Public postsecondary education: 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. The board of governors appoints the Chancellor as the chief executive officer of the board. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction to students at community college campuses maintained by the districts. This bill would require the Office of the Chancellor, by January 1, 2012, to implement a procedure to facilitate the electronic receipt and transmission of student transcripts by districts. The bill would also require all community college districts, contingent upon the Office of the Chancellor's receipt of new, one-time state, federal, or philanthropic funding sufficient for this purpose and as a condition for receiving funding, to implement a process for the receipt and transmission of electronic student transcripts. The bill would require the Office of the Chancellor to determine the requirements and procedures for dispersing those funds to participating community college districts and to report to appropriate legislative committees, a year after funds are dispersed, the community colleges that have adopted electronic transcripts and the remaining community colleges that have yet to adopt the electronic transcript delivery system. The bill would allow a community college district that has elected to implement a process for the receipt and transmission of electronic student transcripts to later opt out of the program in any subsequent year. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature in enacting this measure, and would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2015. Because this bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.