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
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|Policy |Higher Education |Vote:|13 - 0 |
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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:
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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
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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
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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