102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB0641

 

Introduced 2/24/2021, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 49/15
110 ILCS 49/20

    Amends the Higher Education Veterans Service Act. With regard to the requirement to advertise the office location and phone number of and Internet access to the Coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel and Student Services, provides that the advertisement must also include the website and any social media accounts of the public college or university. Requires each public college and university to annually report to the Board of Higher Education on the efforts of the public college or university in attracting, recruiting, and retaining veterans and military personnel. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB0641LRB102 16135 CMG 21511 b

1    AN ACT concerning higher 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 Sections 15 and 20 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
23form of 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
10    and 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
22of student veterans and military personnel and their families
23and shall serve as an advocate before the administration of
24the college or university for the needs of student veterans.
25The college or university shall enable the Coordinator of
26Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services to

 

 

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

 

 

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1promotion of programs and services that are available.
2    (c) Upon receipt of all of the surveys under subsection
3(a) of this Section, the Board of Higher Education and the
4Department of Veterans' Affairs shall conduct a joint review
5of the 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.
11Following its review of the surveys, the Office of the
12Governor shall submit an evaluation report to each college and
13university offering suggestions and insight on the conduct of
14student veteran-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
20any program 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

 

 

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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
7universities can share existing technologies to improve the
8online curricula of peer institutions, provided such efforts
9are both practically and economically feasible.
10(Source: P.A. 96-133, eff. 8-7-09; revised 7-16-19.)
 
11    (110 ILCS 49/20)
12    Sec. 20. Fiscal impact and reporting. Each Beginning on
13September 1 of the year following the effective date of this
14Act and each subsequent September 1, each college and
15university that is required to have a Coordinator of Veterans
16and Military Personnel Student Services under subsection (b)
17of Section 20 of this Act shall report to the Board of Higher
18Education on the fiscal impact of the programs and services
19related to the requirements of this Act and on the efforts of
20the public college or university in attracting, recruiting,
21and retaining veterans and military personnel.
22    The Board of Higher Education shall compile the
23information and, within 60 days after receipt of such
24information, issue a report reflecting the information for
25each institution required to report under this Section. The

 

 

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1report must be filed with the Governor, the Governor's Office
2of Management and Budget, the Director of Veterans' Affairs,
3the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of
4the Senate, the Minority Leader of the House of
5Representatives, and the Minority Leader of the Senate.
6(Source: P.A. 96-133, eff. 8-7-09.)
 
7    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
8becoming law.