Section 78265.

(a) The Pilot Program for Innovative Nursing and Allied Health Care Profession Education at the California Community Colleges is hereby established under the administration of the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The goal of the pilot program shall be to facilitate the graduation of community college nursing and allied health students by piloting innovative models to expand the state's capacity to prepare a qualified health care workforce.

(b) The chancellor's office shall establish the pilot program at up to five campuses throughout the state.

(c) The pilot programs shall test innovative program delivery models to expand the capacity of community colleges to offer health care training to students in occupations for which there is a substantial labor market demand. Pilot programs shall test health care education models that use tools such as technology and flexible scheduling, and shall coordinate student services and financial assistance to the maximum extent possible in order to facilitate a student's successful program completion.

(d) The chancellor's office shall pursue a variety of funding sources to help support the development and delivery of the pilot programs and create high-quality curriculum delivery models to be used in health care certificate and degree programs. These funding sources shall include, but not be limited to, federal grants, philanthropic funds, employer monetary and in-kind contributions, and state and federal workforce funds.

(e) The chancellor's office, contingent upon obtaining resources to support the development and delivery of the pilot programs, shall develop a request for application for community colleges to participate in the pilot program commencing on or after the 2011–12 academic year. The chancellor's office shall develop the request for application in collaboration with representatives from education, labor, health care employers, licensing and credentialing entities, regional occupational centers and programs, hospitals and nursing organizations, and other appropriate entities. The chancellor's office shall specify the amount of baseline funding provided for each pilot program based upon funding sources developed pursuant to subdivision (d). Pilot programs shall be in high-demand allied health care or nursing programs.

(f) The chancellor's office shall select pilot programs that do all of the following:

(1) Provide students with an industry-recognized certificate or degree in health care fields for which there is a demonstrated shortage of workers in the labor market and documented support from employers.

(2) Demonstrate a capacity to train specified health care workers, or the ability to sustain or expand current innovative health care education and training programs, or both. Limited capacity may be demonstrated by waiting lists to enter existing community college allied health care or nursing programs.

(3) Provide evidence of sufficient clinical sites for offering the pilot program.

(4) Include high-quality curriculum delivery models as part of the pilot program. All courses shall meet the curriculum standards approved by the appropriate state licensing entities that oversee each health occupation, and shall not in any way shorten the clinical units or hours as determined by the appropriate state licensing entities that oversee each health occupation. Curriculum already approved by the appropriate state licensing entities that oversee each health occupation shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph.

(5) Provide flexibility in the delivery of coursework, including, but not limited to, intensive weekend, evening, and summer courses to enable students to efficiently complete program requirements.

(6) Offer coordinated supportive services to students, including, but not limited to, tutoring and financial advising.

(7) Demonstrate clear, nonduplicative, and articulated education pathways with local secondary and postsecondary education entities.

(8) Identify resources to support the pilot program, including, but not limited to, funding provided by the chancellor's office obtained from outside sources for the support of the pilot program, local workforce investment funding, and locally provided employer or philanthropic resources.

(g) The chancellor's office shall select, to the extent possible, pilot programs that are geographically distributed throughout the state.

(h) In selecting the pilot programs, the chancellor's office may give consideration to existing innovative programs currently underway within the community college system that require additional resources to move to scale.

(Added by Stats. 2010, Ch. 679, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2011. Inoperative July 1, 2017. Repealed as of January 1, 2018, pursuant to Section 78265.6.)