[Text of section added by 2012, 108, Sec. 5. See also, Section 42 added by 2012, 139, Sec. 51, below.]

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Section 42. (a) The council shall develop and adopt a written policy requiring each public institution of higher education to develop a set of written policies and procedures governing the evaluation of a student’s military occupation, military training, coursework and experience, to determine whether academic credit shall be awarded by the institution for the evaluated occupation, experience, training and coursework. The council’s policy may require that the occupation, training, experience or courses meet the standards of the American Council on Education or equivalent standards for awarding academic credit. The council may also develop and adopt a written policy requiring each public institution of higher education to develop a set of written policies and procedures to standardize credit-by-exam equivalencies for exams funded through the Department of Defense. The educational credit shall be awarded based upon each institution’s admissions standards and shall be consistent with the mission of the commonwealth’s system of public higher education, as defined by the council under section 1. Each public institution of higher education shall designate a single point of contact for a student who is enrolled in such an institution and who is also a veteran, as defined in clause Forty-third of section 7 of chapter 4, to conduct such an evaluation and determination.

(b) The council shall consult with the chief executive officers of each public institution of higher education in implementing the policy set forth in subsection (a) and the policy adopted by the council shall, to the greatest extent possible, provide for consistent application by all the commonwealth’s public institutions of higher education and promote accurate and complete academic counseling.

[Text of section added by 2012, 139, Sec. 51. See also, Section 42 added by 2012, 108, Sec. 5, above.]

Section 42. The commissioner shall establish in the department of higher education, an office of coordination. The commissioner shall appoint a director to operate and administer the office who shall have experience with workforce development in the public or private sector. The director shall work to establish a clearinghouse for all training opportunities provided by public higher education institutions. The University of Massachusetts, state universities and community colleges shall report to this office every workforce training opportunity the institutions provide for the institutions’ students and others in the workforce and all workforce training requests the institutions received but were not able to meet. The director shall maintain a public website listing all training opportunities offered by public higher education institutions and shall provide support for employers with workforce training needs that can be served through public higher education institutions. The director shall provide information to public higher education institutions to help the institutions provide workforce development services in the most efficient manner possible and eliminate redundancies in the commonwealth’s public higher education workforce development offerings. The director shall establish a program for employers newly opened in or relocated to the commonwealth to apprise these employers of workforce training programs offered through public higher education institutions and provide assistance in securing workforce development grants through the department of higher education. The office of coordination shall coordinate with existing workforce development programs provided by the commonwealth. The director shall prepare an annual report for publication on progress to improve the effectiveness of the commonwealth’s workforce development efforts offered through public higher education institutions and shall report regularly to the public on the progress the office is making towards achieving the stated goals.

The annual report, which shall be in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a commissioner-approved plan for the year, including the goals set for the year and the performance measurements by which to evaluate those goals and programs or initiatives to meet those goals; (ii) the number, nature and amount of trainings facilitated and grants awarded to employers assisted by the office; and (iii) a description of technical assistance that the office provided.

The annual report of the office shall be made available to the public on the commonwealth’s website not later than December 31 and shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means.