READ FIRST TIME 02/12/08.   

     AN ACT Relating to workplace-based electronically distributed learning; adding new sections to chapter 28C.18 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that there are many working adults in Washington that need additional postsecondary educational opportunities to further develop their employability. The legislature further finds that many of these people postpone or call off their personal educational plans because they are busy working and raising their families. Because the largest portion of our workforce over the next thirty years is already employed but in need of skill development, and because many low-wage, low-skilled, and mid-skilled individuals cannot take advantage of postsecondary educational opportunities as they currently exist, the legislature intends to identify and test additional postsecondary educational opportunities tailored to make postsecondary education accessible to working adults through the use of campuses extended to include workplace-based educational offerings.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28C.18 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) To the extent funds are appropriated specifically for this purpose and in partnership with the state board for community and technical colleges, the board shall convene a work group that includes representatives from the prosperity partnership, the technology alliance, the higher education coordinating board, a private career or vocational school, a four-year public institution of higher education, the council of faculty representatives, the united faculty of Washington state, community and technical college faculty, and a community and technical college student, to take the following actions related to electronically distributed learning:
     (a) Identify and evaluate current national private employer workplace-based educational programs with electronically distributed learning components provided by public colleges and universities. The evaluation shall include:
     (i) A review of the literature and interviews of practitioners about promising practices and results;
     (ii) An initial determination of feasibility based on targeted populations served, subject matter, and level of education;
     (iii) An overview of technological considerations and adult learning strategies for distribution of learning to employer sites; and
     (iv) An overview of cost factors, including shared costs or coinvestments by public and private partners;
     (b) Review and, to the extent necessary, establish standards and best practices regarding electronically distributed learning and related support services including online help desk support, advising, mentoring, counseling, and tutoring;
     (c) Recommend methods to increase student access to electronically distributed learning programs of study and identify barriers to programs of study participation and completion;
     (d) Determine methods to increase the institutional supply and quality of open course materials, with a focus on the OpenCourseWare initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
     (e) Recommend methods to increase the availability and use of digital open textbooks; and
     (f) Review and report demographic information on electronically distributed learning programs of study enrollments, retention, and completions.
     (2) The board shall work in cooperation with the state board for community and technical colleges to report the preliminary results of the studies to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2008, and a final report by December 1, 2009.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28C.18 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) To the extent funds are appropriated specifically for this purpose, the board shall use a matching fund strategy to select and evaluate up to eight pilot projects operated by Washington institutions of higher education. By September 2008, the board shall select up to eight institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.92.030 including at least four community or technical colleges to develop and offer a pilot project providing employer workplace-based educational programs with distance learning components. The board shall convene a task force that includes representatives from the state board for community and technical colleges and the higher education coordinating board to select the participant institutions. At a minimum, the criteria for selecting the educational institutions shall address:
     (a) The ability to demonstrate a capacity to make a commitment of resources to build and sustain a high quality program;
     (b) The ability to readily engage faculty appropriately qualified to develop and deliver a high quality curriculum;
     (c) The ability to demonstrate demand for the proposed program from a sufficient number of interested employees within its service area to make the program cost-effective and feasible to operate; and
     (d) The identification of employers that demonstrate a commitment to host an on-site program. Employers shall demonstrate their commitment to provide:
     (i) Access to educational coursework and educational advice and support for entry-level and semiskilled workers, including paid and unpaid release time, and adequate classroom space that is equipped appropriately for the selected technological distance learning methodologies to be used;
     (ii) On-site promotion and encouragement of worker participation, including employee orientations, peer support and mentoring, educational tutoring, and career planning;
     (iii) Allowance of a reasonable level of worker choice in the type and level of coursework available;
     (iv) Commitment to work with college partner to ensure the relevance of coursework to the skill demands and potential career pathways of the employer host site and other participating employers;
     (v) Willingness to participate in an evaluation of the pilot to analyze the net benefit to the employer host site, other employer partners, the worker-students, and the colleges; and
     (vi) In firms with union representation, the mandatory establishment of a labor-management committee to oversee design and participation.
     (2) Institutions of higher education may submit an application to become a pilot college under this section. An institution of higher education selected as a pilot college shall develop the curriculum for and design and deliver courses. However, the programs developed under this section are subject to approval by the state board for technical and community colleges under RCW 28B.50.090 and by the higher education coordinating board under RCW 28B.76.230.
     (3) The board shall evaluate the pilot project and report the outcomes to students and employers by December 1, 2012.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28C.18 RCW to read as follows:
     The board may receive and expend federal funds and private gifts or grants, which funds must be expended in accordance with any conditions upon which the funds are contingent.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   Sections 2 through 4 of this act expire December 31, 2012.