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 again for Cal Grant advocacy with the maximum award slated to be cut by over $1,000, impacting only 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 and keep the promise to their higher education.
Contact Tom Vu for more information.
March 1—2016 Annual Interest Earned deadline for the California Student Aid Commission. AICCU Financial Aid Administrators should review this special alert.
March 10—registration is now open for 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. The regional symposium is intended for campus administrators, faculty and student leaders at California colleges and universities, as well as legal experts, immigrant activists, community organizers, education groups, nonprofits, and foundations working on immigration. Due to venue capacity, the event is not open to the general public.
For more information contact Amber Gonzalez.
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—registration is now open for 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. Please note that registration for the Mills event will be limited to AICCU members until March 10; after that date, slots will be made available to public universities and nonprofit organizations.
For more information contact Amber Gonzalez.
Events and Activities
February 13—Professors Larry Trapp of Loma Linda University and Jeff Elo of Western University of Health Sciences testified in a Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee information hearing. The hearing focused on the Dental Board of California’s pediatric anesthesia study and recommendations.
February 14—Dean Stephen Ferruolo of the University of San Diego Law School testified in an informational hearing of the Assembly Judiciary Committee about the declining passage rate of the California Bar Exam, and potential impacts on the state.
Research and Reports
The Learning Policy Institute recently released a follow-up to a January 2016 report on teacher shortages in California, Addressing California’s Growing Teacher Shortage: 2017 Update, showing that shortages have worsened in the past year, with especially severe shortages continuing in special education, math, and science.
The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) released its research brief The Gender Pay Gap and the Representation of Women in Higher Education Administrative Positions: The Century So Far. The brief is the first of two that will be published by CUPA-HR. This brief focuses on the gender pay gap in administrative positions, and provides suggestions of next steps for institutions.
The Brookings Institute released a report on private, nonprofit colleges. The report shows 30% of all U.S. students attend a private, nonprofit institution, while having similar selectivity as public institutions and similar proportions of low-income students as public institutions. The report provides data to suggest that policymakers need to consider the role of the private sector when deciding on higher education funding. The private, nonprofit sector plays an important roll and is in a position to contribute more to the educational attainment and economic mobility of the nation.
State Update
Friday, February 17, is the formal date by which new legislation must be introduced. While there are always ways to craft new bills during the legislative session, this is the process that follows the rules of Legislature. Bills introduced yesterday and today will be included in the next Week in Review.
Legislation of interest
Financial Aid:
AB 888 (Low)—would require every private postsecondary educational institution in the state that receives Cal Grant funding to report annually to the Legislature its rate of expulsion for the previous academic year disaggregated by gender and ethnicity of the expelled students, and whether they were Cal Grant recipients. (Newly introduced)
Labor and employment:
AB 569 (Gonzalez-Fletcher)—prohibits employers from taking adverse actions against employees based on use of any drug, device, or medical service related to reproductive health by an employee or dependent, or requiring the employee to sign a wavier to deny an employee the right to his or her own reproductive health decisions. (Newly introduced)
Public safety:
AB 585 (Gipson)—provides that an officer employed by a police division that is within a city department and operates independently of the city police department will be considered a police security office. (Newly introduced)
AB 927 (Levine)—would appropriate $10million from the General Fund to the Controller for allocation to local government entities for the provision of supplemental law enforcement services to private schools, private colleges or private universities. (Newly introduced)
Teacher education/credentialing:
AB 681 (Chau)—authorizes the CTC to determine standards for coursework, programs, and degrees in a foreign country, are equivalent to those offered by a regionally accredited institution in the US, and allow the individual to receive a California credential. (Newly introduced)
SB 436 (Allen)—establishes the STEM Professional Teaching Pathway for the purpose of recruiting, training, supporting, and retaining qualified STEM professionals as math and science teachers in California. (Newly introduced)
Healthcare:
SB 396 (Lara)—spot bill to remove barriers for undocumented medical students to apply for and participate in medical residency programs in California. (Newly introduced)
Federal Update
The Coalition to Preserve Employer-Provided Education Assistance (Sec. 127 Coalition) — comprised of higher education, business, and labor organizations — wrote to the Senate and House in support of maintaining and strengthening IRC Sec. 127 (employer-provided education assistance) in any upcoming tax package. Sec. 127 allows an employee to exclude from income up to $5,250 per year in assistance for any type of educational course at the undergraduate and graduate level. Employers are not required to provide assistance under Sec. 127, however, if an employer chooses to do so, the benefit must be offered to all employees on a non-discriminatory basis.
