Florida Senate - 2009 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
Bill No. SB 844
Barcode 648746
589-03748C-09
Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Higher
Education
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to postsecondary distance learning;
3 creating s. 1004.091, F.S.; establishing the Florida
4 Distance Learning Consortium; requiring that the Board
5 of Governors and the State Board of Education jointly
6 oversee the consortium; authorizing the consortium to
7 enter into contracts for administrative services;
8 providing duties for the consortium; amending ss.
9 1009.23 and 1009.24, F.S.; defining the term “distance
10 learning course” for purposes of assessing a distance
11 learning course user fee for community college and
12 state university students; providing an effective
13 date.
14
15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 Section 1. Section 1004.091, Florida Statutes, is created
18 to read:
19 1004.091 Florida Distance Learning Consortium.—
20 (1)(a) The Florida Distance Learning Consortium is
21 established to facilitate collaboration among public
22 postsecondary educational institutions in their use of distance
23 learning to increase student access to associate and
24 baccalaureate degree courses and degree programs, to support
25 institutions in their use of technology, and to help build
26 partnerships among institutions, businesses, and communities.
27 (b) The Board of Governors and the State Board of Education
28 shall jointly oversee the consortium and shall establish, in
29 consultation with the consortium, the administrative and
30 operational guidelines and processes of the consortium.
31 (c) The consortium may enter into contracts for
32 administrative services with public postsecondary educational
33 institutions. The fee charged by the institution for
34 administrative services may not exceed the actual cost for
35 providing the services.
36 (2) The Florida Distance Learning Consortium shall:
37 (a) Manage and promote the Florida Higher Education
38 Distance Learning Catalog, established pursuant to s. 1004.09,
39 to help increase student access to undergraduate distance
40 learning courses and degree programs and assist students seeking
41 accelerated access in order to complete their degrees.
42 (b) Develop, in consultation with the Florida College
43 System and the State University System, a plan to be submitted
44 to the Board of Governors, the State Board of Education, the
45 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
46 House of Representatives no later than March 1, 2010. The plan
47 must address the implementation of a streamlined, automated,
48 online registration process for undergraduate students who have
49 been admitted to a public postsecondary educational institution
50 and who wish to enroll in a course listed in the Florida Higher
51 Education Distance Learning Catalog, including courses offered
52 by an institution that is not the student’s degree-granting or
53 home institution. The plan must describe how such a registration
54 process can be implemented as an alternative to the standard
55 registration process of each institution. The plan must also
56 address:
57 1. Fiscal and substantive policy changes needed to address
58 administrative, academic, and programmatic policies and
59 procedures.
60 2. A method for the expedited transfer of the distance
61 learning course credit awarded by the institution offering the
62 distance learning course to the student’s degree-granting or
63 home institution upon the student’s successful completion of the
64 distance learning course.
65 3. Compliance with applicable technology security standards
66 and guidelines to ensure the secure transmission of student
67 information.
68 (c) Coordinate the negotiation of statewide licensing and
69 preferred pricing agreements for distance learning resources and
70 enter into agreements with distance learning resource providers
71 resulting in costs savings from which public postsecondary
72 educational institutions can benefit.
73 (d)1. Develop and operate a central instructional content
74 repository that allows faculty to search, locate, and use
75 instructional resources, including open-access textbooks. In
76 developing the repository, the consortium shall identify and
77 seek partnerships with similar national, state, and regional
78 repositories for the purpose of sharing instructional content.
79 The consortium shall collaborate with public postsecondary
80 educational institutions to ensure that the repository:
81 a. Integrates with multiple learning management systems
82 used by the institutions.
83 b. Allows institutions to set appropriate copyright and
84 access restrictions and track content usage.
85 c. Allows for appropriate customization.
86 2. Develop, in consultation with the Florida College System
87 and the State University System, a plan for promoting and
88 increasing the use of open-access textbooks as a method for
89 reducing textbook costs. The plan shall be submitted to the
90 Board of Governors, the State Board of Education, the Governor’s
91 Office of Policy and Budget, the chair of the Senate Policy and
92 Steering Committee on Ways and Means, and the chair of the House
93 Full Appropriations Council on Education and Economic
94 Development no later than March 1, 2010, and shall include:
95 a. An inventory of existing open-access textbooks.
96 b. A listing of undergraduate courses, in particular the
97 general education courses, which would be recommended for the
98 use of open-access textbooks.
99 c. A standardized process for the review and approval of
100 open-access textbooks.
101 d. Recommendations for encouraging and promoting faculty
102 development and use of open-access textbooks.
103 e. Identification of barriers to the implementation of
104 open-access textbooks.
105 f. Strategies for the production and distribution of open
106 access textbooks to ensure such textbooks may be easily
107 accessed, downloaded, printed, or obtained as a bound version by
108 students at reduced or no cost.
109 g. Identification of the necessary technology security
110 standards and guidelines to safeguard the use of open-access
111 textbooks.
112 (e) Identify and evaluate new technologies and
113 instructional methods that can be used for improving distance
114 learning instruction, student learning, and the overall quality
115 of undergraduate distance learning courses and degree programs.
116 (f) Identify methods that will improve student access to
117 and completion of undergraduate distance learning courses and
118 degree programs.
119 Section 2. Subsection (16) of section 1009.23, Florida
120 Statutes, is amended to read:
121 1009.23 Community college student fees.—
122 (16)(a) Each community college may assess a student who
123 enrolls in a course listed in the Florida Higher Education
124 Distance Learning Catalog established pursuant to s. 1004.09 a
125 per-credit-hour distance learning course user fee. For purposes
126 of assessing this fee, the term “distance learning course” means
127 a course in which at least 80 percent of the direct instruction
128 of the course is delivered using some form of technology when
129 the student and instructor are separated by time, space, or
130 both.
131 (b) The amount of the distance learning course user fee may
132 not exceed the additional costs of the services provided which
133 are attributable to the development and delivery of the distance
134 learning course. If a community college assesses the distance
135 learning course user fee, the institution may not assess any
136 other fees to cover the additional costs. By September 1 of each
137 year, each board of trustees shall report to the Division of
138 Community Colleges the total amount of revenue generated by the
139 distance learning course user fee for the prior academic year
140 and how the revenue was expended.
141 (c) The link for the catalog must be prominently displayed
142 within the advising and distance learning sections of on the
143 institution’s website using a graphic and description provided
144 by the Florida Distance Learning Consortium to inform students
145 of the catalog.
146 Section 3. Subsection (17) of section 1009.24, Florida
147 Statutes, is amended to read:
148 1009.24 State university student fees.—
149 (17)(a) A state university may assess a student who enrolls
150 in a course listed in the Florida Higher Education Distance
151 Learning Catalog established pursuant to s. 1004.09 a per
152 credit-hour distance learning course fee. For purposes of
153 assessing this fee, the term “distance learning course” means a
154 course in which at least 80 percent of the direct instruction of
155 the course is delivered using some form of technology when the
156 student and instructor are separated by time, space, or both.
157 (b) The amount of the distance learning course fee may not
158 exceed the additional costs of the services provided which are
159 attributable to the development and delivery of the distance
160 learning course. If the distance learning course fee is assessed
161 by a state university, the institution may not assess
162 duplicative fees to cover the additional costs.
163 (c) The link for the catalog must be prominently displayed
164 within the advising and distance learning sections of on the
165 institution’s website using a graphic and description provided
166 by the Florida Distance Learning Consortium informing students
167 of the catalog.
168 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.