BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2732
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Chang |
|-----------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Version: |February 19, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 8, 2016 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Public postsecondary education: mandatory orientation
for students
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California State University (CSU)
Trustees and requests the University of California (UC) Regents,
to provide, as part of established campus orientations,
educational and preventive information about cyberbullying to
students at all campuses of their respective segments.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Requests the UC Regents, CSU Trustees, and the governing
board of each community college district to adopt and
publish policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying
to be included within the rules and regulations governing
student behavior within their respective segments of public
postsecondary education. (Education Code § 66302)
2) Requires the governing board of each community college
district and the CSU Trustees, and request the UC Regents
to, in collaboration with campus-based and community-based
victim advocacy organizations, provide, as part of
established campus orientations, educational and preventive
information about sexual violence to students at all
campuses of their respective segments; and, specifies that
AB 2732 (Chang) Page 2
of ?
for a campus with an existing on-campus orientation
program, this information shall be provided, in addition to
the sexual harassment information required to be provided,
as specified, during the regular orientation for incoming
students. (EC § 67385.7)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the CSU Trustees and requests the UC Regents,
to provide, as part of established campus orientations,
educational and preventive information about cyberbullying to
students at all campuses of their respective segments.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, as frequent
users of social media and digital technology, college
students are vulnerable to cyberbullying. The author
asserts that this new form of harassment has been linked to
suicide, alcoholism and depression among college students.
According to a University of Washington study on college
age women, cyberbullying and its effects have been studied
largely in middle and high school students but attention is
needed in the college population. This bill seeks to
ensure California State University (CSU) and University of
California (UC) students are aware of cyberbullying and its
prevention.
2) Existing efforts to address student conduct. CSU and UC
have policies on student conduct and discipline procedures
that, among other things, prohibit harassment, intimidation
or terrorizing conduct, on or off campus. Both CSU and UC
indicate that each campus works to ensure that students
become familiar with their campus' student conduct policies
and are aware of available resources for reporting
misconduct. It's unclear whether this information is
provided to students at the beginning of the year during
orientation. However, staff notes that existing law also
requires CSU and requests UC to include sexual harassment
information during the regular orientation for incoming
students. This bill would add cyberbullying to the list of
required information at orientation.
Given that UC and CSU standards for student conduct address
AB 2732 (Chang) Page 3
of ?
harassment, intimidation and other forms of student behavior,
should efforts solely focus on cyberbullying? Is legislation
necessary to define which issues are covered as part of college
orientation?
3) Efforts to address bullying in K-12 education. Current law
prohibits discrimination in public schools on the basis of
disability, gender, gender expression, nationality, race or
ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other
characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate
crimes. Additionally, the California Department of
Education (CDE) is required to monitor whether school
districts have adopted a process for receiving and
investigating complaints relating to discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Existing law
authorizes schools to suspend or expel students for acts of
bullying, including communications made in writing or by
means of an electronic act. The CDE is further required to
develop an online training module on bullying and
cyberbullying for school staff, school administrators,
parents, students, and community members.
4) No definition for cyberbullying. This bill does not define
cyberbullying. Existing law, however, define bullying by an
"electronic act," for k-12 to mean the creation or
transmission of a communication originated on or off the
school site, by means of an electronic device including but
not limited to a telephone, wireless telephone, or other
wireless communication device, computer, or pager.
Although this bill provides no definition for
cyberbullying, college campuses may need greater
flexibility to keep pace with digital technology as it
evolves.
SUPPORT
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California College and University Police Chiefs Association
California State Student Association
OPPOSITION
None received.
AB 2732 (Chang) Page 4
of ?
-- END --