Bill H.3761

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3890 FILED ON: 1/20/2023

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3761

By Representative Domb of Amherst, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3761) of Mindy Domb and Bud L. Williams for legislation to establish an open educational resource trust fund. Higher Education.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

_______________

An Act reducing the cost of attending college.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 10 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “HEFA” the following definition:-

“Open educational resources” or “OER”, teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.

SECTION 2. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2A the following section:-

Section 2B. (a) For the purposes of this section the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:

“Commissioner”, the commissioner of higher education.

“Department”, the department of higher education.

“Fund”, the Open Educational Resource Trust Fund, established in subsection (b).

“Open educational resource” or “OER”, as defined in section 10 of chapter 15A.

“Public institution of higher education”, an institution listed in section 5 of chapter 15A.

“Statewide OER Advisory Council”, the advisory council, consisting of representatives from the public institutions of higher education listed in section 5 of chapter 15A and overseen by a representative of the department of higher education, that provides advice and counsel for the implementation of OER throughout the commonwealth.

(b) (1) To achieve, promote and support college affordability across the commonwealth, there shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Open Educational Resource Trust Fund. The fund shall be used to support the development and distribution of open educational resources, as defined in section 10 of chapter 15A, for university and early college course textbooks and ancillaries, to reduce the cost of college education and decrease financial hardships, including food and housing insecurity induced and exacerbated by rising education costs. In doing so, the availability of OER resources: (i) increases college affordability, (ii) promotes student academic success and completion rates, (iii) reduces race and income inequities in student success and outcomes; and (iv) promotes digital literacy.

(2) The commissioner shall administer the fund to assist in promoting the development, distribution and use of OER. There shall be credited to the fund:

(i) revenue from appropriations and other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund or provided for the commissioner’s discretion;

(ii) funds from public and private sources such as gifts, grants and donations to further the availability of open educational resources; and

(iii) interest earned on money in the fund.

(3) Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and any money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.

(4) Amounts received from private sources shall be approved by the commissioner of the department of higher education and subject to review before being deposited in the fund to ensure that pledged funds are not accompanied by conditions, explicit or implicit, on the implementation of OER materials that may be detrimental to the fund’s equitable and cost-saving mission. The department shall make this review publicly available on its website.

(c) Amounts credited to the fund may be expended, without further appropriation, by the commissioner for purposes related to the development, distribution, availability and use of open educational resources, including:

(i) the development, adaptation, purchase, distribution, availability, publication and implementation of curricular materials that are free for students to use;

(ii) professional development and training, including the provision of trainings, seminars, conferences, materials and mentorship for educators in the development and understanding of how to use and distribute OER in the higher education classroom;

(iii) technical assistance, including editors, instructional specialists and technologists, graphic designers, accessibility specialists, diversity, equity and inclusion specialists, repository coordinators and other staff contracted to provide required wraparound services for faculty; and

(iv) department staff to support existing and additional OER activities generated by this legislation.

(d)(1) There shall be a competitive grant program to promote and support the development of open educational resources for students in public higher education institutions and early college programs. Department staff, including the Statewide OER Coordinator, shall review and make recommendations to the commissioner on grant applications. The commissioner shall make final OER grant award decisions. The department may expend funds from the fund for the development and implementation of this grant program.

(2) The commissioner may convene the Statewide OER Advisory Council to make recommendations on eligibility for grant prioritization to maximize the benefits of the grant program, including maximizing savings, achieving equity and supporting student success.

(3) Public Institutions of higher education shall inform students of OER courses that use curricula or resources funded by the fund.

(4) Recipients of OER funding shall complete OER Key Performance Indicator reporting, as developed by the department, to document the impact of the program.

SECTION 3. Section 1I of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as amended by sections 2 and 3 of chapter 98 of the acts of 2021, is hereby further amended by inserting after the sixteenth paragraph the following paragraph:-

Annually, not later than November 1, the commissioner of higher education shall file a report with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on higher education and the house and senate committees on ways and means on the Open Educational Resource Trust Fund’s activities. The department shall make the report publicly available on its website, along with the names

of materials developed or used as a result of the grant awards and the recipient organizations. The report shall include, but not be limited to:

(i) the source and amount of funds received;

(ii) the expenditures made from the fund and the purposes of such expenditures;

(iii) the names of institutions who have received the funds, the numbers of students estimated to have benefitted from the expenditures based on number of students enrolled in specific classes, and an estimated amount of money saved as a result of the development and distribution of open educational resources;

(iv) any anticipated remaining revenue from awards;

(v) the number of schools and school districts that have used the fund to implement a new OER class or enhance or maintain current programming; and

(vi) the number of schools and school districts that applied for, but were not granted, funding.

SECTION 4. Section 1 shall take effect upon its enactment.

Name:	District/Address:	Date Added:
Mindy Domb	3rd Hampshire	1/20/2023
Bud L. Williams	11th Hampden	1/25/2023