BILL NUMBER: AB 2385AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member John A. Perez FEBRUARY 19, 2010 An act to add and repeal Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 78265) of Chapter 2 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2385, as amended, John A. Perez.Community colleges: accelerated nursing and allied health care pilot program.Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts, each of which is administered by a governing board, throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction to students at the community college campuses maintained by the districts.This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish an accelerated nursing and allied health care pilot program at 5 California Community Colleges distributed geographically across the state. The pilot program would be designed to be a public-private venture that lasts 5 years. The goal of the program would be to facilitate early graduation by reducing the time it takes to earn a degree from an average of 2 years to 18 months or less for students participating in the pilot program. The Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges would be required to develop the program model, select the participating colleges based on specified criteria, and oversee and collect outcome data to evaluate program effectiveness upon completion of the pilot program.The bill would establish the Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges, and would authorize the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to design a pilot program in accordance with prescribed criteria with the goal of facilitating early graduation by reducing the time it takes to earn a degree to 18 months or less for students participating in the pilot program. The bill would require the chancellor's office to establish policies and procedures for the process of establishing an application process that would lead to the selection of the community college campuses that would participate in the pilot program. The bill would require the chancellor's office to design the program to commence in the 2012-13 academic year and to provide accelerated learning in a variety of formats, including online and distance learning courses and intensive weekend and evening course modules. The bill would authorize participating campuses to admit students to the pilot program in accordance with the multicriteria screening process, as prescribed. The bill would also require participating campuses to provide specified support services. The bill would authorize the chancellor's office to solicit and receive federal and private sector funds for the pilot program, and would require those federal and private funds to be deposited in the Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges Fund, which the bill would establish, to be available for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would require the chancellor's office to collect appropriate data for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program. The bill would require the chancellor's office to analyze this data, and report its findings and recommendations with respect to the pilot program to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2017. The bill would provide that the pilot program would become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and as of January 1, 2018, would be repealed. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:noyes . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Allied health care occupations are expected to grow dramatically in the next decade, and California labor market data show that, by 2017, allied health care occupations are projected to account for more than 1.1 million jobs around the state, which would be an increase of close to 130,000 jobs, or 13 percent, from 2007. (b) Reports from health care industry experts project a growing demand for care due to burgeoning population growth and an aging population. Impending retirements by health care employees will place additional strain on a system struggling to hire the large numbers of qualified, well-trained workers needed to meet the demands of the health care industry. (c) Although one of the most publicized shortage areas is that of registered nurses, a wide variety of allied health care occupations also are facing worker shortages. (d) The California Community Colleges system currently trains approximately 70 percent of registered nurses statewide, and the system offers educational programs in a variety of allied health care professions. (e) Allied health care profession education programs are among the most costly education programs offered by colleges, and they have been subject to deep state budget cuts. (f) Community colleges have been forced by the current fiscal climate to limit their enrollment capacity, and therefore these campuses are struggling to keep pace with the level of demand for health care education programs. (g) Currently, most associate degree nursing and allied health care profession courses are offered over four semesters or two school years, and require the completion of 70 units in program courses, assuming that the student has met all of the prerequisite requirements and is ready to start the program. (h) The goal of an accelerated program would be to allow students to attend full-time and earn their degrees sooner. (i) A successful accelerated program could be a center of innovation and a testing ground for the newest educational technology and curricular ideas. SEC. 2. Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 78265) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code , to read: Article 3.7. Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges 78265. (a) The Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges is hereby established under the administration of the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The goal of the pilot program shall be to facilitate the early graduation of participating community college nursing and allied health students by reducing the amount of time necessary to earn a degree. (b) The chancellor's office shall establish the pilot program at five campuses geographically distributed throughout the state. The chancellor's office may establish procedures and policies so that interested community college campuses may apply for participation in the pilot program. The chancellor's office shall also develop and apply criteria for the selection of the five campuses that will participate in the program. These criteria shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the extent to which an applying campus offers coursework in the allied health care occupations where the need is greatest, and the existence and quality of partnerships between the applying campuses and hospitals and clinics in their respective communities in order to enable participating students to obtain appropriate clinical experience. In developing and applying these criteria, the chancellor's office shall consult with major employers of health care professionals in this state. (c) The chancellor's office shall design the pilot program with the intent that it shall be implemented at the participating campuses commencing with the 2012-13 academic year. 78265.1. As used in this article the following definitions apply: (a) "Chancellor's office" means the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. (b) "Pilot program" means the Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges established by Section 78265. 78265.3. (a) The pilot program shall provide accelerated learning in a variety of formats, and shall provide student success services to facilitate a student's completion of the program in 18 months or three semesters, or less. (b) The accelerated learning provided by the pilot program shall include online and distance learning courses, allowing students to accelerate their course-taking patterns and progress rapidly through the requirements of a nursing or allied health care education program. Online and distance learning courses made available under this section shall meet the curriculum standards approved for these courses by the appropriate state entity that oversees each health occupation program. (c) The accelerated learning provided by the pilot program shall include intensive weekend and evening course modules, similar to accelerated executive graduate programs designed for working professionals. 78265.5. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the pilot program attract and admit a diverse and talented pool of students likely to succeed in an accelerated program and to thrive upon entering a health care profession. (b) To effectuate the legislative intent expressed in subdivision (a), both of the following shall occur: (1) In selecting students for admission to the pilot program, participating campuses may use the multicriteria screening process established under Section 78261.5 when the use of this process is deemed feasible. (2) Participating campuses shall provide support services to help students stay and complete the academically rigorous accelerated pilot program. These support services shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the presence of student success advisors, tutors, mentors, appropriate financial assistance, and aid in placing students who complete the program in appropriate internships. 78265.7. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the pilot program be funded with a combination of state apportionment funding, student fees, federal grants, and private philanthropic resources. (b) To effectuate the legislative intent expressed in subdivision (a), the chancellor's office shall make every feasible effort to secure federal and private sector funding for the pilot program. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chancellor's office may solicit and accept funding from federal and private sources. Funds received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the Pilot Program for Accelerated Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges Fund, which is hereby created. Funds deposited in the fund under this section shall be available for expenditure for the purposes of this article, upon appropriation by the Legislature. 78265.8. The chancellor's office shall collect appropriate data for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program. The chancellor's office shall analyze this data, and report its findings and recommendations with respect to the pilot program to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2017. 78265.9. This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and, as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.SECTION 1.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish an accelerated nursing and allied health care pilot program at five California Community Colleges distributed geographically across the state. The pilot program would be designed to be a public-private venture that lasts five years. The goal of the program would be to facilitate early graduation by reducing the time it takes to earn a degree from an average of two years to 18 months or less for students participating in the pilot program. The Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges would be required to develop the program model, select the participating colleges based on specified criteria, and oversee and collect outcome data to evaluate program effectiveness upon completion of the pilot program.