HB 4145, passed in 2010, includes extensive requirements for all state colleges and universities to become more "veteran friendly." Included among the mandatory assignments were the following: coordinating college disability services with those provided by the federal veterans administration, establishing a system to award of academic credit for military training and experience, providing counselors trained to respond to the unique needs of veterans, and appointing and training faculty members in each program or major so serve as liaisons to veteran students, etc. When passed, this legislation was the most progressive in the entire country.
In 2013, Delegate Fleischauer worked with WVU’s student veterans to achieve passage of HB 2490 and HB 2491. Because of 2491, our Code now requires the appointment of Veterans Advocates at all state institutions of higher education. This bill also sets out requirements for schools to provide greater assistance to incoming veterans at colleges and universities so that they can make the most of their GI bill and Yellow Ribbon (a federal higher education assistance bill for veterans) benefits. Because of filing deadlines and other issues, some students received funding late and had difficulties with rent and tuition payments. HB 2491 established a uniform course completion policy for veteran students called up to active duty. The goal is to ensure that college students suddenly called up for a military drill during a semester are not penalized for their military service.