Upcoming Events
February 24—AICCU Government Relations Council bi-weekly call, 10:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Contact Tom Vu for more information.
February 28—Registration is open for the 2017 AICCU Day in the Capitol. This is a critical year for the Cal Grant because the award is again slated to be cut by over $1,000, impacting new students at private, nonprofit colleges or universities, starting in the 2017-18 academic year. Students are the most effective advocates and their voice is needed to make the case to legislators to stop the cut.
Contact Tom Vu for more information.
February 28—the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) has opened their application cycle for the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. The program awards medical students and residents up to $105,000 in loan repayment in exchange for three years of service in a medically underserved area of California. The application cycle closes on February 28, 2017. For more information, visit the OSHPD website.
March 1—2016 Annual Interest Earned deadline for the California Student Aid Commission.
March 10—AICCU's Southern California symposium, Moving Forward: Empowering our Communities- a one day symposium to explore policies, practices, and actions on immigrant communities in higher education at Occidental College. This theme reflects the importance of bringing campus administrators, faculty, staff, and students together with legal experts, immigrant activists, community organizers, education groups, nonprofits, and others to share strategies, tools, and resources.
For more information contact Erica Romero.
March 17—the Commission on Teacher Credentialing opened its request for proposals on Equating (Comparability) Study of Commission-Approved Teaching Performance Assessment Models. Any institution of higher education, educational organization, and/or research organization, and/or consortium of eligible entities that has the capacity and experience to develop a process for and conduct an Equating (Comparability) study of Commission-approved models, may apply. Proposals are due by Friday, May 17.
March 24—AICCU's Northern California symposium, Moving Forward: Empowering our Communities- a one day symposium to explore policies, practices, and actions on immigrant communities in higher education at Mills College.
For more information contact Erica Romero.
Events and Activities
February 7—the California Student Aid Commission alerted students they now have the capability to claim and activate their 2017-18 Cal Grant award. Students must create a WebGrants for Students account and confirm their school of attendance or make a school change in order to claim and eventually receive their award. A five minute Claiming Your Cal Grant Award module has been recorded to assist students with this process. This module is available under the Getting Started from the Students and Parents tab on the CSAC website.
February 14 –the Assembly Judiciary Committee will host an informational hearing on "Declining Passage Rates on the California Bar Exam: Possible Explanations and Impacts". The panelists include Stephen Ferruolo, Dean, University of San Diego Law School. The agenda is available online, and will be streamed live.
February 22 –there will be a joint hearing of the Assembly Education and Senate Education Committees on "California's Teacher Shortage". Panelists include Linda Darling-Hammond, and Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, Emerita, Stanford University. The hearing will be streamed live.
Research and Reports
WestEd's report Teacher Demographics and Evaluation: A Descriptive Study in a Large Urban District. The report uses data from one urban public school district to examine teacher summative performance evaluation ratings disaggregated by teacher characteristics, such as race, age, and gender. Findings from this study suggest the need for further research.
State Update
Legislation of interest
AB 336 (Baker)—spot bill related to postsecondary education in California. Newly introduced.
AB 370 (Rodriguez)—requires the Student Aid Commission to calculate a target for awards to be paid in an award year, estimate a take rate for awards by dividing the total number of awards paid by the total number of offers made during the three award years immediately preceding that award year, and estimate the number of award offers that the commission may make to achieve the target for awards to be paid. The bill authorizes the commission to exceed the 25,750 award limit in an academic year, when the number of acceptances exceeds 25,750. Newly introduced.
AB 379 (Gomez)—establishes the California Kickstart My Future Loan Forgiveness Program to provide student loan forgiveness awards to alleviate federal student loan debt for recent graduates meeting specified requirements. Newly introduced.
AB 387 (Thurmond)—requires a person engaged in a period of supervised work experience to satisfy requirements for licensure, registration, or certification as an allied health professional, to be paid the minimum wage and any increases per state law. Newly introduced.
AB 405 (Irwin)—establishes a pilot program that allows up to 10 community college districts to offer a baccalaureate degree in cybersecurity, and requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to report on the program. Newly introduced.
AB 410 (Cervantes)—prohibits a local education agency from charging a fee to a beginning teacher to participate in a teacher induction program. Newly introduced.
AB 422 (Arambula)—authorizes the CSU to establish a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. Newly introduced.
Campus Grassroots Effort
The University of the West will be hosting its local legislators and staff at the campus on February 23 to meet with Cal Grant students, campus leaders, and others in the campus community to stress the importance of the Cal Grant award and to rescind the 11.3% cut to the award.
Federal Update
Betsy DeVos, a charter school advocate, was confirmed as the United States Secretary of Education. The vote in the Senate was 50-50, with Vice President Pence breaking the tie. For higher education, the next appointment of interest is the Under Secretary of Education that has jurisdiction over higher education policy. That would provide some clarity around the enforcement of various higher education regulations that include Title IX/campus sexual assault issues, online distance education, gainful employment, and other important issues.
February 9—NAICU issued an action alert to institutional presidents asking institutions to send letters to senators in support of H.J. Res. 58, a resolution to override the Teacher Preparation Regulations made final in October 2016. The House passed this resolution by a vote of 240-181 on Tuesday, February 7.
Private, nonprofit colleges and universities have a long history in preparing our nation’s teachers, and have a broad spectrum of programs, from small colleges to large research universities. Please tell your senators that these regulations would impede, rather than help improve, how teachers are prepared at your institution. NAICU submitted a letter to the House and Senate in support of H.J. Res. 58; feel free to use it as a template for your communications. AICCU submitted a letter to Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris in support of H.J. Res. 58.
