BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2168
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
AB 2168 (Campos) - As Introduced: February 20, 2014
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: California College
Campus Discrimination and Violence Prevention Task Force.
SUMMARY : Establishes the California College Campus
Discrimination and Violence Prevention Task Force (Task Force);
and, requires the Task Force, on or before January 1, 2016, to
recommended to the Governor and the Legislature steps that can
be taken to reduce incidents of discrimination, hate crime, and
campus violence on the campuses of the University of California
(UC), the California State University (CSU), the California
Community Colleges (CCC), and independent institutions of higher
education. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the Task Force shall consist of 13 members who
reflect the ethnic and gender diversity of California and that
these members shall be appointed as follows:
a) Seven members appointed by the Governor;
b) Three members appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules; and,
c) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
2)Specifies that Task Force shall also consist of three
additional members appointed as follows:
a) One representative of the CSU Office of the Chancellor
to be appointed by the CSU Trustees;
b) One representative of the CCC Office of the Chancellor
to be appointed by the CCC Board of Governors; and,
c) One representative of the organization that represents
the largest number, as of January 1, 2015, of independent
institutions of higher education in California, as defined,
to be appointed by the organization.
3)Requests the UC Regents to appoint a representative of the UC
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Office of the President to be an additional member of the Task
Force.
4)Stipulates that the Task Force shall examine and make
recommendations to the Governor and the appropriate committees
of the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2016, on steps
that can be taken to reduce incidents of discrimination, hate
crime, and campus violence on UC, CSU, CCC and independent
institutions of higher education campuses in California.
5)Sunsets on January 1, 2017, unless a later enacted statute
that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Declares it a goal of public higher education that educational
equity be achieved through educational environments in which
each person, regardless of race, gender, gender identity,
gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability or
economic circumstances has a reasonable change to fully
develop his or her potential (EC � 66010.2).
2)Provides that it is the policy of the State of California to
afford all persons, regardless of disability, gender, gender
identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity,
religion, sexual orientation, or any other basis that is
contained in the prohibition of hate crimes set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 422.6 of the Penal Code, equal
rights and opportunities in the postsecondary institutions of
the state (Education Code � 66251).
3)Provides that all students have the right to participate fully
in the educational process, free from discrimination and
harassment and that California's postsecondary educational
institutions have an affirmative obligation to combat racism,
sexism, and other forms of bias, and a responsibility to
provide equal educational opportunity; and declares the
Legislature's intent that each postsecondary educational
institution undertake educational activities to counter
discriminatory incidents on school grounds and, within
constitutional bounds, to minimize and eliminate a hostile
environment on school grounds that impairs the access of
students to equal educational opportunities (EC � 66252).
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4)Requests the UC Regents, CSU Trustees, and the governing board
of each community college district to adopt and publish
policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying to be
included within the rules and regulations governing student
behavior within their respective segments of public
postsecondary education (EC � 66302).
5)The federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy
and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) requires colleges
and universities, as a condition of federal student aid
program participation, to publish annual campus security
reports, maintain crime logs, provide timely warnings of
crimes that present a public safety risk, and maintain ongoing
crime statistics.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Purpose of the bill . According to the author,
"There is nothing in existing law that requires all the higher
education segments to work together to identify best practices
[as it relates to campus climate] that can be replicated at all
campuses throughout the state. Existing law simply requests the
UC Regents, the CSU Trustees, and the governing boards of CCD
[community college districts], adopt and publish policies on
harassment, intimidation, and bullying." The author argues that
by creating a 13-member intersegmental task force that will
provide recommendations on campus hate, bias, discrimination,
and violence prevention, the Governor and the Legislature will
have the benefit of input from the UC, CSU, CCC and private
postsecondary institutions of higher learning.
The author's goal is for the Governor and the Legislature to use
the input of the Task Force in order to help develop statewide
policies that would apply to all the institutions of higher
learning in the state.
Recent situations . Incidents in recent years and months at the
UC and CSU - targeting students of color, and the Lesbian, Gay,
Bi-sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community, investigations of
racial and ethnic discrimination, and how sexual assaults and
violence have been handled - have greatly highlighted and
brought more attention to the need for the UC and CSU to address
climate challenges.
Segment responses . The UC seeks to create and nurture an
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atmosphere of respect and inclusion for all; in March 2014 the
UC (after a two-year system wide survey), released its campus
climate study. The study found many things, including, but not
limited to the following: 1) 79% of all respondents were
comfortable or very comfortable with the campus climate at UC,
while 7% were uncomfortable or very uncomfortable; 2) more than
half of all respondents thought that the overall campus climate
was very respectful or respectful of various races/ethnicities
at UC; and, 3) more work must be done to address issues faced by
certain groups - underrepresented minority respondents were less
comfortable with the overall climate and workplace climate than
were white respondents and other people of color and transgender
respondents were less comfortable with the overall climate at
their campus than were men and women respondents.
To note: 1) many UC campuses have hired staff focused on campus
climate issues; 2) many programs are offered to reduce the
impact of unconscious bias in hiring and promotions, and to
identify and remove institutional barriers to inclusion an
career development; 3) resource and student service centers have
been established at many campuses for certain populations (such
as undocumented students, veteran students, and LGBT students);
4) anti-hate initiatives exist at many UC campuses that seek to
educate students; and 5) many UC campuses have student-led and
cultural activities.
The CSU is committed to maintaining an inclusive community that
values diversity and fosters tolerance and mutual respect. It
is CSU policy to provide equal opportunity for all persons
regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin,
ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical
condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender,
gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, and
veteran status.
The CSU has policies in place to help ensure that their students
and faculty are protected; campuses must implement preventative
education programs and make available victim resources,
including comprehensive victim services. Information regarding
these programs must be included in: 1) orientation programs for
new students, faculty and staff; 2) training for students who
serve as advisors in residence halls; and, 3) training for
student athletes and coaches.
Additionally, on a campus by campus basis, the CSU has created
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an advisory body of non-CSU experts to advise and opine to the
CSU how to strengthen and enforce existing polices, as well as
advise if there is a need to create more policies that will
allow the CSU to maintain its policy of protection for all.
State response . Out of concern regarding recent campus climate
issues at various campuses of higher education, in the past few
years there have been several oversight hearings convened by
this committee to look at campus climate issues. Additionally,
in the 2013-14 Legislative Session, the Speaker of the Assembly
created the Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate; which
will convene several hearings in 2014 with the goal of
continuing to strengthen overall campus climate for our
postsecondary institutions of higher learning.
Committee considerations . With the segments continuing to work
to ensure even more policies and protocols are in place ensuring
the safety of students and staff, and with the Legislature
recently creating a Select Committee on Campus Climate (having
already had a hearing this year and several more scheduled
throughout the year in various regions of the state), is this
the right time for a task force on these issues to be created?
Additionally, as currently drafted, it is presently unclear as
to who would serve as the lead entity in the organization and
convening of the Task Force. This measure is silent as to the
funding of the Task Force; what entity will be responsible for
the financial needs of the Task Force and where will the funds
come from?
Should this measure pass out of this committee, staff recommends
that the author specify what entity will serve as the
administrator of the Task Force.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960