BILL NUMBER: AB 2385 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member John A. Perez
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add and repeal Article 3.7 (commencing with Section
78265) of Chapter 2 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the
Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2385, as amended, John A. Perez. Community colleges:
accelerated nursing and allied health care pilot program.
Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care
Profession Education at the California Community Colleges.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary
education in this state. Existing law establishes community college
districts, each of which is administered by a governing
board, throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to
provide instruction to students at the community college campuses
maintained by the districts.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to establish an accelerated nursing and allied health
care pilot program at 5 California Community Colleges distributed
geographically across the state. The pilot program would be designed
to be a public-private venture that lasts 5 years. The goal of the
program would be to facilitate early graduation by reducing the time
it takes to earn a degree from an average of 2 years to 18 months or
less for students participating in the pilot program. The Office of
the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges would be required
to develop the program model, select the participating colleges
based on specified criteria, and oversee and collect outcome data to
evaluate program effectiveness upon completion of the pilot program.
The bill would establish the Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing
and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California
Community Colleges, and would authorize the Office of the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges to design a pilot program in
accordance with prescribed criteria with the goal of facilitating
early graduation by reducing the time it takes to earn a degree to 18
months or less for students participating in the pilot program. The
bill would require the chancellor's office to establish policies and
procedures for the process of establishing an application process
that would lead to the selection of the community college campuses
that would participate in the pilot program. The bill would require
the chancellor's office to design the program to commence in the
2012-13 academic year and to provide accelerated learning in a
variety of formats, including online and distance learning courses
and intensive weekend and evening course modules.
The bill would authorize participating campuses to admit students
to the pilot program in accordance with the multicriteria screening
process, as prescribed. The bill would also require participating
campuses to provide specified support services. The bill would
authorize the chancellor's office to solicit and receive federal and
private sector funds for the pilot program, and would require those
federal and private funds to be deposited in the Pilot Program for
Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at
the California Community Colleges Fund, which the bill would
establish, to be available for expenditure upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
The bill would require the chancellor's office to collect
appropriate data for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of
the pilot program. The bill would require the chancellor's office to
analyze this data, and report its findings and recommendations with
respect to the pilot program to the Legislature on or before January
1, 2017.
The bill would provide that the pilot program would become
inoperative on July 1, 2017, and as of January 1, 2018, would be
repealed.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Allied health care occupations are expected to grow
dramatically in the next decade, and California labor market data
show that, by 2017, allied health care occupations are projected to
account for more than 1.1 million jobs around the state, which would
be an increase of close to 130,000 jobs, or 13 percent, from 2007.
(b) Reports from health care industry experts project a growing
demand for care due to burgeoning population growth and an aging
population. Impending retirements by health care employees will place
additional strain on a system struggling to hire the large numbers
of qualified, well-trained workers needed to meet the demands of the
health care industry.
(c) Although one of the most publicized shortage areas is that of
registered nurses, a wide variety of allied health care occupations
also are facing worker shortages.
(d) The California Community Colleges system currently trains
approximately 70 percent of registered nurses statewide, and the
system offers educational programs in a variety of allied health care
professions.
(e) Allied health care profession education programs are among the
most costly education programs offered by colleges, and they have
been subject to deep state budget cuts.
(f) Community colleges have been forced by the current fiscal
climate to limit their enrollment capacity, and therefore these
campuses are struggling to keep pace with the level of demand for
health care education programs.
(g) Currently, most associate degree nursing and allied health
care profession courses are offered over four semesters or two school
years, and require the completion of 70 units in program courses,
assuming that the student has met all of the prerequisite
requirements and is ready to start the program.
(h) The goal of an accelerated program would be to allow students
to attend full-time and earn their degrees sooner.
(i) A successful accelerated program could be a center of
innovation and a testing ground for the newest educational technology
and curricular ideas.
