of the California State
University (CSU), and the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges (CCC), jointly with each of their
academic senates to develop and administer the California
Online Student Access Platform to facilitate appropriate
partnerships, including but not necessarily limited to,
intersegmental and intrasegmental partnerships developed,
as specified, and partnerships between online course
providers and faculty members of the three systems to
develop and deploy high-quality online options for
strategically selected lower division courses, as
specified, and provides that funding for this purpose be
required in the Budget Act.
BACKGROUND
Current law requires the California Community Colleges, the
University of California, and the California State
University, with appropriate consultation with the Academic
Senates of the respective segments, to jointly develop,
maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in
general education courses for the purposes of transfer.
Current law also provides that any person who has
successfully completed the transfer core curriculum is
deemed to have completed all lower division general
SB 520
Page 2
education requirements for the UC and the CSU. This
transfer core curriculum is commonly referred to as "IGETC"
- the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum.
(Education Code � 66721)
Current law establishes the California Virtual Campus
(CVC), until January 1, 2014, and outlines the purposes
that it may pursue. Among other things, the CVC issues
grants and recipients may use the grants to lead efforts to
make online courses available to students across the state.
(EC � 78910.10)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Establishes the California Online Student Access
Platform and provides that it:
a) Be developed and administered by
the President of the University of California
(UC), the Chancellor of the California State
University (CSU), and the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges (CCC), jointly with
each of their academic senates.
b) Facilitate appropriate
partnerships, including but not necessarily
limited to intersegmental and intrasegmental
partnerships developed pursuant to the provisions
of SB 547 (Block) and partnerships between online
course providers and faculty members of the UC,
CSU, and CCC to develop and deploy high-quality
online options for strategically selected lower
division courses.
c) Provide statewide facilitation of
intersegmental and intrasegmental partnerships
developed pursuant to the provisions of SB 547
(Block) and appropriate partnerships between UC,
CSU, and CCC faculty and online course technology
providers, to offer transferable courses for
credit.
SB 520
Page 3
d) Create a pool of up to 50 approved
and transferable online credit courses through
which students seeking to enroll may easily
access those courses and related content.
e) Provide a state-level faculty-led
process that places the highest priority on
educational quality through which online courses
can be subjected to high-quality standards and
review.
f) Allow the state, the public,
students, faculty, and other stakeholders to
examine student success rates within the
platform.
2) In order to accomplish the objectives outlined in (1):
a) Requires the President of the UC,
the Chancellor of the CSU, and the Chancellor of
the CCC, jointly with each of their academic
senates to:
i) Develop a list of the
50 most impacted lower division courses at
each of the segments that are deemed
necessary for program completion, deemed
satisfactory for meeting general education
requirements, or in areas defined as high-
demand transferable lower division courses
under Intersegmental General Education
Transfer Curriculum (IGETC).
ii) For any courses that meet the
criteria in (i), facilitate partnerships
including, but not necessarily limited to,
intersegmental and intrasegmental
partnerships developed pursuant to the
provisions of SB 547 (Block) and
partnerships between online course
technology providers and University of
California (UC), California State University
(CSU), and California Community Colleges
(CCC) faculty with the goal of significantly
SB 520
Page 4
increasing online course options for
students for fall term of the 2014-15
academic year.
iii) Create and administer a
standardized review and approval process for
online courses developed per (ii), and
requires that the review of online courses
consider, at a minimum, the extent to which
the course provides instructional support,
retention and success services, student and
instructor interaction, proctored student
assessments and secure examination
processes, pre-enrollment assessment of
student suitability, the use of texts from
the California Digital Open Source Library,
and the inclusion of adaptive learning
technologies.
b) Specifies that the courses
developed pursuant to (2) are for matriculated
students at the UC, CSU, CCC, or for California
high school students.
c) Prohibits the approval of any
course for this purpose unless it is associated
with a faculty sponsor who is a member of the
faculty at the UC, CSU, or CCC, and is approved
by the academic senate of the appropriate
segment.
d) Provides that a course developed
pursuant to these processes be deemed to meet the
lower division transfer and degree requirements
for the UC, CSU, and the CCC.
e) Requires the regular solicitation
and consideration of advice and guidance on
implementation of the platform from the statewide
student associations of each segment.
f) Requires the collection, review
and public availability of data and information
related to student success including enrollment,
retention and completion.
