BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2069
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2069 (Medina) - As Introduced February 17, 2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Higher Education |Vote:|13 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill expands the data required to be collected to measure
the effectiveness of the California Community Colleges' (CCCs')
Student Success and Support Program (SSSP) to include the
percentage of part-time (P/T) faculty required to hold office
hours per full-time equivalent student (FTES).
FISCAL EFFECT:
To the extent districts do not currently collect data on P/T
AB 2069
Page 2
faculty holding officer hours, they would have to establish a
system, and potentially make information technology
modifications, to do so. If costs averaged only $5,000 - $10,000
per district, one-time statewide reimbursable costs would be
$360,000 to $720,000. [GF-Prop 98]
COMMENTS:
1)Background. SB 1456 (Lowenthal), Chapter 624, Statutes of
2013, enacted the SSSP, which in part emphasized services such
as orientation, assessment, and counseling and advising to
assist students with the development of education plans,
required that students define goals and declare a course of
study. This act also stipulated that hiring of full-time
faculty, including counselors, and providing for P/T faculty
support, are "essential educational priorities that contribute
to student success."
2)Purpose. According to the author, "the Legislature has
previously acknowledged the importance of this [office hours
for P/T faculty] issue." Funds for the program were cut
during the recession and have not been restored. The author
contends that P/T faculty have office hours as negotiated by
their contracts, but if contracts do not include office hours,
which many do not, then office hours are not offered. While
the Student Success Scorecard collects and reports various
metrics that affect student success, it does not collect
information on office hours offered by P/T faculty.
This bill is co-sponsored by the Faculty Association of
California Community Colleges and the Student Senate for
California Community Colleges.
3)Comment. It is unclear how the new reporting metric, to be
expressed as a percentage/FTES would provide a meaningful, or
AB 2069
Page 3
even understandable, additional measurement of student
success. As advocates for increases in P/T faculty office
hours-itself a laudable goal-the sponsors may wish to look at
a comparison of P/T to F/T faculty office hours in relation to
relative workloads for these respective groups, and also
consider a survey to sample actual faculty office hour
utilization by students and its perceived efficacy.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081