669-C - Volunteer recruitment service scholarships.
* § 669-c. Volunteer recruitment service scholarships. 1. The higher education services corporation is authorized, within amounts appropriated or otherwise lawfully available from any other source, to establish a recruitment scholarship program for volunteer organizations. 2. Definitions. As used in this section, the term: a. "Degree producing curriculum" shall mean a series of courses programmed to culminate in a specific post-secondary degree or diploma when successfully completed. b. "Full-time study" shall mean enrollment in an approved post-secondary degree program for at least twelve credit hours per semester or at least eight credit hours per quarter in an institution. c. "Institution" shall mean any institution of higher education recognized and approved by the regents or the university of the state of New York which provides a course of study leading to the granting of a post-secondary degree or diploma. d. "Legal resident" shall mean a person whose principal domicile is located within New York state in excess of one year. e. "Part-time study" shall mean enrollment in an approved post-secondary degree program for at least six but less than twelve credit hours per semester or at least four but less than eight credit hours per quarter in an institution. f. "Tuition" shall mean the total semester, quarter, or credit hour cost of instruction to the student as periodically published in the catalogue of the institution, specifically excluding mandatory fees, book charges, and room and board. g. "Tuition benefit" shall mean the payment of whatever cost is attributable to the cost of tuition after the deduction of any other available educational grant aid, not to exceed an amount equal to the annual tuition charged by the state university of New York. h. "Volunteer organization" shall mean "ambulance company" as defined in section three of the volunteer ambulance workers' benefit law or "fire company" as defined in section three of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law. 3. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the higher education services corporation is authorized to grant, based upon available funding, volunteer recruitment service scholarships which shall be awarded in the following manner: a. Volunteer organizations may annually submit one application to the higher education services corporation; b. Volunteer organizations submitting an application shall develop a policy for selecting the candidate that will be forwarded to the higher education services corporation; c. The higher education services corporation shall designate a date by which all applications shall be received by the corporation; d. The higher education services corporation shall award a volunteer recruitment service scholarship to all eligible applicants unless the number of applications received are greater than the funding available for the program, in which case the corporation shall develop a random system for selecting the recipients; e. A recipient of the volunteer recruitment service scholarship shall automatically continue to receive the scholarship once awarded provided that the recipient remains compliant with the provisions of this section, the recipient is continuously enrolled in a degree producing curriculum at an institution of higher education, and funding is available; and f. The higher education services corporation shall develop a system for certifying each semester or quarter that the recipient is compliantwith the conditions enumerated in subdivision four of this section prior to receiving the tuition benefit. 4. Recipients of the volunteer recruitment service scholarships shall: a. Have been a member of the volunteer organization for less than six months at the time of the initial award, provided that this paragraph shall not apply to any individual under the age of twenty-three; b. Maintain an active volunteer status, as determined by the volunteer organization, for the duration of the scholarship; c. Have graduated from high school or have received a high school equivalency diploma and shall not possess a baccalaureate degree or higher; d. Be enrolled in a degree producing curriculum at an institution located within a fifty mile radius of the volunteer organization; provided that if no such institution exists, the next closest institution; e. Maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.00; f. Be a legal resident of the state; and g. Apply for all other available state, federal, or other educational grant aid at the time of enrollment. Any grant aid or financial assistance received shall be utilized to offset the cost of tuition to the maximum extent possible, except that nothing shall require that aid or assistance received which may be used towards costs other than that of tuition shall be applied toward the cost of tuition. 5. The tuition benefit provided by this section may be used for either part-time or full-time study. 6. Upon the recipient's attainment of a baccalaureate degree or cessation of status as a volunteer with the volunteer organization, whichever occurs first, the tuition benefit provided by this section shall be discontinued. The tuition benefit provided by this section shall be suspended at the direction of the higher education services corporation for a recipient's failure to continue to serve as a volunteer with the volunteer organization, for the failure to maintain good academic progress and program pursuit, for the failure to maintain sufficient academic standing to retain eligibility for any other financial assistance the recipient may be receiving, or for the failure to comply with any provision of this section. 7. Unless otherwise provided for in this section, the tuition benefit for the volunteer recruitment service scholarships shall be on the terms and conditions set by the higher education services corporation, provided that any such tuition benefit for: a. full-time study shall not exceed an amount equal to the annual tuition charged to the recipient or the tuition charged by the state university of New York, whichever is less; b. part-time study shall not exceed an amount equal to the part-time tuition charged to the recipient or the per credit hour tuition charged by the state university of New York multiplied by the number of credit hours taken, whichever is less. 8. The higher education services corporation is hereby authorized to promulgate any rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this section. 9. Pursuant to regulations adopted by the corporation, a recipient of a scholarship may enroll in a degree producing curriculum at an institution located outside of the fifty mile radius of the volunteer organization, as required by subdivision four of this section, provided that: a. the scholarship recipient volunteers for a volunteer organization whose service area contains the institution where the student is enrolled;b. the scholarship recipient enters into a joint service agreement, on forms prescribed by the corporation, between the volunteer organization granting such scholarship and a volunteer organization whose service area contains the institution where the student is enrolled detailing the volunteer service to be provided for both volunteer organizations; c. the volunteer organization may deny a request to enter into a joint service agreement; and d. the volunteer firefighters and applicable volunteer organizations shall comply with subdivision one-a of section two hundred nine-i of the general municipal law. * NB Repealed June 30, 2010