SECTIONS 78261-78261.5 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 78261-78261.5

78261. (a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the
following:
(1) The Legislature intends to facilitate both the expansion of
associate degree nursing programs and the improvement in completion
rates in those programs.
(2) The Legislature also intends that community colleges employ
nationally recognized diagnostic assessment tools that are aligned
with national nursing licensure requirements. Both students and the
state benefit when diagnostic assessments are supplemented with
educational opportunities to assist students in meeting skill levels.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to create a Nursing
Enrollment Growth and Retention program in the Chancellor's Office of
the California Community Colleges. The purpose of this program shall
be to provide grants to community college associate degree of
nursing programs that meet either of the following conditions:
(1) The nursing program has low or moderate program attrition
levels.
(2) The nursing program provides a comprehensive program of
diagnostic assessment, prenursing preparation, and program-based
support to students.
(c) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that this program
shall be funded, beginning in the 2006-07 fiscal year, by a
redirection of the ten million dollars ($10,000,000) provided
annually pursuant to the Budget Act of 2005, along with an additional
investment of two million eight hundred eighty-six thousand dollars
($2,886,000) annually, for a total program budget of twelve million
eight hundred eighty-six thousand dollars ($12,886,000) annually.
Unencumbered funds that were appropriated in the Budget Act of 2005
may be used for capacity building and equipment in the 2006-07 fiscal
year.
(2) Up to 3 percent of the funds appropriated for this program may
be used for statewide administration, program development, program
evaluation, and program accountability. As used in this paragraph,
"program development" includes, but is not necessarily limited to,
activities related to partnerships or collaborations between
community colleges and institutions of higher education offering
baccalaureate degrees in order to increase the number of students
completing bachelor of the science of nursing (BSN), master of the
science of nursing (MSN), and master's entry programs in nursing
(MEPN) courses of study.
(d) The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
may award grants to community college districts with associate degree
nursing programs to expand enrollment, reduce program attrition, or
both. Funds shall be used only for the following purposes: expanding
enrollment, providing diagnostic assessments, and offering preentry
coursework to prospective nursing students and diagnostic assessments
and supportive services to enrolled nursing students. For purposes
of this section, supportive services include, but are not necessarily
limited to, tutoring, case management, mentoring, and counseling
services. Funds may also be used to develop alternative delivery
models such as part-time, evening, weekend, and summer program
offerings. In order to qualify for these funds, a community college
associate degree nursing program shall do either of the following:
(1) Have a program attrition rate, as determined by the Board of
Registered Nursing's Annual School Report or the Information Program
Data System of the Chancellor's Office of the California Community
Colleges, of 15 percent or less for the year prior to application for
funding.
(2) Commit to implement a comprehensive program of diagnostic
assessment, prenursing enrollment preparation, and program-based
support to enrolled students, as defined in this article.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 78213 or any other provision of law,
prior to awarding any funds to be used for reducing program
attrition, the chancellor's office shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify, in collaboration with community college associate
degree nursing programs, nationally recognized diagnostic assessment
tools that determine the likelihood of academic success in community
college registered nursing education programs.
(2) Establish, in collaboration with community college associate
degree nursing programs, the systemwide proficiency level necessary
for academic success for each diagnostic assessment tool.
(3) Define the kinds of educational and support services that
qualify for funding under this program.
(f) As a condition of receiving grants under paragraph (2) of
subdivision (d), a community college district shall, at a minimum, do
all of the following:
(1) Utilize diagnostic assessment tools prior to enrollment to
determine readiness for community college associate degree nursing
programs.
(2) Offer, or identify, educational preentry coursework,
including, but not necessarily limited to, tutorials, instructional
resources, or noncredit instruction, aligned to the entry level
nursing standards and curriculum for students who fail to demonstrate
readiness based upon the diagnostic assessment tools.
(3) Provide access to prenursing coursework for all students who
do not demonstrate readiness based upon the diagnostic assessment
tools.
(4) Require that students demonstrate readiness through the
diagnostic assessment or successful completion of the prenursing
coursework specified above prior to commencing the registered nursing
program.
(5) Ensure that students that participate in educational preentry
coursework in order to demonstrate readiness based upon the
diagnostic assessment tools are not disadvantaged in the program
enrollment process.
(g) As a condition of receiving grant funds pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (d), each recipient district shall report to the
chancellor's office the following data for the academic year on or
before a date determined by the chancellor's office:
(1) The number of students enrolled in the nursing program.
(2) The number of students taking diagnostic assessments.
(3) The number of students failing to meet proficiency levels as
determined by diagnostic assessment tools.
(4) The number of students failing to meet proficiency levels that
undertake preentry preparation classes.
(5) The number of students who successfully complete preentry
preparation coursework.
(6) The average number of months between initial diagnostic
assessment, demonstration of readiness, and enrollment in the nursing
program for students failing to meet proficiency standards on the
initial diagnostic assessment.
(7) The average number of months between diagnostic assessment and
program enrollment for students meeting proficiency standards on the
initial diagnostic assessment.
(8) The number of students who completed the associate degree
nursing program and the number of students who pass the National
Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX).
(h) (1) Data reported to the chancellor under this article shall
be disaggregated by age, gender, ethnicity, and language spoken at
home.
(2) The chancellor's office shall compile and provide this
information to the Legislature and the Governor by March 1 of each
year.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that, pursuant to funding
to be provided in the annual Budget Act, in the 2009-10 academic
year, the California Community Colleges should increase the statewide
enrollment of full-time equivalent registered nursing students by
450 and, beginning in the 2010-11 academic year and continuing each
academic year thereafter, add 900 new full-time equivalent registered
nursing students.

