Amended in Senate August 31, 2015

Amended in Senate August 17, 2015

Amended in Senate July 1, 2015

Amended in Assembly June 2, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 798


Introduced by Assembly Member Bonilla

February 26, 2015


An act to amend Section 69999.6 of, and to add 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. College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015.

(1) Existing law establishes the segments of the postsecondary education system in the state, including 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 create the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Fund in the State Treasury to provide incentives and reward campus, staff, 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 and staff professional development, open educational resource curation activities, curriculum modification, or technology support for faculty, staff, and students, as specified. The bill would authorize the local academic senate of a campus of the California State University or the California Community Colleges to (1) adopt a local campus resolution, in collaboration with students and the administration,begin delete stating its intentend deletebegin insert demonstrating its commitmentend insert to increase student access to high-quality open educational resources, and (2) upon adoption of the resolution, develop a specified plan that describes evidence of thebegin delete campus’send deletebegin insert campusend insertbegin insertend insert commitment and readiness to spend grant money from the fund to support faculty adoption of open educational resources. The bill would require the California Open Education Resources Council to review and approve the plan, and, if it meets these and other specified requirements, would authorize the respective segment office for the campus to award an initial grant of up to $10,000 to the campus from the fund. The bill would authorize a campus to submit a number plans for approval that would be determined in accordance with the number of students enrolled on the campus, except as provided. The bill would require additional bonus grants of up to $10,000 to be distributed to participating campuses if certain benchmarks are met. The bill would cap the number of plans that may be approved by the California Open Education Resources Council each award year, as specified. The bill would require a grant recipient to report to the California Open Education Resources Council within 90 days after the end date for each year of each awarded grant as to whether its benchmarks have been reached to determine whether it is eligible for the bonus grants. The bill would require the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates to report to the Legislature before July 1 of each year, commencing in 2018, 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.

(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.

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.begin delete The bill would specify that the annual costs for the California Open Online Library for Education and administrative support for the California Open Education Resources Council shall not exceed $140,000 annually.end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

Part 40.1 (commencing with Section 67420) is
2added to Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:

3 

4PART 40.1.  College Textbook Affordability Act
5of 2015

6

 

7

67420.  

This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the
8College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015.

9

67421.  

The College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015 is
10hereby established to reduce costs for college students by
11encouraging faculty to accelerate the adoption of lower cost,
12high-quality, open educational resources. Faculty development
13shall be a key component of this acceleration initiative. This
14initiative shall use, in addition to any other appropriate resources,
15those identified, housed, produced, and otherwise found appropriate
16pursuant to the California Open Education Resources Council
17established in Section 66409 and the California Digital Open
18Source Library established in Section 66408.

19

67422.  

(a) The Open Educational Resources Adoption
20Incentive Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury to provide
21incentives and reward campus and faculty efforts to accelerate
22adoption of open educational resources for the purpose of reducing
23students’ costs and improving access to quality materials.

24(b) (1) Moneys in the fund shall be used, upon appropriation
25by the Legislature, by community college and California State
P4    1University campuses to create and support any, or some
2combination, of the following purposes:

3(A) Faculty professional development about open educational
4 resources.

5(B) Professional development for staff whose work relates to
6the use of, or student access to, open educational resources.

7(C) Open educational resource curation activities.

8(D) Curriculum modification for the adoption of open
9educational resources as course materials.

10(E) Technology support for faculty, students, and staff whose
11work relates to the use of, or student access to, open educational
12resources.

13(2) Moneys in the fund shall not be used for direct compensation
14for faculty members who adopt open educational resources or for
15purchasing new equipment.

16(c) For the purposes of this act, a “community college campus”
17is a community college campus site that has a local academic
18senate.

19

67423.  

(a) As used in this part, “fund” shall mean the Open
20Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Fund.

21(b) As used in this part, “open educational resources” are
22high-quality teaching, learning, and research resources that reside
23in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual
24property license, such as a Creative Commons license, that permits
25their free use and repurposing by others, and may include other
26resources that are legally available and free of cost to students.
27“Open educational resources” include, but are not limited to, full
28courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, faculty-created
29content, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools,
30materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

31

67424.  

