BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 46
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 46 (Pan)
As Amended August 5, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(April 18, |SENATE: |23-11|(August 18, 2014) |
| | |2013) | | | |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |7-3 |(August 25, 2014) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
|(Higher Ed.) | | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU) Trustees
to make specified information on matriculated CSU students enrolled
in online courses available to the Academic Senate.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and
instead:
1)Requires the CSU Trustees, while complying with applicable
privacy laws, to make available to the CSU Academic Senate and to
campus academic senate upon request, all of the following
information:
a) The number of students enrolled in online courses;
b) With respect to each major course of study, the course
completion rates for online courses and for courses other than
online courses;
c) The grades earned by each student enrolled in an online
course;
d) The course completion rates for students who are enrolled
in online courses;
e) Any data available relating to a student's use of
university resources in connection with online coursework,
including, but not necessarily limited to, analytic data
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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. This data shall include any
available information about the average amount of time it
takes a student to complete an online assignment; and
f) Any available demographic data relating to students
enrolled in online courses, including, but not necessarily
limited to, the ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender of
those students, and the cumulative grade point averages of
those students disaggregated by those demographic categories.
2)Requires the information to include all matriculated students of
the CSU enrolled in online courses, irrespective of whether the
courses or programs in which they are enrolled are provided by
CSU faculty or by another entity that is under contract with the
CSU or with one of its campuses.
EXISTING LAW :
1)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 and to report
key performance data on online courses, as specified, to the
Legislature by January 1, 2017, and every two years thereafter.
2)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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, 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
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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. The
author's office is concerned that, based upon a January agenda item
presented to the CSU Trustees on "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 course offerings, partnerships with
third-party contractors are expected to become more common.
CSU opposes provisions of this bill requiring that data be
disclosed, if that data is available, regarding a student's use of
online resources. CSU argues that, although the data is only
required to be disclosed if it is available, this bill could result
in subsequent requirements for tracking students who have chosen to
take online courses and programs to meet their degree objectives.
CSU argues this is inappropriate and unnecessary, and a violation
of students personal privacy.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960
FN: 0005481