BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1348
AUTHOR: John A. Perez
AMENDED: June 18, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: California Higher
Education Authority.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the California Higher Education
Authority (Authority), its governing board and its
responsibilities, as specified, phased-in over a three-year
period.
BACKGROUND
Current law establishes the California Postsecondary
Education Commission (CPEC) to be responsible for
coordinating public, independent, and private postsecondary
education in California and providing independent policy
analysis and recommendations to the Legislature and the
Governor on postsecondary education issues.
Current law also requires the CPEC to (1) act as a
clearinghouse for postsecondary education information and
to serve as a primary source of information for the
Legislature, Governor, and other agencies and, (2) develop
and maintain a comprehensive database that supports
longitudinal studies of individual students as they
progressed through the state's postsecondary educational
institutions through the use of a unique student
identifier. Additionally, the CPEC was to provide each of
the educational segments access to the data made available
to the CPEC for purposes of the database in order to
support statewide, segmental and individual campus
educational research needs. (Education Code § 66900 et.
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seq.)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a
federal law that protects the privacy of student education
records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds
under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of
Education. Generally, schools must have written permission
from the parent or "eligible student, as specified, in
order to release any information from a student's education
record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those
records, without consent, to the following parties or under
some of the following conditions:
a) School officials with legitimate educational
interest.
b) Other schools to which a student is transferring.
c) Appropriate parties in connection with financial
aid to a student.
d) Organizations conducting certain studies for or on
behalf of the school.
e) Accrediting organizations.
f) State and local authorities, within a juvenile
justice system, pursuant to specific State law.
ANALYSIS
This bill establishes the California Higher Education
Authority, its governing board and its responsibilities, as
specified, phased-in over a three-year period.
Specifically, this bill :
1) Establishes the California Higher Education Authority
(Authority) to be governed by a voting 13-member board
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of directors as follows:
a) Nine representatives of the general public,
excluding employees and governing board members
of a California postsecondary education
institution, appointed to staggered six-year
terms, as follows:
i) Three members appointed by the
Governor subject to confirmation by a
majority of the membership of the Senate,
ii) Three members appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly, and,
iii) Three members appointed by the
Senate Committee on Rules.
b) Four student representatives, representing
the three public segments of postsecondary
education and one representing a member
institution of the Association of Independent
California Colleges and Universities (AICCU),
appointed for one-year terms, commencing on July
1, 2015.
2) Requires in making appointments, consideration of the
need for members to have skills, knowledge, and
experience related to postsecondary education and
workforce development, as specified, and the board to
be broadly reflective of the economic, cultural, and
social diversity of the state, and specifies
legislative intent that appointment of the first
members of the board of directors be completed before
July 1, 2015.
3) Authorizes the board of directors to elect a
chairperson from its membership and to enter into
agreements with any public or private agency, officer,
person, institution, corporation, association, or
foundation for the performance of acts or for the
furnishing of services, facilities, materials, goods,
supplies, or equipment.
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4) Requires the board of directors to appoint an
executive officer of the Authority, who shall serve at
the pleasure of the board of directors and is
authorized to appoint additional staff of the
Authority as necessary.
5) Requires the Authority to carry out all of the
following responsibilities:
a) Developing, presenting, and monitoring
postsecondary education goals for the state,
including, but not necessarily limited to,
monitoring and reporting on the progress of the
postsecondary segments toward their long-term
goals;
b) Measuring and reporting on the efficiency
and effectiveness of the postsecondary education
segments in serving the state's needs;
c) Making recommendations about how to improve
the performance of the postsecondary education
segments;
d) Developing information in order to assist
state and local policymakers and consumers in
making cost-effective investments in
postsecondary education and training to meet the
long-term goals of a strong state economy and
vibrant communities;
e) Developing and recommending strategic
finance policy to the Governor and the
Legislature on topics including, but not
necessarily limited to, the allocation of state
appropriations among the postsecondary education
segments, public postsecondary student fee
policy, and student financial aid;
f) Developing and presenting basic policy
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parameters for capacity development or
realignment, including, but not necessarily
limited to, expansion or realignment of
enrollment capacity among or within the
postsecondary education segments, to meet the
state's higher education goals;
g) Reviewing and making recommendations to the
Governor and the Legislature relating to major
capacity decisions, such as changes in mission or
the establishment of new campuses, centers, or
programs that are to be financed with state
appropriations or state-approved student fees;
and,
h) Acting as a clearinghouse for postsecondary
education information and as a primary source of
information for the Legislature, the Governor,
and other agencies, and developing and
maintaining a comprehensive database that does
the following:
i) Ensures comparability of data from
diverse sources;
ii) Supports longitudinal studies of
individual students as they progress through
the state's postsecondary educational
institutions, based upon the Authority's
existing student database through the use of
a unique student identifier;
iii) Is compatible with the California
School Information System and the student
information systems developed and maintained
by the public segments of higher education,
as appropriate;
iv) Provides Internet access to data,
as appropriate, to the sectors of higher
education.
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6) Requires compliance with the federal Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)
relating to the disclosure of personally identifiable
information concerning students; and prohibits the
authority from making available any personally
identifiable information concerning students, unless
as specified.
