BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2317|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2317
Author: Mullin (D), et al.
Amended: 6/29/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/8/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 6/27/16
AYES: Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Lara
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/12/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: California State University: Doctor of Audiology
degrees
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: 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.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides that the primary mission of the CSU is undergraduate
and graduate instruction through the master's degree, but
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Page 2
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)Provides, 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)
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.)
This bill:
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 UC,
with the provision that the CSU can provide doctoral
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education in joint doctoral programs with the UC and
independent California colleges and universities. The
differentiation of function has allowed California to
provide universal 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 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) Prohibits enrollment in these programs from 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 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.
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
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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 UC as 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 expands 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 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.
Senate Education Committee 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?
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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 CSU is
authorized to offer joint degrees with either the UC or
private higher education institutions. Arguably, under this
authority, the need to offer the Au.D program could be met by
expanding the type of partnership that exists between SDSU and
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 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
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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?
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
No significant fiscal impact to the state. As with any new
degree program proposed by a campus, it is a local campus
decision to seek approval from CSU Chancellor's Office to offer
new programs. Legislation is needed in this instance because
the new program is a doctorate degree. If a campus chooses to
provide an Au.D. degree program, funding would largely come from
a new tuition fee for the program as well as funding from within
existing campus resource allocations, including state General
Fund.
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/28/16)
California Academy of Audiology
California Speech Language Hearing Association
California State University Northridge
California State University Los Angeles
Hearing Healthcare Providers California
Numerous individuals
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid
Dispensers Board
The Graduate College of Education at San Francisco State
University
Several individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/28/16)
None received
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/12/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, 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, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Burke, Jones-Sawyer
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
6/29/16 15:56:30
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