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HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Senate Joint Resolution 69 of the 97th General
3Assembly called upon the Illinois Student Assistance
4Commission (ISAC) to form a task force to deliberate options
5for the adoption of new rules for the Monetary Award Program
6(MAP), with the goal of improving the outcomes for students who
7receive these awards; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The task force reported to the General Assembly
9and Commission with its findings on December 31, 2012; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Task force members concluded that MAP recipients,
11many of whom are the first in their families to attend college,
12could benefit from additional nonfinancial support, such as
13increased academic and financial counseling before and during
14college, as this guidance could help to increase retention and
15to minimize both time-to-degree and student loan debt; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Student success in college is a shared
17responsibility, requiring effort, commitment, and clear
18communication on the part of both students and the institutions
19of higher learning where they are enrolled, which, in the case
20of advising, requires the institution to provide support and
21the student to take advantage of this support; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Task force members also noted that additional,
2school-provided support for MAP recipients would demonstrate
3an institution's partnership with this State in promoting MAP
4recipients' college access and success; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Task force members believed that additional
6expertise and time were needed in order to refine this
7recommendation and develop specific new requirements for
8student advising, based on identifiable best practices in
9student advising and support; therefore, be it
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12the Illinois Student Assistance Commission is directed,
13consistent with the recommendations of the Monetary Award
14Program (MAP) task force, to form a working group to examine
15the best practices for academic advising of higher education
16students who are Monetary Award Program recipients, with an
17emphasis on support services for low-income and
18first-generation college students; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That the working group shall endeavor to catalog
20existing student academic advising and support programs in this
21State and available information on those programs' outcomes,
22along with surveying existing literature on the effectiveness
23of similar programs within this State and outside of it; and be

 

 

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1it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That the working group shall make a
3recommendation to the Commission regarding minimum standards
4for student support and advising that should be available to
5encourage retention and degree completion of MAP recipients, as
6well as minimum requirements for students to take advantage of
7such support and advising; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That the working group may consider not only the
9potential benefits that an academic advising requirement may
10bring to MAP recipients, but also such concerns as whether
11students would have adequate access to such advisors, whether
12current advising staff at institutions could properly provide
13appropriate levels of support given time constraints, what
14means of documentation might be warranted to document a MAP
15recipient's participation in advising, and any additional
16costs that may be incurred by schools in implementing a new
17advising requirement; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That the working group shall report its findings
19and recommendations to the Commission and the General Assembly
20on or before February 3, 2014; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That the Illinois Student Assistance Commission
22shall implement requirements related to academic advising and

 

 

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1student support services as soon as this is feasible, but not
2later than the 2015-2016 academic year; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4delivered to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.