BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Isadore Hall, III
Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1837 Hearing Date: 6/28/2016
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|Author: |Low |
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|Version: |3/17/2016 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Felipe Lopez |
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SUBJECT: Postsecondary education: Office of Higher Education
Performance and Accountability
DIGEST: This bill establishes the Office of Higher Education
Performance and Accountability (OHEPA) as the statewide
postsecondary coordination and planning agency, outlines its
responsibilities, functions and authorities, and establishes an
advisory board to the office to examine and make recommendations
regarding its functions and operations, and to review and
comment on OHEPA's recommendations to the Governor and
Legislature.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the University of California (UC), under the
administration of the Regents of the University of California,
the California State University (CSU), under the
administration of the Trustees of the California State
University, the California Community Colleges (CCC), under the
administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, independent institutions of higher
education, and private postsecondary educational institutions
as the segments of postsecondary education in this state.
2)States that the intent of the Legislature that budget and
policy decisions regarding postsecondary education generally
AB 1837 (Low) Page 2 of ?
adhere to three specified goals and that appropriate metrics
be identified, defined, and formally adopted to monitor
progress toward the achievement of the goals.
3)Establishes the California Postsecondary Education Commission
(CPEC) as the statewide postsecondary education coordinating
and planning agency, and provides for its functions and
responsibilities.
4)Provides for the composition of the CPEC's membership. The
annual Budget Acts from the 2011-12 fiscal year to the 2015-16
fiscal year, inclusive, have provided no funding for CPEC.
This bill:
1)Establishes OHEPA as the statewide postsecondary education
coordination and planning agency and places OHEPA under the
direct control of an Executive Director who shall be appointed
by the Governor and subject to Senate confirmation.
2) Provides that the Executive Director is responsible for all
duties, powers, and responsibilities vested in OHEPA,
including contracting for relevant professional or consultant
services.
3)Requires the Executive Director to appoint any staff positions
authorized by the Governor.
4)Establishes an Advisory Board to OHEPA for the purpose of
examining and making recommendations to OHEPA regarding the
functions and operations of OHEPA and reviewing and commenting
on any recommendations made by OHEPA to the Governor and
Legislature.
5)Requires the advisory board to consist of the Chairperson of
the Senate Committee on Education and the Chairperson of the
Assembly Committee on Higher Education, who serve as ex
officio members and six public members with experience in
postsecondary education, appointed to terms of four years as
follows:
a) Three members of the advisory board appointed by the
Senate Committee on Rules.
b) Three members of the advisory appointed by the Speaker
of the Assembly.
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6)Requires OHEPA to actively seek input from, and consult with,
the advisory board regarding functions, operations, and
recommendations of OHEPA, and provide the advisory board with
sufficient time to review and comment.
7)Requires the advisory board to meet at least quarterly, and
requires the advisory board to appoint one of its members to
represent the board for purposes of communicating with the
Legislature.
8)Specifies that the advisory board is responsible for
developing an independent annual report on the condition of
higher education in California and issuing an annual review of
the performance of the Executive Director of OHEPA.
9)Requires members of the advisory board to serve without
compensation, but shall receive reimbursement for actual and
necessary expenses incurred in connection with the performance
of their duties as board members.
10) Requires OHEPA to consult with higher education segments
and stakeholders, as appropriate, in the conduct of its
duties and responsibilities.
11) Declares that OHEPA exists for the purpose of advising the
Governor, the Legislature and other appropriate government
officials and institutions of postsecondary education and
specifies that OHEPA has the following functions and
responsibilities:
a) Requires, through its use of information and its
analytic capacity, that it inform the identification and
period revision of state goals and priorities for higher
education consistent with the existing goals and metrics
outlined in Statute by SB 195 (Liu, Chapter 367, Statutes
of 2013) and in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Budget Acts, and
that it biennially evaluate both statewide and
institutional performance in relation to these goals and
priorities.
b) Requires that it review and make recommendations
regarding cross segmental and interagency initiatives and
programs in areas that may include, but are not
necessarily limited to, efficiencies in instructional
delivery, financial aid, transfer, and workforce
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coordination.
c) Requires that it advise the Legislature and the
Governor regarding the need for, and the location of, new
institutions and campuses of public higher education.
d) Requires that it review proposals by the public
segments, as specified, and make recommendations regarding
those proposals to the Legislature and the Governor.
e) Requires that it act as the clearinghouse for
postsecondary education information and as a primary
source of information for the Legislature, the Governor,
and other agencies.
f) Requires that it develop and maintain a comprehensive
database that ensures data compatibility, supports
longitudinal studies, is compatible with K-12 data
systems, provides Internet access to data for the sectors
of higher education in order to support statewide,
segmental and individual campus educational research
needs.
g) Requires that it review all proposals for changes in
eligibility pools for admission to public institutions and
segments of postsecondary education and that it
periodically conduct eligibility studies.
h) Requires that it manage data systems and maintain
programmatic, policy, and fiscal expertise to receive and
aggregate information reported by the institutions of
higher education in this state.
