Chapter 2. General Provisions of California Education Code >> Division 7. >> Title 3. >> Part 52.5. >> Chapter 2.
(a) The board of governors may award grants and project
funds to districts for leadership in accomplishing the mission and
goals of the program, provided that funds are appropriated for this
purpose in the annual Budget Act. Grants under this section shall be
awarded on a competitive basis, as determined by the board of
governors and authorized in the annual Budget Act.
(b) (1) The board of governors shall establish an advisory
committee for the program and determine the membership pursuant to
paragraph (2). The advisory committee shall advise on overall program
development, recommend resource deployment, including whether
projects should be funded at existing levels, increased, decreased,
or terminated, and recommend strategies for regional coordination.
(2) The membership of the advisory committee shall include all of
the following: representatives from labor, business, and appropriate
state agencies; a faculty representative; a classified employee
representative; and one community college chief executive officer
representative from each of the regions of the program.
(c) At a minimum, the decision criteria for allocating funds to
colleges shall be based on each of the following:
(1) An evaluation of the relevance of the grant to the labor
market needs of the state and relevant region's competitive and
emerging industry sectors and industry clusters, or to the state's
need to fill skills gaps and skills shortages in the economy,
including skills gaps and shortages at the state and regional level.
(2) An assessment of the past performance of the grantee if the
grantee has been awarded other economic and workforce development
grants or other state grants, including an assessment of whether the
grantee's previous awards produced project deliverables specified in
prior grant applications.
(3) For grants providing direct services to an employer, a group
of employers, or an industry sector or industry cluster, an
assessment of the purported beneficial impacts of the grant on the
relevant businesses, which may include a review of the grant's
purported impacts on any of the following: increased profitability,
increased labor productivity, reductions in worker injuries, employer
cost savings resulting from improved business processes, improved
customer satisfaction, increased employee retention, estimates of new
revenue to be generated, sales increases, or new market penetration,
as well as information on new products or services developed.
(4) For grants involving direct education and training services
provided to workers and students, an assessment of the educational
and training goals of the grant, the projected numbers of students
and workers served and the projected rates of course and program
completion or transfer-readiness, the projected rate of skills
attainment for certificates and degrees, and the projected wages and
rate of employment placement for those entering the labor market.
(5) For technical assistance and logistical support projects, a
concrete enumeration of the ways the project will collaborate with
the chancellor's office to advance sector strategies, regional
development, accountability based on performance data, and the
adoption of effective workforce and economic development practices.
(d) The chancellor's office shall provide systemwide oversight and
evaluation of the economic and workforce development program, and
shall evaluate grant projects and programs to assess whether grantees
achieved their stated objectives. The chancellor's office has the
authority to terminate programs for nonperformance.
(e) The chancellor may establish program requirements and
performance standards in the administration of the economic and
workforce development program, and distribute funds as appropriate to
implement the program.
(f) The chancellor may provide technical assistance to community
colleges for the purpose of improving the competitiveness of their
proposals.
(g) Grant funds shall be awarded for the program on a competitive
basis.
(h) The chancellor, in awarding short-term competitive funds,
shall take into account colleges in economically distressed urban and
rural areas, and colleges that have not previously been successful
in the competitive bid process.
This part shall be implemented only during those fiscal
years for which funds are appropriated for purposes of this part in
the annual Budget Act.