Public Access to and Continued Collection of Intersegmental Education Data

AS-3042-11/FGA (Rev)

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of the California State University (ASCSU) support databased
decision making regarding educational policy in California; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the ASCSU commend the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC), all California education segments (K-12, the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California), as well as the California Economic Development Department for preserving the higher education data accumulated by CPEC, which will cease operation in November 2011; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the ASCSU urge the State of California to provide sufficient resources to support
continued collection of and public access to intersegmental education data; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the ASCSU distribute this resolution to Assemblyman Block, Chair of the California Assembly Committee on Higher Education; Senator Lowenthal, Chair of the California Senate Education Committee; Governor Jerry Brown; Karen Humphrey, Executive Director, California Postsecondary Education Commission; Thomas Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Dr. Jack Scott, Chancellor, California Community Colleges; Dr. Charles B. Reed, Chancellor, California State University; Dr. Mark G. Yudof, President, University of California; and the CSU Board of Trustees.

RATIONALE: The California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) was established in 1974 as the State planning and coordinating body for higher education by Assembly Bill 770 (Chapter 1187 of the Statutes of 1973), Education Code Section Education Code 66900-66906. The Commission’s primary roles have been to integrate policy, fiscal, and programmatic analyses of California's three segments of postsecondary education in order to assure the effective utilization of public postsecondary education resources, to provide information for planning and coordination, and to provide the legislative and the executive branches of government with advice and information about major policy and planning issues concerning education beyond high school. On its website, the Commission maintains a data system that includes over 30 years of aggregated data as well as over 15 years of longitudinal, unitary data from California’s three public postsecondary education segments.

Funding for CPEC was eliminated from the 2011/12 state budget on June 30, 2011, and CPEC will close in November 2011. All the segments of California education (K-12, the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California) as well as the California Economic Development Department worked with CPEC to maintain existing URL access to CPEC data views and downloads and to preserve higher education data collected and managed by CPEC by relocating the higher education holdings to a neutral, secure site, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC). The resolution lends ASCSU support to efforts to ensure continued public access to this data.

Approved Unanimously– November 3-4, 2011