Just a Reminder

UC President Clark Kerr hands
Master Plan to Gov. Pat Brown
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From time to time, we like to remind folks - for all the good it does - about the need to develop and implement a new Master Plan for Higher Education, rather than make ad hoc legislative decisions. Currently, according to Capitol Weekly, there are four bills in the legislature that would make ad hoc adjustments:

...The California State University (CSU) system can already award some doctoral degrees, the scope of their offerings is limited to those that do not duplicate those provided by the University of California (UC). That restriction would go away under AB 2693 (Alvarez), which removes the requirement that the UC must approve any PhD offerings the CSU provides.

Restrictions on the California Community Colleges (CCC) system would also change under AB 2694, which would overturn a law that bars community colleges from offering a BA/BS degree if a similar program exists anywhere in the state. AB 2694 (Alvarez) would bar duplication “only within the same geographic region where there are documented unmet regional workforce needs.”

...AB 2301 [Soria] would establish a pilot program authorizing up to 10 community college districts to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), in an effort to address California’s nursing shortage.

Another Alvarez bill (AB 664) would allow Southwestern College in South San Diego County to offer up to four workforce-aligned bachelor’s degree programs...

All four bills are now in the Assembly Committee on Higher Education. The deadline to pass policy bills is April 24th.

Full story at https://capitolweekly.net/californias-higher-education-master-plan-in-flux/.

Of course, putting a bill in the hopper doesn't mean it will be enacted and signed by the governor. But there already have been such bills that have been enacted and signed. And there are likely to be more.

And even without the bill, there is this:

From Santa Monica Patch: Santa Monica College has received approval from the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and the Accrediting Commission of Community & Junior Colleges to launch a Bachelor of Science degree in Cloud Computing. “This new baccalaureate degree marks an important moment for Santa Monica College in fulfilling our mission of continuing to be a leader in preparing students for careers, as well as transfers,” SMC Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery said.

The four-year degree will be SMC’s second, after its B.S. in Interaction Design (IxD)—which was launched as part of a landmark statewide pilot program in 2015—and is slated to meet regional needs in one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global economy...

Full story at https://patch.com/california/santamonica/santa-monica-college-launching-bachelor-s-degree-cloud-computing.