BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1653
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|Author: |Weber |
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|Version: |May 31, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 22, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: | Yes |
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|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
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Subject: Postsecondary education: campus climate
NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Business Professions and Economic Development. A
"do pass" motion should include referral to the Committee on
Business Professions and Economic Development.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) Board
of Governors (BOG) and the California State University (CSU)
Trustees, the governing body of each private postsecondary
educational institution in the state and encourages each
University of California (UC) campus, to each generate a report,
as specified, pertaining campus climate.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Declares it a shared goal of public education and
independent institutions of higher education to achieve
educational equity not only through a diverse and
representative student body and faculty, but also through
educational
environments in which each person, regardless of race,
gender, gender identity,
gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability or
economic circumstances
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has a reasonable change to fully develop his or her
potential.
(Education Code § 66010.2)
2) Provides that it is the policy of the State of California
to afford all persons,
regardless of disability, gender, gender identity, gender
expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion,
sexual orientation, or any other basis that is contained in
the prohibition of hate crimes, as specified, equal rights
and opportunities in the postsecondary institutions of the
state. (EC § 66251)
3) Declares that, consistent with specified federal law
provisions, all students have the right to participate
fully in the educational process, free from discrimination
and harassment and that California's postsecondary
educational institutions have an affirmative obligation to
combat racism, sexism, and other forms of bias, and a
responsibility to provide equal educational opportunity.
It also declares the Legislature's intent that each
postsecondary educational institution undertake educational
activities to counter discriminatory incidents on school
grounds and, within constitutional bounds, to minimize and
eliminate a hostile environment on school grounds that
impair the access of students to equal educational
opportunities. (EC § 66252)
4) Requests the UC Regents, CSU Trustees, and the governing
board of each community college district to adopt and
publish policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying
to be included within the rules and regulations governing
student behavior within their respective segments of public
postsecondary education. (EC § 66302)
5) Requires, through the federal law, colleges and
universities, as a condition of federal student aid program
participation, to publish annual campus security reports,
maintain crime logs, provide timely warnings of crimes that
present a public safety risk, and maintain ongoing crime
statistics.
(20 United States Code § 1092(f))
6) Requires, beginning no later than January 1, 2004, the
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State Auditor to audit at least six colleges every three
years regarding to evaluate the accuracy of their
statistics and procedures for complying with the Clery
Act's crime statistics reporting requirements. The State
Auditor is required to report the audit results to the
respective Chairs of the Assembly Committee on Higher
Education and the Senate Committee on Education. (EC §
67382)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) Board
of Governors (BOG) and the California State University
(CSU) Trustees, the governing body of each private
postsecondary educational institution in the state and
encourages each University of California (UC) campus, to
generate a report once every biennium of the legislative
session, beginning with the 2017-2018 Regular Session that
include, but is not limited to the following elements:
a) New and recent administrative efforts intended
to affect campus climate, reduce food insecurity and
student homelessness.
b) Recent campus program developments related to
gender, race, ethnicity,
national origin, religion, sexual orientation,
disability, and gender identity that impact campus
climate.
1) Requires the CCC BOG and the CSU Trustees, the governing
body of each
private postsecondary educational institution in the state
and encourages UC campuses, to:
a) Each post the report on their respective
Internet Web sites.
b) Send the report to the Governor, the Attorney
General, and the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature.
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c) Create, review every two years thereafter,
and, as necessary, update protocols, policies, and
procedures regarding compliance with the federal
Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and
Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery) and federal the
Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013
(VAWR).
3) Requires California Community Colleges Board of Governors
to request, but not require, specified campus climate
information from community college districts and base its
report on data available from participating community
college districts.
4) Defines "campus climate" to mean a measure of an
individual's experience within a learning environment,
specifically on the current attitudes, practices, policies,
and behaviors of campus life that impact the success and
retention of all members of a campus community.
5) Deletes the request that the California State University
(CSU) Trustees and each community college district
governing board adopt and publish policies on harassment,
intimidation, and bullying as part of their rules and
regulations governing student behavior and instead,
requires such action if the governing body expends funds to
support activities related to campus climate, as defined.
6) Requests the University of California (UC) Regent adopt and
publish policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying
to be included within their rules and regulations governing
student behavior.
10) Establishes if the Commission on State Mandates determines
that this act contains costs mandated by the state, the
state will reimburse applicable entities.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Source of the bill. This bill is a result of the efforts
of the Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate.
