Bill Text: CA AB548 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Public postsecondary education: community college registered nursing programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-08-15 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 203, Statutes of 2014. [AB548 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB548-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 548 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 203
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 15, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 15, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 3, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 4, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 21, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 7, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salas
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
An act to amend and repeal Section 78261.5 of the Education Code,
relating to public postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 548, Salas. Public postsecondary education: community college
registered nursing programs.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college
districts throughout the state, under the administration of community
college district governing boards, and authorizes these districts to
provide instruction at the community college campuses operated by
the districts.
Existing law requires a community college registered nursing
program that elects to use a multicriteria screening process to
evaluate applicants for admission to nursing programs to include
specified criteria. Existing law authorizes a program using a
multicriteria screening process to use an approved diagnostic
assessment tool before, during, or after the multicriteria screening
process. Existing law also requires a district that uses
multicriteria screening measures to report its nursing program
admissions policies to the chancellor annually, in writing. Existing
law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2016.
This bill would extend the operation of these provisions related
to community college nursing programs until January 1, 2020, and
would require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to
submit a report on or before March 1, 2015, and annually thereafter
to the Legislature and the Governor that examines and includes, but
is not necessarily limited to, specified information on nursing
students admitted through the multicriteria screening process.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 78261.5 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
78261.5. (a) A community college registered nursing program that
determines that the number of applicants to that program exceeds its
capacity may admit students in accordance with any of the following
procedures:
(1) Administration of a multicriteria screening process, as
authorized by Section 78261.3, in a manner that is consistent with
the standards set forth in subdivision (b).
(2) A random selection process.
(3) A blended combination of random selection and a multicriteria
screening process.
(b) A community college registered nursing program that elects, on
or after January 1, 2008, to use a multicriteria screening process
to evaluate applicants pursuant to this article shall apply those
measures in accordance with all of the following:
(1) The criteria applied in a multicriteria screening process
under this article shall include, but shall not necessarily be
limited to, all of the following:
(A) Academic degrees or diplomas, or relevant certificates, held
by an applicant.
(B) Grade-point average in relevant coursework.
(C) Any relevant work or volunteer experience.
(D) Life experiences or special circumstances of an applicant,
including, but not necessarily limited to, the following experiences
or circumstances:
(i) Disabilities.
(ii) Low family income.
(iii) First generation of family to attend college.
(iv) Need to work.
(v) Disadvantaged social or educational environment.
(vi) Difficult personal and family situations or circumstances.
(vii) Refugee or veteran status.
(E) Proficiency or advanced level coursework in languages other
than English. Credit for languages other than English shall be
received for languages that are identified by the chancellor as
high-frequency languages, as based on census data. These languages
may include, but are not necessarily limited to, any of the
following:
(i) American Sign Language.
(ii) Arabic.
(iii) Chinese, including its various dialects.
(iv) Farsi.
(v) Russian.
(vi) Spanish.
(vii) Tagalog.
(viii) The various languages of the Indian subcontinent and
Southeast Asia.
(2) Additional criteria, such as a personal interview, a personal
statement, letter of recommendation, or the number of repetitions of
prerequisite classes, or other criteria, as approved by the
chancellor, may be used, but are not required.
(3) A community college registered nursing program using a
multicriteria screening process under this article may use an
approved diagnostic assessment tool, in accordance with Section
78261.3, before, during, or after the multicriteria screening
process.
(4) As used in this section:
(A) "Disabilities" has the same meaning as used in Section 2626 of
the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(B) "Disadvantaged social or educational environment" includes,
but is not necessarily limited to, the status of a student who has
participated in Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS).
(C) "Grade-point average" refers to the same fixed set of required
prerequisite courses that all applicants to the nursing program
administering the multicriteria screening process are required to
complete.
(D) "Low family income" shall be measured by a community college
registered nursing program in terms of a student's eligibility for,
or receipt of, financial aid under a program that may include, but is
not necessarily limited to, a fee waiver from the board of governors
under Section 76300, the Cal Grant Program under Chapter 1.7
(commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42 of Division 5, the federal
Pell Grant program, or CalWORKs.
(E) "Need to work" means that the student is working at least part
time while completing academic work that is a prerequisite for
admission to the nursing program.
(5) A community college registered nursing program that uses a
multicriteria screening process pursuant to this article shall report
its nursing program admissions policies to the chancellor annually,
in writing. The admissions policies reported under this paragraph
shall include the weight given to any criteria used by the program,
and shall include demographic information relating to both the
persons admitted to the program and the persons of that group who
successfully completed that program.
(c) The chancellor is encouraged to develop, and make available to
community college registered nursing programs by July 1, 2008, a
model admissions process based on this section.
(d) (1) The chancellor shall submit a report on or before March 1,
2015, and on or before each March 1 thereafter, to the Legislature
and the Governor that examines and includes, but is not necessarily
limited to, both of the following:
(A) The participation, retention, and completion rates in
community college registered nursing programs of students admitted
through a multicriteria screening process, as described in Section
78261.5, disaggregated by the age, gender, ethnicity, and the
language spoken at the home of those students.
(B) Information on the annual impact, if any, the Seymour-Campbell
Student Success Act had on the matriculation services for students
admitted through the multicriteria screening process, as described in
Section 78261.5.
(2) The chancellor shall submit the annual report required in
paragraph (1) in conjunction with its annual report on associate
degree nursing programs required by subdivision (h) of Section 78261.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.
