BILL NUMBER: AB 1397	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 14, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ting

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add  Section 72216 to   Article 8
(commencing with Section 72800) to Chapter 6 of Part 45 of Division 7
of Title 3 of  the Education Code, relating to community
colleges.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1397, as amended, Ting. Community colleges: 
accreditation.   California Community Colleges Fair
Accreditation Act of 2015. 
   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 specifies the duties of the
board of governors, including, among other duties, establishing
minimum standards for the formation of community colleges and
districts. Under existing regulatory authority, the board of
governors requires each community college to be accredited. 
Existing law requires the accrediting agency for the community
colleges to report to the appropriate policy and budget subcommittees
of the Legislature upon the issuance of a decision that affects the
accreditation status of a community college and to report, on a
biannual basis, any accreditation policy   changes that
affect the accreditation process or status for a community college.

   This bill would  require the accrediting agency for the
community colleges to provide an opportunity for public comment
before taking any action related to the accreditation status of a
community college.   enact the California Community
Colleges Fair Accreditation Act of 2015. The act would require that
at least 50% of each visiting accreditation team from the accrediting
agency for the California Community Colleges be composed of
academics, as defined. The bill would prohibit persons with a
conflict of interest, as defined, from serving   on a
visiting accreditation team.  
   The bill would require the accrediting agency to conduct the
meetings of its decisionmaking body to ensure the ability of members
of the public to attend those meetings. The bill would require the
accrediting agency to preserve all documents generated during an
accreditation-related review, as specified. The bill would require
the agency's accreditation-related decisions to be based on written,
published standards in accordance with state and federal statutes and
regulations, as specified.  
   The bill would authorize an institution to file an appeal of a
decision by the accrediting agency. The bill would provide that the
appeal would be heard by a panel appointed by the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Article 8 (commencing with Section
72800) is added to Chapter 6 of Part 45 of Division 7 of Title 3 of
the   Education Code   , to read:  

