98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB3239

 

Introduced , by Rep. Kenneth Dunkin

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Open College Textbook Act. From appropriated amounts, authorizes the Board of Higher Education to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out described activities, including creating, updating, or adapting open textbooks (defined as a textbook or set of course materials in electronic format that is designed for use in a college course at an institution of higher education and that is licensed under an open license). Defines an "eligible entity" as (i) an institution of higher education in this State, (ii) a professor or group of professors at an institution of higher education in this State, or (iii) a nonprofit or for-profit organization that produces open textbooks. Requires the Board to award grants in a manner that will result in the creation of a comprehensive slate of high quality course materials for introductory courses in a variety of subject areas. Sets forth provisions concerning the duration of a grant, grant applications, requirements for grant recipients, a peer review and evaluation process, appropriations, licensing materials, and a report to the Senate's Committee on Higher Education and the House of Representatives' Committee on Higher Education. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Open
5College Textbook Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the
7following:
8        (1) It is critical for the future health of the economy
9    of this State to support the education of its youth so that
10    they can attain the degrees and credentials they need to
11    enter the evolving workforce.
12        (2) While more than 80% of the 23,000,000 jobs to be
13    created nationwide over the next 10 years will require
14    postsecondary education, only 36% of all 18 to 24-year-olds
15    are currently enrolled in postsecondary educational
16    institutions.
17        (3) Students in this State are struggling to enroll in
18    postsecondary educational institutions due to finances as,
19    according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office
20    (GAO), tuition and fees have increased at an average rate
21    of 7% annually, while other prices have risen at only about
22    3% annually.
23        (4) High college textbook costs further add to this

 

 

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1    financial burden. The College Board reports that during the
2    2011-2012 academic year the average student spent an
3    estimated $1,168 for course materials, including college
4    books and supplies.
5        (5) The College Board finds that this figure
6    constitutes 6.1% of the estimated annual costs of education
7    for the typical resident student at a 4-year university,
8    and the GAO finds that at community colleges, college
9    textbooks can comprise 75% of total student costs.
10        (6) As a result, a survey conducted by the Student
11    Public Interest Research Groups found that 7 in 10 students
12    reported foregoing the purchase of a textbook because of
13    its cost even though 78% believed it could hurt their
14    academic performance.
15        (7) The growth of the Internet has enabled the creation
16    and sharing of open content, including open educational
17    resources such as textbooks.
18        (8) Making more high quality, open textbooks freely
19    available to students in this State could significantly
20    lower their textbook expenditures, which would help to
21    address the larger financial burden of their postsecondary
22    education and would help to ensure that they have access to
23    the textbooks they need to receive the highest quality
24    education possible.
 
25    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

 

 

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1    "Board" means the Board of Higher Education.
2    "Open license" means an irrevocable intellectual property
3license that grants the public the right to access, customize,
4and distribute copyrighted material.
5    "Open textbook" means a textbook or set of course materials
6in electronic format that is designed for use in a college
7course at an institution of higher education and that is
8licensed under an open license.
 
9    Section 15. Grant program.
10    (a) In this Section, "eligible entity" means the following:
11        (1) an institution of higher education in this State;
12        (2) a professor or group of professors at an
13    institution of higher education in this State; or
14        (3) a nonprofit or for-profit organization that
15    produces open textbooks.
16    (b) From the amount authorized to be appropriated under
17subsection (i) of this Section, the Board is authorized to
18award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to
19carry out the activities described in this Section, including
20creating, updating, or adapting open textbooks. The Board shall
21award grants in a manner that will result in the creation of a
22comprehensive slate of high quality course materials for
23introductory courses in a variety of subject areas.
24    (c) Grants awarded under this Section shall be one year in
25duration.

