BILL NUMBER: AB 2385 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member John A. Perez
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Buchanan )
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Buchanan
Galgiani )
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 Innovative 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 Innovative Nursing and Allied Health
Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges
, and would require under the administration
of 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 facilitate the graduation of
community college nursing and allied health students by piloting
innovative models to expand the state's capacity to prepare a
qualified health care workforce. The bill would require the
chancellor's office to establish the pilot program at up to 5
campuses throughout the state according to specified requirements
.
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 authorize participating campuses to collect
supplemental fees from participating students to support the pilot
program based upon a fee schedule approved by the chancellor's office
and would not permit these fees to offset state apportionment
funding.
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 1,100,000 jobs around the state, which
would be an increase of close to 130,000 jobs, or 13
percent, from 2007.
(b) Reports from health Health
care industry experts project a growing demand for care due to
burgeoning population growth and an aging population.
Impending retirements Retirements by health care
employees will place additional strain on a system struggling to
hire the large numbers train the number
of qualified , well-trained workers needed
individuals necessary to meet the demands of the health care
industry.
(c) Although one of the most publicized shortage areas is
that of has been registered nurses, a wide
variety of allied health care occupations also are facing
face 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 community colleges and colleges 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. forced by fiscal constraints to
limit their enrollment capacity.
(g)
(f) 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 immediately
.
(h)
(g) The goal of an accelerated program would
be to allow students to attend full time and earn their degrees
sooner. this bill is to pilot innovative program
delivery and curriculum models to enable students to earn their
degrees and enter the workforce as quickly as possible and expand the
state's capacity to train a qualified health care workforce without
compromising the integrity of program and licensure requirements.
(i) A successful accelerated program could
(h) Successful program models would
be a center of innovation and a testing ground
foundation 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
Innovative Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession
Education at the California Community Colleges
78265. (a) The Pilot Program for Accelerated
Innovative 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. piloting innovative models to expand the state'
s capacity to prepare a qualified health care workforce.
(b) The chancellor's office shall establish the pilot program at
up to five campuses geographically distributed
throughout the state. The chancellor's office
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.
(c) The pilot programs shall test innovative program delivery
models to expand the capacity of community colleges to offer health
care training to students in occupations for which there is a
substantial labor market demand. Pilot programs shall test health
care education models that use tools such as technology, flexible
scheduling, and fees specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of
Section 78265.7 to sustain the expanded training capacity. Pilot
programs shall coordinate student services and financial assistance
to the maximum extent possible in order to facilitate a student's
successful program completion.
(d) The chancellor's office shall pursue a variety of funding
sources to help support the development and delivery of the pilot
programs and create high-quality curriculum delivery models to be
used in health care certificate and degree programs. These funding
sources shall include, but not be limited to, federal grants,
philanthropic funds, employer monetary and in-kind contributions, and
state and federal workforce funds.
(e) The chancellor's office, contingent upon obtaining resources
to support the development and delivery of the pilot programs, shall
develop a request for application for community colleges to
participate in the pilot program commencing on or after the 2011-12
academic year. The chancellor's office shall develop the request for
application in collaboration with representatives from education,
labor, business, licensing and credentialing entities, and other
appropriate entities. The chancellor's office shall specify the
amount of baseline funding provided for each pilot program based upon
funding sources developed pursuant to subdivision (d). Pilot
programs shall be in certified allied health care or nursing
programs.
(f) The chancellor's office shall select pilot programs that do
all of the following:
(1) Provide students with certificated training in health care
fields for which there is a demonstrated shortage of workers in the
labor market and documented support from employers.
(2) Demonstrate either limited capacity in the community college
for training specified health care workers, or the need to either
sustain or expand current innovative health care education and
training programs. Limited capacity may be demonstrated by waiting
lists to enter existing community college training programs.
(3) Provide evidence of sufficient clinical sites for offering the
pilot program.
(4) Include high-quality curriculum delivery models as part of the
pilot program. Proposals utilizing online and distance learning
courses shall meet the curriculum standards approved by the
appropriate state licensing entities that oversee each health
occupation.
(5) Provide flexibility in the delivery of coursework by providing
intensive weekend, evening, and summer courses to enable students to
efficiently complete program requirements.
(6) Offer coordinated supportive services to students, including,
but not limited to, tutoring and financial advising.
(7) Demonstrate clear, nonduplicative articulated career pathways
with local secondary and higher education entities.
(8) Identify resources to support the pilot program, including,
but not limited to, funding provided by the chancellor's office
obtained from outside sources for the support of the pilot program,
student fees, student financial aid, local workforce investment
funding, and locally provided employer or philanthropic resources.
(g) The chancellor's office shall select, to the extent possible,
pilot programs that are geographically distributed throughout the
state.
(h) In selecting the pilot programs, the chancellor's office may
give consideration to existing innovative programs currently underway
within the community college system that require additional
resources to move to scale.
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 Innovative 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. 78265.2. (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. innovative program model setting.
(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 a diagnostic assessment tool
identified by the chancellor's office pursuant to Section 78261. The
use of a diagnostic assessment tool by a participating campus shall
be part of a comprehensive program-based support system for students
who need skills enhancement prior to entering the program. When the
number of applicants for the pilot program exceeds the capacity to
admit students, a participating campus may administer 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 complete the pilot program. These
support services shall include, but not necessarily be limited to,
the presence of student success advisers, tutors, mentors,
appropriate financial assistance, and aid in placing students who
complete the program in appropriate internships.
78265.7. 78265.3. (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.
both of the following shall occur:
(1) (A) Notwithstanding any other law, a campus participating in
the pilot program may collect supplemental fees from participating
students to support the program based upon a fee schedule approved by
the chancellor's office during the pilot program selection process.
Notwithstanding any other law, the supplemental student fees
collected in support of this pilot program shall not offset state
apportionment funding.
(B) A campus participating in the pilot program that elects to
collect supplemental fees shall make all reasonable efforts and
accommodations to ensure that state and federal financial aid is
available to eligible students who participate in the pilot program.
(C) A student who is on a program wait list may opt out of paying
the supplemental fee and shall not lose his or her place on the wait
list as a result of opting out of the supplemental fee.
(2) The chancellor's office shall make every feasible effort to
secure federal and private sector funding for the pilot program.
These funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be used to
support implementation of the pilot program.
78265.8. 78265.4. 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. 78265.5. 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.