78261.3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
(a) Any community college district, irrespective of whether it
participates in the program established by this article, may use any
diagnostic assessment tool that is commonly used in registered
nursing programs and is approved by the chancellor.
(b) If, after using an approved diagnostic assessment tool, a
community college registered nursing program determines that the
number of applicants to that program exceeds its capacity, the
program is authorized to use additional multicriteria screening
measures. This subdivision does not prohibit or prevent a community
college registered nursing program from using an approved diagnostic
assessment tool before or during a multicriteria screening process.
(c) A community college district may not do either of the
following:
(1) Exclude an applicant to a registered nursing program on the
basis that the applicant is not a resident of that district or has
not completed prerequisite courses in that district.
(2) Implement policies, procedures, and systems, including, but
not limited to, priority registration systems, that have the effect
of excluding an applicant or student who is not a resident of that
district from a registered nursing program of that district.

78261.5. (a) A community college registered nursing program that
determines that the number of applicants to that program exceeds its
capacity may admit students in accordance with any of the following
procedures:
(1) Administration of a multicriteria screening process, as
authorized by Section 78261.3, in a manner that is consistent with
the standards set forth in subdivision (b).
(2) A random selection process.
(3) A blended combination of random selection and a multicriteria
screening process.
(b) A community college registered nursing program that elects, on
or after January 1, 2008, to use a multicriteria screening process
to evaluate applicants pursuant to this article shall apply those
measures in accordance with all of the following:
(1) The criteria applied in a multicriteria screening process
under this article shall include, but shall not necessarily be
limited to, all of the following:
(A) Academic degrees or diplomas, or relevant certificates, held
by an applicant.
(B) Grade-point average in relevant coursework.
(C) Any relevant work or volunteer experience.
(D) Life experiences or special circumstances of an applicant,
including, but not necessarily limited to, the following experiences
or circumstances:
(i) Disabilities.
(ii) Low family income.
(iii) First generation of family to attend college.
(iv) Need to work.
(v) Disadvantaged social or educational environment.
(vi) Difficult personal and family situations or circumstances.
(vii) Refugee or veteran status.
(E) Proficiency or advanced level coursework in languages other
than English. Credit for languages other than English shall be
received for languages that are identified by the chancellor as
high-frequency languages, as based on census data. These languages
may include, but are not necessarily limited to, any of the
following:
(i) American Sign Language.
(ii) Arabic.
(iii) Chinese, including its various dialects.
(iv) Farsi.
(v) Russian.
(vi) Spanish.
(vii) Tagalog.
(viii) The various languages of the Indian subcontinent and
Southeast Asia.
(2) Additional criteria, such as a personal interview, a personal
statement, letter of recommendation, or the number of repetitions of
prerequisite classes, or other criteria, as approved by the
chancellor, may be used, but are not required.
(3) A community college registered nursing program using a
multicriteria screening process under this article may use an
approved diagnostic assessment tool, in accordance with Section
78261.3, before, during, or after the multicriteria screening
process.
(4) As used in this section:
(A) "Disabilities" has the same meaning as used in Section 2626 of
the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(B) "Disadvantaged social or educational environment" includes,
but is not necessarily limited to, the status of a student who has
participated in Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS).
(C) "Grade-point average" refers to the same fixed set of required
prerequisite courses that all applicants to the nursing program
administering the multicriteria screening process are required to
complete.
(D) "Low family income" shall be measured by a community college
registered nursing program in terms of a student's eligibility for,
or receipt of, financial aid under a program that may include, but is
not necessarily limited to, a fee waiver from the board of governors
under Section 76300, the Cal Grant Program under Chapter 1.7
(commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42 of Division 5, the federal
Pell Grant program, or CalWORKs.
(E) "Need to work" means that the student is working at least part
time while completing academic work that is a prerequisite for
admission to the nursing program.
(5) A community college registered nursing program that uses a
multicriteria screening process pursuant to this article shall report
its nursing program admissions policies to the chancellor annually,
in writing. The admissions policies reported under this paragraph
shall include the weight given to any criteria used by the program,
and shall include demographic information relating to both the
persons admitted to the program and the persons of that group who
successfully completed that program.
(c) The chancellor is encouraged to develop, and make available to
community college registered nursing programs by July 1, 2008, a
model admissions process based on this section.(d) This section shall
remain in effect only until January 1, 2016, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2016, deletes or extends that date.