BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1914|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1914
Author: Bonilla (D)
Amended: 6/22/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/15/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Public postsecondary education: academic materials:
textbooks: access codes
SOURCE: California State Student Association
DIGEST: This bill requires the academic senates of campuses of
the California State University (CSU) and the University of
California (UC) to develop policies regarding instructional
materials to encourage efforts to reduce redundancy in the
delivery of materials, and requires campuses of the CSU to
review and adopt those policies.
ANALYSIS:
Existing federal law, the Higher Education Opportunity Act:
AB 1914
Page 2
1)Requires each institution of higher education (IHE) that
receives federal financial assistance, to the maximum extent
possible, to:
a) Disclose, on the IHE's online course schedule, the
International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and retail price
information of required and recommended textbooks and
supplemental materials for each course listed in the course
schedule.
b) Include on the IHE's written course schedule a notice
that textbook information is available on the IHE's online
course schedule, and the web link to that schedule.
1)Provides exceptions to the disclosure requirement as
specified.
2)Encourages IHEs to also provide to students information
regarding:
a) Available institutional programs for renting textbooks
or for purchasing used textbooks.
b) Available institutional guaranteed textbook buy-back
programs.
c) Available institutional alternative content delivery
programs.
d) Other available institutional cost-saving strategies.
1)Requires each institution of higher education (IHE) that
receives federal financial assistance to make available to
college bookstores that are operated or affiliated with the
institution the most accurate information available regarding
the IHE's course schedule for the subsequent academic period
and the information described in 1) and 2) above for each
course or class offered for the subsequent academic period.
2)Provides that the information is to be provided to the college
bookstore as soon as is practicable upon the request of the
college bookstore. (United States Code, Title 20, § 1015)
AB 1914
Page 3
Existing state law:
1) Requires the CSU Trustees and the California Community
College (CCC) Board of Governors, and requests the UC
Regents, to work with the academic senates to encourage
faculty to give consideration to the least costly practices
in assigning textbooks and to encourage faculty to disclose
to students how new editions of textbooks are different from
previous editions. Existing law also urges textbook
publishers to provide information to faculty when they are
considering what textbooks to order, and to post information
on the publishers' Web sites, including an explanation of how
the newest edition is different from previous editions. In
addition, publishers are asked to disclose to faculty the
length of time they intend to produce the current edition and
provide faculty free copies of each textbook selected.
(Education Code § 66406)
2) Requires, under the College Textbook Transparency Act, each
campus bookstore at any public postsecondary educational
institution to post in its store or on its Web site a
disclosure of the retail price policy on new and used
textbooks. These provisions also encourage adopters to
consider cost in the adoption of textbooks, require
institutions to encourage adopters to place orders with
sufficient lead time to enable the college bookstore to
confirm the availability of the requested materials. This
Act also requires textbook publishers to:
a) Respond in a timely manner to requests from faculty or
other adopter for specified information, such as costs of
textbooks.
b) Print on or in a textbook how new editions are
different. (EC § 66406.7)
1) Establishes, under the College Textbook Affordability Act,
the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Program to
incentivize faculty to accelerate the adoption of lower cost,
high-quality, open educational resources (OERs) at campuses
of the CCC and the CSU. This program provides funding for
faculty professional development, professional development
for staff, OER curation activities, curriculum modification
and requisite release time for faculty, and technology
AB 1914
Page 4
support. (EC § 67420)
2) Establishes the California Digital Open Source Library,
administered by the CSU in coordination with the CCC, for the
purpose of housing open source materials while providing
Web-based access for students, faculty and staff to find,
adopt, utilize, or modify course materials for little or no
cost. (EC § 66408)
3) Establishes the California Open Education Resources Council
and requires the council to be responsible for, among other
things, developing a list of 50 strategically selected lower
division courses in the public postsecondary segments for
which high-quality, affordable, digital open source textbooks
and related materials are to be developed or acquired. (EC §
66409)
This bill:
1)Requires the respective academic senates of campuses of the CSU
and the UC, in collaboration with students and campus
administrators, to develop policies regarding required
academic materials in order to encourage efforts to reduce
redundancy in the delivery of academic materials, including,
but not limited to, textbooks and access codes.
