BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2317
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|Author: |Mullin |
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|Version: |February 18, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 8, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
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Subject: California State University: Doctor of Audiology
degrees
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the California State University (CSU) to
award a Doctor of Audiology degree (Au.D) and establishes
constraints on the funding and fees for these degrees.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Provides that the primary mission of the California
State University is undergraduate and graduate instruction
through the master's degree, but authorizes the CSU to
offer joint doctoral degrees with the University of
California (UC), or with one or more independent
institutions of higher education, only as specified.
(Education Code § 66010.4)
2) In setting forth the missions and functions of
California's public and independent institutions of higher
education provides, among other things, that UC has the
sole authority in public higher education to award the
doctoral degree in all fields of learning, except that it
may agree with the CSU to award joint doctoral degrees in
selected fields. (EC § 66010.4)
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3) Authorizes the CSU to independently award the Doctor of
Education (Ed.D) degree focused solely on preparing
administrative leaders for California public K-14 schools.
(EC § 66040, et seq.)
4) Authorizes the CSU, until January 1, 2019, to offer the
Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) degree focused solely
on preparing physical therapists to provide health care
services, and shall be consistent with meeting the
requirements of the Commission on Accreditation in Physical
Therapy Education. (EC § 66402, et seq.)
5) Authorizes the CSU, until January 1, 2019, to offer the
Doctor of Nursing Practice degree programs at up to three
campuses chosen by the CSU Trustees and requires the CSU to
provide data, as specified, by July 1, 2016, to the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), in order for the LAO to
prepare a report to the Legislature on or before January 1,
2017. (EC § 89281, et seq.)
ANALYSIS
1) Finds and declares the following intent of the Legislature:
a) Since its adoption in 1960, the Master Plan for
Higher Education has
served to create the largest and most distinguished higher
education
system in the nation. A key component of the Master Plan
for Higher
Education is the differentiation of mission and function,
whereby doctoral
and identified professional programs are limited to the
University of
California (UC), with the provision that the California
State University
(CSU) can provide doctoral education in joint doctoral
programs with the
UC and independent California colleges and universities.
The
differentiation of function has allowed California to
provide universal
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access to postsecondary education while preserving quality;
and,
b) Because of the need to prepare and educate
increased numbers of
audiologists, the State of California is granting the
CSU authority to offer the Doctor of Audiology degree
(Au.D) degree as an exception to the differentiation
of function in graduate education that assigns sole
authority among the California higher education
segments to the UC for awarding doctoral degrees
independently. This exception to the Master Plan for
Higher Education recognizes the distinctive strengths
and respective missions of the CSU and the UC.
2) Authorizes the CSU to award a Au.D degree, notwithstanding
the Masterplan and its differentiation of mission and
function, in order to meet specified audiology needs in
California, subject to compliance with the following
conditions:
a) Limits the authority to award doctorate to the
discipline of audiology.
b) Requires that the amount of state full-time
equivalent student (FTES)
funding per student be at the agreed upon marginal
cost calculation that the CSU receives and further:
i) Requires that FTES funding for the new
students in these programs
come from within the CSU's agreed upon enrollment
levels in the
annual Budget Act.
ii) Prohibits enrollment in these programs
from altering the ratio of
graduate instruction to total enrollment and
diminishing the growth of enrollment of
undergraduate programs.
c) Caps the fess that may be charged students in
these programs at the rate
charged for students in state-supported Au.D programs
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at the UC
(including joint programs of the CSU and UC).
d) Requires that the degree be focused on preparing
audiologist to provide
health care services, and that it be consistent with
meeting the requirements of the Council on Academic
Accreditation in Audiology and Speech Language
Pathology.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the California Academy of
Audiology, there are approximately 1,600 audiologists in
the state which falls short of the number needed to provide
services for the increasing number of California's with
hearing and balance disorders. The author asserts that,
"Doctor of Audiology degree (Au.D) programs provided by the
California State University (CSU) will likely provide more
affordable programs that will draw the much -needed student
diversity required of today's hearing health care
providers." This bill seeks to address a shortage of
licensed audiologist in the state by authorizing CSU to
award Au.D independently from doctoral degree programs
offered at UC.
