BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 46
Author: Pan (D)
Amended: 8/5/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 4-2, 6/18/14
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Monning
NOES: Correa, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-24, 4/18/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : California State University: online education
SOURCE : California Faculty Association
DIGEST : This bill requires the California State University
(CSU) Trustees to make specified information on matriculated CSU
students enrolled in online courses available to the Academic
Senate of the CSU and campus academic senates, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the CSU Trustees, by January
1, 2015, to establish a series of uniform definitions for online
education for purposes of measuring the effectiveness of online
education. Existing law also requires the CSU Trustees to
report key performance data on online courses, as specified, to
the Legislature by January 1, 2017, and every two years
thereafter.
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Existing law also provides for cross-enrollment in online
education at the CSU and outlines the requirements to be met by
a student in order to be qualified to participate. Each CSU
campus is also required to inform students who may enroll in an
online course of the technical requirements for successful
participation, any prerequisite courses or other academic
preparation deemed necessary, and any materials, skills,
knowledge, or other elements necessary to ensure a student's
opportunity to succeed in the online course.
This bill for purposes of providing a high quality educational
program and correlating student success, or the lack thereof
with resource use, demographic data, preparation, and mode of
instruction, especially in regards to online education:
1. Requires the CSU Trustees make specified information
available to the CSU Academic Senate and campus academic
senates, upon its request, and further:
A. Requires that the information be made available on
paper or in electronic form.
B. Requires that the CSU Trustees comply with all
relevant state and federal law safeguarding the privacy
of the involved students.
2. Requires that the information provided relate to all
matriculated students of the CSU enrolled in online courses
whether the courses or programs are provided by CSU faculty
or another entity that is under contract with the CSU or with
one of its campuses.
3. Outlines the specific information to be provided which
includes:
A. The number of students enrolled in these courses.
B. The course completion rates for online, and other
than online courses for each major course of study.
C. Grades earned by each student in the online courses.
D. Course completion rates for students enrolled in
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online courses.
E. Data available relating to a student's use of
university resources, including, but not limited to
analytic data concerning access to course materials;
access to linked materials; performance on quizzes,
tests, or examinations; and interactions with faculty,
mentors, coaches, and other students in the online
course.
F. Any available demographic information on students
enrolled including ethnicity, socioeconomic status,
gender, cumulative GPA (grade point average) of students
disaggregated by demographic categories.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/14)
California Faculty Association (source)
Academic Senate of the California State University
AFSCME
Service Employees International Union
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/6/14)
California State University
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this
bill is intended to respond to concerns regarding a contract
entered into in January 2013 by San Jose State University and
Udacity, a massive open online courses provider, for purposes of
a pilot program to examine online learning. The author's office
contends that when members of the CSU Academic Senate requested
student data, the information was not released by Udacity until
a public records request was filed, and the released data did
not include all information requested. The author's office also
asserts that the company failed to comply with federal
guidelines that protect student information.
Additionally, the author's office is concerned that, based upon
a January agenda item presented to the CSU Trustees on
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"Enrollment Bottleneck Solutions" course and advising redesign
programs will involve partnering with private companies to
deliver public education services. As the CSU system works
towards providing a robust and collaborative system of
traditional and online courses offerings, partnerships with
third-party contractors are expected to become more common.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : CSU argues this bill "creates a new
reporting requirement for the CSU and its 23 campuses with
regard to online education. While we do not believe the bill is
necessary, and in fact current law and practice regarding
academic research is already in place, we do not object to
encouraging faculty that are researching to make sure they are
doing the best possible job for students."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-24, 4/18/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson,
Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon,
Gray, Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones-Sawyer, Mansoor, Medina,
Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Torres, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, John A. P�rez
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines,
Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Levine, Linder, Logue,
Maienschein, Melendez, Morrell, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chesbro, Holden, Lowenthal, Vacancy
PQ:d 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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