SB 520
Page 5
g) Requires utilization of the state
common course numbering system for approved
courses.
h) Requires the placement of approved
courses in the California Virtual Campus.
i) Requires that matriculated
students at the University of California (UC),
California State University (CSU), California
Community Colleges (CCC) or California high
school students who complete these courses and
achieve a passing score on a related exam be
granted credit for an equivalent course at the
UC, CSU or CCC as applicable.
3) Requires that funding for implementation of these
provisions be provided in the Annual Budget Act.
4) Declares the Legislature's intent that receipt of
funding for implementing these provisions by the UC is
contingent upon its compliance with the bill's
requirements.
5) Prohibits the use of public funds to fund any private
aspect of a partnership developed pursuant to the
bill's provisions between UC, CSU, or CCC faculty and
an online course technology provider.
6) Requires that the state retain all appropriate rights
to intellectual property it creates or develops in the
implementation of the bill's provisions.
7) Extends the sunset on the California Virtual Campus
until January 1, 2017.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) In summary . This bill would provide public funding to
faculty and the administration at the UC, CSU, and CCC
and require the use of that funding to develop and
administer the California Online Student Access
Platform to facilitate the development of
partnerships, including those developed under the
provisions of SB 547 (Block), (which was heard and
passed by this committee on April 24, 2013), to
SB 520
Page 6
develop up to 50 courses that would be offered to
matriculated students at the public segments and to
California high school students through the California
Virtual Campus by the fall of 2014 for purposes of
meeting lower division general education degree and
transfer requirements.
Recent amendments prohibit the use of public funds to
fund any private aspect of a partnership developed and
requires that the state retain all appropriate rights
to intellectual property it creates or develops in
implementing the bill's provisions
The committee may wish to consider the following
questions:
a) This bill requires facilitation of
"appropriate" partnerships with private online
providers and requires that the state retain all
"appropriate" rights to intellectual property it
creates or develops, but does not outline what
appropriate means. What would be appropriate?
What would be inappropriate?
b) Are matriculated students who are already
paying fees and tuition to our public
universities, and whose parents provide the tax
revenue for general fund resources provided in
the budget, expected to "pay again" for a class
that was developed with/by public employees
(faculty)?
c) Would the private online provider be able
to offer courses to individuals other than
matriculated students and California high school
students and/or profit from the courses
developed with public funding?
d) Is it prudent to require the use of public
dollars to facilitate statewide partnerships
with private entities in a field that is new and
changing?
e) What is envisioned by a "platform?" Is
the bill directing the creation of a technology
infrastructure (hardware and software)? Is it
SB 520
Page 7
an internally developed course management
system?
2) How does this bill work with SB 547 ? According to the
author, it is the intent that the California Online
Student Access Platform created by this bill
facilitate the intersegmental and intrasegmental
partnership developed under the provisions of SB 547,
as well as the partnerships between private providers
and university faculty. As currently drafted, however,
the bill could be interpreted to duplicate the
provisions of SB 547.
SB 547 does not preclude the academic senates from
endorsing partnerships with education or technology
vendors as a means of developing online coursework to
meet its requirements. However SB 520 outlines a
different governance structure and provides a more
developed framework and criteria and guidelines for
online course approval developed via partnerships with
private technology providers.
Both bills rely on Budget Act funding to implement
their provisions, presumably as a means of directing
the use of funding proposed by the Governor for
expanding delivery of courses through the use of
technology.
