Amended in Assembly June 2, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 798

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonilla

February 26, 2015

An act to begin insert amend Section 69999.6 of, and to end insert add and repeal Part 40.1 (commencing with Section 67420) of Division 5 of Title 3 begin delete of end delete begin insert of, end insert the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 798, as amended, Bonilla. College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015.

begin delete

Existing

end delete

begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Existing end insert law establishes the segments of the postsecondary education system in the state, including begin delete the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, end delete 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. begin delete The bill would provide that funding for this act is to be provided in the annual Budget Act. end delete

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, begin insert faculty release time, end insert or technology support for begin delete the faculty, end delete begin insert faculty and end insert begin insert students, end insert as specified. The bill would authorize the local academic senate of a campus begin insert of the California State University or the California Community Colleges end insert to begin insert (1) end insert adopt a local campus resolution, in collaboration with students and the administration, stating its intent to increase student access to high-quality open educational begin delete resources. end delete begin insert resources, and (2) upon adoption of the resolution, develop a specified plan that end insert begin insert describes evidence of the campus’s commitment and readiness to spend grant money from the fund to support faculty adoption of open educational resources. end insert The bill would require the begin delete respective segment office end delete begin insert California Open Education Resources Council end insert to review and approve the resolution and begin insert the plan end insert begin insert , and, if they meet these and other specified requirements, would authorize end insert an initial grant begin insert of up to $10,000 end insert to a local campus begin insert of the California State University or the California Community Colleges end insert from the begin delete fund for an unspecified amount for the purpose of establishing a plan and strategy, as specified. end delete begin insert fund. end insert The bill would require additional bonus grants of begin delete unspecified amounts end delete begin insert up to $10,000 end insert to be distributed to participating campuses if certain benchmarks are met. The bill would require a grant recipient to report to begin delete its respective segment office end delete begin insert the California Open Education Resources Council end insert as to whether its benchmarks have been reached and it is eligible for the bonus grants. The bill would also require the begin delete Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State University, and the President of the University of California end delete begin insert California Open Education Resources Council end insert to report to the Legislature before July 1 of each begin delete year end delete begin insert year, commencing in 2018, end insert 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.

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(2) Existing law appropriates, from specified funds, $5,000,000 to the Chancellor of the California State University to fund, among other things, the establishment and administration of the California Open Education Resources Council and the California Digital Open Source Library. Existing law reverts any of this $5,000,000 that is not 100% matched by private funds to a specified trust.

end insert begin insert

This bill would specify that those funds may be used for purposes of the College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015, and would specify that funds appropriated for those purposes shall not be required to be matched by private funds.

end insert

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.  

begin delete (a) end delete begin delete   end delete 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. begin insert This
initiative shall use, in addition to any other appropriate resources,
those identified, housed, produced, and otherwise found
appropriate pursuant to the California Open Education Resources
Council established in Section 66409 and the California Digital
Open Source Library established in Section 66408. end insert

begin delete

(b) Funding for this act shall be provided in the annual Budget
Act.

end delete

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 begin delete used end delete begin insert used, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, end insert by community begin delete college, end delete begin insert college and end insert California
State begin delete University, and University of California end delete begin insert University end insert campuses
to create and support faculty professional development, open
educational resource curation activities, begin insert faculty release time, end insert
technology support for begin delete the faculty, end delete begin insert faculty and end insert begin insert students, end insert or some
combination begin delete thereof. end delete begin insert of these uses. end insert Moneys in the fund shall not
be used for direct compensation for faculty members who adopt
open educational resources.

begin insert

(c) For the purposes of this act, a “community college campus”
is a community college campus site that has a local academic
senate.

end insert

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” begin delete mean end delete begin insert are end insert
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
begin delete others. end delete begin insert others, and may include other resources that are legally
available and free of cost to students. end insert “Open educational resources”
begin delete includes, but is end delete begin insert include, but are end insert not limited to, full courses, course
materials, modules, textbooks, begin insert faculty end insert begin insert -created content, end insert 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
begin delete University of California, the end delete California State begin delete University, end delete begin insert University end insert
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, begin delete 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. end delete begin insert the campus may develop a plan that describes
evidence of the campus’s commitment and readiness to effectively
spend grant money from the fund to support faculty adoption of
open educational resources. end insert

(1) The creation of the plan begin delete and strategy end delete shall be a collaboration
between the campus academic senate and the recognized campus
student body begin delete organization. end delete begin insert organization, with input solicited by
the campus academic senate or the recognized campus student
body organization from the local campus bookstore. The California
Open Education Resources Council, established in Section 66409,
may provide expertise on available open educational resources
and best practices for the adoption of open educational resources
for existing courses to assist in the development of the plan end insert begin insert . end insert

(2) The begin delete strategy end delete begin insert plan end insert shall include continued access to a hard
copy of begin insert open educational resource end insert materials begin insert selected by faculty
for use end insert through the local campus bookstore and begin insert shall end insert 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.

begin delete

(C) Oversight of these benchmarks shall be provided when the
grants are approved by the respective segment office.

end delete begin insert

(4) Plans that utilize available open educational resources,
including, but not limited to, California Open Online Library for
Education (COOL4Ed) and Multimedia Educational Resource for
Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) shall receive priority
for receiving grants.

end insert begin insert

(c) (1) Each local campus may submit the resolution and the
plan developed pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) to the
California Open Education Resources Council for an initial grant
from the fund.

