BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Senator Carol Liu, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:              AB 716             
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          |Author:    |Low                                                  |
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          |Version:   |February 25, 2015                      Hearing Date: |
          |           |    June 24, 2015                                    |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:     |Yes             |
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          |Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira                                     |
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          Subject:  California State University:  special sessions

            SUMMARY
          
          This bill, defines "supplanting" for purposes of special session  
          instructional programs offered at the California State  
          University (CSU), and establishes requirements and prohibitions  
          on the offering of state-supported and special session courses  
          for the purposes of degree completion and graduation. 

            BACKGROUND
          
          Current law authorizes the CSU to require and collect tuition  
          fees from students enrolled in each special session adequate in  
          the long run, to meet the cost of maintaining special sessions.   
          "Special sessions," at the CSU are defined to include, but not  
          be limited to, career enrichment and retraining programs.  
          Current law also declares the intent of the Legislature that  
          these programs, offered on a self-supporting basis by the CSU  
          during summer sessions, may be provided throughout the year.   
          Current law prohibits these courses from supplanting  
          state-supported course offerings during the regular academic  
          year.  (EC § 89708)

            ANALYSIS
          
          This bill:

       1)Defines supplanting to mean a reduction in the number of  
            state-supported course offerings while increasing the number  







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            of self-supporting versions of that course.

       2)Requires that each CSU campus, to the extent possible, ensure  
            that courses required for state-supported matriculated  
            students to complete their undergraduate degrees be offered as  
            state-supported courses.

       3)Prohibits a campus from requiring a state-supported matriculated  
            student to enroll in a special session course in order to  
            fulfill a graduation requirement for a state-supported degree  
            program. 

          STAFF COMMENTS
          
       1)Bureau of State Audits (BSA) report.  In December 2013, the State  
            Auditor issued a report, California State University's  
            Extended Education.  The report found that, because state law  
            does not define "supplanting," it was not possible to  
            determine the extent to which such occurred at the three  
            campuses reviewed.  Depending upon the definition used, the  
            Auditor identified as few as 26, and as many as 914 instances  
            in which supplanting may have occurred.  In addition, among  
            other things, the report noted that campuses did not always  
            prepare statements of revenues and expenditures when setting  
            fees, as required per California State University (CSU)  
            student fee policy, revenues from extended education generally  
            exceeded expenditures, and two of the three campuses did not  
            notify the Chancellor's Office, as required, before converting  
            a state-supported program to a self-supported program.  

            Among other things, the report recommended that the  
            Legislature enact statutory language clarifying and defining  
            "supplant" and include a description of how CSU should measure  
            whether supplanting is occurring.  

       2)CSU Response.  Among the recommendations, the Bureau of State  
            Audits (BSA) proposed that the Chancellor's Office immediately  
            begin working with the Legislature and its staff to clarify  
            its intent regarding supplanting. Further, that until  
            clarified by the Legislature, the Chancellor's Office should  
            immediately finalize its executive order pertaining to  
            extended education. 

            In response, the CSU convened a task force comprised of  








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            presidents, provosts, extended education deans, academic  
            senators and student representation to work with the  
            Chancellor's Office staff to discuss and suggest draft  
            supplant language. According to the BSA, the Assistant Vice  
            Chancellor of the CSU Office of Advocacy and State Relations  
            met with the Chair of the Higher Education Committee on  
            February 10, 2014 and discussed next steps.  The Chancellor  
            also approved the supplant language definition as recommended  
            by the task force on May 23, 2014.  As a result of the Task  
            Force meetings, CSU Executive Order 1099 was issued in June  
            2014. 

            The California State Auditor's assessment of the status of  
            these recommendations is that they have been fully  
            implemented. 

       3)CSU Executive Order (EO) 1099.  CSU Executive Order 1099, issued  
            in June 2014, outlines the procedures to be followed by each  
            CSU campus in offering extended education self-support courses  
            and programs, including those offered in summer session and  
            winter intercession. 

