State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) and Representative Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) announced they have reached an agreement with the University of Illinois to increase access for veterans.
The lawmakers worked with University of Illinois Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Andreas Cangellaris, reaching an agreement to form a committee to focus on the issue. The group will include Dean Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell and Naval ROTC Commanding Officer Captain Anthony Corapi.
“I want to personally thank Provost Cangellaris for working with us to finally bring this process to a consensus conclusion, we’ve been working for a long time on this issue,” said Rose. “I’m ecstatic that he’s agreed to appoint Dean Hanley-Maxwell and Captain Corapi, as I believe they both truly have the best interests of our nation’s veterans at heart.”
“As a veteran, I want to ensure that our veterans and military personnel receive all of the academic credits they’ve earned when transferring to the University of Illinois,” Rep. Caulkins said. “Our other state universities have much more extensive policies on this already, and this will ensure that our veterans attending the U of I are treated fairly.”
“We welcome this partnership with our state to explore ways to make an Illinois education more accessible to those who have served their country,” said Illinois Provost Andreas Cangellaris.
The new committee will be tasked with studying the issues and finding ways to make it easier for veterans to transfer credits they’ve already earned and to receive credit for real-time, real-world work experience.
“After much discussion, I really want to thank Dean Hanley-Maxwell and Captain Corapi, if they hadn’t stepped forward to chair this committee, I think we would have been stuck going the legislative route,” said Rose.