2) Existing authorization. Notwithstanding the Masterplan for
Higher Education, which designates the University of
California the only California public postsecondary
education segment authorized to award a doctoral degree,
current law authorizes the CSU to independently award three
professional doctoral degrees which include the Doctor of
Education, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Doctor of
Nursing. This bill would expand the type of professional
doctoral degrees CSU is authorized to award.
3) Slippery slope. In 2001, the American Speech-Language
Hearing Association (ASHA), a national professional
organization representing audiologists and also the
accrediting body for professional preparation programs in
audiology, speech and language pathology, mandated that
beginning in 2007 audiologists would be required to earn a
doctorate to attain professional certification. Schools
that did not offer a doctorate in audiology would lose
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their accreditation. At the time, the CSU offered five
master's level audiology programs and one joint doctoral
program between San Diego State University (SDSU) and UC
San Diego (UCSD). To date, the SDSU/UCSD joint degree is
the only public program in the state.
Staff notes that it was not CSU or an independent
accrediting or educational evaluating organization that
mandated the change in the program. Rather, it is a private
professional association that, at present, is the sole
accrediting agency and sole provider of individual
certification and the national licensing exam.
Should a single private agency, in essence, dictate the
programs that California public colleges must offer?
Shouldn't the institutions play a role in determining what
their educational standards should be? How many other
private professional agencies will follow suit?
4) What is the Au.D? According to the American Academy of
Audiology, an Au.D is a clinically based, professional
doctoral degree, for purposes of clinical practice in this
field and as such is distinguished from the doctoral
program (PhD) that is research based. This bill
specifically authorizes CSU to offer an Au.D degree focused
on preparing audiologists to provide health care services.
5) Why not a joint degree? Under current law, the California
State University (CSU) is authorized to offer joint degrees
with either the University of California (UC) or private
higher education institutions. Arguably, under this
authority, the need to offer the Doctor of Audiology degree
(Au.D) program could be met by expanding the type of
partnership that exists between San Diego State University
(SDSU) and UC San Diego (UCSD). On its own, UC does not
offer Audiology degrees. It appears that at one point in
time additional joint programs were in the works but
derailed as a consequence of the 2008 recession.
Rather than authorizing CSU to offer its own Au.D, would it make
more sense to encourage CSU to first attempt to establish a
joint degree before offering its own program?
6) California's audiology programs. There are two Au.D
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programs in the state, one offered by SDSU/UCSD and the
other by the University of the Pacific (UoP) a non-profit
postsecondary institution. In 2014-2015 the joint SDSU/UCSD
program awarded a total of 8 audiology degrees (reflects
the 3-year average rate). The UoP recently launched its
program in the fall of 2015 and is expected to admit 20-22
students annually.
7) Workforce trends. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, the need for Audiologists is expected to
increase due to the growth in the aging population. It also
appears that California's new born hearing screening
program, which offers parents of infants delivered in
California the opportunity to have their baby's hearing
screened, has also increased the demand for audiologist in
the state. According to the Labor Market Information
Division (LMID) of the California Employment Development
Department, in California, the demand for audiologists is
ranked among faster growing occupations in the state with
jobs expected to increase by 30 percent (300 jobs) between
2012-2022. In addition, the LMID reports that the median
annual salary for Audiologist in California in 2015 was
$86,900 ($42.34 hourly). Does the need for audiologist
outweigh concerns about adhering to the principles of the
Masterplan or concerns about catering to the interests of
private professional organizations?
SUPPORT
California Academy of Audiology
Hearing Healthcare Providers California (HHP)
Numerous individuals
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid
Dispensers Board
The Graduate College of Education at San Francisco State
University
OPPOSITION
None received.
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