SEC. 2. Article 3.7 (commencing with Section
78265) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of
the Education Code , to read:
Article 3.7. Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied
Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges
78265. (a) The Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied
Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges
is hereby established under the administration of the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The goal of the
pilot program shall be to facilitate the early graduation of
participating community college nursing and allied health students by
reducing the amount of time necessary to earn a degree.
(b) The chancellor's office shall establish the pilot program at
five campuses geographically distributed throughout the state. The
chancellor's office may establish procedures and policies so that
interested community college campuses may apply for participation in
the pilot program. The chancellor's office shall also develop and
apply criteria for the selection of the five campuses that will
participate in the program. These criteria shall include, but not
necessarily be limited to, the extent to which an applying campus
offers coursework in the allied health care occupations where the
need is greatest, and the existence and quality of partnerships
between the applying campuses and hospitals and clinics in their
respective communities in order to enable participating students to
obtain appropriate clinical experience. In developing and applying
these criteria, the chancellor's office shall consult with major
employers of health care professionals in this state.
(c) The chancellor's office shall design the pilot program with
the intent that it shall be implemented at the participating campuses
commencing with the 2012-13 academic year.
78265.1. As used in this article the following definitions apply:
(a) "Chancellor's office" means the Office of the Chancellor of
the California Community Colleges.
(b) "Pilot program" means the Pilot Program for Accelerated
Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California
Community Colleges established by Section 78265.
78265.3. (a) The pilot program shall provide accelerated learning
in a variety of formats, and shall provide student success services
to facilitate a student's completion of the program in 18 months or
three semesters, or less.
(b) The accelerated learning provided by the pilot program shall
include online and distance learning courses, allowing students to
accelerate their course-taking patterns and progress rapidly through
the requirements of a nursing or allied health care education
program. Online and distance learning courses made available under
this section shall meet the curriculum standards approved for these
courses by the appropriate state entity that oversees each health
occupation program.
(c) The accelerated learning provided by the pilot program shall
include intensive weekend and evening course modules, similar to
accelerated executive graduate programs designed for working
professionals.
78265.5. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the pilot
program attract and admit a diverse and talented pool of students
likely to succeed in an accelerated program and to thrive upon
entering a health care profession.
(b) To effectuate the legislative intent expressed in subdivision
(a), both of the following shall occur:
(1) In selecting students for admission to the pilot program,
participating campuses may use the multicriteria screening process
established under Section 78261.5 when the use of this process is
deemed feasible.
(2) Participating campuses shall provide support services to help
students stay and complete the academically rigorous accelerated
pilot program. These support services shall include, but not
necessarily be limited to, the presence of student success advisors,
tutors, mentors, appropriate financial assistance, and aid in placing
students who complete the program in appropriate internships.
78265.7. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the pilot
program be funded with a combination of state apportionment funding,
student fees, federal grants, and private philanthropic resources.
(b) To effectuate the legislative intent expressed in subdivision
(a), the chancellor's office shall make every feasible effort to
secure federal and private sector funding for the pilot program.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chancellor's office
may solicit and accept funding from federal and private sources.
Funds received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the
Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care
Profession Education at the California Community Colleges Fund, which
is hereby created. Funds deposited in the fund under this section
shall be available for expenditure for the purposes of this article,
upon appropriation by the Legislature.
78265.8. The chancellor's office shall collect appropriate data
for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program.
The chancellor's office shall analyze this data, and report its
findings and recommendations with respect to the pilot program to the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2017.
78265.9. This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017,
and, as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to establish an accelerated nursing and allied
health care pilot program at five California Community Colleges
distributed geographically across the state. The pilot program would
be designed to be a public-private venture that lasts five years. The
goal of the program would be to facilitate early graduation by
reducing the time it takes to earn a degree from an average of two
years to 18 months or less for students participating in the pilot
program. The Office of the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges would be required to develop the program model, select the
participating colleges based on specified criteria, and oversee and
collect outcome data to evaluate program effectiveness upon
completion of the pilot program.