Bill Text: HI SCR182 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: University of Hawaii; Veteran Support

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Referred to PSM/HEA, WAM. [SCR182 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-SCR182-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	182
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

Urging the University of Hawaii to establish a veterans resource OFFICE to support veterans.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, there are more than two-thousand four hundred veterans enrolled across the ten campuses of the University of Hawaii System, comprising four per cent of the student body; and

 

     WHEREAS, veterans provide a wealth of leadership, talent, expertise, and experience to classrooms and university campuses; and

 

     WHEREAS, veterans can face unique challenges when integrating back into society, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, physical and mental disabilities, risk of suicide, and hypervigilance; and

 

     WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii System does not have a dedicated office to address the educational needs of veterans and to encourage and recruit veterans to earn high quality degrees that will help them find rewarding employment; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the University of Hawaii is urged to establish a Veterans Resource Office and a Veterans Resource Center at each campus to support veterans in obtaining high quality degrees and to increase veteran enrollment; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each Veterans Resource Center is urged to:

 

     (1)  Conduct campus surveys of student veterans to identify the needs, address important issues, and collect suggestions of veterans;

 

     (2)  Establish a campus steering committee consisting of student veterans, faculty, and staff to:

 

          (A)  Develop programs to establish or strengthen the veteran supportive campus program based on best practices; and

 

          (B)  Identify the needs of the student veterans;

 

     (3)  Conduct sensitivity and awareness training for faculty and staff on military and veteran culture, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, physical and mental disabilities, suicide risks, and hypervigilance;

 

     (4)  Conduct student veteran orientation programs, including student veteran guides for the first day of classes;

 

     (5)  Establish peer mentoring and peer support programs for student veterans;

 

     (6)  Establish an optional veterans-only course taught by a veteran or by a trained volunteer on veteran issues;

 

     (7)  Develop and implement outreach strategies to local military bases;

 

     (8)  Act as a comprehensive resource and study center for student veterans, their families, and student family members of the armed forces who are currently deployed on active duty;

 

     (9)  Collaborate with the community to obtain support from private organizations;

 

    (10)  Conduct career and job placement services for student veterans; and

 

    (11)  Take other actions to support student veterans; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Veterans Resource Office is urged to offer a Veterans Supportive Campus certification to any campus that has successfully implemented and achieved the goals established by this Concurrent Resolution; an

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents; the President of the University of Hawaii System; and the Director of the State Office of Veterans' Services.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

University of Hawaii; Veteran Support