Full Text of HJR0092 102nd General Assembly
HJ0092 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On February 6, 1865, when the Illinois General | 3 | | Assembly granted the charter that established the college, | 4 | | Lincoln College was the first institution named for Abraham | 5 | | Lincoln and the only one so named during his lifetime, a fact | 6 | | he learned shortly before his untimely death; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, In the 2019-2020 academic year, Lincoln College | 8 | | had an enrollment of 1,234 students and an average tuition and | 9 | | fees of $19,400; the average cost for room and board and extra | 10 | | expenses was estimated to be $11,361 in the years of | 11 | | 2020-2021; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Of the 1,234 students attending Lincoln College, | 13 | | 844, or 68%, were MAP-eligible, and 769, or 62%, were | 14 | | Pell-eligible, indicating that a clear majority of the | 15 | | students attending Lincoln College demonstrated the need for | 16 | | financial assistance; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, A total of 60% of Lincoln College students are | 18 | | part of a minority group, which are traditionally | 19 | | underrepresented at higher education institutions in this | 20 | | State; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, On March 30, 2022, Lincoln College notified the |
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| 1 | | Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Higher Learning | 2 | | Commission of permanent closure effective May 13, 2022, 44 | 3 | | days after the announcement; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Lincoln College was a victim of a cyberattack in | 5 | | December
2021 that thwarted admissions activities and hindered | 6 | | access to
all institutional data, creating an unclear picture | 7 | | of Fall 2022
enrollment projections; all systems required for | 8 | | recruitment,
retention, and fundraising efforts were | 9 | | inoperable; fortunately,
no personal identifying information | 10 | | was exposed; once fully
restored in March 2022, the | 11 | | projections displayed significant
enrollment shortfalls, | 12 | | requiring a transformational donation or
partnership to | 13 | | sustain Lincoln College beyond the current
semester; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Students were notified that all credits earned at | 15 | | Lincoln College are valid and remain valid even after closure; | 16 | | the Higher Learning Commission regionally accredited Lincoln | 17 | | College, and credits will be considered for transfer by any | 18 | | other regionally accredited institution; therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 20 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 21 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge every public and | 22 | | private university and community college in this State to | 23 | | extend their application deadlines for students currently |
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| 1 | | enrolled at Lincoln College who are unable to continue their | 2 | | education at their institution due to circumstances beyond | 3 | | their control; and be it further | 4 | | RESOLVED, That we urge every public and private university
| 5 | | and community college in this State to honor the credits
| 6 | | earned by students from Lincoln College and have those credits
| 7 | | be transferred accordingly; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That we urge Lincoln College to waive transcript
| 9 | | fees from students currently enrolled; and be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That we urge all Illinois public and private
| 11 | | universities and community colleges to attend
Lincoln | 12 | | College's student transfer fair on April 14 to assist its | 13 | | students in finding another college to
attend; and be it | 14 | | further | 15 | | RESOLVED, That we urge all Illinois public and private
| 16 | | universities and community colleges to waive the application
| 17 | | fees for students of Lincoln College; and be it further | 18 | | RESOLVED, That we urge all Illinois public and private
| 19 | | universities and community colleges to attempt to match or
| 20 | | exceed the financial award letters, including scholarships, of | 21 | | Lincoln College students; and
be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That we encourage the Illinois Department of | 2 | | Employment Security and the Illinois Department of Commerce | 3 | | and Economic Opportunity to work with the displaced Lincoln | 4 | | College employees to ease their financial hardships and | 5 | | support their attempts to find new employment; and be it | 6 | | further | 7 | | RESOLVED, That we will continue striving to provide better
| 8 | | protections for Illinois' higher education students in the
| 9 | | unfortunate event of a closure of an institution of higher
| 10 | | learning in the State and to help provide a smooth transition
| 11 | | for students and a path to continue pursue higher education in
| 12 | | Illinois.
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