BILL NUMBER: AB 2385 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member John A. Perez
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Buchanan )
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. 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.
The bill would establish the Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing
and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California
Community Colleges, and would authorize
require 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: 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 1,100,000
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 shall 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.