College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015.

(1) Existing law establishes the segments of the postsecondary education system in the state, including the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. This bill would establish the College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015 to reduce costs for college students by encouraging faculty to accelerate the adoption of lower cost, high-quality open educational resources, as defined. The bill would create the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Program to provide incentives and reward campus, staff, and faculty efforts to accelerate the adoption of open educational resources. The bill would require that specified moneys for the program be used by campuses to create and support faculty and staff professional development, open educational resource curation activities, curriculum modification, or technology support for faculty, staff, and students, as specified. The bill would authorize the local academic senate of a campus of the California State University or the California Community Colleges to (A) adopt a local campus resolution to increase student access to high-quality open educational resources and reduce the cost of textbooks and supplies for students, and (B) upon adoption of the resolution, develop a specified plan, in collaboration with students and the administration, that describes evidence of the campus' commitment and readiness to spend grant money from the fund to support faculty adoption of open educational resources. The bill would require the California Open Education Resources Council to review and approve the plan, and, if it meets these and other specified requirements, would authorize the Chancellor of the California State University to award an initial grant of up to $50,000 to the campus from the fund. The bill would require additional bonus grants to be distributed to participating campuses if certain benchmarks are met. The bill would cap the number of initial grants that may be approved by the California Open Education Resources Council each award year at 100. The bill would require the California Digital Open Source Library, also known as the California Open Online Library for Education, in consultation with the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates, to report to the Legislature before September 1 of each year, commencing in 2018, as to whether the grants are increasing the rate of adoption of open educational resources and decreasing textbook costs for college students. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on September 1, 2020, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2021. (2) Existing law appropriates, from specified funds, $5,000,000 to the Chancellor of the California State University to fund, among other things, the establishment and administration of the California Open Education Resources Council and the California Digital Open Source Library. This bill would specify that $3,000,000 of those funds are reappropriated for allocation for the Open Educational Resources Adoption Incentive Program. Of the remaining $2,000,000, the bill would specify that up to $200,000 may be used for the California Open Online Library for Education and up to $27,000 may be used for stipends to members of the California Open Education Resources Council, as specified.