AB 1000, as amended, Weber. California State University: student success fees.
Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law authorizes the trustees by rule to require all persons to pay fees, rents, deposits, and charges for services, facilities, or materials provided by the trustees to those persons. Existing law prohibits specified California State University campus-based mandatory fees from being reallocated without an affirmative vote of the majority of the members of either the student body or a specified campus fee advisory committee voting on the fee reallocation, unless the vote that established the fee authorizes an alternative or automatic reallocation mechanism for that fee.
Existing law prohibits a campus or the Chancellor of the California State University from approving a student success fee, as defined, before January 1, 2016. Existing law requires the chancellor to conduct a review of the trustees’ fee policy related to student success fees, submit recommended changes to the fee policy to the trustees, consider specified information in conducting that review and in preparing his or her recommended changes to the policy, and to submit a report regarding those proposed changes to the Department of Finance and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, on or before February 1, 2015.
This bill would revise and recast the requirements related to student success fees. The bill would prohibit a campus of the California State University, or the Chancellor of the California State University, from imposing a student success fee, as defined, unless certain requirements are met. The bill would establish procedures for campus elections for the adoption or rescission of student success fees. The bill would require the chancellor to report a summary of the fees adopted or rescinded in the prior academic year, and the uses of proposed and currently implemented fees, annually to the Department of Finance and the Legislature.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 89712 of the Education Code is repealed.
Section 89712 is added to the Education Code, to read:
(a) (1) A campus of the California State University,
4or the Chancellor of the California State University, or both, shall
5not approve a new student success fee or an increase to an existing
6student success fee, as defined in subdivision (f), before all of the
7following requirements are satisfied:
8(A) The campus undertakes a rigorous consultation process that
9informs and educates students on the uses, impact, and cost of any
10proposed student success fee or student success fee increase.
11(B) The campus informs its students of both of the following:
12(i) That, except as provided in clause (ii), a student success fee
13may be rescinded by a majority vote of the students, as specified
14in subdivision (c). The fee may not be rescinded earlier than six
15years following the vote to implement the fee.
16(ii) If any portion of the student success fee is committed to
17support ongoing or long-term obligations, that portion of the fee
18may not be rescinded until the obligation has been satisfiedbegin delete or, if begin insert
or the campus has
19the obligation extends beyond 12 years, that portion of the fee
20committed to the obligation shall be rescinded not sooner than 12
21years following the vote to implement the fee, by a majority vote
P3 1of the students as specified in subdivision (c).end delete
2identified, pursuant to the process established in subdivision (e),
3an alternative funding source for the ongoing or long-term
4obligation.end insert
5(C) The campus shall hold a binding student election on the
6implementation of any proposed student success fees, or any
7increase to an existing student success fee, and a majority of the
8student body voting on the fee must vote affirmatively.
9(2) Implementation of a fee supported by a majority of the
10campus student body voting on the fee is contingent upon final
11approval of the Chancellor of the California State University.
12(3) A student success fee proposal may not be brought before
13the student body more frequently than once per academic year.
14(b) A student success fee in place on January 1, 2016, may be
15rescinded by a binding student vote under the procedures
16authorized in subdivision (c) only after at least six yearsbegin delete hasend deletebegin insert haveend insert
17 elapsed following thebegin delete vote to implementend deletebegin insert implementation ofend insert the
18fee.
19(c) (1) Student success fees may be rescinded with a binding
20student vote wherein a simple majority of those students voting
21vote to rescind the fee. The student vote shall
comply with all of
22the following:
23(A) A campus decision to vote is formally approved by the
24recognized student government.
25(B) Rescission vote proposals shall not be brought before the
26student body more frequently than once per academic year.
27(C) In the process of reconsidering a student success fee, and
28before the student vote occurs, the students shall be informed, if
29a portion of the fee is supporting ongoing or long-term obligations,
30the dollar amount of that portion, and the date on which the
31ongoing or long-term obligation would be satisfied or rescinded,
32as described in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of
33subdivision (a).
34(2) No new
contractual or other obligation that would be
35supported by the rescinded student success fee may be entered into
36following a vote to rescind the fee.
37(3) Upon rescission of a student success fee that funds an
38ongoing or long-term obligation, a campus shall review, pursuant
39to the process established in subdivision (e), the potential for that
40obligation to be funded by other university funding sources.
P4 1(d) The Chancellor of the California State University shall
2ensure that all of the followingbegin delete occursend deletebegin insert occurend insert on each campus:
3(1) There is majority student representation in campus student
4success fee allocation oversight groups.
5(2) There isbegin insert anend insert annualbegin insert report from eachend insert campusbegin delete reportingend delete to
6the chancellor on student success fees.
7(3) There is uniform, transparent, online accountability in the
8decisionmaking processbegin insert for,end insert and a detailed accountingbegin delete ofend deletebegin insert
of,end insert
the
9allocation of student success fees.
10(e) The Chancellor of the California State University shall do
11all of the following:
12(1) Define an ongoing or long-term obligation for purposes of
13this section.
14(2) Define a process for a campus to review the possible
15transition of funding for an ongoing and long-term obligation from
16a student success fee that has been rescinded to other university
17funding sources.
18(3) Establish appropriate reporting procedures to ensure that
19a campus is in compliance with the requirements of this section.
20(e)
end delete
21begin insert(f)end insert The chancellor shall report, by December 1 of each year, to
22the Department of Finance, and the Legislature pursuant to Section
239795 of the Government Code, a summary of the fees adopted or
24rescinded in the prior academic year, and the uses of proposed and
25currently implemented fees.
26(f)
end delete
27begin insert(g)end insert For purposes of this section, a “student success fee” is a type
28of category II campus-based mandatory fee that is required to be
29paid by a student before
that student may enroll or attend a campus
30of the California State University, as determined by that campus
31or the Chancellor of the California State University.
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