Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Open Educational Resources Data Dashboard Food Insecurity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Assembly committee hears bill on open educational resources, campus hunger study and public data dashboard (AB 345)
Summary
AB 345 would direct the Nevada System of Higher Education to develop policies promoting open educational resources, study campus food insecurity and coordinate public student-outcome data; students, campus leaders and chambers of commerce supported the bill and urged state-level collaboration with existing datasets.
Assemblymember Erica Mosca introduced Assembly Bill 345, a multipart proposal that asks the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) to develop policies on open educational resources (OER), study student food insecurity and coordinate an online public dashboard of student outcomes by linking existing state and federal data sources.
Assemblymember Mosca said the bill grew from community input through the Southern Nevada Forum and from student leaders. “There are three pillars here: helping students return to school when small balances block reenrollment, expanding open educational resources to lower textbook costs, and producing a public outcomes dashboard to improve accountability,” Mosca said.
Student presenters and campus officials described the problems AB 345 aims to address. Kevin Osorio Hernandez, student body president at Nevada State University, and Kevin Yang, a UNR student, cited high textbook costs and rising campus food insecurity as barriers to persistence. Yang told the committee that 24 percent of UNR students reported food insecurity in a 2016–2020 survey and that campus food pantry demand has increased. Tania Akter of the Graduate Student Association detailed a 2024 UNR survey in which roughly one in three graduate students reported being very food insecure and provided pantry usage statistics: 12,219 visits with about 6,000 unique users between 2023 and 2024.
On OER, student advocates and Kevin Osorio Hernandez argued that open textbooks and freely licensed course materials reduce costs and can improve completion rates; proponents cited examples of other states that have enacted OER legislation and pointed to resources such as OpenStax that provide printable materials and multimedia alternatives.
Data dashboard and coordination: supporters described two existing databases referenced in the bill (Nevada P-20/WPDR and the federal IPEDS system) and urged the committee to direct NSHE and state agencies to explore data linkage and public reporting to improve transparency and policy decisions. Representatives from the Nevada System of Higher Education said the system already tracks readiness and remediation and may be able to supply relevant metrics for such a dashboard.
Costs and next steps: supporters said they are working to keep the initiative cost-neutral by using existing systems and interagency cooperation; Assemblymember Mosca and witnesses asked the committee to permit interim study and consultation so implementation details and potential legal/data-privacy issues can be resolved. No appropriation was requested during the hearing and no committee vote was recorded.
Public testimony came from student governments across NSHE, university administrators, the Vegas Chamber (Southern Nevada Forum), community nonprofits and university extension programs; most speakers urged passage or further study to reduce textbook costs, prevent students from being blocked from finishing degrees over small balances, and address campus hunger.
