BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 46
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 46 (Pan)
As Amended August 5, 2014
2/3 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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|ASSEMBLY: |54-23|(August 27, | | | |
| | |2014) | | | |
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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
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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
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.
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 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
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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.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
This bill would require the Trustees of the California
State University to provide to the Cal State Academic
Senate and campus academic senates, upon request,
specific data on students who take any online course
offered by Cal State or its contracting entity.
The Academic Senate passed a resolution calling the
bill unnecessary and citing student privacy and cost
issues, among other concerns. I agree.
I am aware of the deep concerns that the sponsor of
the bill has expressed regarding online courses.
These courses, however, could play an important role
in helping to reduce the bottleneck that too often
prevents students from graduating on time. This is
one of the reasons I believe that we should not unduly
limit the introduction of online courses in the Cal
State system.
AB 46
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Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0005649