Although the online higher ed bill by Senate president
Darrell Steinberg (SB 520) has been receiving much attention – as well as
opposition from UC – there is another bill on the subject that is also pending
in the legislature.* That bill, by
Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego), has received a much softer response from UC,
essentially that it might be OK with more faculty control and funding. The bill, as introduced, requires the UC Academic Senate to undertake certain actions
with language for UC indicating that the Regents should first endorse the
requirement.
Below is the text of the bill and – below that – is a link
to the UC response.
===
BILL NUMBER: SB 547 Senator Block
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 66950)
to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to public
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 547, as introduced, Block. Public postsecondary education:
online courses.
(1) Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets
forth the missions and functions of the segments of the public postsecondary education
system in the state, including the University of California administered by the
Regents of the University of California, the California State University
administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the
California Community Colleges administered by the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges. Provisions of the act are applicable to the
University of California only to the extent that the regents, by appropriate resolution,
make them applicable.
Existing law requires the Board of Governors, the Trustees,
and the Regents, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the
respective segments, to jointly develop, maintain, and disseminate a common
core curriculum in general education courses for the purpose of transfer.
Existing law deems any person who completes this transfer core curriculum as
having completed all lower division general education requirements for the
University of California and the California State University.
This bill would require the academic senates of the
University of California, the California State University, and the California Community
Colleges to jointly develop and identify online courses that would be made
available to students of each of the 3 segments for enrollment by the fall of
2014. The bill would require the online courses to be in areas defined as high
demand transferable lower division courses under the Intersegmental General
Education Transfer
Curriculum and to be deemed to meet the lower division
transfer and degree requirements for the 3 segments. The bill would require the board of governors to create an
Internet portal through the California Virtual Campus that facilitates enrollment
in the online courses. The bill would require funding for implementation of the
bill to be provided for in the annual Budget Act, and would state the intent of
the Legislature that the University of California's receipt of this funding be
contingent upon its compliance with the bill's requirements.
Pursuant to existing law, this bill would be applicable to
the University of California only upon the adoption of an appropriate resolution
by the Regents.
By placing additional requirements on community college
districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State
Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement
for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated
local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 66950) is
added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 11.5. ONLINE
COURSES
66950. (a) The academic senates of the University
of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges
shall jointly develop and identify online courses that shall be made available
to students of each of the three segments for enrollment by the fall of 2014.
The online courses shall be in areas defined as high demand transferable lower
division courses under the Intersegmental General Education Transfer
Curriculum.
(b) The online courses developed pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be deemed to meet the lower division transfer and degree requirements for
the University of California, the California State University, and the
California Community Colleges.
(c) The Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges shall create an Internet portal through the California Virtual Campus that
facilitates enrollment in the courses developed pursuant to subdivision (a).
(d) The University of California, the California State
University, and the California Community Colleges shall do both of the following:
(1) Develop a
process for determining and identifying which students are most likely to
succeed in the online courses developed pursuant to subdivision (a) and target
enrollment efforts toward those students.
(2) Inform students
of the technical requirements a student must satisfy in order to successfully
participate in and complete the online courses developed pursuant to
subdivision (a).
(e) (1) Funding for the implementation of this section shall
be provided for in the annual Budget Act.
(2) It is the intent
of the Legislature that the University of California's receipt of funding for
the implementation of this section be contingent upon its compliance with the
requirements of this section, notwithstanding Section 67400.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies
and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.
Source: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0501-0550/sb_547_bill_20130222_introduced.html
===
The UC response is at
http://www.ucop.edu/rware/reports/uploads/00009BB2.pdf
*Our most recent post
on the Steinberg bill is at
In short, it's not just Steinberg's bill; now we're playing with Block's:
No comments:
Post a Comment