8) Requires the Authority to provide a freshman
eligibility report, as specified, no later than
January 1, 2016.
9) Requires the Authority to pursue an integrated
approach to the state's postsecondary education policy
by collaborating with public and private institutions
to address the state's postsecondary education needs
and goals.
10) Provides for a phase-in of the responsibilities of the
Authority as follows:
a) Beginning July 1, 2015, the Authority shall
carry out the responsibilities specified in (5)
(h) above dealing with the clearing house of
information, as specified;
b) Beginning July 1, 2016, the Authority shall
begin carrying out responsibilities specified in
(5) (f) and (g) above dealing with basic policy
parameters and major capacity decisions, as
specified.
c) Beginning July, 2017, the Authority shall
carry out the remaining responsibilities as
specified in (5) (a) through (d) above.
11) Requires the board to convene a 10-member technical
working group to advise on data and policy matters.
The working group shall include executives, or their
designees, of the public segments of postsecondary
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education, AICCU, Bureau for Private Postsecondary
Education, the California Student Aid Commission, the
academic senate of the public segment s of
postsecondary education, and, the State Superintendent
of Public Instruction.
12) Transfers to the Authority, on or after July 1, 2015,
data management responsibilities granted to the former
California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC),
as specified in existing law, and authorizes the
Authority to disclose or dispose of data it receives
or maintains under this section only as specifically
authorized to do so in accordance with existing state
and federal law, as specified.
13) Authorizes the Authority to require the governing
boards and the institutions of public postsecondary
education to submit data on plans and programs, costs,
selection and retention of students, enrollments,
plant capacities, and other matters pertinent to
effective planning, policy development, and
articulation and coordination, and shall furnish
information concerning these matters to the Governor
and to the Legislature as requested by them.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . California's education and
workforce needs cannot be addressed by any single
segment. The state's approach to higher education must
become more comprehensive if it is to ensure
state-level workforce needs and priorities are being
met.
Numerous reports, including legislative reviews of the
Master Plan for Higher Education and more recent
reports from higher education experts, have called for
California to establish a central higher education
body. This central body is an important element of the
state's ability to honor its promise of affordable,
high quality postsecondary education for all high
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school graduates and adults who could benefit from
instruction offered at California's colleges and
universities. Without such an entity, California
cannot systematically plan to address the current and
future needs of all its students and the overall
economy.
2) Defunding of CPEC leads to weakened State capacity for
data review of California's postsecondary education .
In 2011, the governor vetoed CPEC funding resulting in
its closure in November 2011. Prior to its closure,
the CPEC transferred its data warehouse to the CCC
Chancellor's Office where the existing data is being
housed and stored under an interagency agreement
between the UC, CSU, and the CCC. According to the
Chancellor's office, the existing database is being
maintained, and the CPEC website is available to the
public for purposes of access existing reports posted
on the website. Although, the Governor eliminated all
general fund support for CPEC, its statutory authority
remains intact.
The 2011 veto message acknowledged the need for higher
education coordination, but characterized the CPEC's
work as ineffective and directed stakeholders to
explore alternatives. Yet, in a 2012 Legislative
Analyst oversight report, data functions, including
the maintenance of a public website for data access,
were the CPEC functions most highly valued by
stakeholders including the segments, policymakers,
analysts and researchers.
a) Data management. CPEC was able to obtain
and maintain individual student records from the
public higher education systems and to link this
data across the three segments using unique
student identifiers and, used this information
and the aggregated student data, as well as other
public available datasets, to create useful data
for the public and to respond to policymaker and
legislative inquiries.
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Perhaps most importantly CPEC functioned as a
data management entity independent of the public
segments, enabling the CPEC to perform analyses
and provide information on behalf of and in
response to requests from the Legislature or
others, without relying on the "approval" or
framing of information by the entity whose
performance was being studied, analyzed, or
evaluated.
Further, under the current arrangement access to
the data is limited, since each segment has
control over access to its own student records
contained within the database, and currently,
outside entities wishing to use the information
for state policy purposes would need to secure
the approval of each of the segments involved.
b) Program review. The CPEC's role in program
review was to coordinate the long-range planning
of the state's public higher education systems as
a means to ensure that they were working together
to carry out their individual missions while
serving the state's long-range workforce and
economic needs. In its oversight report, the LAO
noted that no office or committee has the
resources to devote to review of programs to
identify long-term costs, alignment with state
needs/institutional missions, duplication and
priority relative to other demands.
3) Why is a postsecondary education coordinating body
important ? A coordinated approach can help
policymakers consider the higher education system as a
whole and develop policies and budgets that maximize
the system's value to the state, which becomes
increasingly critical in times of limited resources.
If the segments' activities are complementary and they
operate as an integrated system in which each part
adds value that is unique to its role, then their
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combined efforts may produce more than what the
institutions can achieve independently. In addition,
independent and thoughtful analysis about current and
future issues can assist the Legislature in
prioritizing resources and clarify statewide policy.