The authors may wish to continue working together to
ensure that their efforts are complementary.
3) Reference to nonexistent provisions . As currently
drafted, this bill refers to partnerships developed
pursuant to provisions which are proposed to be
established by SB 547 (Block). This reference will
only be relevant if
SB 547 is enacted. If it is the desire to retain the
reference to the provisions of SB 547, the author may
wish to amend the bill to include language which
clarifies that these references are contingent upon
the enactment of SB 547.
4) Why is it necessary to require the facilitation of
partnerships with private online course providers ?
This bill requires the public segments of higher
education to facilitate partnerships with private
SB 520
Page 8
online course providers to increase enrollment
opportunities in lower division transfer and degree
courses.
Several examples exist of how these types of
partnerships are already voluntarily happening at
public higher education institutions in California.
Udacity, a private educational organization funded
through venture capital, offers a select number of
online courses for college credit in partnership with
San Jose State University. San Jose State also
recently announced an expansion of its collaboration
with EdX, a not-for-profit online learning enterprise
founded by Harvard and MIT, to serve up to 11 more
California State University (CSU) campuses through a
collaboratively established Center for Excellence in
Adaptive and Blended Learning at the campus. UC
Berkeley also participates with EdX to offer online
courses and currently offers six noncredit Massive
Open Online Courses (MOOCs), but reports that it also
offers nearly 30 undergraduate online courses for
credit.
Much of the publicity and enrollment in MOOCs began in
the fall of 2011 with the offering of three such
courses at Stanford University. MOOCs are a relatively
new phenomenon and the features of, and conditions
surrounding the use of these courses, platforms, and
related contractual issues are still evolving.
According to the author, it is the intent to go beyond
the existing campus and individual faculty efforts to
implement a state-level, faculty led process and to
focus course development on impacted lower division
courses at all three public segments.
5) What else is already being done ? All three segments
currently make online courses available to students
for degree credit. According to a 2010 Legislative
Analyst Office report, Using Distance Education to
Increase College Access and Efficiency, distance
education courses (generally defined as using
internet, television or other modes of technology to
deliver instruction) are offered at virtually all 112
California Community Colleges and some report serving
over 40 percent of their students via the distance
SB 520
Page 9
education medium. The CSU reports that it offers 84
undergraduate and master's programs online, over
13,000 full online and hybrid courses, and 150
professional development certificate programs online.
In addition, individual faculty and institutions
throughout the public postsecondary education system
have voluntarily partnered with private online
providers to develop courses, some of which are
available for credit.
If online courses are a viable means for increasing
access would it be more reasonable to first leverage
these existing efforts before facilitating the use of
outside, non-public entities to meet student needs?
6) To what end ? Online education is one of many
strategies possible for successfully meeting the
increasing demand for higher education opportunity in
California. But is online education the objective or
is it simply a tool? Recent policy discussion around
our public institutions has acknowledged that while
California has traditionally been committed to access,
we have not always ensured student success.
According to a study by the Columbia University
College Research Center, "Adaptability Online
Learning: Differences Across Types of Students and
Academic Subject Areas", all students who take more
online courses, no matter the demographic, are less
likely to attain a degree, and some groups, including
black, male, younger and lower grade-point-average
students are particularly susceptible to this pattern.
The study was based on a dataset of nearly 500,000
courses taken by over 40,000 community and technical
college students in Washington State in fall 2004.
According to the researchers, their findings support
the notion that students are not homogenous in their
adaptability to the online delivery format and may
have substantially different outcomes for online
learning, and that these patterns suggest that
performance gaps between key demographic groups
already observed in face-to-face settings are
exacerbated in online courses.
This bill requires the facilitation of the use of
private online providers to increase enrollment
SB 520
Page 10
opportunities in courses that may move students toward
their degree objectives. While online courses in
general have shown mixed results as a tool for student
success, private online providers have had even less
time to demonstrate that the courses they offer are a
viable means for increasing persistence, completion
and graduation rates.
