Full Text of SB1624 96th General Assembly
SB1624 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010 SB1624
Introduced 2/19/2009, by Sen. Dan Kotowski SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Higher Education Veterans Campus Service Act. Requires all public colleges and universities to conduct a survey of the services and programs that are provided for veterans, active duty military personnel, and their families, at each of their respective campuses; sets forth the survey requirements. Requires each public college and university to appoint a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services on each campus of the college or university that has an onsite, daily, full-time student headcount above 1,000 students; sets forth requirements concerning the coordinator. Provides that the Board of Higher Education and the Department of Veterans' Affairs may issue a best practices report to highlight those programs and services that are most beneficial to veterans and active duty military personnel. Sets forth additional provisions concerning a college's or university's best efforts and the fiscal impact of programs and services. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT |
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A BILL FOR
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SB1624 |
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Higher | 5 |
| Education Veterans Service Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Definitions. For purposes of this Act: | 7 |
| "Task Force" means the Task Force on Service Member and | 8 |
| Veterans Education. | 9 |
| "Public colleges and universities" means public community | 10 |
| colleges subject to the Public Community College Act, the | 11 |
| University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University, Chicago | 12 |
| State University, Eastern Illinois University, Governors State | 13 |
| University, Illinois State University, Northeastern Illinois | 14 |
| University, Northern Illinois University, and Western Illinois | 15 |
| University.
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| Section 10. Findings.
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| (a) Pursuant to Public Act 95-736, the General Assembly | 18 |
| created the Task Force on Service Member and Veterans Education | 19 |
| to examine the manner in which public colleges and universities | 20 |
| in the State of Illinois provided education to servicemen and | 21 |
| servicewomen as well as veterans of the armed forces of the | 22 |
| United States. |
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| The Task Force conducted hearings and filed its findings | 2 |
| with the General Assembly on September 16, 2008. Its report | 3 |
| urges the General Assembly to recognize the sacrifice of | 4 |
| American servicemen and women, and, in a small way, repay them | 5 |
| by chartering a concerted effort by State government, in | 6 |
| cooperation with our public institutions of higher learning, to | 7 |
| make its best efforts to take positive, quantifiable steps to | 8 |
| providing a superior learning environment for student veterans | 9 |
| and service members. The Task Force reviewed the unique needs | 10 |
| of veterans and military personnel, combined with the large | 11 |
| number of active duty personnel and military veterans seeking | 12 |
| higher education since the onset of the Global War on | 13 |
| Terrorism. The Task Force found that public universities and | 14 |
| community colleges in this State have varying levels of | 15 |
| assistance available for active duty service personnel and | 16 |
| veterans. | 17 |
| (b) The Task Force has reported that veterans and active | 18 |
| duty personnel have difficulty in finding and receiving various | 19 |
| State and federal education-related benefits and services that | 20 |
| they may be eligible to receive, such as educational loans, | 21 |
| scholarships, grants, local employment opportunities, access | 22 |
| to medical care, a social network for support of student | 23 |
| veterans, and groups to help with the transition to becoming a | 24 |
| civilian after service in an active duty unit, because such | 25 |
| programs are administered by different arms of the government. | 26 |
| (c) The Task Force found that the various public colleges |
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| and universities in this State have a wide array of programs | 2 |
| and services available to veterans and active duty service | 3 |
| personnel, ranging from online educational opportunities, | 4 |
| admission and academic counseling, medical services, and | 5 |
| family housing information. | 6 |
| (d) The Task Force also found that certain other higher | 7 |
| education institutions across the United States have adopted | 8 |
| programs and services that seek to better promote and | 9 |
| coordinate the assistance that is available for veterans and | 10 |
| active duty personnel.
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| Section 15. Survey; coordinator; best practices report; | 12 |
| best efforts.