 

 

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1    (d) Each eligible entity desiring a grant under this
2Section shall submit an application to the Board at such time,
3in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the
4Board may reasonably require.
5    Each application submitted under this subsection (d) shall
6include a description of the project to be completed with grant
7funds and the following:
8        (1) a plan for quality review and a review of the
9    accuracy of content;
10        (2) a plan for access to ensure the widest possible
11    availability of the digital version of the open textbook;
12        (3) a plan for distribution and adoption of the open
13    textbook to ensure the widest possible adoption of the open
14    textbook in postsecondary courses, including, where
15    applicable, a marketing plan or a plan to partner with
16    for-profit or nonprofit organizations to assist in
17    marketing and distribution; and
18        (4) a plan for tracking and reporting formal adoptions
19    of the open textbook within postsecondary institutions,
20    including an estimate of the number of students impacted by
21    the adoptions.
22    (e) In awarding grants under this Section, the Board shall
23give special consideration to applications that demonstrate
24the greatest potential to produce the following:
25        (1) the highest quality and most marketable open
26    textbooks;

 

 

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1        (2) open textbooks that correspond to the highest
2    enrollment courses at institutions of higher education;
3        (3) open textbooks that are easily utilized by faculty
4    members at institutions of higher education; and
5        (4) open textbooks created in partnership with
6    for-profit or nonprofit organizations to assist in
7    marketing and distribution.
8    (f) An eligible entity that receives a grant under this
9Section shall do the following:
10        (1) create a new open textbook for use in postsecondary
11    coursework;
12        (2) update an open textbook for use in postsecondary
13    coursework; or
14        (3) adapt a textbook into an open format for use in
15    postsecondary coursework.
16    An open textbook created, updated, or adapted under this
17subsection (f) must be licensed through an open license.
18    The full and complete digital content of each open textbook
19created, updated, or adapted under this subsection (f) (i) must
20be posted on an easily accessible and interoperable Internet
21website, which website must be identified to the Board by the
22eligible entity, and (ii) must be made available free of charge
23to and may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or
24otherwise altered by any member of the general public.
25    (g) The Board shall develop a peer review and evaluation
26process, in consultation with others, to ensure that open

 

 

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1textbooks created, updated, or adapted under this Section are
2of the highest quality, are accurate in content, and meet or
3exceed market quality and accessibility standards.
4    (h) Upon an eligible entity's completion of a project
5supported by a grant under this Section, the eligible entity
6shall prepare and submit a report to the Board regarding all
7project costs, including the value of any volunteer labor and
8institutional capital used for the project.
9    (i) The General Assembly is authorized to appropriate
10$450,000 for Fiscal Year 2014 to carry out the provisions of
11this Section, to be divided among 3 grants, and is authorized
12to appropriate such amounts as are necessary to carry out the
13provisions of this Section for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal
14years.
 
15    Section 20. Licensing materials.
16    (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
17educational materials, such as curricula and textbooks created
18through any public grants, must be licensed under an open
19license.
20    (b) The full and complete digital content of each of the
21materials created as described in subsection (a) of this
22Section (i) must be posted on an easily accessible and
23interoperable Internet website, which website must be
24identified to the Board by the grant recipient, and (ii) must
25be made available free of charge to and may be downloaded,

 

 

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1redistributed, changed, revised, or otherwise altered by any
2member of the general public.
 
3    Section 25. Intent of the General Assembly. It is the
4intent of General Assembly that institutions of higher
5education in this State should encourage the consideration of
6open textbooks by professors within the generally accepted
7principles of academic freedom that establish the right and
8responsibility of faculty members, individually and
9collectively, to select course materials that are
10pedagogically most appropriate for their classes.
 
11    Section 30. Report.
12    (a) No later than June 1, 2015, the Board shall prepare and
13submit a report to the Senate's Committee on Higher Education
14and the House of Representatives' Committee on Higher Education
15detailing the following:
16        (1) the open textbooks created, updated, or adapted
17    under this Act;
18        (2) the adoption of such open textbooks; and
19        (3) the savings generated for students and this State
20    though the use of open textbooks.
21    (b) This Section is repealed on June 1, 2016.
 
22    Section 90. Rules. The Board may adopt any rules necessary
23to implement this Act.
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.