Further Amendment(s) Consolidated Amendment "F" to H4100

Veteran Services and Soldiers' Homes

Mr. D'Emilia of Bridgewater moves to further amend the consolidated amendment on veterans services and soldiers’ homes by striking the last section and replacing it with the following section:-

SECTION XX. Chapter 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after section 41, the following new section:—

Section 42. (a) The board shall develop and adopt a written policy requiring each public institution of higher education to develop a set of policies and procedures governing  the evaluation of a student’s military occupation(s), and military training , coursework, and experience, for purposes of determining whether  academic credit will be awarded by the institution for the evaluated experience, training, and coursework.; provided, that the occupation(s), training, experience, or courses meet the standards of the American Council on Education or equivalent standards for awarding academic credit; provided further, that the award of educational credit is based upon each institution’s admissions standards and is consistent with the mission of the commonwealth’s system of public higher education, as defined by the board, pursuant to section 1 of chapter 15A.  Each public institution of higher education shall designate a single point of contact for a student who is enrolled in such an institution and who is also a veteran, as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4 to initiate and pursue such an evaluation and determination.

(b) The board shall consult and collaborate with the boards of trustees in implementing the policy set forth in subsection (a) and the policy adopted by the board shall, to the greatest extent possible, provide for consistent application by all the commonwealth’s public institutions of higher education and promote accurate and complete academic counseling.

(c) The board shall adopt all necessary rules, regulations, and procedures to implement the provisions of this section, effective beginning March 1, 2013 and continuing thereafter.