BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1914 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 1914 (Bonilla) - As Amended March 17, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Higher Education |Vote:|13 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill requires the California State University (CSU) Trustees and the California Community Colleges (CCC) Board of Governors (BOG), and requests the University of California (UC) Regents, to adopt policies for their respective segments, as specified, delineating when it is acceptable for faculty to require students to purchase academic materials, including textbooks and access codes. 1)Requires that these policies include: AB 1914 Page 2 a) Requiring the campus bookstore to provide faculty members with the total cost of academic materials from the immediately preceding academic year when academic materials are being chosen for an upcoming academic term. b) Prohibiting the campus bookstore from posting "required material" next to academic materials it offers for sale unless the bookstore has received consent from the faculty member assigning the material or a staff member of the appropriate academic department. 2)Defines "access code" as an identification number or password, or both, that is used to gain access to digital content. FISCAL EFFECT: Adopting and implementing the new policies at CSU, assuming $5,000 per campus, would cost $115,000 (General Fund) annually. This would include coordination among staff to ensure awareness of the policy, provide the required information, and endure compliance with posting requirements. Assuming $3,000 per community college for the same activity, statewide reimbursable costs would be $339,000 (GF-Prop 98). The Chancellor's Office would incur one-time costs to revise its existing textbook policy, which was adopted in 2012. UC indicates that any costs would be minor and absorbable. COMMENTS: 1)Background. According to the February 2015 Student Public Interest Research Groups report, "Open Textbooks: The Billion-Dollar Solution," the cost of a college degree has AB 1914 Page 3 increased significantly over the past decade. The report finds that, during this same time, college textbook costs have also increased significantly. Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials such as textbooks, research articles, videos, assessments, or simulations that are either licensed under an open copyright license or are in the public domain. OERs provide no-cost access and no-cost permission to revise, reuse, remix, or redistribute the materials. The state's College Textbook Affordability Act incentivizes faculty to accelerate adoption of OER. An access code is a password needed in order to access course content online. The content a student accesses depends on the course, but can include things such as practice exam questions, interactive videos, and course assignments. Access codes are not always included with a subscription to an electronic book. Additionally, access codes are generally tied to specific textbooks; a student has to purchase the access code that accompanies his or her specific textbook. Access codes are also used for tasks that could be completed by platforms already available to both professors and students on campus. For example, access codes have been used for the submission of assignments (without grading), storing and maintaining grades, and for communication between faculty members and students. 2)Purpose. According to the author, "Each student must purchase AB 1914 Page 4 their access code, they cannot be shared. Access codes cost students $50 to $100 in addition to what they pay for all of the other instructional materials required for a course." The author contends that, the digital content protected by an access code can truly enhance a student's learning through informal assessments and immediate feedback. Recognizing the academic freedom of faculty, and the need for some oversight on how instructional materials are selected for students, AB 1914 requires adoption of policies as to what is acceptable for faculty to require of students when purchasing instructional materials, including, but not limited to, textbooks and access codes. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081