Hawaii-2018-SB2328-Amended

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the cost of attending college continues to rise. According to the College Board, the cost of tuition and fees for attending an in-state public college for the 2017-2018 academic year averaged $9,970, while the average cost for books and supplies for the same academic year at public colleges averaged $1,250. Additionally, in the last twenty years, the cost of college textbooks has risen much more rapidly than the consumer price index.

In April 2016, the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education issued a study that analyzed college costs in relation to family income level. The study revealed how higher education has gone from expensive to unaffordable for most low- and middle-income families. According to this same study, Hawaii ranked third in the nation for overall college affordability and noted that the University of Hawaii community colleges are the most affordable public two-year institutions in the nation.

The report further acknowledged that despite Hawaii's overall high affordability ranking, attending college was a big expense for families earning less than $30,000 annually; that Hawaii's financial aid policies did little to alleviate costs for these families; and that the State provided minimal need-based aid to students attending public institutions. Therefore, new and innovative solutions need to be implemented to lower other costs associated with attending school within the University of Hawaii system.

The legislature further finds that since 2015, open educational resources at the University of Hawaii has offered free instructional materials to potentially lower the cost of higher education, provide faculty more control over their instructional materials, and enable new ways of learning for students. Specifically, open educational resources offers learning, teaching, and research resources that are either in the public domain or have been released with an intellectual property license that permits free reuse and repurposing. Through faculty use of open educational resources since its adoption, this technology-driven instructional content has saved students hundreds of thousands of dollars in textbook costs.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Establish the University of Hawaii open educational resources task force to conduct a comprehensive analysis and evaluation on all general education courses and high attendance courses taught at the University of Hawaii system to identify open educational resources for those courses;

(2) Establish and appropriate funds for an open educational resources pilot project grant program to incentivize faculty that adopt, develop, and implement open educational resources; and

(3) Require the University of Hawaii open educational resources task force to report its findings and recommendation initiatives for supporting and expanding the use of open educational resources at the University of Hawaii to the Legislature prior to the Regular Session of 2019.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established a University of Hawaii open educational resources task force, within the University of Hawaii for administrative purposes, to make college more affordable at the University of Hawaii by focusing on reducing or eliminating the costs of general education course textbooks.

(b) The University of Hawaii open educational resources task force shall include but not be limited to the following members:

(1) The University of Hawaii board of regent academic and student affairs committee chair, to serve as co-chair;

(2) The University of Hawaii vice president for academic planning and policy, to serve as co-chair;

(3) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Hawaii at Manoa;

(4) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Hawaii at Hilo;

(5) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Hawaii-West Oahu;

(6) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Hawaii Maui college;

(7) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for Kapiolani community college;

(8) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for Leeward community college;

(9) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for Windward community college;

(10) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for Honolulu community college;

(11) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for Kauai community college;

(12) The vice chancellor for academic affairs for Hawaii community college;

(13) The executive director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, or the director's designee;

(14) A University of Hawaii open educational resources team representative;

(15) A representative from the University of Hawaii all campus council of faculty senate chairs; and

(16) The University of Hawaii board of regents student member.

(c) The University of Hawaii open educational resources task force shall complete a comprehensive analysis and evaluation on all general education courses and high attendance courses taught within the University of Hawaii system and identify open educational resources that may be suitable for those courses. The task force shall work with faculty, librarians, instructional designers, information technology professionals, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education to review national best practices.

(d) The University of Hawaii open educational resources task force shall submit a report of its findings and recommendation initiatives for supporting and expanding the use of open educational resources at the University of Hawaii, including the costs for allowing faculty and students from all campuses to access the library reference resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2019.

(e) The University of Hawaii open educational resources task force shall be dissolved on July 1, 2019.

SECTION 3. (a) There is established a one-year open educational resources pilot project grant program to incentivize faculty at the University of Hawaii to adopt, develop, and implement open educational resources for their courses.

(b) The open educational resources pilot project grant program shall award grants of up to $5,000, but no less than $500, to faculty who want to begin to use open educational resources or who are currently using open educational resources.

(c) Grants shall be awarded by the University of Hawaii, in conjunction with the University of Hawaii open educational resources task force.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for the open educational resources pilot project grant program.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2328
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII