BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 182
AUTHOR: Ashburn
INTRODUCED: February 17, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 29, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Nancy Anton
SUBJECT : Community College Nursing Faculty
SUMMARY
This bill removes several existing statutory employment
restrictions related to community college temporary
clinical nursing faculty, thereby allowing such faculty who
work more than 60% of a full-time assignment to be employed
without such restrictions through June 30, 2014.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1. Prohibits California Community Colleges (CCCs) from
employing any temporary faculty who teaches more than
67% of a full-time assignment for more than two
semesters (three quarters) within any period of three
consecutive years.
2. Allows CCCs to exceed the two-semester limitation
cited in #1 above and to employ any clinical nursing
faculty who teach more than 60% of a full-time
assignment for up to four semesters (six quarters)
during the period between July 1, 2007, and June 30,
2014, if the hiring of that person does not result in
an increase in the ratio of part-time to full-time
faculty in that district. After June 30, 2014,
clinical nursing faculty would again be subject to the
two-semester limitation cited in #1 above.
Further, CCCs that employ temporary clinical nursing
faculty beyond two semesters are required to report
specified data to the CCC Chancellor's Office by June
30, 2012; the Chancellor is required to report such
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information to the Legislature by September 30, 2012.
3. Requires that at least 75% of the hours of credit
instruction at a CCC be taught by full-time faculty
(full-time faculty is someone who teaches 67% or more
of a full-time assignment).
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Deletes an existing provision of law which prohibits
any one CCC district from employing a temporary
clinical nursing faculty for more than four semesters
in any consecutive three-year period thereby,
essentially, allowing CCC districts to employ
temporary clinical nursing faculty for an unlimited
number of consecutive semesters through June 30, 2014.
The bill also deletes an existing provision of law which
allows CCC districts to employ temporary clinical
nursing faculty for more than two consecutive
semesters in any consecutive three-year period, as
specified, only if such employment does not result in
an increase in the ratio of part-time to full-time
nursing faculty in that district.
2) Exempts clinical nursing faculty - both part-time and
full-time - from the "75% rule." This rule requires
that at least 75% of the hours of credit instruction
at a CCC be taught by full-time faculty.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Two-semesters? Four-semesters ? In essence, the bill
is "relaxing" even further an existing temporary
"relaxation" of the two-semester limitation. The
existing authorization to allow temporary clinical
nursing faculty to be employed for four rather than
two semesters expires on June 30, 2014. It is an
exception currently provided only for clinical nursing
faculty; all other temporary CCC faculty are limited
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to working no more than two semesters in any
consecutive three-year period.
2) Premature bill? The authority to hire temporary
clinical nursing faculty beyond the two-semester
limitation was provided only for a 7-year period
beginning January 1, 2007; it sunsets on June 30,
2014. Prior to the sunset, the CCC Chancellor must
provide specified information to the Legislature.
Should the temporary flexibility provided under
current law be further extended prior to the
Chancellor's report? Staff notes that CCCs continue
to experience a serious shortage of nursing faculty -
particularly among clinical nursing faculty - and
absent additional legislative remedy some CCCs may
have to terminate employment of temporary clinical
nursing faculty who would like to continue working
without having any viable replacements.
3) Why this bill. California is experiencing a nursing
shortage which, in part, is due to a shortage of
nursing faculty. Recent legislation (SB 1309 [Scott]
of 2006; SB 139 [Scott] of 2007; and SB 1393 [Scott]
of 2008), in addition to focusing on a variety of
factors related to the overall nursing shortage,
attempted to address the shortage of nursing faculty
by providing financial incentives to become nursing
faculty and removing barriers for CCCs to employ
nursing faculty. CCC's prepare approximately 70
percent of California's registered nurses (RNs),
however, the CCCs, unlike the California State
University (CSU) and independent colleges have some
specific faculty employment limitations that the other
institutions do not have. One of these limitations is
that certain temporary faculty may not be employed for
more than two-semesters in any three-year consecutive
period.
4) What are "clinical nursing faculty" ? In CCC nursing
programs, there are generally two types of nursing
faculty: "clinical" and "theory". Clinical nursing
faculty are those who directly supervise CCC nursing
students while the students are on-site at a hospital
or medical facility during the student's required
clinical rotations (a minimum of four). Generally,
one clinical nursing faculty may supervise not more
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than 10 nursing students although some hospitals
require a maximum of only 8 or 6 students per clinical
faculty. "Theory" nursing faculty are those who
provide direct classroom instruction generally on-site
at the college campus.
SUPPORT
California Hospital Association
OPPOSITION
California Federation of Teachers
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges