HB 7121

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

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.