What They're Saying About Burden-Free Instruction
“One out of three students does not have the funds to afford materials for the classroom … these are real students with real experiences and obstacles and compounding burdens that further prevent them from achieving high education goals. In order to deal with these, we need to relieve this financial and psychological burden on students and support this initiative."
— Marco Martinez (former community college student)
"I am committed... in addressing, I’ll say it, the racket that is textbooks in this country – usurious costs associated with textbooks – and so we will do more this year... because we in California have an obligation to disrupt that entire system nationwide."
— Governor Newsom
“As we strive to increase access to education and provide comprehensive physical support to our students, we must not overlook the significance of making textbooks, supplemental materials, and support accessible and affordable for all students … This resolution declares a system-level commitment to affordability for all – let me say that again – this resolution declares a system level commitment to affordability for all …"
— Board of Governors Member Williams
Board of Governors Resolution 2023-18
Board of Governors Resolution 2023-18, now, therefore, be it:
RESOLVED that the Board of Governors commits to strengthen student financial stability, equitable student engagement and success by prioritizing the reduction and ultimately elimination of instructional material costs and the alleviation of student financial, administrative and psychological burdens related to acquiring required instructional materials before they begin the term; and, be it further
RESOLVED that the Chancellor's Office shall work, in partnership with statewide participatory governance partners, to study implementation of the Burden Free Instructional Materials Taskforce recommendations, prioritizing actions that aim to remove barriers that unduly limit students' ability to access timely and affordable instructional materials, establish a robust and sustained OER support infrastructure, and strengthen data collection capacity to better support local innovations towards reducing instructional material costs; and, be it further
RESOLVED that the Board of Governors directs the Chancellor's Office to, in partnership with statewide participatory governance partners such as the ASCCC, bring before the Board recommendations to build on the efforts of the ZTC Program implementation and ensure sustainable no-cost or low-cost textbook solutions for general education courses for every California community college student before they begin the term.
Read the full Resolution of the Board of Governors California Community Colleges Number 2023-18 (PDF).
