Requirement to Highlight Courses in Online Campus Course Schedule That Use Free Digital Course Materials Exclusively – Education Code 66406.9 (SB 1359) (CCD)
Effective January 1, 2018, Education Code section 66406.9 requires community college districts to identify courses in the online campus course schedule that exclusively use digital course materials that are free of charge to students.
LEGAL UPDATE
February 23, 2017
To: Superintendents/Presidents/Chancellors, Member Community College Districts
From: Ellie R. Austin, Schools Legal Counsel
Subject: Requirement to Highlight Courses in Online Campus Course Schedule That Use Free Digital Course Materials Exclusively – Education Code 66406.9 (SB 1359)
Memo No. 05-2017 (CC)
Effective January 1, 2018, Education Code section 66406.9 requires community college districts to identify courses in the online campus course schedule that exclusively use digital course materials that are free of charge to students.
Specifically, community college districts must clearly highlight, using a symbol or logo on the online course schedule, which courses utilize digital course materials that can be accessed by students without a fee. Such digital course materials must be accessible to students with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. and must be in compliance with the Copyright Act of 1976.
Digital course materials under the new law may include open educational resources, campus library materials, and other properly licensed materials. Open educational resources are public domain materials that are no longer subject to an intellectual property license, making them free to use and repurpose. Such open educational resources may include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, faculty-created content, streaming videos, tests, software, or other tools, materials or techniques that support access to knowledge.
A copy of section 66406.9 is provided as an attachment to this Legal Update for your convenience.
Recommendations
In preparation for the law’s implementation, districts should review their course offerings and make every effort to provide properly licensed course materials free of charge to students. Districts should also plan a method of highlighting applicable courses in the online campus course schedule beginning with courses offered on or after January 1, 2018.
Please contact our office with questions regarding this Legal Update or any other legal matter.
The information in this Legal Update is provided as a summary of law and is not intended as legal advice. Application of the law may vary depending on the particular facts and circumstances at issue. We, therefore, recommend that you consult legal counsel to advise you on how the law applies to your specific situation.
© 2017 School and College Legal Services of California
All rights reserved. However, SCLS grants permission to any current SCLS client to use, reproduce, and distribute this Legal Update in its entirety for the client’s own non-commercial purposes.
