Recent changes to the GI Bill have elongated the process student vets must endure to receive benefits. In a development pulled straight from the Tea Party’s list of grievances, what had been a five minute process now lasts more that a half hour.
These changes affect student vets nationwide, and our university is no exception. At AU, many student vets have not received their GI Bill benefits on time since the start of this semester.
Clearly, these delays have exposed the need for more veteran resources at AU. Fortunately, our school seems to recognize the problem and is responding appropriately.
Currently, AU has over 200 self-identified veterans that receive federal Veteran Affairs benefits. This number has almost doubled since 2009 levels of 119 student vets.
In an effort to adjust to these increases, AU announced last November that it would create a new staff position in AU Central specifically to handle veterans’ affairs. Two AU Central staff members were recently certified to assist in processing these benefits payments.
Delays aside, we applaud AU for making these additions and earning its reputation as a veteran-friendly school.
The demand for assistance in accessing veterans’ benefits had drastically outpaced its supply.
While AU established a veteran liaison network to create a “one-stop resource place for veterans” in 2009, student vets still had only one staff member that assists with their financial paperwork. AU Central Associate Director Valerie Verra receives rave reviews from AU student vets for her hard work and dedication, yet she could only be stretched so thin.
In fact, because Verra’s position holds additional responsibilities, she could only spend a fraction of her time assisting veterans in processing their payments.
Combined with the additional time now needed to process veterans’ benefits due to changes in the law, the lack of personnel simply added rolls of red tape.
Once one acknowledged this clear lack of veterans’ resources, the need allocating for additional personnel to veterans affairs was clear.
The housing assistance money that the veterans are waiting for would be important for any student, but it is especially important for the student vet population. Many veterans are primarily older students, ones with additional financial responsibilities – mortgages, marriages and even daycare bills. Any delay in their payments holds great consequence.
Hiring and training new personnel is not an easy process, and we applaud AU for working to meet the needs of the student veterans.
As AU’s veteran population continues to grow, we hope the administration continues to redistribute their resources accordingly.