Should partnerships with private online providers be
facilitated without sufficient evidence that this tool
not only increases enrollment opportunities, but
completion as well? What authority or leverage would
the Legislature have over private providers that enter
into partnerships if these courses do not yield the
successful outcomes anticipated?
7) California Virtual Campus . The California Virtual
Campus (CVC) began under the name the California
Virtual University in 1997 as an intersegmental effort
to establish and maintain a catalog of online courses
and to help faculty convert traditional courses into
an online format. The name changed to the CVC in 1999
when stewardship of the intersegmental effort passed
to the California Community Colleges. The CVC was
annually recognized in the annual Budget Act where it
was provided funding for the support of distance
education centers and for a grant program administered
by the Chancellor's office. Legislation placing the
California Virtual Campus (CVC) in statute and
outlining its purpose was enacted in 2008. Funded by a
grant from the California Community Colleges
Chancellor's Office, the Butte-Glenn Community College
currently administers the CVC. The CVC does not
confer degrees or certificates, but provides links to
California campuses offering technology mediated
distance learning degrees and programs. According to
the CVC
there are more than 16,000 courses and 1,200 degree
programs offered
at 167 accredited institutions of higher education in
the CVC Distance Education Catalog.
This bill extends the sunset date for the CVC to 2017.
8) Related budget proposal . The Governor's 2013-14
SB 520
Page 11
proposed budget includes funding to expand the
delivery of higher education courses through the use
of technology. The proposal includes a $16.9 million
augmentation to the community colleges and a set aside
of $10 million each in the University of California
and California State University budget to increase the
number of online courses available to matriculated
undergraduates, specifically those courses that have
the highest demand, fill quickly, and are
prerequisites for many different degrees. The
proposal also stipulates that courses must be aimed at
advanced students who are likely to succeed in these
types of courses.
For the community colleges, the Governor specifically
articulates a goal of 250 new courses, the creation of
a "virtual campus" to increase statewide student
access to these courses, and the creation of a single,
common, and centralized delivery and support
infrastructure for all courses delivered through
technology and for all community colleges. The
Governor also requires the expansion of options for
students to access instruction in other environments
and earn college credit for demonstrated knowledge and
skills through credit by exam.
9) Other similar legislation .
SB 547 (Block) requires the academic senates of the
University of California (UC), California State
University (CSU), and the California Community
Colleges (CCC) to jointly develop and identify online
courses available for enrollment by matriculated
students at each of the three segments by fall of
2014, as specified, requires that the Board of
Governors of the CCC create a portal for enrolling in
these courses through the California Virtual Campus,
and requires that funding for implementation of these
provisions be provided in the Annual Budget Act. SB
547 was heard and passed by this committee on April
24, 2013 by a vote of 9-0.
AB 386 (Levine) declares the Legislature's intent
that, by 2015-16, students enrolled at a CSU campus
be provided an opportunity to enroll in online courses
available at other CSU campuses, authorizes any CSU
SB 520
Page 12
student who meets specified requirements to enroll in
these courses, without formal admission, and without
payment of additional tuition or fees, and requires
the trustees, to establish an easily accessible online
database of online credit courses that fulfill
graduation, general education and major requirements
before January 1, 2015. AB 386 is currently awaiting
action in the Assembly Higher Education Committee.
AB 387 (Levine) requires the trustees to establish a
series of uniform definitions for online education,
for purposes of measuring and reporting performance
data to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2015,
and further requires that not less than 10% of new
course offerings be online courses, as defined. AB
387 is currently awaiting action in the Assembly
Higher Education Committee.
AB 895 (Redon) establishes the California
Postsecondary Online Education Task Force to evaluate
and identify best practices for the implementation of
online education in California and to report
information and recommendations for innovative online
education methods every two years beginning January 1,
2016.
SUPPORT
EdVoice
OPPOSITION
None received on this version.