Full Text of HB2928 102nd General Assembly
HB2928eng 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Relieve College Costs Pilot Program Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly makes all of the | 7 | | following findings: | 8 | | (1) A college degree involving a substantive and | 9 | | rigorous curriculum that is designed to challenge the | 10 | | mind, enhance knowledge and skills, provide a core, | 11 | | canonical knowledge base, expose students to great | 12 | | literature and writing, and prepare a student for success | 13 | | as a future citizen can be a valuable asset to residents of | 14 | | this State. | 15 | | (2) Public community colleges and universities offer | 16 | | multiple existing courses of study pertaining to | 17 | | fundamental topics that have historically served as the | 18 | | foundation for degrees in the humanities, including art, | 19 | | philosophy, logic and rhetoric, history, literature, world | 20 | | religions, world languages, and studies of civilizations | 21 | | from antiquity, that, in turn, have served as the basis | 22 | | for intellectual thought and development for generations. | 23 | | These may be classified as high impact courses. |
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| 1 | | (3) In view of COVID-19, many institutions of higher | 2 | | learning have cultivated courses that can be delivered | 3 | | through online instruction. | 4 | | (4) Many State residents will experience disruptions | 5 | | or economic hardships when seeking a college degree. | 6 | | (5) It is in the interests of State residents to | 7 | | identify affordable pathways to secure a college degree. | 8 | | (6) It is in the interests of State residents to have | 9 | | an accredited 4-year college degree pathway based on | 10 | | high-impact courses that costs less than $20,000 for the | 11 | | entirety of the degree pathway. | 12 | | (7) It is also in the interests of State residents to | 13 | | employ, if possible, a degree pathway based on educational | 14 | | resources that reside in the public domain or which have | 15 | | been released under an intellectual property license that | 16 | | allows for free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with | 17 | | others, including full courses, course materials, modules, | 18 | | textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any | 19 | | other tools, materials, or techniques used to support | 20 | | access to knowledge. Many foundational materials and | 21 | | original sources used in high impact courses are | 22 | | particularly likely to fall into these categories. | 23 | | Section 10. Creation of a 4-year degree pathway. A pilot | 24 | | program is created for a 4-year degree pathway, which shall | 25 | | comply with the standards of the Higher Learning Commission, |
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| 1 | | based on texts that served as the core foundational basis for | 2 | | western civilization and the Enlightenment. The degree pathway | 3 | | may not exceed $20,000 for the full degree program. This | 4 | | pathway may be referred to as the Fundamental Issues and Texts | 5 | | Humanities Degree. | 6 | | Section 15. Relieve College Costs Pilot Program. | 7 | | (a) Subject to appropriation, beginning with the 2021-2022
| 8 | | academic year or, if funds are not appropriated for the | 9 | | program
that academic year, beginning with the academic year | 10 | | in which
funds are appropriated for the program, the State | 11 | | Board of Education, Illinois Community College Board, and | 12 | | Board of Higher Education shall coordinate with each other to | 13 | | assign a qualified individual to serve as a program director | 14 | | to develop the curriculum for the 4-year degree pathway | 15 | | created in Section 10. | 16 | | If a source of outside funding for the program director is | 17 | | secured to support the development of the program, the State | 18 | | Board of Education, Illinois Community College Board, and | 19 | | Board of Higher Education shall facilitate the approval of the | 20 | | Fundamental Issues and Texts Humanities Degree curriculum | 21 | | pathway for the public institutions agreeing to participate in | 22 | | the pilot program. | 23 | | (b) Under the program, one public high school, one public | 24 | | community college, and one public university in this State | 25 | | shall be chosen to develop a competency-based baccalaureate |
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| 1 | | degree program for the Fundamental Issues and Texts Humanities | 2 | | Degree. The goals of the program must include all of the | 3 | | following: | 4 | | (1) To prepare students who complete the program with | 5 | | the requisite skills relating to critical thinking, | 6 | | problem solving, rational inquiry, and oral and written | 7 | | communication needed for employment or further graduate | 8 | | study. | 9 | | (2) To use open educational resources if available. | 10 | | (3) To use online course options if available to | 11 | | reduce costs. | 12 | | (4) To identify pathway courses that can be used to | 13 | | promote dual credit course enrollment in the participating | 14 | | high school. | 15 | | (5) To have a $20,000 maximum tuition rate for the | 16 | | entirety of the degree pathway. | 17 | | (c) The curriculum of the pilot program must include | 18 | | course instruction on the canonical texts that served as the | 19 | | foundations for western civilization and the Enlightenment in | 20 | | areas that shall include, but are not limited
to, philosophy, | 21 | | literature, history, religion, government and
politics, art, | 22 | | and architecture. The program must allow for 2
courses of | 23 | | instruction on global areas outside of western
civilization in | 24 | | areas that include, but are not limited to,
philosophy, | 25 | | literature, history, religion, government and
politics, art, | 26 | | and architecture. |
