Amended in Senate September 9, 2015

Amended in Senate September 4, 2015

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 Bill No. 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 Program to provide incentives and reward campus, staff, and faculty efforts to accelerate the adoption of open educational resources. The bill would require that specified moneys for the program 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 (A) adopt a local campus resolution to increase student access to high-quality open educational resources and reduce the cost of textbooks and supplies for students, and (B) upon adoption of the resolution, develop a specified plan, in collaboration with students and the administration, that describes evidence of the campus’ 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 Chancellor of the California State University to award an initial grant of up to $50,000 to the campus from the fund. The bill would require additional bonus grants to be distributed to participating campuses if certain benchmarks are met. The bill would cap the number of initial grants that may be approved by the California Open Education Resources Council each award year at 100. The bill would require the California Digital Open Source Library, also known as the California Open Online Library for Education, in consultation with the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates, to report to the Legislature before September 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 September 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. begin delete Existing law reverts any of this $5,000,000 that is not 100% matched by private funds to a specified trust. end delete

This bill would specify that $3,000,000 of those funds are reappropriated for allocation for the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Program. Of the remaining $2,000,000, the bill would specify that up to $200,000 may be used for the California Open Online Library for Education and up to $27,000 may be used for stipends to members of the California Open Education Resources Council, as specified.

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. 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, also known as the California Open Online Library
for Education, established in Section 66408.

(b) The Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive
Program is hereby established to carry out the purposes of this act.
Unless context otherwise requires, “program” in this act means
the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Program.

67422.  

(a) (1) Moneys appropriated in subdivision (f) of
Section 69999.6 for the program shall be used by community
college and California State University campuses to further the
purposes specified in subdivision (a) of Section 67421, including
any of the following purposes:

(A) Faculty professional development, which shall include
learning about the California Open Online Library for Education
established in Section 66408. Faculty who participate in this
professional development shall be reimbursed in accordance with
their campus’ approved plan pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 67424.

(B) Professional development for staff whose work supports
providing students with open educational resources.

(C) Open educational resource curation activities. All new open
educational resources developed and available that are adopted as
course material pursuant to this program shall be added to the
California Open Online Library for Education established in
Section 66408.

(D) Curriculum modification and requisite release time for
faculty in accordance with a campus’ approved plan pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 67424 related to the
adoption of open educational resources as course materials.

(E) Technology support for faculty, students, and staff whose
work furthers the goals specified in a campus’ approved plan
pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 67424.

(2) Moneys appropriated in subdivision (f) of Section 69999.6
for the program shall not be used for direct compensation for
faculty members who adopt open educational resources, except as
provided to compensate for professional development pursuant to
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), or for purchasing new
equipment.

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

67423.  

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

67424.  

(a) In order to participate in the program, the local
academic senate of a campus of the California State University or
the California Community Colleges shall do both of the following:

(1) Adopt a local campus resolution to increase student access
to high-quality open educational resources and reduce the cost of
textbooks and supplies for students in course sections for which
open educational resources are to be adopted to accomplish cost
savings for students.

(2) Approve a plan, in collaboration with students and campus
administration, that describes evidence of the faculty’s commitment
and readiness to effectively use grant funds to support faculty
adoption of open educational resources.

(A) The plan may detail technological or staff support to increase
the adoption of open educational resources. The plan shall describe
how the faculty will learn about the California Open Online Library
for Education and other existing open educational resources.

(B) The plan shall include the number of academic departments
expected to be involved in the plan’s implementation, the number
of course sections in which open educational resources will be
adopted, the percentage of cost savings for students anticipated on
account of the adoption of open educational resources for each of
these course sections, the ways existing faculty development
programs will be enhanced by the plan’s implementation, and the
mechanisms that will be used to distribute adopted open
educational resources to students.

(C) At their discretion, faculty may choose, for courses that are
to adopt open educational resources under the plan, appropriate
resources for any of the 50 strategically selected lower division
courses identified by the California Open Education Resources
Council pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c) of Section 66409. Other open educational resources
may also be used.

(D) The plan shall describe how the campus will provide access
to open educational resource materials for students, including how
the campus will make hard copies of these materials available for
students who lack access to these materials off campus and make
it possible for students with such access to print hard copies.

(E) The plan will identify the amount of the grant requested.
The amount of the grant requested shall be equal to, or less than,
the number of course sections in which both open educational
resources will be adopted and cost savings for the course section
will be greater than 30 percent, multiplied by one thousand dollars
($1,000). The amount requested shall not be greater than fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000). A plan shall commit to achieving
greater than 30 percent cost savings in at least 10 course sections.

