1Providing for duties of certain institutions of higher education
2relating to services for veterans and for the powers and
3duties of the Department of Education.

4The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5hereby enacts as follows:

6Section 1. Short title.

7This act shall be known and may be cited as the Developing
8Opportunities in Veterans' Education Act.

9Section 2. Definitions.

10The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12context clearly indicates otherwise:

13"Department." The Department of Education of the
14Commonwealth.

15"Institution of higher education." A public or private
16university, college or community college in this Commonwealth.

17Section 3. Duties of institutions of higher education.

1An institution of higher education shall:

2(1) Designate a single point of contact, from whom
3service members and veterans can receive help with admission,
4benefits, peer mentoring and other academic, social, personal
5and financial needs.

6(2) Post its service members' and veterans' services and
7programs on its publicly accessible Internet website, in its
8campus brochure and other readily accessible information
9sources.

10(3) Post its service members and veterans withdrawal
11policies for mobilization and deployment and credit transfer
12on its publicly accessible Internet website and other readily
13accessible points, and use an "M" on formal transcripts to
14denote a mobilization. The use of "withdrawal" or
15"incomplete" on the formal transcripts of mobilized service
16members and veterans is prohibited.

17(4) Track service members and veterans through the
18application and enrollment process and report the number of
19service members and veterans enrolled to the Office of
20Veterans Services within the department by December 31 of
21each year.

22(5) Use guidelines developed by the department to adopt
23policies for the awarding of academic credit to service
24members and veterans for military education, training and
25experience in accordance with the Guide to the Evaluation of
26Educational Experiences in the Armed Services, published by
27the American Council on Education.

28Section 4. Duties of department.

29The Office of Veterans Services in the department shall:

30(1) Track and report the number of service members and

1veterans enrolled at institutions of higher education to the
2Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee and the
3Education Committee of the Senate and the Veterans Affairs
4and Emergency Preparedness Committee and the Education
5Committee of the House of Representatives by June 30 of each
6year.

7(2) Post on its Internet website its best practices
8manual on veterans education.

9(3) Develop a program to certify institutions of higher
10education as "Devoted to Our Veterans" Campuses based on
11their military-friendly or veteran-supportive programs and
12services.

13(4) Develop guidelines for institutions of higher
14education to award academic credit to certain students for
15military education, training and experience.

16Section 5. "Devoted to Our Veterans" Campuses.

17(a) General rule.--An institution of higher education may
18submit an application to the department to be certified as a
19"Devoted to Our Veterans" Campus. The department shall maintain
20a list of certified "Devoted to Our Veterans" campuses on its
21publicly accessible Internet website. The department shall make
22a reasonable effort to notify institutions of higher education
23that they can be certified as a "Devoted to Our Veterans"
24Campus.

25(b) Criteria.--An institution of higher education shall be
26certified as a "Devoted to Our Veterans" Campus if the
27institution of higher education submits an application to the
28department and demonstrates at least three of the following
29criteria:

30(1) A campus survey of service members and student

1service members and veterans to identify needs.

2(2) A campus steering committee consisting of student-
3veterans, faculty and staff to identify needs, make
4recommendations for improvements and share best practices for
5supporting student service members and veterans.

6(3) Sensitivity and awareness training on military and
7veterans' culture, including issues related to Traumatic
8Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, suicide and
9physical and mental disabilities.

10(4) Student-veteran orientation programs, including
11student-veteran guides for the first day on campus, an
12optional student-veterans' orientation session and at least
13one optional veterans-only course taught by a veteran or
14trained volunteer on veterans' issues.

15(5) Peer mentoring and peer support programs for
16student-veterans and service members.

17(6) Outreach strategies to local military bases.

18(7) A centrally located, one-stop resource and student
19center on campus for student-veterans, their families and
20student family members of the United States Armed Forces who
21are currently deployed.

22(8) Community-based collaboration efforts to allow the
23private sector to support veterans resource centers through
24financial aid and in-kind gifts.

25Section 6. Effective date.

26This act shall take effect in 60 days.