            Among other things the EO provides that for degree, credential  
            or certificate programs, or individual academic credit bearing  
            courses to be offered during regular college terms CSU  
            Operating Funds must be either unavailable or inappropriate  
            for supporting the offerings and meet one additional criteria  
            from the following list:  

             a)   Courses or programs must be designed primarily for  
               career enrichment or retraining.

             b)   Course or program location is removed from permanent  
               state-supported facility.
           
             c)   Courses or programs are offered through a distinct  
               technology.


             d)   There must have been a cessation of non-state funding  
               that previously provided educational or other services that  
               cost beyond that which could reasonably be provided with  
               CSU operating funds.  









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            In addition, the CSU is prohibited from requiring a  
            state-support matriculated student from enrolling in  
            self-support courses in order to fulfill the graduation  
            requirements of a state-supported degree program. This bill's  
            provisions generally parallel this element of the Executive  
            Order.

       1)Self-supporting programs at the CSU.  According to the CSU, their  
            extended and continuing education programs offer baccalaureate  
            and graduate degree programs, certificates, and many forms of  
            specialized education and training for business, industry, and  
            government.  While the composition of these campus programs  
            vary considerably, most maintain the following common  
            instructional elements: 

             a)   Special session degree, certificate, and credential  
               programs. 

             b)   Open University, (permits nonmatriculated students to  
               enroll in regular university courses on a space available  
               basis, pay self-support fees and earn university academic  
               credit).
               
             c)   Contract and extension credit.
           
             d)   Non-credit certificates, courses, and programs.
           
             e)   Continuing education units.  

               Many campus self-support units conduct programs during  
               times when regular academic operations are recessed (early  
               January and May).  In 2014, the CSU reported that about 3  
               percent of state-supported CSU students chose to enroll in  
               self-supported courses.  

       1)Special session degree programs.  According to a report presented  
            to the CSU Board of Trustees in September 2010, in academic  
            year 2008-09, Extended Education offered 149 special session  
            degree programs in high demand fields such as business,  
            healthcare and nursing, biotechnology, criminal justice and  
            education, enrolling 16,115 annual full-time equivalent  
            students in courses for credit.  According to the CSU, revenue  
            of more than $165 million was generated by extension and  
            continuing education students taking these courses for credit  








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            across the 23 CSU campuses. Students enrolled in these special  
            session degree program courses are eligible for financial aid,  
            except for the Cal Grant and the CSU State University Grant.

            According to the report, there had been an approximate 50  
            percent increase in degree program registrations in Extended  
            and Continuing Education Programs between 2007-2008 and  
            2008-2009.  The CSU noted that most of this growth had been at  
            the master's degree level, with a slight increase in the  
            number of online bachelor's degrees and degree completion  
            programs offered.  This information was presented to the  
            Trustees as the result of a study commissioned to review  
            potential avenues of expansion for Extended Education to meet  
            the needs of CSU students and working professionals and to  
            supply an educated workforce in California.

       2)Related and prior legislation.

            PRIOR LEGISLATION  

            AB 2610 (Williams) proposed a definition of supplanting in  
            response to the Bureau of State Audits (BSA) report  
            recommendations.  The contents of AB 2610 were based upon the  
            recommendations of the CSU Task Force and generally defined  
            supplanting as the elimination of a state-supported degree  
            program entirely and replacement of it with a self-supporting  
            instruction program. AB 2610 was heard and passed by this  
            Committee in June 2014 by a vote of 6-0 but was subsequently  
            held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

            AB 2153 (Gray) proposed a definition of supplanting in  
            response to the BSA report recommendations.  This bill  
            generally defined supplanting as occurring when a  
            state-supported course is not offered during a term or all  
            state state-supported sections of the course are full during  
            the academic year at the student's campus and the course is  
            offered in a special session. It also required that a  
            matriculated student required to take a special session course  
            to complete his or her undergraduate degree pay the lesser of  
            the state supported section and special session course fee.

            AB 2427 (Butler, 2012) would have required the CSU to annually  
            report to the Legislature on its Extended and Continuing  
            Education Programs, including the number of students enrolled,  








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            the number of degree credit and units offered, the range of  
            fees charged and, to the extent possible, a five-year trend  
            for this information.  The also required that this information  
            be reported to the CSU Trustees annually.  AB 2427 passed this  
            Committee in July 2012 by a vote of 7-2, but was subsequently  
            held under submission in the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

            SUPPORT
          
          California Faculty Association
          California Teachers Association

            OPPOSITION
           
           None received. 

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