BILL NUMBER: SB 1359 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 343
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 1, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 12, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Block
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Section 66406.9 to the Education Code, relating to
public postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1359, Block. Public postsecondary education: course materials.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the
4 segments of the postsecondary education system in the state. These
segments include the 3 public postsecondary segments: the University
of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University
of California, the California State University, which is
administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and
the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board
of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and
independent postsecondary educational institutions constitute the
other segment.
Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the
University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by
resolution, to make them applicable.
Existing law urges textbook publishers to take specified actions
aimed at reducing the amounts that students pay for textbooks,
including providing to faculty and departments considering textbook
orders a list of all the different products the publisher sells.
Existing law requires the Trustees of the California State University
and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and
requests the Regents of the University of California, to take
specified actions with their respective academic senates, college and
university bookstores, and faculty to promote the selection of
textbooks that will result in cost savings to students.
This bill would require each campus of the California Community
Colleges and the California State University, and would request each
campus of the University of California, to identify in the online
version of the campus course schedule its courses that exclusively
use digital course materials, as specified, and communicate to
students that the course materials for these courses are free of
charge and therefore not required to be purchased. By imposing new
duties on community college districts, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program. The bill would become operative on
January 1, 2018.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 66406.9 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
66406.9. (a) Each campus of the California Community Colleges and
the California State University shall, and each campus of the
University of California is requested to, do both of the following:
(1) (A) Clearly highlight, by means that may include a symbol or
logo in a conspicuous place on the online campus course schedule, the
courses that exclusively use digital course materials that are free
of charge to students and may have a low-cost option for print
versions.
(B) The course materials described in subparagraph (A) may include
open educational resources, institutionally licensed campus library
materials that all students enrolled in the course have access to
use, and other properly licensed and adopted materials. Each campus
of the California State University, each participating campus of the
University of California, and each community college district shall
ensure that these materials comply with the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.) and the
federal Copyright Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-553).
(2) Clearly communicate to students that the course materials used
for the courses identified pursuant to paragraph (1) are free of
charge and therefore not required to be purchased.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Course schedule" is a collection of available classes, course
sections, or both, published electronically, before the start of an
academic term.
(2) "Open educational resources" are 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. "Open educational resources"
include, but are not limited to, full courses, course materials,
modules, textbooks, faculty-created content, streaming videos, tests,
software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to
support access to knowledge.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2018.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.