Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research | BILL ANALYSIS |
College & Workforce Development Committee |
HB 1701
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent. |
Brief Description: Notifying students of courses with low-cost instructional materials and open educational resources at the four-year institutions of higher education.
Sponsors: Representatives Van Werven, Leavitt, Sutherland, Entenman, Rude, Kraft, Gildon, Young, Jinkins, Bergquist, Doglio and Fey.
Brief Summary of Bill |
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Hearing Date: 2/5/19
Staff: Alaura Valley (786-7291).
Background:
Affiliated Bookstores.
Bookstores affiliated with public higher education institutes have certain requirements relating to the sale of course materials, such as textbooks and access codes to homework websites. Affiliated bookstores must sell unbundled books, disclose the cost of materials to faculty and staff, disclose how new editions vary from previous editions, and promote book buy-back programs. Finally, with some exceptions, students must be provided with information on required course materials including title, authors, edition, price, and the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) four weeks before the start of the class.
Faculty and staff take into account cost when assigning course materials such as adopting the least expensive edition, free or open textbooks when available, or working with librarians to use free online and library resources.
Open Educational Resources.
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are freely available to students, educators, and the general public. OER are openly licensed so others may adopt or reuse material for their own purpose. These resources may be retained, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed. Many OER use licenses to indicate how the resource may be used. Creative commons licenses allow the author to provide for how the resource should be cited, adapted, redistributed, and whether it may be used for commercial purposes.
Various online databases provide students and educators access to OER. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) created the Open Course Library, an online database which makes available digitally shareable course material including syllabi, course activities, readings, and assessments.
Summary of Bill:
The state universities, regional universities, and The Evergreen State College must designate in their online course descriptions which students use to register, whether a course uses OER or low-cost required instructional materials. A course uses low cost instructional materials if the entire cost of the required materials equals fifty dollars or less.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Requested on January 25, 2019.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.