100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB4781

 

Introduced , by Rep. Kelly M. Burke

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 49/15

    Amends the Higher Education Veterans Service Act. Requires a public college or university to use its best efforts to hire a veteran of the armed services as the Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services. Effective immediately.


LRB100 18943 AXK 34193 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4781LRB100 18943 AXK 34193 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Higher Education Veterans Service Act is
5amended by changing Section 15 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 49/15)
7    Sec. 15. Survey; coordinator; best practices report; best
8efforts.
9    (a) All public colleges and universities shall, within 60
10days after the effective date of this Act, conduct a survey of
11the services and programs that are provided for veterans,
12active duty military personnel, and their families, at each of
13their respective campuses. This survey shall enumerate and
14fully describe the service or program that is available, the
15number of veterans or active duty personnel using the service
16or program, an estimated range for potential use within a
175-year and 10-year period, information on the location of the
18service or program, and how its administrators may be
19contacted. The survey shall indicate the manner or manners in
20which a student veteran may avail himself or herself of the
21program's services. This survey must be made available to all
22veterans matriculating at the college or university in the form
23of an orientation-related guidebook.

 

 

HB4781- 2 -LRB100 18943 AXK 34193 b

1    Each public college and university shall make the survey
2available on the homepage of all campus Internet links as soon
3as practical after the completion of the survey. As soon as
4possible after the completion of the survey, each public
5college and university shall provide a copy of its survey to
6the following:
7        (1) the Board of Higher Education;
8        (2) the Department of Veterans' Affairs;
9        (3) the President and Minority Leader of the Senate and
10    the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
11    Representatives; and
12        (4) the Governor.
13    (b) Each public college and university shall, at its
14discretion, (i) appoint, within 6 months after the effective
15date of this Act, an existing employee or (ii) hire a new
16employee to serve as a Coordinator of Veterans and Military
17Personnel Student Services on each campus of the college or
18university that has an onsite, daily, full-time student
19headcount above 1,000 students. A public college or university
20shall use its best efforts to hire a veteran of the armed
21services as the Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel
22Student Services under this subsection (b).
23    The Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student
24Services shall be an ombudsperson serving the specific needs of
25student veterans and military personnel and their families and
26shall serve as an advocate before the administration of the

 

 

HB4781- 3 -LRB100 18943 AXK 34193 b

1college or university for the needs of student veterans. The
2college or university shall enable the Coordinator of Veterans
3and Military Personnel Student Services to communicate
4directly with the senior executive administration of the
5college or university periodically. The college or university
6shall retain unfettered discretion to determine the
7organizational management structure of its institution.
8    In addition to any responsibilities the college or
9university may assign, the Coordinator of Veterans and Military
10Personnel Student Services shall make its best efforts to
11create a centralized source for student veterans and military
12personnel to learn how to receive all benefit programs and
13services for which they are eligible.
14    Each college and university campus that is required to have
15a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student
16Services shall regularly and conspicuously advertise the
17office location, phone number, and Internet access to the
18Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student
19Services, along with a brief summary of the manner in which he
20or she can assist student veterans. The advertisement shall
21include, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:
22        (1) advertisements on each campus' Internet home page;
23    and
24        (2) any promotional mailings for student application.
25    The Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student
26Services shall facilitate other campus offices with the

 

 

HB4781- 4 -LRB100 18943 AXK 34193 b

1promotion of programs and services that are available.
2    (c) Upon receipt of all of the surveys under subsection (a)
3of this Section, the Board of Higher Education and the
4Department of Veterans' Affairs shall conduct a joint review of
5the surveys and post, on any Internet home page they may
6operate, a link to each survey as posted on the Internet
7website for the college or university. Upon receipt of all of
8the surveys, the Office of the Governor, through its military
9affairs advisors, shall similarly conduct a review of the
10surveys and post the surveys on its Internet website. Following
11its review of the surveys, the Office of the Governor shall
12submit an evaluation report to each college and university
13offering suggestions and insight on the conduct of student
14veteran-related policies and programs.
15    (d) The Board of Higher Education and the Department of
16Veterans' Affairs may issue a best practices report to
17highlight those programs and services that are most beneficial
18to veterans and active duty military personnel. The report
19shall contain a fiscal needs assessment in conjunction with any
20program recommendations.
21    (e) Each college and university campus that is required to
22have a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student
23Services under subsection (b) of this Section shall make its
24best efforts to create academic and social programs and
25services for veterans and active duty military personnel that
26will provide reasonable opportunities for academic performance

 

 

HB4781- 5 -LRB100 18943 AXK 34193 b

1and success.
2    Each public college and university shall make its best
3efforts to determine how its online educational curricula can
4be expanded or altered to serve the needs of student veterans
5and currently-deployed military, including a determination of
6whether and to what extent the public colleges and universities
7can share existing technologies to improve the online curricula
8of peer institutions, provided such efforts are both
9practically and economically feasible.
10(Source: P.A. 96-133, eff. 8-7-09.)
 
11    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12becoming law.