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| (a) All public colleges and universities shall, within 60 | 14 |
| days after the effective date of this Act, conduct a survey of | 15 |
| the services and programs that are provided for veterans, | 16 |
| active duty military personnel, and their families, at each of | 17 |
| their respective campuses. This survey shall enumerate and | 18 |
| fully describe the service or program that is available, the | 19 |
| number of veterans or active duty personnel using the service | 20 |
| or program, an estimated range for potential use within a | 21 |
| 5-year and 10-year period, information on the location of the | 22 |
| service or program, and how its administrators may be | 23 |
| contacted. The survey shall indicate the manner or manners in | 24 |
| which a student veteran may avail himself or herself of the | 25 |
| program's services. This survey must be made available to all |
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| veterans matriculating at the college or university in the form | 2 |
| of an orientation-related guidebook. | 3 |
| Each public college and university shall make the survey | 4 |
| available on the homepage of all campus Internet links as soon | 5 |
| as practical after the completion of the survey. As soon as | 6 |
| possible after the completion of the survey, each public | 7 |
| college and university shall provide a copy of its survey to | 8 |
| the following: | 9 |
| (1) the Board of Higher Education; | 10 |
| (2) the Department of Veterans' Affairs; | 11 |
| (3) the President and Minority Leader of the Senate and | 12 |
| the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of | 13 |
| Representatives; and | 14 |
| (4) the Governor. | 15 |
| (b) Each public college and university shall, at its | 16 |
| discretion, (i) appoint, within 6 months after the effective | 17 |
| date of this Act, an existing employee or (ii) hire a new | 18 |
| employee to serve as a Coordinator of Veterans and Military | 19 |
| Personnel Student Services on each campus of the college or | 20 |
| university that has an onsite, daily, full-time student | 21 |
| headcount above 1,000 students. | 22 |
| The Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student | 23 |
| Services shall be an ombudsperson serving the specific needs of | 24 |
| student veterans and military personnel and their families and | 25 |
| shall serve as an advocate before the administration of the | 26 |
| college or university for the needs of student veterans. The |
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| college or university shall enable the Coordinator of Veterans | 2 |
| and Military Personnel Student Services to communicate | 3 |
| directly with the senior executive administration of the | 4 |
| college or university periodically. The college or university | 5 |
| shall retain unfettered discretion to determine the | 6 |
| organizational management structure of its institution. | 7 |
| In addition to any responsibilities the college or | 8 |
| university may assign, the Coordinator of Veterans and Military | 9 |
| Personnel Student Services shall make its best efforts to | 10 |
| create a centralized source for student veterans and military | 11 |
| personnel to learn how to receive all benefit programs and | 12 |
| services for which they are eligible. | 13 |
| Each college and university campus that is required to have | 14 |
| a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student | 15 |
| Services shall regularly and conspicuously advertise the | 16 |
| office location, phone number, and Internet access to the | 17 |
| Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student | 18 |
| Services, along with a brief summary of the manner in which he | 19 |
| or she can assist student veterans. The advertisement shall | 20 |
| include, but is not necessarily limited to, the following: | 21 |
| (1) advertisements on each campus' Internet home page; | 22 |
| and | 23 |
| (2) any promotional mailings for student application.
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| The Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student | 25 |
| Services shall facilitate other campus offices with the | 26 |
| promotion of programs and services that are available. |
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| (c) Upon receipt of all of the surveys under subsection (a) | 2 |
| of this Section, the Board of Higher Education and the | 3 |
| Department of Veterans' Affairs shall conduct a joint review of | 4 |
| the surveys and post, on any Internet home page they may | 5 |
| operate, a link to each survey as posted on the Internet | 6 |
| website for the college or university. Upon receipt of all of | 7 |
| the surveys, the Office of the Governor, through its military | 8 |
| affairs advisors, shall similarly conduct a review of the | 9 |
| surveys and post the surveys on its Internet website. Following | 10 |
| its review of the surveys, the Office of the Governor shall | 11 |
| submit an evaluation report to each college and university | 12 |
| offering suggestions and insight on the conduct of student | 13 |
| veteran-related policies and programs. | 14 |
| (d) The Board of Higher Education and the Department of | 15 |
| Veterans' Affairs may issue a best practices report to | 16 |
| highlight those programs and services that are most beneficial | 17 |
| to veterans and active duty military personnel. The report | 18 |
| shall contain a fiscal needs assessment in conjunction with any | 19 |
| program recommendations. | 20 |
| (e) Each college and university campus that is required to | 21 |
| have a Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student | 22 |
| Services under subsection (b) of this Section shall make its | 23 |
| best efforts to create academic and social programs and | 24 |
| services for veterans and active duty military personnel that | 25 |
| will provide reasonable opportunities for academic performance | 26 |
| and success. |
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| Each public college and university shall make its best | 2 |
| efforts to determine how its online educational curricula can | 3 |
| be expanded or altered to serve the needs of student veterans | 4 |
| and currently-deployed military, including a determination of | 5 |
| whether and to what extent the public colleges and universities | 6 |
| can share existing technologies to improve the online curricula | 7 |
| of peer institutions, provided such efforts are both | 8 |
| practically and economically feasible.
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| Section 20. Fiscal impact and reporting. Beginning on | 10 |
| September 1 of the year following the effective date of this | 11 |
| Act and each subsequent September 1, each college and | 12 |
| university that is required to have a Coordinator of Veterans | 13 |
| and Military Personnel Student Services under subsection (b) of | 14 |
| Section 20 of this Act shall report to the Board of Higher | 15 |
| Education on the fiscal impact of the programs and services | 16 |
| related to the requirements of this Act. | 17 |
| The Board of Higher Education shall compile the information | 18 |
| and, within 60 days after receipt of such information, issue a | 19 |
| report reflecting the information for each institution | 20 |
| required to report under this Section. The report must be filed | 21 |
| with the Governor, the Governor's Office of Management and | 22 |
| Budget, the Director of Veterans' Affairs, the Speaker of the | 23 |
| House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the | 24 |
| Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and the | 25 |
| Minority Leader of the Senate.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 2 |
| becoming law.
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