BILL NUMBER: AB 798 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Section 66409.5 to and
repeal Part 40.1 (commencing with Section 67420) of
Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 798, as amended, Bonilla. Postsecondary education:
course materials. College Textbook Affordability Act
of 2015.
Existing law establishes the segments of the postsecondary
education system in the state, including the University of
California, administered by the Regents of the University of
California, the California State University, administered by the
Trustees of the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges.
This bill would establish the College Textbook Affordability Act
of 2015 to reduce costs for college students by encouraging faculty
to accelerate the adoption of lower cost, high-quality open
educational resources, as defined. The bill would provide that
funding for this act is to be provided in the annual Budget Act.
The bill would create the Open Educational Resources Adoption
Incentive Fund in the State Treasury to provide incentives and reward
campus and faculty efforts to accelerate the adoption of open
educational resources. The bill would require that moneys in the fund
be used by campuses to create and support faculty professional
development, open educational resource curation activities, or
technology support for the faculty, as specified. The bill would
authorize the local academic senate of a campus to adopt a local
campus resolution, in collaboration with students and the
administration, stating its intent to increase student access to
high-quality open educational resources. The bill would require the
respective segment office to review and approve the resolution and an
initial grant to a local campus from the fund for an unspecified
amount for the purpose of establishing a plan and strategy, as
specified. The bill would require additional bonus grants of
unspecified amounts to be distributed to participating campuses if
certain benchmarks are met. The bill would require a grant recipient
to report to its respective segment office as to whether its
benchmarks have been reached and it is eligible for the bonus grants.
The bill would also require the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State
University, and the President of the University of California to
report to the Legislature before July 1 of each year as to whether
the grants are increasing the rate of adoption of open educational
resources and decreasing textbook costs for college students.
The bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2020,
and would repeal them as of January 1, 2021.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and
functions of the segments of the higher education system in the
state. These segments include the University of California,
administered by the Regents of the University of California, the
California State University, administered by the Trustees of the
California State University, and the California Community Colleges,
administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges, and private and independent institutions of higher
education.
Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only
to the extent that the regents act, by resolution, to make them
applicable.
This bill would amend the act to require the board of governors
and the trustees, and request the regents and each governing body of
an accredited private postsecondary educational institution, to
support the development, use, accessibility, and ongoing maintenance
of course materials, including open textbooks and other open
educational resources, and submit an annual report to the
Legislature, on or before July 31, 2017, and on or before each July
31 thereafter, on the implementation, progress, and administration of
those efforts at their respective institutions.
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. Part 40.1 (commencing with Section
67420) is added to Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education
Code , to read:
PART 40.1. College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015
67420. This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the College
Textbook Affordability Act of 2015.
67421. (a) The College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015 is
hereby established to reduce costs for college students by
encouraging faculty to accelerate the adoption of lower cost,
high-quality, open educational resources. Faculty development shall
be a key component of this acceleration initiative.
(b) Funding for this act shall be provided in the annual Budget
Act.
67422. (a) The Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Fund
is hereby created in the State Treasury to provide incentives and
reward campus and faculty efforts to accelerate adoption of open
educational resources for the purpose of reducing students' costs and
improving access to quality materials.
(b) Moneys in the fund shall be used by community college,
California State University, and University of California campuses to
create and support faculty professional development, open
educational resource curation activities, technology support for the
faculty, or some combination thereof. Moneys in the fund shall not be
used for direct compensation for faculty members who adopt open
educational resources.
67423. (a) As used in this part, "fund" shall mean the Open
Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Fund.
(b) As used in this part, "open educational resources" mean
high-quality teaching, learning, and research resources that reside
in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual
property license that permits their free use and repurposing by
others. "Open educational resources" includes, but is not limited to,
full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming
videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or
techniques used to support access to knowledge.
67424. (a) The local academic senate of a campus of the
University of California, the California State University, or the
California Community Colleges may adopt a local campus resolution, in
collaboration with students and the administration, stating its
intent to increase student access to high-quality open educational
resources.
(b) Upon adoption of the local campus resolution, the campus may
submit the resolution to the respective segment office for an initial
grant from the fund to establish a plan and strategy for
accelerating adoption of high-quality open educational resources on
its campus, and developing the accompanying professional development.
(1) The creation of the plan and strategy shall be a collaboration
between the campus academic senate and the recognized campus student
body organization.
(2) The strategy shall include continued access to a hard copy of
materials through the local campus bookstore and ensure access to
materials offline for students.
(3) (A) Each plan shall include three benchmarks, focusing on
reducing costs for students and increasing the adoption of
high-quality open educational resources consisting of a year one
goal, a year two goal, and a year three goal.
(B) Each local campus shall determine its own benchmarks.
(C) Oversight of these benchmarks shall be provided when the
grants are approved by the respective segment office.
(c) The respective segment office shall review and, if it meets
the requirements of this part, approve the resolution, and the
initial grant shall be administered by the designated segment office
in collaboration with the campus president, provost, or chief
academic officer and the recognized campus student body organization.
(1) The designated segment office for the California Community
Colleges may be the Success Center for California Community Colleges
or another appropriate office.
(2) The designated segment office for the California State
University may be the Academic Technology Services or another
appropriate office.
(3) The initial grant shall be approved for not more than ____
dollars ($____).
(d) (1) Each year after a campus receives an initial grant, for up
to three years, the campus shall receive a bonus grant from the fund
for meeting established performance benchmarks for accelerating
usage of open educational resources in courses, according to the
following schedule:
(A) A campus shall receive a bonus grant of up to ____ dollars
($____) for reaching its first benchmark in using open educational
resources on campus and decreasing textbook costs for students in the
first year of implementation.
(B) A campus shall receive a bonus grant of up to ____ dollars
($____) for reaching its second benchmark in using open educational
resources on campus and decreasing textbook costs for students in the
second year of implementation.
(C) A campus shall receive a bonus grant of up to ____ dollars
($____) for reaching its third benchmark in using open educational
resources on campus and decreasing textbook costs for students in the
third year of implementation.
(2) The bonus grants shall be used for faculty professional
development, open educational resource curation activities,
technology support for the faculty, or some combination thereof,
administered by the local academic senate in collaboration with the
campus president, provost, or chief academic officer and the
recognized campus student body organization.
(e) A grant recipient shall report to its respective segment
office as to whether its benchmarks have been reached and it is
eligible for bonus grants pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
(d).
(f) The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the
Chancellor of the California State University, and the President of
the University of California shall report to the Legislature before
July 1 each year as to whether the grants are increasing the rate of
adoption of open educational resources and decreasing textbook costs
for college students.
67425. This part shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020, and,
as of January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2021, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SECTION 1. Section 66409.5 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
66409.5. (a) The Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges and the Trustees of the California State University shall,
and the Regents of the University of California and each governing
body of an accredited private postsecondary educational institution
are requested to, support the development, use, accessibility, and
ongoing maintenance of course materials, including open textbooks and
other open educational resources, that can help students receive the
full value of their educational investment.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the
trustees and the board of governors shall, and the regents and each
governing body of an accredited private postsecondary educational
institution are requested to, submit an annual report to the
Legislature, on or before July 31, 2017, and on or before each July
31 thereafter, on the implementation, progress, and administration of
this section at their respective institutions.
(c) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.