Proclaim ASVAB Career Month

Senate Resolution No. 95 BY: Senator BRESLIN MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim October 2016 as Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Career Exploration Month in the State of New York WHEREAS, New York State's commitment to education is unparalleled; and WHEREAS, Those individuals and institutions devoted to improving the quality of life for others, enabling them to build lives of dignity and self-worth, are deserving of the highest praise and recognition; and WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim October 2016 as Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Career Exploration Month in the State of New York; and WHEREAS, The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Career Exploration Program is a comprehensive career aptitude evaluation which is federally funded and available to schools free-of-cost; and WHEREAS, The audience are students primarily between 16 and 23 years of age who are attending a secondary or post-secondary education; and WHEREAS, The decision to enter college, technical or vocational school, military service or the civilian world of work after high school is an important one; the ASVAB-Career Exploration Program (CEP) is designed to help students learn more about themselves and the world of work, identify and explore potentially satisfying occupations, and develop an effective strategy to realize their goals/degree major; and WHEREAS, The main components of the ASVAB-CEP are: Multiple-Aptitude Test, Find-Your-Interest (FYI) Inventory, and Career Exploration Tool; and WHEREAS, Multiple-Aptitude Test: the ASVAB test covers eight areas including science, word knowledge, mathematics, and mechanical comprehension; it assesses a student's ability to learn new skills and is a predictor of success in training and education programs; and WHEREAS, Find-Your-Interest (FYI) Inventory: each student is given a

90-item interest inventory based on John Holland's widely accepted theory of career choice; upon completion of the FYI Inventory, students will receive three interest codes to use with the Department of Labor's OCCU-Find career exploration tool; and WHEREAS, Career Exploration Tool: OCCU-Find contains information on more than 400 occupations sorted alphabetically, by interest codes, and by career cluster which provides students a variety of ways to identify occupations that will be satisfying; many of the occupations in the OCCU-Find feature career videos highlighting a-day-in-the-life glimpse at that occupation; and WHEREAS, Upon the request of the secondary or post-secondary school, students would receive a post-test interpretation session where they could learn about how to use the ASVAB results in identifying and exploring potentially satisfying occupational fields/careers; and WHEREAS, ASVAB participants are not under any obligation to the military as a result of taking the ASVAB; and WHEREAS, The utilization of the ASVAB-CEP as a career planning tool could certainly attribute to a reduction of student loan and potentially, fewer federal loan defaults; and WHEREAS, Currently, there are 137 post-secondary schools/universities in the State of New York, from Adelphi University to Yeshiva University; and WHEREAS, As of June 30, 2015, there were 50,683 college students in default of their Federal Perkins Loan over or equal to 240 days; the Total Principal Outstanding on loans-in-default over or equal to 240 days in the amount of $178,271,175.00; and WHEREAS, Federal student loans are borrowed funds that must be repaid with interest; failure to repay a loan can result in default; the New York State default rate is 9.37% which is below the U.S. National Aggregate 11.39%; and WHEREAS, As a result, utilization of the ASVAB-CEP could reduce or prevent additional cost associated with majoring in the wrong collegiate degree program; by proclaiming October 2016 as Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery Career Exploration Month, in the State of New York, this would give counselors more options to test the 10th and 11th grade students; and WHEREAS, From time to time, society calls upon these individuals and institutions to be recognized for the significance of their contributions and efforts to assist others in developing the skills necessary to be successful citizens; and WHEREAS, New York State has recognized for many years the importance of a quality educational system and its relationship to the economic and social well-being of all its citizens; an important part of every school curriculum should be a thorough, comprehensive preparatory program that aids students in the process of career selection; and WHEREAS, Excellent school systems attempt to maximize all available resources to prepare students for vital contributing roles as citizens of this Nation; New York schools continually strive for improvement in their programs and services; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim October 2016 as Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Career Exploration Month in the State of New York; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York.