BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 182|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 182
Author: Ashburn (R)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-1, 4/29/09
AYES: Huff, Alquist, Liu, Padilla, Simitian, Wyland
NOES: Hancock
NO VOTE RECORDED: Romero, Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Community college nursing faculty
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : 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 percent of a full-time
assignment to be employed without such restrictions through
June 30, 2014.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Prohibits California Community Colleges (CCCs) from
employing any temporary faculty who teaches more than 67
percent of a full-time assignment for more than two
semesters (three quarters) within any period of three
consecutive years.
CONTINUED
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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 percent 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
information to the Legislature by September 30, 2012.
3.Requires that at least 75 percent of the hours of credit
instruction at a CCC be taught by full-time faculty
(full-time faculty is someone who teaches 67 percent or
more of a full-time assignment).
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 percent rule." This rule
requires that at least 75 percent of the hours of credit
instruction at a CCC be taught by full-time faculty.
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Comments
California is experiencing a nursing shortage which, in
part, is due to a shortage of nursing faculty. Recent
legislation (SB 1309, Scott, Chapter 837, Statutes of 2006;
SB 139, Scott, Chapter 522, Statutes of 2007; and SB 1393,
Scott, Chapter 175, Statutes 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 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.
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 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/11/09)
California Hospital Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/11/09)
California Federation of Teachers
California Nurses Association
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California Teachers Association
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Hospital
Association (CHA) states in support that, "?currently there
is not a critical shortage of registered nurses in some
parts of California. This is due to many factors including
the economy that has kept nurses planning on retiring
active in the profession, nurses that were working part
time going to full time and a recent increase in the number
of new graduates. However, this situation will be short
lived once the economy improves. Statistics show that
thousands of California[ns] will be leaving the work force
in the very near future. To plan for that eventuality
California must provide the nurse educators needed to stave
off the inevitable shortage. The current prohibition of
employing part time faculty not more than 4 semesters or 6
quarters is an artificial cap. CHA supports SB 182 that
would delete the limitation and allow temporary faculty to
work additional time thereby assisting in providing the
nurse educators needed to meet future demands for
registered nurses. SB 182 would also exclude the
percentage of hours that must be taught by a full-time
clinical nursing faculty allowing schools of nursing to
hire faculty as full time staff without rigid percentage
requirements. This too will attract more faculty to the
academic setting giving schools of nursing the ability to
hire as appropriate."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Nurses
Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee states in
opposition, "?as was SB 1620 (Ashburn) last legislative
session, is premature, SB 1309 (Scott), Chapter 837exempts
the statutory limit from two semesters to four semesters in
any three year period to permit clinical nursing faculty to
teach more hours and still be considered temporary faculty.
We are now entering the second full academic year under
the provisions of SB 1309 and a mandated report on this
exception is due from the Community Chancellor on September
30, 2012. The causes of the nursing shortage are
multi-faceted and while it has been and continues to be
addressed legislatively, the shortage persists. Two major
barriers to addressing the nursing shortage are the
inability of programs to expand and difficulty in faculty
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recruitment, including inadequate faculty salaries and
insufficient nurse candidates with the required
credentials."
The California Teachers Association's Community College
Association states in opposition, "While our members are
acutely aware of the need to increase the number of
available nurses both in private and public sector, we can
not support community college districts employing faculty
as "temporary" fully time employees without accruing
employment security, benefits such as retirement and health
insurance, as well as sufficient time to mentor and/or
supervise part-time faculty and provide the continuity
required of clinical instruction for students. Since 1988,
the majority of community colleges have failed to meet
their statutory goal of employing 75% full-time and 25%
part-time faculty. We fervently believe this proportional
staffing allows districts the flexibility of 25% of their
faculty make-up being reserved for hiring instructors with
specialized training or expertise. Until community
colleges meet their statutory and moral commitment to
students by employing three quarters of their teachers as
full-time instructors, we are unable to justify removing
this existing employment limitation."
DLW:nl 5/12/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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