(a) The local academic senate of a campus of the
32California State University or the California Community Colleges
33may adopt a local campus resolution, in collaboration with students
34and the administration,begin delete stating its intentend deletebegin insert demonstrating its
35commitmentend insert
to increase student access to high-quality open
36educational resources.

37(b) Upon adoption of the local campus resolution, the campus
38may develop a plan that describes evidence of thebegin delete campus’send delete
39begin insert campusend insertbegin insertend insert commitment and readiness to effectively spend grant
40money from the fund to support faculty adoption of open
P5    1educational resources. The California Open Education Resources
2Council may provide a model plan to campuses.

3(1) The creation of the plan shall be a collaboration between
4the campus academic senate and the recognized campus student
5body organization, if the recognized campus student body
6organization wants to be involved, with input solicited by the
7campus academic senate or the recognized campus student body
8organization from the local campus bookstore, including regarding
9open educational resources distribution, or campus centers and
10libraries supporting faculty professional development for the
11adoption of open educational resources. The California Open
12Education Resources Council, established in Section 66409, may
13provide expertise on available open educational resources and best
14practices for the adoption of open educational resources for existing
15courses to assist in the development of the plan.

16(2) The plan shall include continued accessbegin insert, as determined by
17the institution,end insert
to open educational resource materials selected by
18begin delete faculty for use through either the availability of a hardcopy at the
19local campus bookstore or access to materials on campus, and shall
20ensure access to materials in formats that can be printed offline
21for students.end delete
begin insert faculty.end insert

22(3) (A) Each plan shall include three benchmarks, focusing on
23reducing costs for students and increasing the adoption of
24high-quality open educational resources consisting of a year one
25goal, a year two goal, and a year three goal.

26(B) Each local campus shall determine its own benchmarks.

27(4) Each plan that demonstrates the following readiness
28requirements shall be given priority for approval in accordance
29with paragraph (2) of subdivision (c):

30(A) A plan with concrete benchmarks that demonstrate
31quantifiable outcomes to be achieved from its implementation,
32including, but not limited to, an estimate of the range of money to
33be saved per student from the plan’s implementation.

34 (B) A plan that utilizes available open educational resources,
35including, but not limited to, California Open Online Library for
36Education (COOL4Ed) and Multimedia Educational Resource for
37Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT).

38(C) A plan that provides an estimate of the number of academic
39departments expected to be involved in the plan’s implementation.

P6    1(D) A plan that describes how existing faculty development
2programs will be enhanced by the plan’s implementation.

3(E) A plan that provides an assessment of the costs for students
4to purchase course materials, as may be determined by consulting
5with the California Open Education Resources Council.

6(c) (1) (A) Each local campus may submit the resolution and
7the plan developed pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) to the
8California Open Education Resources Council for an initial grant
9from the fund.

10(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), each year, each
11campus may submit one plan for an initial grant, and may submit
12one additional plan for every additional 10,000 students, regardless
13of full-time or part-time status.

14(C) A local campus that is currently receiving a grant or bonus
15grant pursuant to this part may submit no more than the maximum
16number of plans for an initial grant under subparagraph (B) minus
17the number of the campus’ plans that are currently receiving a
18grant or bonus grant.

19(2) The California Open Education Resources Council shall
20review the submitted plan and, if it meets the requirements of this
21part, approve it.

22(3) Plans shall be submitted and approved in one of two rounds.
23Plans submitted from October 2 to April 1, inclusive, of each
24academic year shall be reviewed as round one plans. Plans
25submitted from April 2 to October 1, inclusive, of a calendar year
26shall be reviewed as round two plans.

27(4) The California Open Education Resources Council shall
28approve up to 100 plans per year. A plan not approved in a round
29may be resubmitted by the campus for approval in future rounds,
30as determined by the California Open Education Resources
31Council. For a plan that is not approved, the council shall
32recommend modifications to increase the likelihood of the plan’s
33success if it is approved in a subsequent round.

