California State University: special sessions.

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires that tuition fees adequate to meet the cost of maintaining special sessions, as defined, in the California State University be collected from students enrolled in each special session pursuant to rules and regulations prescribed by the trustees, and further provides that self-supporting special sessions shall not supplant regular course offerings available during the academic year, as specified. This bill would explain the use of the term "supplant" for those purposes. The bill would prohibit a campus from requiring a state-supported matriculated student to enroll in a special session course to fulfill graduation requirements. The bill would express various legislative findings and declarations relating to self-supporting courses and programs. The bill would authorize a campus to, with approval from the Office of the Chancellor, add a self-supporting section of a course in a state-supported undergraduate degree program, add a self-supported undergraduate degree program, or increase the number of self-supporting sections of an undergraduate course offering only if certain conditions are satisfied. The bill would require the chancellor to provide guidance to each campus on how to comply with the requirements of this bill. The bill would, commencing in the 2016–17 academic year, require the trustees to receive an annual report at a noticed public meeting on the status of undergraduate self-supported courses and programs, as specified. The bill would make conforming and technical changes.