12) Authorizes OHEPA to require governing boards and the
institutions of public postsecondary education to submit
data to OHEPA on plans, programs, costs, student selection
and retention, enrollments, and other specified information,
and requires OHEPA to furnish information concerning these
matters to the Legislature and Governor as requested by
them.
13) Requires OHEPA to annually report to the Legislature and
the Governor regarding its progress in achieving the
aforementioned objectives and responsibilities by December
31st of each year.
14) Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) to review
and report to the Legislature regarding performance of the
OHEPA in fulfilling its functions and responsibilities by
January 1, 2020.
AB 1837 (Low) Page 5 of ?
15) Sunsets these provisions on January 1, 2021.
Background
Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "the state's
approach to higher education must become more comprehensive if
it is to ensure state-level workforce needs and priorities are
being met. Numerous reports, including legislative reviews of
the Master Plan and more recent reports from higher education
experts, have called for California to establish a central
higher education body. This central body is an important
element of the state's ability to honor its promise of
affordable, high quality postsecondary education for all high
school graduates and adults. Without such an entity, California
cannot systematically plan to address the current and future
needs of all its students and overall economy. "
The author further states that, "AB 1837 represents the next
necessary step in establishing greater clarity and
accountability for our higher education system's performance in
meeting the state wide goals outlined in the Master Plan of
equity, access, and success, alignment with workforce needs, and
the effective and efficient use of resources."
California Postsecondary Education Commission. The 1960 Master
Plan for Higher Education recognized that critical to the
success of the State's tripartite system of public higher
education was a central body responsible for coordination and
planning for higher education. Specifically, the Master Plan
articulated basic state policies on higher education, such as
assigning missions to the different higher education segments,
specifying eligibility targets and expressing the state's intent
that higher education remain accessible, affordable, high
quality and accountable. In addition, the Master plan created
the CPEC as an oversight body tasked with providing fiscal and
policy recommendations to the Governor and Legislature,
monitoring and coordinating public institutions, and ensuring
comprehensive statewide planning for higher education and
effective use of resources.
In the 2011-12 Budget Act, Governor Brown vetoed funding for
CPEC citing the agency's ineffectiveness in higher education
oversight. However, in his veto message, the Governor
acknowledged the need for coordinating and guiding state higher
education policy and requested that stakeholders explore ways
AB 1837 (Low) Page 6 of ?
these functions could be fulfilled. This bill proposes an
alternative.
Improving Higher Education Oversight. In a January 2012 report
by the LAO titled, "Improving Higher Education Oversight," the
LAO raised concerns that in the wake of CPEC's closure, the
future of higher education oversight was unclear. The LAO
stated that while the public segments had stepped in to assume
some roles previously performed by the CPEC, they expressed
concerns about how institutional and public interests would be
balanced.
The LAO also noted that while CPEC's performance had been
problematic, several important functions performed by CPEC had
been lost. Among other things, the LAO recommended the
Legislature re-establish an independent oversight body and
increase the body's independence from the public higher
education segments, assign the body with limited and clear
responsibilities, and develop a more unified governing board
appointment process.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 195 (Liu, Chapter 367, Statutes of 2013) established
legislative intent that budget and policy decisions regarding
postsecondary education generally adheres to the goals of
improving student access and success, better aligning degrees
and credentials with the state's economic, workforce, and civic
needs, and ensuring the effective and efficient use of
resources.
SB 42 (Liu, 2015) would have recast the CPEC as the California
Commission on Higher Education Performance and Accountability,
modified the make-up of the prior commission, reduced and
clarified the Commission's functions and responsibilities,
deleted a number of obsolete reporting requirements, and make a
number of conforming and technical changes. (Vetoed by Governor
Brown)
AB 1348 (John A. Perez, 2014) would have established the
California Higher Education Authority, its governing board and
its responsibilities, as specified, phased-in over a three-year
period. (Held in the Senate Appropriations Suspense File)
SB 1022 (Huff, Chapter 394, Statutes of 2014) required CSU, and
AB 1837 (Low) Page 7 of ?
requested the UC, to post annual updated labor market data
regarding their graduates on their Internet Web sites.
SB 1196 (Liu, 2014) would have established a process for setting
postsecondary educational attainment goals and would have
required that these goals guide the development of plans by the
CCC, the CSU, and the UC for making progress towards the state's
goals. (Held in the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File)
AB 2190 (John A. Perez, 2012) would have established a new state
oversight and coordinating body for higher education. (Held in
the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File)
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: Yes
SUPPORT:
Campaign for College Opportunity
California Competes
California Faculty Association
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Campaign for College
Opportunity, "in 2014, we released a policy brief showing how
states across the nation have faced and overcome some of the
same challenges of college access, affordability, and completion
that are before California's higher education systems. All six
states shared some common factors that made major higher
education reforms and innovation possible, including a central
authority or agency responsible for higher education and a clear
vision and plan with goals for higher education. AB 1837 fills
a critical void in statewide higher education planning by
establishing an independent body to steward a public agenda for
higher education and that can ensure implementation efforts to
help achieve state goals."
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