34(5) Each plan approved by the California Open Education
35Resources Council shall be submitted by the council to the
36appropriate segment office. The segment office shall award grants
37to recipients in accordance with this section and in accordance
38with each system’s policies and procedures for approving and
39administering grants.

P7    1(6) Administrative support may be provided to the council by
2COOL4Ed to help the council carry out its duties in accordance
3with this part.

4(7) An initial grant shall not exceed ten thousand dollars
5($10,000).

6(d) (1) Each year after a campus receives an initial grant, for
7up to three years, the campus shall receive a bonus grant from the
8fund for meeting established performance benchmarks for
9accelerating usage of open educational resources in courses,
10according to the following schedule:

11(A) A campus shall receive a bonus grant of up to ten thousand
12dollars ($10,000) for reaching its first benchmark in using open
13educational resources on campus and decreasing textbook costs
14for students in the first year of implementation.

15(B) A campus shall receive a bonus grant of up to ten thousand
16dollars ($10,000) for reaching its second benchmark in using open
17educational resources on campus and decreasing textbook costs
18for students in the second year of implementation.

19(C) A campus shall receive a bonus grant of up to ten thousand
20dollars ($10,000) for reaching its third benchmark in using open
21educational resources on campus and decreasing textbook costs
22for students in the third year of implementation. For bonus grants
23issued for reaching the third benchmark, if applications exceed the
24amount of available grant funds, priority shall be given by the
25California Open Education Resources Council to plans submitted
26pursuant to subdivision (c) that achieve cost savings for students
27through collaborations with one or more campuses. These
28collaborations may form within a segment, or across different
29segments.

30(2) A plan that has not met a benchmark shall not be awarded
31any bonus grant and shall be deemed terminated, and that plan
32shall not count toward the maximum number of plans a campus
33may submit each year pursuant to subdivision (c).

34(3) If money is available in the Open Educational Resources
35Adoption Incentive Fund after the first bonus grants for reaching
36the third benchmark pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph
37(1) are awarded, additional bonus grants shall be made available
38to recipients, as determined by the segment offices, in consultation
39with the California Open Education Resources Council, until there
40is no money left in the fund.

P8    1(4) The bonus grants shall be used for any, or some combination,
2of the following purposes:

3 (A) Faculty professional development.

4(B) Professional development of staff whose work relates to the
5use of, or student access to, open educational resources.

6(C) Open educational resource curation activities.

7(D) Curriculum modification for the adoption of open
8educational resources as course materials.

9(E) Technology support for faculty, students, and staff whose
10work relates to the use of, or student access to, open educational
11resources.

12(e) A grant recipient shall report to the California Open
13Education Resources Council as to whether its benchmarks have
14been reached to determine whether it is eligible for bonus grants
15pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d). This report shall
16include an explanation of how the recipient used available open
17educational resources, including, but not limited to, COOL4Ed
18and MERLOT, to accomplish its goals pursuant to this part more
19efficiently. Campus reports on their projects are due to the
20California Open Educational Resources Council within 90 days
21after the end date for each year of each awarded grant.

22(f) The Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates shall
23report to the Legislature before July 1 each year, commencing in
242018, as to whether the grants are increasing the rate of adoption
25of open educational resources and decreasing textbook costs for
26college students.

27(g) A local academic senate of a campus of the California State
28University or the California Community Colleges may commence
29its application by adopting a local campus resolution as of January
301, 2016, pursuant to subdivision (a). The California Open Education
31Resources Council shall be ready to review grant applications on
32or before March 1, 2016.

33

67425.  

This part shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020,
34and, as of January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a later enacted
35statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2021,
36deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and
37is repealed.

38

SEC. 2.  

Section 69999.6 of the Education Code is amended to
39read:

P9    1

69999.6.  

(a) In enacting this article, it is the intent of the
2Legislature to accomplish all of the following:

3(1) Provide explicit authority to the board to continue to
4administer accounts for, and make awards to, persons who qualified
5for awards under the provisions of the Governor’s Scholarship
6Programs as those provisions existed on January 1, 2003, prior to
7the repeal of former Article 20 (commencing with Section 69995).

