Full Text of SJR0049 98th General Assembly
SJ0049 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois needs effective and quality | 3 | | education for all people; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career | 5 | | Success is the pathway to an Illinois where all residents have | 6 | | affordable access to high-quality educational opportunities | 7 | | that prepare Illinoisans for the jobs of the present and the | 8 | | future; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career | 10 | | Success has documented the critical role higher education plays | 11 | | in economic recovery and growth, particularly in ensuring that | 12 | | this State has an educated workforce to meet the needs of | 13 | | business and industry; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, By 2020, 67% of Illinois jobs will require a | 15 | | career certificate or college degree; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Forty-three percent of Illinois adults currently | 17 | | have an associate degree or higher; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, By 2018, the United States economy will have jobs | 19 | | for 22 million people with college degrees, but a shortage of | 20 | | nearly 8 million people with degrees; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The pipeline of young college graduates will not | 2 | | be enough to meet workforce skills demands; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and its higher education | 4 | | institutions have a responsibility for student success, | 5 | | including improved student retention, program completion, and | 6 | | graduation; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, One in five United States adults has some college | 8 | | credits but no degree; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career | 10 | | Success has recommended that the Board of Higher Education, in | 11 | | consultation with other higher education agencies, "develop a | 12 | | strategy to provide incentives to complete degrees, focusing on | 13 | | compacts between working adults and employers and on | 14 | | individuals with substantial college credit but no degree"; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Prior Learning Assessment is a strategy that | 16 | | should be considered as one way to support students' degree | 17 | | completion that addresses time-to-degree and college | 18 | | affordability barriers hindering working adults; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Prior Learning Assessment is the process by which | 20 | | an individual's experiential and other extra-institutional |
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| 1 | | learning is assessed and evaluated for the purposes of granting | 2 | | college credit, certification, or advanced standing toward | 3 | | further education or training; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Many institutions offering Prior Learning | 5 | | Assessments recognize the importance of ensuring that quality | 6 | | standards are in place for the assessment of a student's | 7 | | learning that will result to the award of college credit; | 8 | | therefore, be it
| 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 10 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 11 | | CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Higher Education Prior Learning | 12 | | Assessment Task Force is created under the direction of the | 13 | | Board of Higher Education; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be comprised of the | 15 | | following 14 members; one senator appointed by the President of | 16 | | the Senate; one senator appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 17 | | Senate; one representative appointed by the Speaker of the | 18 | | House of Representatives; one representative appointed by the | 19 | | Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and 10 members | 20 | | appointed by the Board of Higher Education to represent a | 21 | | cross-section of the higher education community and experts in | 22 | | experiential learning and national collegiate testing; and be | 23 | | it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Board of Higher Education shall provide | 2 | | administrative support to the Task Force; and be it further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That the members selected by the Board of Higher | 4 | | Education shall serve without compensation; and be it further | 5 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force's study shall include, but | 6 | | not be limited to, the following: | 7 | | (1) examining the history of Prior Learning Assessment and | 8 | | its impact on the adult and non-traditional learner in | 9 | | today's educational landscape; | 10 | | (2) examining policies and practices in other states; | 11 | | (3) determining existing Prior Learning Assessment methods | 12 | | being utilized among Illinois' public colleges and | 13 | | universities; | 14 | | (4) reviewing the quality standards necessary to | 15 | | adequately assess a student's learning, based upon | 16 | | experience, non-academic training, education, etc. that | 17 | | leads toward the award of college credit; | 18 | | (5) considering alternative methods to award college | 19 | | credit; | 20 | | (6) considering transferability of credit and student | 21 | | mobility; | 22 | | (7) the industry recognition of credentials earned through | 23 | | non-traditional means of demonstrating competency; |
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| 1 | | (8) the importance of college and university recognition of | 2 | | credentials awarded by industry; and | 3 | | (9) the acceptance of Prior Learning Assessment-based | 4 | | credits, credentials, or degrees by licensing bodies; and | 5 | | be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings and | 7 | | recommendations to the Board of Higher Education, the Illinois | 8 | | Community College Board, the Illinois Student Assistance | 9 | | Commission, the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois | 10 | | Department of Veterans Affairs, the General Assembly, and the | 11 | | Governor on or before December 1, 2016; and be it further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be dissolved after the | 13 | | submission of the report to the General Assembly and the | 14 | | Governor; and be it further | 15 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 16 | | delivered to the Governor and the chairpersons of the Board of | 17 | | Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, the | 18 | | Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the Illinois State | 19 | | Board of Education.
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