Bill Text: NY S01867 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Enacts the higher education community service act to promote volunteer service by higher education students; creates a council for higher education community service to regulate and recognize persons and programs associated therewith; requires a report to the governor, temporary president of the senate and speaker of the assembly.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S01867 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S01867-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1867 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 17, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "higher education community service act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and 2 declares that the American tradition of volunteer community service is 3 essential to the common good and is vital to the success of not-for- 4 profit agencies, institutions and organizations dealing with a vast 5 array of critical social problems. It recognizes growing support for the 6 idea that postsecondary students should receive recognition for substan- 7 tial commitment to volunteer service, and should be given greater 8 encouragement to participate in volunteer community service activities. 9 Volunteers and volunteer programs should be praised for their efforts in 10 helping and serving others, which result in changes in the way the 11 community views young people and in the way young people view their 12 responsibilities to the community. 13 The legislature further declares its desire to promote further inte- 14 gration of community service at institutions of higher education by 15 encouraging student-initiated and student-designated community service 16 projects. 17 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 319 to read 18 as follows: 19 § 319. Higher education community service act. 1. Short title. This 20 section shall be known and may be cited as the "higher education commu- 21 nity service act". 22 2. Establishment of higher education community service act. There is 23 hereby established a higher education community service act for the 24 purpose of promoting and recognizing volunteer service involvement by EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08219-01-9S. 1867 2 1 students in higher education. Activities conducted under the higher 2 education community service act shall include: 3 a. a campus based screening process to identify and nominate success- 4 ful and promising community service projects and initiatives for recog- 5 nition; 6 b. identification of existing quality community service programs, 7 projects and initiatives involving postsecondary students that produce a 8 sense of social responsibility and commitment to the community; 9 c. incentives for institutions of higher education, students and other 10 members of the college community to participate in long term community 11 service programs; 12 d. encouragement of institutions to formulate a systematic process to 13 disseminate information concerning prospective volunteer projects to the 14 participants of general volunteer programs on or off campus; 15 e. establishment of a foundation to receive private funds to be used 16 to promote a wide variety of service related projects. Private funds 17 shall include, but not be limited to donations, grants and fundraisers; 18 and 19 f. establishment of a three-year program of implementation, including 20 pilot programs and ongoing review and evaluation. 21 3. Establishment of volunteer connections. The commissioner, in 22 consultation with the chancellor of the state university, the chancellor 23 of the city university of New York and the president of the commission 24 on independent colleges and universities shall develop a program to 25 establish effective volunteer connections between institutions of higher 26 education and their respective communities. 27 4. Council for higher education community service. a. A council for 28 higher education community service shall be established within the 29 department for the purpose of conducting activities pursuant to this 30 section. The council shall be composed of eleven members, one of whom 31 shall be the commissioner, ex officio, and ten of whom shall be 32 appointed by the governor: two on the recommendation of the temporary 33 president of the senate, two on the recommendation of the speaker of the 34 assembly, one on the recommendation of the minority leader of the 35 senate, and one on the recommendation of the minority leader of the 36 assembly. Such members shall include representatives of the state 37 university, city university of New York, the independent colleges and 38 universities of New York and the New York campus compact. Two of the 39 council members shall be students, selected by the governor. The coun- 40 cil shall select from among its appointed members a chair and vice chair 41 who shall serve in office for terms of one year and who shall be eligi- 42 ble for reelection for successive terms. 43 b. The council shall oversee the creation of a statewide postsecondary 44 community service center to disseminate information regarding existing 45 volunteer activities, make volunteer connections between students and 46 the communities, integrate public and community service into the curric- 47 ulum, provide guidance and coordination, monitor and evaluate volunteer 48 programs and activities and promote the continuation of public and 49 community service. 50 c. The council shall meet at least four times each year. Members of 51 the council shall receive no compensation for their services but shall 52 be reimbursed by the higher education community service foundation for 53 reasonable expenses actually and necessarily incurred by them in the 54 performance of their duties pursuant to this section. 55 d. The council shall report by September first each year to the gover- 56 nor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assem-S. 1867 3 1 bly on the progress of implementation of this section, with recommenda- 2 tions for future activities. 3 5. Petitioning by council. The council shall, within ninety days of 4 its appointment, petition the regents to incorporate as a private, not- 5 for-profit education corporation under this chapter, the New York foun- 6 dation for higher education community service, to receive funds to be 7 used as requested by the council to support and administer activities 8 authorized in this section, and other projects that encourage and assist 9 community service activities. 10 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of September next 11 succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
