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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7162
January Session, 2019
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTICUT OPEN EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCE COORDINATIN G COUNCIL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) For the purposes of this 1
section: 2
(1) "Open educational resource" means a college level resource 3
made available on an Internet web site to be used by students, faculty 4
and members of the public on an unlimited basis at a cost lower than 5
the marketing value of the printed textbook or other educational 6
resource, including full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, 7
streaming videos, tests, software and other similar teaching, learning 8
and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been 9
released under a creative commons attribution license that permits the 10
free use and repurposing of such resources; 11
(2) "Creative commons attribution license" means a copyright 12
crediting the author of a digital work product that allows for the free 13
use and distribution of such work product; and 14
(3) "High-impact course" means a course of instruction for which 15
open educational resources would make a significant positive financial 16
impact on the students taking the course due to the number of 17
students taking the course or the marketing value of the printed 18 Substitute Bill No. 7162
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textbook or other educational resources required for such course. 19
(b) There is established the Connecticut Open Educational Resource 20
Coordinating Council, which shall be part of the Executive 21
Department. The executive director of the Office of Higher Education 22
shall appoint the members of the council which shall consist of the 23
following: (1) A state-wide coordinator, who shall collaborate with all 24
institutions of higher education to promote open educational resources 25
and administer grants; (2) one faculty member, one administrator and 26
one staff member from The University of Connecticut; (3) one faculty 27
member, one administrator and one staff member from the regional 28
community-technical college system; (4) one faculty member, one 29
administrator and one staff member from Charter Oak State College; 30
(5) one faculty member, one administrator and one staff member from 31
the Connecticut State University System; (6) one faculty member, one 32
administrator and one staff member from the independent institutions 33
of higher education; and (7) one student from any public or 34
independent institution of higher education in the state. All initial 35
appointments to the council shall be made not later than September 1, 36
2019, and shall expire on August 30, 2022, regardless of when the 37
initial appointment was made. Any member of the council may serve 38
more than one term. 39
(c) The state-wide coordinator appointed by the executive director 40
of the Office of Higher Education shall serve as the chairperson of the 41
council. The chairperson shall schedule the first meeting of the council, 42
which shall be held not later than October 1, 2019. The administrative 43
staff of the Office of Higher Education shall serve as administrative 44
staff of the council. 45
(d) Appointed members of the council shall serve for three-year 46
terms which shall commence on the date of appointment, except as 47
provided in subsection (b) of this section. Members shall continue to 48
serve until their successors are appointed. Any vacancy shall be filled 49
by the executive director of the Office of Higher Education. Any 50
vacancy occurring other than by expiration of term shall be filled for 51 Substitute Bill No. 7162
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the balance of the unexpired term. A majority of the council shall 52
constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business. The members 53
of the council shall serve without compensation, but shall, within the 54
limits of available funds, be reimbursed for expenses necessarily 55
incurred in the performance of their duties. 56
(e) The council shall perform the following functions: 57
(1) Identify high-impact courses for which open educational 58
resources will be developed, converted or adopted; 59
(2) Establish a program of competitive grants for faculty members of 60
institutions of higher education in the state for the development, 61
conversion or adoption of open educational resources for high-impact 62
courses with any funds identified by the council and within available 63
appropriations; 64
(3) Accept, review and approve competitive grant applications, 65
provided any faculty member who is approved for a competitive grant 66
shall license such open educational resources through a creative 67
commons attribution license; 68
(4) Administer a standardized review and approval process for the 69
development, conversion or adoption of open educational resources; 70
(5) Establish a state-sponsored digital clearinghouse that shall 71
function as a publicly accessible database for the collection, storage 72
and purchase of open educational resources; and 73
(6) Promote strategies for the production, use and access of open 74
educational resources. 75
(f) The council shall meet quarterly, or as often as deemed necessary 76
by a majority of the council. 77
(g) Not later than January 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, the 78
council shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of 79 Substitute Bill No. 7162
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section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of 80
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher 81
education regarding (1) the number and percentage of high-impact 82
courses for which open educational resources have been developed, (2) 83
the degree to which institutions of higher education promote the use 84
and access to open educational resources through the state-sponsored 85
digital clearinghouse, (3) the amount of grants awarded by the council 86
and the number of open educational resources developed by grant 87
recipients, and (4) its recommendations for any amendments to the 88
general statutes necessary to develop open educational resources. 89
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
HED Joint Favorable Subst.