8(2) Provide for the management and disbursement of funds
9previously set aside for the scholarship programs authorized by
10former Article 20 (commencing with Section 69995).

11(3) Provide a guarantee should additional funds be needed to
12cover awards authorized and made pursuant to former Article 20
13(commencing with Section 69995).

14(b) The board may manage and disburse the funds previously
15set aside for the scholarship programs authorized by former Article
1620 (commencing with Section 69995).

17(c) If a person has earned an award under the Governor’s
18Scholarship Programs on or before January 1, 2003, but has not
19claimed the award on or before June 30, 2004, he or she still may
20claim the award by a date that is five years from the first June 30
21that fell after he or she took the qualifying test. An award shall not
22be made by the board after that date.

23(d) The board shall negotiate with the current manager of the
24Governor’s Scholarship Programs and execute an amended or new
25management and funding agreement, before January 1, 2013, which
26shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

27(1) Terms providing for the return to the General Fund by no
28later than January 1, 2013, of moneys appropriated to the
29Governor’s Scholarship Programs that are not anticipated to be
30needed to make awards pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of
31subdivision (a).

32(2) Provisions that authorize the board to pay agreed-upon early
33withdrawal penalties or fees.

34(3) Terms that extend to the final date upon which the board
35may withdraw funds for a person who earned an award under the
36Governor’s Scholarship Programs.

37(e) (1) If funds retained in the Golden State Scholarshare Trust
38after January 1, 2013, are insufficient to cover the remaining
39withdrawal requests, it is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate
P10   1the necessary funds to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust for the
2purpose of funding individual beneficiary accounts.

3(2) The board shall notify the Department of Finance and the
4Legislature no later than 10 working days after determining that
5a shortfall in available funding described in paragraph (1) will
6occur.

7(f) (1) Of the funds transferred to the General Fund pursuant
8to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d), five million dollars
9($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated to the Chancellor of the
10California State University, without regard to fiscal years, to fund
11the establishment and administration of the California Open
12Education Resources Council and the California Digital Open
13Source Library, and the development or acquisition of open
14education resources, or any combination thereof, pursuant to
15legislation enacted in the 2011-12 Regular Session of the
16Legislature, or for the funding of grants and administrative costs
17pursuant to the College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015 (Part
1840.1 (commencing with Section 67420) of Division 5). The
19chancellor may provide reimbursement to the California
20Community Colleges and the University of California for costs
21those segments, or their representatives, incur in association with
22the activities described in this paragraph.

23(2) (A) Moneys, or a portion of moneys, appropriated pursuant
24to paragraph (1) shall not be encumbered unless at least 100 percent
25of that amount encumbered is matched by private funds. Moneys
26appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) that are not matched by
27private funds shall revert to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust
28for purposes of the Governor’s Scholarship Programs.

29(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), moneys appropriated
30for purposes of the College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015
31shall not be required to be matched by private funds. begin delete The California
32Open Online Library for Education (COOL4Ed) shall be funded,
33with no private match required, to continue developing and
34updating its services to provide faculty, staff, and students
35convenient access to free and open course materials and for the
36administrative support for the California Open Educational
37Resources Council. The annual costs for COOL4Ed services and
38administrative support shall not exceed one hundred forty thousand
39dollars ($140,000) annually. The amount of funding shall be
40approved by California State University and California Community
P11   1College segment administrators in the respective chancellor’s
2office.end delete

3(C) Twenty-five percent of each grant awarded to a campus
4pursuant to the College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015 shall
5be matched by the campus and used by the campus to ensure
6administrative and faculty support of the campus’ plan that was
7submitted and approved in accordance with Section 67424.

8(D) Money provided to a member of the California Open
9Education Resources Council for purposes of the council carrying
10out its duties in accordance with this part shall not exceed eight
11thousand dollars ($8,000) total per year and shall be provided as
12a stipend. No additional money shall be provided for travel
13purposes.

14(g) The board may adopt rules and regulations for the
15implementation of this article.



O

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