Report to the General Assembly in Response to House Resolution 19

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REPORT TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
IN RESPONSE TO HOUSE RESOLUTION 19
Background
House Resolution 19 (HR19) was introduced on January 24, 2001 by
Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Eileen Lyons, Maggie Crotty, Constance Howard, and
George Scully - and adopted by the Illinois House of Representatives on February 8,
2001. This resolution directs the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) to conduct
an inquiry into the issues surrounding the Master’s of Social Work (MSW) degree at
Governors State University (GSU).1 Identical resolutions have been introduced in the
Illinois Senate (Senate Resolution 33, introduced by Senator Debbie Halvorson and
referred to the Senate Rules Committee, and Senate Resolution 34, introduced by Senator
Evelyn Bowles). Each of these resolutions specifically directs the Board to conduct at
least one public hearing related to the topic and to examine the following:
• the reasons that candidacy for accreditation of the program was denied,
• the efforts by the University to address the reasons for denial,
• the extent to which students were fully informed as to the status of the program,
and,
• options to address needs of affected students.
The resolutions also direct the Board to submit a report to the General Assembly
by March 15, 2001, recommending actions to address issues related to denial of
accreditation of the GSU’s MSW program and actions that can be taken to avoid such
occurrences at any public university or college in the future.
While the resolution was being considered in the House of Representatives, the
Board of Higher Education prepared to assume its responsibilities by passing the
following resolution at its February 6th meeting:
“The Board of Higher Education hereby authorizes the Chairman to appoint a
committee to conduct an inquiry into issues surrounding the master’s degree in
social work at Governors State University in the likely event that such task is
assigned to the Board of Higher Education by one or both houses of the Illinois
General Assembly.”
Chairman Rock appointed Board members James Kaplan (Chair), Thomas
Lamont, Lucy Sloan, and John Thompson to the Committee. A public hearing was held
Monday, February 26, 2001, at 10 a.m. in the Sherman Music Hall at Governors State
University, Governors Highway and Stuenkel Road, University Park, Illinois. Twenty-seven
students and nine other interested parties presented oral and written testimony to
the Board.
1 See Appendix A for copies of HR19, SR33 and SR34.