Provides a program fee option to allow graduate students who have taken at least 30 credits towards the completion of a degree to maintain access to certain facilities within the state university in order to continue a research project or to pursue other academic requirements. / Sponsor: STAVISKY Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Provides tuition awards to children of veterans who served in armed conflict; amends the current law which provides regents awards to children of certain veterans of wars and disabled veterans in order to provide a free college education to children of any veteran who served in armed conflict regardless of disability status; defines amount of the tuition award, duration, and applicability. / Sponsor: KENNEDY Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Establishes the office for diversity and educational equity within the state university of New York administration. / Sponsor: DIAZ Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Relates to continuing medical education requirements for doctors, nurses and pharmacists; requires three hours of training on the prevention, treatment and mitigation of opiate analgesics and psychotropic drug addiction. / Sponsor: KENNEDY Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Establishes the volunteer firefighters and emergency medical service volunteer tuition assistance grant program; provides that counties shall have the option to establish such program by the enactment of a local law; provides for state reimbursement to counties for fifty percent of tuition assistance costs. / Sponsor: KENNEDY Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Requires registered professional nurses to attain a baccalaureate degree in nursing within ten years of their initial licensure; provides exemptions for those currently licensed or enrolled in nursing programs. / Sponsor: STAVISKY Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Enacts the higher education community service act to promote volunteer service by higher education students; creates a council for higher education community service to regulate and recognize persons and programs associated therewith; requires a report to the governor, temporary president of the senate and speaker of the assembly. / Sponsor: STAVISKY Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Relates to qualifications for certain appointed positions with the board of trustees for the state university and CUNY; prohibits trustees from being employees of the appointing authority. / Sponsor: STAVISKY Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Relates to observance of Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha by institutions within the state university and the city university of New York. / Sponsor: AVELLA Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Directs any retail establishment that sells any product or products containing as an active ingredient dextromethorphan, to limit direct access to such products in a manner designed to prevent the misuse or abuse of such products; provides that persons eighteen or younger are prohibited from purchasing; requires establishments to maintain a written or electronic log of information pertaining to the sale of such products. / Sponsor: GRISANTI Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Authorizes community colleges, college sponsors, and eligible local governments to establish community college regions to sponsor an existing community college operating under the program of SUNY, to transfer sponsorship from the existing sponsor to the community college region, and to protect the employment and collective bargaining rights of all employees of a community college. / Sponsor: LAVALLE Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Prohibits the deferral of awards granted under the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP); ensures that a TAP award will be paid on time so that the student may pay his or her tuition bill on time. / Sponsor: DIAZ Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Requires cultural awareness and competence training for medical professionals. / Sponsor: SERRANO Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Authorizes optometrists certified to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents for the treatment or prevention of ocular disease, to also use specified oral pharmaceutical agents in their practices; requires completion of a 25 hour phase three therapeutic pharmaceutical agent certification course of didactic education; permits the commissioner of health to recommend other categories of drugs that may also be prescribed. / Sponsor: LIBOUS Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Eliminates the licensure requirement of citizenship or permanent residence where such requirement presently exists in the professions of certified shorthand reporting, chiropractic, dental hygiene and dentistry, landscape architecture, land surveying, massage, medicine, midwifery, pharmacy, professional engineering, veterinary medicine and veterinary technology. / Sponsor: LIBOUS Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Requires optical stores which engage in the sale of prescription eye glasses or contact lenses to be registered with the education department; requires such stores to be under the direct supervision of a physician, ophthalmic dispenser or optometrist; directs department of education to promulgate rules and regulations necessary therefor; requires all optical stores to conspicuously display registration; makes related provisions. / Sponsor: MAZIARZ Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Relates to the practice of ophthalmic dispensing by ophthalmic dispensers pursuant to a visual assessment; provides that the commissioner of education shall establish educational and examination requirements to certify ophthalmic dispensers to practice visual assessment. / Sponsor: MAZIARZ Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Requires that no scholarship, grant or award offered by a state university of New York college shall, as a condition of eligibility, require that the student reside on campus in campus housing. / Sponsor: MAZIARZ Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Establishes tuition awards for members of the reserved armed forces of the United States; eligibility for such tuition benefit shall be determined by the education services offices of the division of military and naval affairs; restricts such tuition benefit to legal residents of the state; establishes a tuition award account. / Sponsor: MAZIARZ Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION

Provides for the award of regents scholarships and loan forgiveness for nurses on the same terms as physicians; applies to registered professional nurses as defined in section 6903 of the education law. / Sponsor: BRESLIN Committee: HIGHER EDUCATION