2)Requires the policies to include, but not be limited to, all of
the following:
a) Guidelines prioritizing the use of ancillary and additional
academic platforms and materials already available to
enrolled students that are determined by faculty to meet
the requirements of a course at no additional cost to
enrolled students on their campuses or to the campus itself
(excluding textbooks).
b) A requirement that the cost of academic materials from the
current semester or quarter be provided to faculty by the
campus bookstore when academic materials are being chosen
for an upcoming academic term, if available.
c) The establishment, in consultation with the campus
bookstore, of deadlines by the campus for faculty or an
academic department to notify the campus bookstore of
AB 1914
Page 5
required and recommended textbooks and other instructional
materials so that the bookstore may verify availability,
source, and lower cost options when practicable, and
provide this information to faculty for consideration when
exploring alternatives.
d) A determination, in consultation with the campus bookstore,
of approved descriptors to post next to academic materials
offered for sale at the campus bookstore, including a
requirement that the bookstore clearly identify any
recommended course materials that are suggested by the
bookstore but not by the faculty member who assigned the
materials.
3)Requires the campuses of the CSU and requests the campuses of the
UC to submit the policies to the CSU Trustees and UC Regents
for their review.
4)Defines "access code" as an identification number or password, or
both, that is used to gain access to digital content.
5)States legislative intent to encourage faculty to continue their
commitment to making academic materials affordable by
considering free or inexpensive options, including open access
options, in selecting academic materials to assign to their
students.
Comments
Practical effect. Existing law encourages faculty to consider
price, requires publishers to respond in a timely manner to
requests from faculty for specified information including costs
of textbooks, requires institutions to encourage adopters to
place orders with sufficient lead time to enable the college
bookstore to confirm the availability of the requested
materials, and requires bookstores to post the price policy.
This bill requires the academic senates of the CSU and UC to
develop policies that include a requirement that the cost of
academic materials from the current semester or quarter be
provided to faculty by the campus bookstore when academic
materials are being chosen for an upcoming academic term, if
available. Currently, faculty may have this information only if
the faculty requests it from publishers or from the bookstore.
AB 1914
Page 6
This bill requires the policies to include the establishment, in
consultation with the campus bookstore, of deadlines by the
campus for faculty or an academic department to notify the
campus bookstore of required and recommended textbooks and other
instructional materials so that the bookstore may verify
availability, source, and lower cost options when practicable,
and provide this information to faculty for consideration when
exploring alternatives. Generally, the current process consists
of faculty submitting their lists of required and recommended
instructional materials to the bookstore, and the bookstore
fills the order (although some faculty work more cooperatively
with the bookstore than described here). This bill requires
policies that would essentially require faculty to submit lists
of materials to the bookstore within a specified timeframe, the
bookstore would research prices and options, and submit that
information to the faculty, and the faculty would consider that
information and subsequently submit the order for instructional
materials (whether or not the faculty adjusted the list of
materials based on information received by the bookstore).
Access codes, the new CD ROM? 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 the specific textbook.
This bill does not prohibit the use of access codes.
Approved descriptors. This bill requires the policies developed
by the academic senates to include, among other things, a
determination of approved descriptors to post next to academic
materials offered for sale at the campus bookstore, including a
requirement that the bookstore clearly identify any recommended
course materials that are suggested by the bookstore but not by
the faculty member who assigned the materials. Background
materials provided by the author describe situations where
college bookstores label instructional materials as being
"highly recommended" but do not indicate that those materials
are recommended by the bookstore and not by the faculty.
AB 1914
Page 7
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
The CSU anticipates costs in the low to mid hundreds of
thousands in the first year to implement this bill. This
includes one-time costs for campus academic senates to develop
required policies. These costs may be absorbable at some
campuses. Annual costs of about $200,000 to compile and
communicate costs of selected course materials to faculty and
to modify course material descriptors differentiating
bookstore suggested, and faculty required materials. (General
Fund)
The UC indicates minor costs to implement this bill.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
California State Student Association (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
AB 1914
Page 8
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
Prepared by:Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/15/16 20:17:23
**** END ****