Postsecondary education: textbooks.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the 4 segments of the higher education system in the state. These segments include the 3 public segments: the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and independent institutions of higher education constitute the other segment. Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by resolution, to make them applicable. Existing law urges textbook publishers to take specified actions aimed at reducing the amounts that postsecondary education students currently pay for textbooks. Existing law requires the Trustees of the California State University and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and requests the Regents of the University of California, among other things, to work with the academic senates of each respective segment to encourage faculty to give consideration to the least costly practices in assigning textbooks, to encourage faculty to disclose to students how new editions of textbooks are different from previous editions and the cost to students for textbooks selected, to review procedures for faculty to inform college and university bookstores of textbook selections, and to encourage faculty to work closely with publishers and college and university bookstores in creating bundles and packages that are economically sound and deliver cost savings to students. Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature to encourage private colleges and universities to work with their respective academic senates and to encourage faculty to consider practices in selecting textbooks that will result in the lowest costs to students. This bill would require a publisher that supplies textbooks or other instructional material to a postsecondary educational institution, as defined to include both public and private postsecondary educational institutions, or to a faculty member of a postsecondary educational institution, to provide information about that textbook or item of instructional material in a specified order using a standard XML or comma-delimited format. This bill would encourage a postsecondary educational institution to provide a textbook adoption search engine, as specified, for purposes of discovery, evaluation, and selection of course materials that allows faculty or course coordinators to view, compare, and contrast textbooks and other course materials and to communicate adoption choices to the appropriate procurement staff and colleagues. The bill would, for a postsecondary educational institution that provides the faculty textbook adoption search engine, require an institutional bookstore, as defined, to provide course and adoption information in an open protocol, as defined and specified, to allow an outside organization or company full and free access to specified information. The bill also would encourage a postsecondary educational institution that currently provides a faculty textbook adoption search engine to comply with the specified requirements. This bill would require an institutional bookstore to provide a student textbook comparison engine, as defined, on its Internet Web site to demonstrate the price difference between a textbook purchased through the bookstore and the same textbook purchased through an online competitor, which will enable students to ensure that they are purchasing needed textbooks at the best price. The bill would encourage, but not require, institutional bookstores at the University of California to comply with these provisions. To the extent new requirements would be placed on community college districts, the bill 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.