      Article 8.  Accreditation


   72800.  (a) (1) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as
the California Community Colleges Fair Accreditation Act of 2015.
   (2) As used in this article:
   (A) "Academic" means a person who is currently, or has recently,
directly engaged in a significant manner in postsecondary teaching or
research.
   (B) "Agency" means the accrediting agency for the California
Community Colleges.
   (C) "Near relative" means a spouse, including a registered
domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, person in an in-law
relationship, or a step relative in one of the relationships
referenced in this subparagraph.
   (b) (1) No less than 50 percent of each visiting accreditation
team sent out by the agency shall be composed of academics.
   (2) No person may serve on a visiting accreditation team who has a
conflict of interest. For the purposes of this paragraph, a conflict
of interest is determined by any circumstance in which an individual'
s capacity to make an impartial or unbiased accreditation
recommendation may be affected by any of the following:
   (A) Prior, current, or anticipated affiliation with the
institution under review.
   (B) Paid service in any capacity to the institution under review.
   (C) Serving as, or having a near relative serving as, a current
member, staff member or consultant of the agency's decisionmaking
body.
   (D) Serving as, or having a near relative serving as, a current
member, staff member or consultant of the institution's governing
body.
   (3) A prospective member of a visiting accreditation team shall
submit an appropriate disclosure form to the agency, declaring under
penalty of perjury that he or she does not violate the visiting team
conflict-of-interest criteria in paragraph (2). Copies of these forms
shall be provided to the institution under review.
   (4) Every member of the agency's decisionmaking body and staff
shall annually file a form that identifies all sources of earnings
that derive from the field of education, or from entities that
perform services for any community college located in California, or
from organizations that engage in any lobbying or representational
activities for California community colleges.
   (c) (1) The agency shall conduct its meetings so as to ensure that
those members of the public who desire to appear at agency meetings
have an opportunity to attend those meetings.
   (2) A sufficient length of time shall be allowed for public
comment at agency meetings, and no agency action related to an
institution's accreditation shall be made prior to the decisionmaking
body's taking of public comment.
   (3) The agency shall make an accreditation decision by a vote of
its decisionmaking body in a public meeting. The vote of each member
of the decisionmaking body shall be recorded and posted to the agency'
s Internet Web site. Minutes from the meetings of the decisionmaking
body of the agency shall be recorded and posted to the agency's
Internet Web site.
   (4) Any officer or employee of the agency with an actual or
appearance of a conflict of interest shall be disqualified from
participating in discussion and voting. For the purposes of this
clause, a conflict of interest shall be defined as any of the
following:
   (A) Prior, current, or anticipated affiliation with the
institution under review.
   (B) Paid service in any capacity to the institution under review.
   (C) Serving as, or having a near relative serving as, a current
member, staff member, or consultant of the institution's governing
body.
   (d) The agency shall preserve all documents generated during an
accreditation-related review, including, but not necessarily limited
to, email correspondence, for no less than 36 months after the
completion of an accreditation-related review. All reports,
evaluations, recommendations, and decision documents generated during
an accreditation-related review shall be retained indefinitely.
   (e) (1) The agency's accreditation-related decisions shall be
based on written, published standards, and shall be in accordance
with, and not be inconsistent with, state and federal statutes and
regulations.
   (2) The agency shall afford appropriate deference to the
activities or operations of the institution under review that are
consistent with the requirements of the state law.
   (f) No revision shall be made by the agency to a proposed visiting
accreditation team report unless the revision is shared with the
members of the visiting accreditation team and with the institution
under review, and each is afforded an opportunity to comment on the
revision.
   (g) (1) A community college or a community college district shall
be given advance notice of proposed visiting accreditation team
reports, so that the college or district may respond to correct
factual errors or dissent from conclusions. The institution under
review shall be afforded adequate time to review the reports before a
meeting of the agency's decisionmaking body at which a decision
relating to the institution's accreditation is to be made, which
shall be no less than six weeks before the meeting. The institution
under review may respond to these reports in writing, orally at the
meeting, or in both of those ways.
   (2) Any visiting accrediting team recommendation for action shall
be shared with the institution under review at least six weeks before
a meeting of the agency's decisionmaking body, so that the
institution may decide whether and how to respond to the
recommendation. Any recommendation for action made to the agency's
decisionmaking body by a person employed by or representing the
agency, including its staff, agents, and employees, shall be shared
with the institution subject to the recommendation at least six weeks
before a meeting of the agency's decisionmaking body relating to the
recommendation.
   (h) (1) The agency shall have a written policy, consistent with
federal law, that does both of the following:
   (A) Identifies a period for an institution to correct any
deficiencies that have prevented the institution from receiving full
accreditation.
    (B) Provides criteria for altering that period.
   (2) The policy adopted under paragraph (1) shall be published, and
shall provide a process through which an institution may submit
applications for an extension, even if a decision has expressly
denied such an extension. An application for an extension, and the
decision of the agency as to the application, shall be made publicly
available.
   (i) Whenever the agency's decisionmaking body issues a sanction of
probation or a more serious sanction, the institution subject to the
sanction shall be given written notice of the alleged sanctionable
offenses or deficiencies. The institution shall be afforded an
opportunity to submit an appeal of the decision to issue the
sanction. The burden of proof for the agency to issue the sanction
shall rest with the agency.
   (j) An appeal pursuant to subdivision (i) shall be heard by a
panel appointed by the chancellor. An institution filing an appeal
has the right to file an application to present new or additional
evidence to the panel. The panel shall, in its discretion, determine
whether to accept the new or additional evidence.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 72216 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
   72216.  (a) The accrediting agency for the California Community
Colleges shall provide an opportunity for public comment before
taking any action related to the accreditation status of a community
college.
   (b) This section does not affect the accreditation status of a
community college on January 1, 2016.
   (c) This section does not apply to the accrediting agency's
activities that are related to private educational institutions in
the state or educational institutions outside of the state.
   (d) This section does not affect the authority of the United
States Department of Education regarding educational institutions.
   (e) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision
of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.