According to the author, "The select committee sought to
examine public safety protocols and practices of
California's higher education institutions while exploring
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solutions to encourage campus safety and promote healthier
campus climates. The select committee's mission was to
ensure that the state's college campuses are safe and
welcoming environments for all students." The author
contends that, existing law does not specifically address
campus climate and that this measure would be the
appropriate next step in creating some type of oversight of
campus climate. According to the author, the UC recently
conducted a systemwide campus climate survey which revealed
that every campus handles related situations differently.
As California's higher education systems continue to grow
and become increasingly diverse, students need to feel safe
on campus and knowledgeable about campus procedures,
policies, and services.
2) Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate. Created by
former Speaker John Perez in 2014, the select committee was
a result of a number of incidents such as a 2013 case
involving an African-American student who experienced
on-campus racial bullying at San Jose State. The committee
held four hearings throughout the state and heard from
systemwide representatives, university administrators,
faculty, university staff, students, community
organizations and policy experts. The committee issued a
report with its recommendations in October 2014. Among
other things, the committee recommended that the University
of California (UC), California State University (CSU) and
California Community College (CCC) provide an annual report
to the Legislature on recent challenges and developments in
regards to campus climate. In 2015 the select committee
held two follow-up hearings. The first hearing, in
collaboration with the Joint Legislative Audit Committee
and the Assembly Higher Education Committee, focused on
sexual assaults and sexual violence on college campuses.
The second hearing provided insight into student food
insecurity as well as student homelessness issues. This
bill implements the 2014 report recommendations and
information from the 2015 hearings with the intent that
there be a certain level of oversight and that the
Legislature be kept informed of any major changes at
California colleges and universities.
3) Related state audit. In July 2015, the Bureau of State
Audits (BSA) issued a report, California's Postsecondary
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Educational Institutions: More Guidance Is Needed to
Increase Compliance with Federal Crime Reporting
Requirements. The BSA visited six institutions to determine
whether their annual security reports issued in 2014
contained all required security policies and accurate crime
statistics for 2013. These included Fresno City College,
San Francisco State University, Shasta College, Stanford
University, University of California at San Diego, and
University of Redlands. They also surveyed 79 of the 573
campuses that reported no Clery Act crimes for 2013 to
determine whether their institutions' procedures for
compiling and distributing the statistics were sufficient.
The BSA found that none of the six institutions were in
full compliance with the Clery Act requirements. In
addition, of the 79 campuses surveyed, while most indicated
that they have sufficient processes in place to help ensure
that they report accurate crime statistics, the BSA felt
that some institutions needed to strengthen their practices
for notifying students and employees of the availability of
their annual security reports.
Among other things, the Auditor recommended the
institutions correctly report all applicable crimes and
disclose the required campus security policies by reviewing
and adhering to applicable guidance related to the Clery
Act, creating written procedures that clearly describe the
review process for reporting, and ensuring that they
include all crimes in their daily crime log. This bill
would require institutions to create and review policies,
and procedures regarding compliance with the federal Clery
Act and federal the Violence Against Women Reauthorization
Act.
4) Technical Amendment. This bill is intended to capture
private non-profit higher education institutions, as
written the bill inadvertently references Education Code
(EC) section 94858 related to private for-profit
institutions. Consistent with the author's request staff
recommends that the bill be amended to reference the
appropriate EC section (66010(b)) for private nonpublic
higher education institutions rather than EC section 94858
as currently referenced in the bill.
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5) Related and prior legislation.
AB 1654 (Santiago, 2016), expands existing audit
requirements regarding the reporting of crime statistics by
California postsecondary education institutions by
requiring the State Auditor to include an evaluation of
institutions' compliance with state law governing crime
reporting and the development and implementation of student
safety policies and procedures. AB 1654 was heard and
approved by this Committee with a vote of 9-0.
AB 340 (Weber, 2015) similar to this bill, would have
required California State University and California
Community College and encouraged University of California
to report on campus climate efforts and submit the report
to the Governor, the Office of the Attorney General, and
the appropriate policy committees of the California
Legislature. AB 340 was vetoed by the Governor whose veto
message read:
"While I understand the desire to create a
more vibrant, intellectually serious and
inclusive campus environment at UC, CSU and
the community colleges, each of their
governing boards has already taken steps
aimed at achieving these important goals. I
believe the leaders of these institutions
are committed to providing updates on
current and future developments.
Codifying a biennial report, as provided in
this bill, is not necessary."
SUPPORT
California Faculty Association (CFA)
California State Conference of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People
California State Student Association (CSSA)
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
United Black Student Unions of California
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OPPOSITION
None received.
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