(F) (i) The plan shall include the percentage of cost savings for
each course section calculated as follows:

(ii) The percentage of cost savings shall be the estimated
decrease in the costs of books and supplies for a course section in
the current term resulting from the adoption of open educational
resources for that course section, divided by the costs of books
and supplies for that course section in the immediately preceding
academic term.

(b) The California Open Education Resources Council 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.

(c) (1) The local academic senate of a campus of the California
State University or the California Community Colleges may submit
the resolution and the plan developed pursuant to subdivision (a)
to the California Open Education Resources Council as its
application for an initial grant no later than June 30, 2016.

(2) (A) The California Open Education Resources Council shall
make an initial grant to a campus within 60 days of the council’s
receipt of the campus’ application if the campus has satisfied the
requirements of subdivision (a). The California Open Education
Resources Council may award up to 100 initial grants.

(B) If the total amount requested in applications received
pursuant to subparagraph (A) is equal to or less than two million
dollars ($2,000,000), the California Open Education Resources
Council shall make grants for each approved application equal to
the amount requested in the application. If the total amount
requested in applications received pursuant to subparagraph (A)
exceeds two million dollars ($2,000,000), the California Open
Education Resources Council shall make grants for the full amount
requested in approved applications on a competitive basis based
on the strength of the evidence provided of faculty commitment
to the adoption of open educational resources.

(3) Each application approved by the California Open Education
Resources Council shall be submitted by the council to the
Chancellor of the California State University no later than 30 days
after the council approves the application. The chancellor shall
award grants to recipients in accordance with this section.

(4) Administrative support may be provided to the council by
the California Open Online Library for Education to help the
council carry out its duties in accordance with this part.

(5) (A) No later than June 30, 2018, a campus may apply for
a bonus grant equal to the amount of its initial grant. The
application shall include evidence that the campus has met or
exceeded total cost savings of greater than 30 percent for the
required number of course sections specified in the approved plan
for the campus’ initial grant in the 2017-18 academic year.

(B) (i) A campus may also compute the total cost savings for
each course section and include that figure in its application for a
bonus grant pursuant to subparagraph (A).

(ii) The total cost savings for each course section shall be the
number of students enrolled in a course section multiplied by the
per-student decrease in the costs of books and supplies for the
course section in the term resulting from the adoption of open
educational resources.

(6) Bonus grants specified in paragraph (5) shall be used to
further the goals of the campus’ approved plan for its initial grant.
It is the intent of the Legislature that bonus grants support each
campus’ adoption of open educational resources for at least double
the number of course sections, and with at least 30 percent cost
savings for each of these course sections, as accomplished by the
campus’ approved plan for its initial grant.

(7) If the total amount requested in applications for bonus grants
exceeds the total amount of funds available, the California Open
Educational Resources Council shall award grants on a competitive
basis to approved applications for the full amount of the initial
grant based on the overall percentage savings achieved by the
initial plan in the courses covered by the plan.

(8) It is the intent of the Legislature that initial and bonus grants
provide the impetus for campuses to adopt, and continue to use,
open educational resources as course materials.

(d) The California Open Online Library for Education, in
consultation with the Intersegmental Committee of Academic
Senates, shall report to the Legislature, in accordance with Section
9795 of the Government Code, before September 1 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.

67425.  

This part shall become inoperative on September 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.

SEC. 2.  

Section 69999.6 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

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) (A) 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, provided that the 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.

(B) Effective January 1, 2016, three million dollars ($3,000,000)
of the moneys appropriated pursuant to this paragraph are hereby
reappropriated pursuant to paragraph (4).

(2) Except begin delete as specified in paragraph (3), end delete begin insert those moneys allocated
pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4), 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 begin delete funds. Moneys appropriated pursuant to
paragraph (1) that are end delete begin insert funds and, if end insert not matched by private begin delete funds end delete
begin insert funds, end insert shall revert to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust for
purposes of the Governor’s Scholarship Programs.

(3) Of the unencumbered amount appropriated pursuant to
paragraph (1) as of June 30, 2015:

(A) Up to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) may be
used for administration of the California Open Online Library for
Education. These funds may be used by the California Open Online
Library for Education to continue developing and updating its
services to provide faculty, staff, and students convenient access
to open educational resources as course materials and to provide
administrative support for the California Open Educational
Resources Council. These funds may be used by the California
Open Online Library for Education for purposes of the Open
Educational Resources and Adoption Incentive Program until
September 1, 2020.

(B) Up to twenty-seven thousand dollars ($27,000) may be used
for stipends to members of the California Open Education
Resources Council for these members to carry out their duties in
accordance with the Open Educational Resources Adoption
Incentive Program.

(4) Of the funds transferred to the General Fund pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and appropriated pursuant to
paragraph (1), three million dollars ($3,000,000) is hereby
reappropriated to the Chancellor of the California State University,
without regard to fiscal years, for allocation for the Open
Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Program.

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