(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.

(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 361, Sec. 2. (SB 1402) Effective January 1, 2013. Repealed as of January 1, 2023, pursuant to Section 88651.)