100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB2529

 

Introduced , by Rep. Kelly M. Burke

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 49/15

    Amends the Higher Education Veterans Service Act. Requires the Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services to make his or her best effort to provide student veterans certain information on available veterans benefits and preferences.


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A BILL FOR

 

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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.

 

 

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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.
20    The Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student
21Services shall be an ombudsperson serving the specific needs of
22student veterans and military personnel and their families and
23shall serve as an advocate before the administration of the
24college or university for the needs of student veterans. The
25college or university shall enable the Coordinator of Veterans
26and Military Personnel Student Services to communicate

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1best efforts to create academic and social programs and
2services for veterans and active duty military personnel that
3will provide reasonable opportunities for academic performance
4and success.
5    Each public college and university shall make its best
6efforts to determine how its online educational curricula can
7be expanded or altered to serve the needs of student veterans
8and currently-deployed military, including a determination of
9whether and to what extent the public colleges and universities
10can share existing technologies to improve the online curricula
11of peer institutions, provided such efforts are both
12practically and economically feasible.
13(Source: P.A. 96-133, eff. 8-7-09.)