Pilot Program for Innovative Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges.

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 establishes community college districts, each of which is administered by a governing board, throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction to students at the community college campuses maintained by the districts. The bill would establish the Pilot Program for Innovative Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to facilitate the graduation of community college nursing and allied health students by piloting innovative models to expand the state's capacity to prepare a qualified health care workforce. The bill would require the chancellor's office to establish the pilot program at up to 5 campuses throughout the state according to specified requirements. The bill would express legislative intent that the pilot program be funded with a combination of state apportionment funding, federal grants, employer-based partnerships, and private philanthropic resources. The bill would require the chancellor's office to collect appropriate data for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program. The bill would require the chancellor's office to analyze this data, and contract with an external evaluator to conduct an independent evaluation, with findings and recommendations with respect to the pilot program to be reported to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2017. The bill would provide that its provisions would be implemented in any fiscal year only to the extent that the chancellor's office determines that sufficient moneys are available to administer the program. The bill would provide that the pilot program would become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and as of January 1, 2018, would be repealed.