4) This measure holds promise for a rational phased-in
approach to a postsecondary education coordinating
body that can add value for the overall direction of
higher education, provide the Legislature with
meaningful analysis and recommendations, and
ultimately assist parents and students of the State.
However, there are a number of elements in this
measure that need further refinement or modification,
therefore staff recommends the following amendments:
a) This bill establishes a 13-member board
of directors, 4 of which are students from the
specified segments of postsecondary education.
The value of student input on policy and
oversight board is necessary and important;
however, this bill would seem to "tip the scales"
in favor of student input.
Therefore on page 3 and 4, reduce the total
number of voting board of directors to 11-members
(9 public and 2 students), with the two students
being appointed by the governor (similar to EC
section 66901 (f) and (g));
b) Add the requirement for establishment of
a student advisory committee to the board made up
of 9 students representatives selected from the
respective statewide student organizations that
represents the students to advise the board on
all matters of student fees and policies, student
financial aid, student services, student life,
and other appropriate educational policy.
However, 3 of the students shall be community
college students, and 2 each from CSU, UC, and
the AICCU. The advisory committee shall receive
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board of directors meeting agenda items and
associated documents in a timely manner for its
consideration and comments in advance of the
meeting.
c) In 2013, the Legislature enacted Chapter
367 (SB 195, Liu) which established the goals of
policy and budget decisions regarding
postsecondary education - including improved
student access and success, as specified, better
alignment of degrees and credentials with the
state economic, workforce, and civic needs, and
ensure effective and efficient use of resources
and specifies legislative intent appropriate
metrics be identified, defined, and formally
adopted for the purpose of monitoring progress.
However, this measure enumerates the
responsibilities of the Authority, which includes
among them developing, presenting, and monitoring
postsecondary education goals for the state,
including, but not limited to progress of the
segments toward their long-term goals.
Building on the guidance and direction of Chapter
367, on page 5, strike lines 15-17, and insert:
education goals for the state pursuant to Section
66010.91, and the development of appropriate
metrics pursuant to Section 66010.93 that can be
utilized to monitor and report on the progress of
the postsecondary education segments, as defined
in Section 66010.95, toward meeting the state
goals.
d) On page 5, line 30, strike "consumers"
and insert: students and parents.
e) On page 6, lines 10 and 11, part of the
responsibilities of the Authority includes review
and recommendation of major capacity decisions,
including the establishment of new campuses,
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centers, or programs financed with state funds or
student fees - this should be expanded to include
nonstate funds, as well as any statewide
authorized bonds. In recent years, the
Legislature has passed measures that allow for
the review and analysis of new satellite campuses
contingent on nonstate funds being available.
f) On page 7, lines 8 through 13, deals with
a freshman eligibility report requiring its
delivery within 6 months (January 1, 2016) after
the Authority is established. These reports
require a review of representative sample of high
school transcripts that takes more time for
analysis and review. Therefore, this report
should be provided "no later than 18 months from
enactment of this provision."
g) The development of state goals and
associated metrics, suggested by staff in (c)
above clearly are critical for the Authority to
have clear goals and measurements of success, and
should be implemented as quickly as possible
given the phase-in approach of this measure.
Therefore, on page 7, line 24 before "(6)"
insert: (1),
h) On page 7, beginning with line 28,
provides for the board to appoint an executive
officer. The importance of such a position
requires careful consideration and deliberation
not to be taken lightly if the vision of a robust
and rigorous Authority is to be accomplished.
i) Therefore, on page 7, line 28 before
"The" insert
(a)
ii) On page 7, between lines 31 and
32, insert:
(b) The board shall prescribe
rules for transaction of its own affairs,
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subject, however, to all the following
requirements and limitations:
(1) The votes of all members
shall be recorded.
(2) Effective action shall
require the affirmative vote of a majority of
all the duly appointed members of the board,
not including vacant board seats.
(3) The affirmative vote of
two-thirds of all the duly appointed members of
the board, not including vacant board sets,
shall be necessary to the appointment
of the executive officer.
a) Concerns have been raised by the
University of California regarding the
composition of the board, which lacks "appointed
representatives of the systems who can speak with
authority on the potential impacts of different
approaches under consideration."
b) The Assembly Appropriations Committee
noted in its analysis of this bill: "In its last
full year of operation, CPEC's General Fund
operating budget was $1.9 million for the
equivalent of 18 positions. The new authority
established in this bill would likely have a
budget of similar magnitude. In addition, the
authority would incur one-time information
technology costs in the range of $200,000."
c) Related legislation .
i) AB 2190 (John A. Pérez, 2012),
which would have established a new state
oversight and coordinating body for higher
education, was held on the Assembly
Committee Appropriations Suspense File.
Related, recent legislative proposals to
establish an accountability framework for higher
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education include:
ii) SB 195 (Liu, Chapter 367, Statutes
of 2013), which establishes state goals for
California's postsecondary education system;
iii) SB 1196 (Liu, 2014), establishes a
process for setting specific educational
attainment goals for the State and a target
date for their achievement. This measure
is scheduled to be heard in Assembly Higher
Education Committee June 24th.
SUPPORT
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
OPPOSITION
None received.