Erosion of the Master Plan

Erosion eventually undermines a once-solid structure

From time to time, this blog has pointed to the political erosion of the 1960 Master Plan. Dan Walters, in a column in the Sacramento Bee, points to two bills currently in the legislature which move in that direction.*

One (AB405) would allow community colleges to offer 4-year degrees in cybersecurity.** The pattern in the legislature has been to find some topic in which no formal 4-year degree is being offered by UC or CSU and then propose that community colleges should fill the gap.

The other bill (AB207) would authorize Fresno State U to open a medical school.***

Although Walters characterizes these two bills as "stalled," there will be more such bills in the future and some will be enacted. The Master Plan was developed because at the time such ad hoc developments were occurring as every higher ed institution sought to build its own empire. So maybe it's time to consider developing a new plan rather than have the legislature create an incoherent jumble of programs.
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*http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article146048169.html
**http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB405
***http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB207