Educational and training program for unemployed state residents

(a) The Board of Regents for Higher Education shall develop a program to meet the educational and training needs of unemployed state residents by providing access to short-term, noncredit programs of study at the Connecticut State Community College that lead to the acquisition of job-related skills and workforce credentials. (b) The Board of Regents for Higher Education shall establish an advisory committee to identify workforce needs, education and training requirements, support services and partnerships in fields with available or growing employment opportunities and in priority regions enduring high levels of unemployment. The advisory committee shall include representatives from the Labor Department, the Workforce Investment Boards, the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and labor organizations. The advisory committee shall examine the use of individual educational training accounts to assist participants, recommend eligibility requirements for participants, including, but not limited to, verification of unemployment and demonstration of financial need, and consider establishing pilot programs, the number and participants of which shall be determined by available funding resources. The advisory committee shall submit its recommendations to the Board of Regents for Higher Education on or before November 1, 2010. (c) The Board of Regents for Higher Education shall examine the costs associated with program delivery and modification for existing programs or the development of new noncredit programs focused on high-need, high-growth fields along with support for student tuition, fees, books, materials and academics. (d) The Connecticut State Community College shall leverage state funding dedicated to this initiative in applications for federal funding included in the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, the United States Department of Education's college access challenge grant program and other available grants for educational and career training programs to sustain and expand the individual educational training grants program throughout the Connecticut State Community College.