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  The begin delete respective segment office end delete begin insert California Open Education
Resources Council end insert shall review begin insert the submitted resolution and plan end insert
and, if begin delete it meets end delete begin insert they meet end insert the requirements of this part, approve
begin delete 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. end delete

begin delete

(1) The designated segment office for the California Community
Colleges may be the Success Center for California Community
Colleges or another appropriate office.

end delete

begin delete (2) end delete begin delete   end delete begin delete The designated segment office for the California State
University may be the Academic Technology Services or another
appropriate office. end delete begin insert them. end insert

(3)  begin delete The end delete begin insert An end insert initial grant shall begin delete be approved for not more than
____ end delete begin insert not exceed ten thousand end insert dollars begin delete ($____). end delete begin insert ($10,000). end insert

(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 begin delete ____ end delete begin insert ten
thousand end insert dollars begin delete ($____) end delete begin insert ($10,000) end insert 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 begin delete ____ end delete begin insert ten
thousand end insert dollars begin delete ($____) end delete begin insert ($10,000) end insert 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 begin delete ____ end delete begin insert ten
thousand end insert dollars begin delete ($____) end delete begin insert ($10,000) end insert for reaching its third
benchmark in using open educational resources on campus and
decreasing textbook costs for students in the third year of
implementation. begin insert For bonus grants issued for reaching the third
benchmark, if applications exceed the amount of available grant
funds, priority shall be given by the California Open Education
Resources Council to plans submitted pursuant to subdivision (c)
that achieve cost savings for students through collaborations with
one or more campuses. These collaborations may form within a
segment, or across different segments. end insert

(2) The bonus grants shall be used for faculty professional
development, open educational resource curation activities,
technology support for begin delete the faculty, end delete begin insert faculty and students, faculty
release time, end insert or some combination begin delete 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. end delete begin insert of these uses. end insert

(e) A grant recipient shall report to begin delete its respective segment office end delete
begin insert the California Open Education Resources Council end insert as to whether
its benchmarks have been reached and it is eligible for bonus grants
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d). begin insert This report shall
include an explanation of how the recipient used available open
educational resources, including, but not limited to, COOL4Ed
and MERLOT, to accomplish its goals pursuant to this part more
efficiently. end insert

(f) The begin delete Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the
Chancellor of the California State University, and the President
of the University of California end delete begin insert California Open Education
Resources Council end insert shall report to the Legislature before July 1
each begin delete year end delete begin insert year, commencing in 2018, end insert as to whether the grants are
increasing the rate of adoption of open educational resources and
decreasing textbook costs for college students.

begin insert ( end insert begin insert g) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert A local academic senate of a campus of the California State
University or the California Community Colleges may commence
its application by adopting a local campus resolution as of January
1, 2016, pursuant to subdivision (a). The California Open
Education Resources Council shall be ready to review grant
applications on or before March 1, 2016. end insert

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.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 69999.6 of the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

69999.6.  

(a) In enacting this article, it is the intent of the
Legislature to accomplish all of the following:

(1) Provide explicit authority to the board to continue to
administer accounts for, and make awards to, persons who qualified
for awards under the provisions of the Governor’s Scholarship
Programs as those provisions existed on January 1, 2003, prior to
the repeal of former Article 20 (commencing with Section 69995).

(2) Provide for the management and disbursement of funds
previously set aside for the scholarship programs authorized by
former Article 20 (commencing with Section 69995).

(3) Provide a guarantee should additional funds be needed to
cover awards authorized and made pursuant to former Article 20
(commencing with Section 69995).

(b) The board may manage and disburse the funds previously
set aside for the scholarship programs authorized by former Article
20 (commencing with Section 69995).

(c) If a person has earned an award under the Governor’s
Scholarship Programs on or before January 1, 2003, but has not
claimed the award on or before June 30, 2004, he or she still may
claim the award by a date that is five years from the first June 30
that fell after he or she took the qualifying test. An award shall not
be made by the board after that date.

(d) The board shall negotiate with the current manager of the
Governor’s Scholarship Programs and execute an amended or new
management and funding agreement, before January 1, 2013, which
shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Terms providing for the return to the General Fund by no
later than January 1, 2013, of moneys appropriated to the
Governor’s Scholarship Programs that are not anticipated to be
needed to make awards pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subdivision (a).

(2) Provisions that authorize the board to pay agreed-upon early
withdrawal penalties or fees.

(3) Terms that extend to the final date upon which the board
may withdraw funds for a person who earned an award under the
Governor’s Scholarship Programs.

(e) (1) If funds retained in the Golden State Scholarshare Trust
after January 1, 2013, are insufficient to cover the remaining
withdrawal requests, it is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate
the necessary funds to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust for the
purpose of funding individual beneficiary accounts.

(2) The board shall notify the Department of Finance and the
Legislature no later than 10 working days after determining that
a shortfall in available funding described in paragraph (1) will
occur.

(f) (1) Of the funds transferred to the General Fund pursuant
to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d), five million dollars
($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated to the Chancellor of the
California State University, without regard to fiscal years, to fund
the establishment and administration of the California Open
Education Resources Council and the California Digital Open
Source Library, and the development or acquisition of open
education resources, or any combination thereof, pursuant to
legislation enacted in the 2011-12 Regular Session of the
Legislature, begin delete provided that the end delete begin insert or for the funding of grants and
administrative costs pursuant to the College Textbook Affordability
Act of 2015 (Part 40.1 (commencing with Section 67420) of
Division 5). The end insert chancellor may provide reimbursement to the
California Community Colleges and the University of California
for costs those segments, or their representatives, incur in
association with the activities described in this paragraph.

(2)  begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert Moneys, or a portion of moneys, appropriated pursuant
to paragraph (1) shall not be encumbered unless at least 100 percent
of that amount encumbered is matched by private funds. Moneys
appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) that are not matched by
private funds shall revert to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust
for purposes of the Governor’s Scholarship Programs.

begin insert

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), moneys appropriated
for purposes of the College Textbook Affordability Act shall not
be required to be matched by private funds.

end insert

(g) The board may adopt rules and regulations for the
implementation of this article.