Bill Text: NJ S2696 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires public institution of higher education to award academic credit to certain volunteer emergency responders.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee [S2696 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2696-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires public institution of higher education to award academic credit to certain volunteer emergency responders.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning academic credit at public institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 62 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A public institution of higher education shall award academic credit to a volunteer emergency responder enrolled in the institution, provided that:
(1) the student is enrolled in an undergraduate degree-granting program;
(2) the volunteer service was performed within five years before the student's initial enrollment in the institution or is being performed concurrently with the student's enrollment in the institution;
(3) the student provides proof to the institution of the number of volunteer hours performed;
(4) the student volunteered with a volunteer fire company, duly incorporated first aid, rescue, or ambulance squad, or a county or municipal volunteer Office of Emergency Management, provided the student's official duties include responding to a fire or emergency call; and
(5) the student held the appropriate certificate while performing the volunteer service, as applicable.
b. Academic credit shall be awarded commensurate with the number of hours the student served as a volunteer emergency responder and shall be applied toward relevant coursework offered by the institution.
c. The Secretary of Higher Education shall develop credit recommendations for a public institution of higher education to award academic credit pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any public institution of higher education to admit a student or to waive its admission standards and application procedures.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full academic year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires public institutions of higher education to award academic credit to certain volunteer emergency responders.
Under the bill, a public institution of higher education is to award academic credit to a volunteer emergency responder enrolled in the institution, provided that: (1) the student is enrolled in an undergraduate degree-granting program; (2) the volunteer service was performed within five years before the student's initial enrollment in the institution or is being performed concurrently with the student's enrollment in the institution; (3) the student provides proof to the institution of the number of volunteer hours performed; (4) the student volunteered with a volunteer fire company, duly incorporated first aid, rescue, or ambulance squad, or a county or municipal volunteer Office of Emergency Management, provided the student's official duties include responding to a fire or emergency call; and (5) the student held the appropriate certificate while performing the volunteer service, as applicable.
Pursuant to the bill, academic credit is to be awarded commensurate with the number of hours the student served as a volunteer emergency responder and the credits are to be applied toward relevant coursework offered by the institution.
Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary of Higher Education to develop credit recommendations for a public institution of higher education to award academic credit as required under the bill.