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| 1 | | (d) The program director shall prioritize for the pilot | 2 | | program community colleges and public universities that have | 3 | | existing articulation agreements. The program director shall | 4 | | attempt to craft a degree pathway that can be satisfied by | 5 | | existing core courses that are commonly offered at multiple | 6 | | institutions of higher education in this State. | 7 | | Section 20. Open educational resources adoption | 8 | | incentives. | 9 | | (a) The State Board of Education, Illinois Community | 10 | | College Board, and Board of Higher Education shall create a | 11 | | panel comprised of all of the following members, who shall | 12 | | serve without compensation: | 13 | | (1) Eight persons from institutions of higher | 14 | | education located in this State appointed by the Executive | 15 | | Director of the Board of Higher Education, including at | 16 | | least 2 representatives from a university, one | 17 | | representative from a community college in Cook County, | 18 | | one representative from a community college with a | 19 | | district boundary that includes some portion of DuPage, | 20 | | Kane, Lake, McHenry, or Will County, one representative | 21 | | from a community college in downstate Illinois, and one | 22 | | representative from a nonpublic university that has | 23 | | participated in articulation agreements with a community | 24 | | college. | 25 | | (2) Two persons each from a high school located in |
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| 1 | | this State that offers dual credit programs, preferably | 2 | | from geographically diverse regions, appointed by the | 3 | | State Superintendent Education. | 4 | | (3) A person from the State Board of Education | 5 | | appointed by the State Board of Education, a person from | 6 | | the Illinois Community College Board appointed by the | 7 | | Illinois Community College Board, and a person from the | 8 | | Board of Higher Education appointed by the Board of Higher | 9 | | Education. | 10 | | (4) Two members appointed by the Governor. | 11 | | (5) One member of the House of Representative | 12 | | appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, | 13 | | one member of the House of Representatives appointed by | 14 | | the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, one | 15 | | member of the Senate appointed by the President of the | 16 | | Senate, and one member of the Senate appointed by the | 17 | | Minority Leader of the Senate. | 18 | | Appointments under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this | 19 | | subsection (a) shall include at least 4 faculty members, a | 20 | | library professional, an instructional design expert, and 2 | 21 | | academic administrators. | 22 | | The Board of Higher Education shall provide administrative | 23 | | and other support to the panel. | 24 | | The Executive Director of the Board of Higher Education | 25 | | shall convene the first meeting of the panel no later than | 26 | | September 1, 2021. |
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| 1 | | The panel shall seek to identify initiatives to support | 2 | | the use of foundational materials and original sources that | 3 | | reside in the public domain or open educational resource | 4 | | materials in support of the degree program set forth in | 5 | | Section 10 and to make recommendations to the General Assembly | 6 | | no later than December 31, 2022. The panel is dissolved on | 7 | | January 31, 2023. | 8 | | (b) Each campus of a public university or public community | 9 | | college district shall, upon request of its board of trustees, | 10 | | do both of the following: | 11 | | (1) Clearly highlight, by means that may include a | 12 | | symbol or logo in a conspicuous place on the online campus | 13 | | course schedule, the courses that exclusively use digital | 14 | | course materials that are free of charge to students or | 15 | | low-cost digital or print options for students. | 16 | | (2) Ensure that the materials comply with the federal | 17 | | Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the federal | 18 | | Copyright Act of 1976. | 19 | | (c) Subject to appropriation or third-party funding, the | 20 | | Illinois Community College Board shall establish and | 21 | | administer a grant program to encourage faculty at | 22 | | institutions of higher education to adopt, modify, redesign, | 23 | | or develop courses that use only open educational resources in | 24 | | support of the degree program set forth in Section 10. | 25 | | Any individual who receives a grant under this subsection | 26 | | (c) shall ensure that any open educational resources used in a |
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| 1 | | course is provided to a student enrolled in the course at no | 2 | | cost other than the cost of printing. | 3 | | A faculty member who receives a grant under this | 4 | | subsection (c) must submit to the Illinois Community College | 5 | | Board for each of the 4 semesters immediately following the | 6 | | implementation of the course a report that includes: | 7 | | (1) the number of students who have completed the | 8 | | course; | 9 | | (2) an estimate of the amount of money saved by a | 10 | | student due to the use of open educational resources in | 11 | | the course; | 12 | | (3) the number of faculty members, if any, who adopted | 13 | | the course curriculum; and | 14 | | (4) any other information required as a condition of | 15 | | the grant. | 16 | | Section 25. Reporting. | 17 | | (a) After the first cohort of students complete the pilot | 18 | | program under Section 10, the State Board of Education, | 19 | | Illinois Community College Board, and Board of Higher | 20 | | Education must submit a report to the Governor and General | 21 | | Assembly detailing the impact of the pilot program on all of | 22 | | the following: | 23 | | (1) Reducing the costs of attending an institution of | 24 | | higher learning and overall student loan debt. | 25 | | (2) Elevating the importance of coursework in the |
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| 1 | | classical liberal arts. | 2 | | (3) Creating a model curriculum that can be replicated | 3 | | through partnerships between other institutions of higher | 4 | | learning and school districts across this State. | 5 | | (b) This Act is inoperative on and after the State Board of | 6 | | Education, Illinois Community College Board, and Board of | 7 | | Higher Education submit the report required under subsection | 8 | | (a).
| 9 | | Section 90. Rules. The Illinois Community College Board, | 10 | | in consultation with the State Board of Education and the | 11 | | Board of Higher Education, must adopt rules to implement this | 12 | | Act. | 13 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 14 | | becoming law. |
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