BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1914


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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS


          AB  
          1914 (Bonilla)


          As Amended  June 22, 2016


          Majority vote


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          |ASSEMBLY:  |80-0  |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: |38-0  |(August 16,      |
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          Original Committee Reference:  HIGHER ED.




          SUMMARY:  Requires the academic senates of campuses of the  
          California State University (CSU) and requests the academic  
          senates of campuses of 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.


          The Senate amendments require the campuses of the CSU and  
          request the campuses of the UC to submit the developed policies  
          regarding instructional materials, as specified, to the CSU  
          Trustees and the UC Regents, as appropriate, for their review.


          EXISTING LAW:  









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          1)Requires the CSU Trustees and the California Community  
            Colleges (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; to encourage faculty to disclose to students how  
            new editions of textbooks are different from previous  
            editions; and, the cost to students for textbooks selected,  
            among other things.  Current 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."   
            Publishers are also 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  
            Section (EDC) 66406).


          2)Establishes the College Textbook Transparency Act, which,  
            among others:


             a)   Defines "textbook" as a book that contains printed  
               material and is intended for use as a source of study  
               material for a class or group of students, a copy of which  
               is expected to be available for the use of each of the  
               students in that class or group, specifying that "textbook"  
               does not include a novel; 


             b)   Defines "adopter" as any faculty member or academic  
               department or other adopting entity at an institution of  
               higher education responsible for considering and choosing  
               course materials to be used in connection with the  
               accredited courses taught at that institution;


             c)   Encourages adopters to consider cost in the adoption of  
               textbooks; and,










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             d)   Requires each campus bookstore at any public  
               postsecondary educational institution to post in its store  
               or on its Internet Web site a disclosure of its retail  
               pricing policy on new and used textbooks (EDC 66406.7).


          3)Requires, as of January 1, 2020, any person, firm or  
            corporation that publishes textbooks offered for sale at the  
            UC, CSU, CCC, or a private college or university, to make the  
            textbooks available for sale in electronic format (EDC 66410).


          4)Establishes the College Textbook Affordability Act, which,  
            among others:


             a)   Encourages faculty to accelerate the adoption of lower  
               cost, high-quality, open educational resources in order to  
               reduce costs for college students;


             b)   Establishes the Open Educational Resources Adoption  
               Incentive Program ; and,


             c)   Defines "open educational resources" as high-quality  
               teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in  
               the public domain or have been released under an  
               intellectual property license, such as a Creative Commons  
               license, that permits their free use and repurposing by  
               others, and may include other resources that are legally  
               available and free of cost to students (EDC 67421, et  
               seq.).


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee:


          1)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  








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            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).


          2)The UC indicates minor costs to implement this bill. 


          COMMENTS:  Cost of instructional materials.  According to the  
          February 2015 Student Public Interest Research Groups (Student  
          PIRGs) report, entitled, "Open Textbooks:  The Billion-Dollar  
          Solution," the cost of a college degree has increased  
          significantly over the past decade.  The report finds that, as  
          of 2013, seven in 10 seniors at public and private nonprofit  
          colleges, graduated with student loan debt; and, that as a  
          nation, Americans hold over $1 trillion in student loan debt.   
          Additionally, the report finds that, during the same time that  
          the cost of obtaining a college degree increased, college  
          textbook costs have skyrocketed.  Though textbooks do not  
          represent the majority of costs in pursuing a college degree,  
          they are one of the largest out-of-pocket expenses that students  
          face each year.  The report states that, "Since 1978, college  
          textbook costs have increased 812%.  To put that in context, it  
          means that textbook prices have increased at 3.2 times the rate  
          of inflation."


          Citing data from the College Board, the report finds that, the  
          average undergraduate student should budget between $1,200 and  
          $1,300 for textbooks and supplies each year; which averages to  
          be as much as 40% of tuition at a two-year community college,  
          and 13% at a four-year public institution. 


          A 2014 Student PIRG study found that 65% of students skipped  
          buying or renting a textbook because it was too expensive, and  
          94% of those students felt that in so doing, their grade would  
          suffer in a course.  Additionally, almost half of the students  
          said the cost of textbooks impacted how many courses they were  








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          able to take.


          Open Educational Resources (OER).  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.  According to a 2012 policy brief by  
          the Center for American Progress and EDUCAUSE, digital OERs  
          offer many advantages over traditional textbooks:  they allow  
          students and faculty to access textbooks and related materials  
          for free online or purchase hardcopies that are more affordable  
          than traditional textbooks; they enable faculty to customize  
          learning materials to suit their course objectives; and, they  
          can provide students with a more flexible set of tools that can  
          contribute to a richer learning experience.


          Access codes.  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.


          Not only are access codes an additional cost to students, access  
          codes are 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.  


          Purpose of this measure.  According to the author, "An access  
          code is an identification number or a password that is used to  
          access digital content.  Each student must purchase 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  








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          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.  Many professors do not have  
          teaching assistants and the access codes can provide a method to  
          grade digital homework immediately without hours of additional  
          work for the professor.  


          Recognizing the academic freedom of faculty, and the need for  
          some oversight on how instructional materials are selected for  
          students, this measure tasks the CSU Trustees and CCC Board of  
          Governors, and asks the UC Regents, to create specific 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:                                             
          Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960  FN:  0004259