University of Kansas Collegiate Veterans Association

New GI Bill Update, Maximum In-State Tuition and Fees Released

Dan Parker — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:00:25 +0000

The Department of Veterans Affairs has released its preliminary list of maximum tuition per credit hour as it approaches its implementation of the new GI Bill. Some state’s figures are still under review but should be resolved soon. The preliminary information provided in this table is in accordance with VA’s statutory requirement to determine the highest in-state, undergraduate, public tuition as specified in 38 USC 3313(c)(1)(A). The figures for Kansas are $229.25 per credit hour, and $423.35 per semester for fees. At the University of Kansas in-state, undergraduate tuition is $229.25 per credit hour. KU’s tuition and fees for the 2008-2009 school year can be viewed here.

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IUPUI Veterans Center

Dan Parker — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:20:18 +0000

This is exactly the type of thing that we are trying to create here at KU:

IUPUI creates Office of Veterans Affairs

Amy Hillenburg ahillenb@md-times.com
December 10, 2008

Indianapolis

The Indiana campus with the largest population of student veterans will now have a service office, director and help from student veteran advocates.

Rebecca Porter, co-chair of the Student Veterans Task Force said Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is establishing this new initiative by bringing together what it already had going for veterans, identifying their needs and searching for an office director. She said IUPUI is 59th in the nation as far as its student veteran population, and that includes online schools.

Indiana has more than 1,200 students enrolled at IUPUI who receive benefits/services associated with military service.

This action comes just in time for the influx of the National Guard 76th Infantry Brigade — a group of soldiers who have recently returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the task force report, more than 4,000 members of the Indiana National Guard who will have returned by February, 2009, will significantly increase IUPUI’s student veteran enrollment.

Sgt. Russell Silver Jr., a 1999 Decatur Central High School graduate, has been at the forefront of lobbying for this initiative and was part of the task force. He is also president of the Student Veterans of America group he founded at IUPUI.

Earlier this year, Silver and representatives from 51 campus groups gathered in Washington, D.C. for their first national conference. They lobbied for the added components to the existing G.I. Bill, called the Supplemental Appropriations Act 2008.

Silver served four years of active duty with the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division, doing tours in Kosovo and Iraq. Since 2003, he’s been a sergeant with the Indiana National Guard’s 76th Infantry Brigade. He is also secretary for the national SVA organization and knows first hand the difficulties veterans face as many of them return home and try to access their benefits for college and for their dependents. The current system is fragmented and hard to navigate, Silver said, making IUPUI’s decision to create an Office of Veterans Affairs good news.

He said it is already hard for student veterans to juggle classes and military duties, as well as family obligations. They need help from colleges and universities to get the benefits they deserve and to fit into campus life.

Silver said in his report to the task force that the total student enrollment for IUPUI is 29,854. He said with some assistance from universities and colleges, student veterans can pursue their educational goals, making them a “highly successful investment for everyone involved.” He added that the universities benefit from ‘guaranteed’ student aid for these students and a steady stream of leaders to provide their unique experiences.”

“We have a very active student group here at IUPUI, and Russell has been very helpful to us as we reconfigure the reporting lines of two individuals,” Porter said last week. “We may have to add another person, using work-study funding. All things are in evolution.”

Porter added that the office would not only serve student veterans, but also their spouses and dependents, as well as other military service personnel.

The task force is also in the process of forming a budget for the office.

Its recommendations included:

-Revising orientation to have a process specific to veterans;

-Develop a resource for veterans, which provides them with information on government processes and deadlines to receive benefits;

-Analyze those students’ performance to identify their needs and opportunities;

-Establish learning communities and/or mentoring programs to help veterans succeed in their academic career;

-Identify a gathering space for those served by the Office for Veterans and Military Personnel.

Margaret Baechtold, a spokesman for the Bloomington IU campus, said student veterans already benefit from a support services office there and a full-time, military veteran professional staff member. She said student veterans have also provided support and advocacy for their peers on campus for many years.

For more information, you can e-mail Silver at russell.silver@studentveterans.org or access the student group at Veterans@IUPUI.

Article retrieved from The Mooresville-Decatur Times. 12/11/08:

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Veterans Permitted to Salute During National Anthem

admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:10:42 +0000

Recent VA News Releases

To view and download VA news release, please visit the following
Internet address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel
New Law Authorizes Veterans’ Salutes during National Anthem

WASHINGTON (Oct. 30, 2008) — Veterans and active-duty military not in
uniform can now render the military-style hand salute during the playing
of the national anthem, thanks to changes in federal law that took
effect this month.

“The military salute is a unique gesture of respect that marks those who
have served in our nation’s armed forces,” said Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “This provision allows the application of
that honor in all events involving our nation’s flag.”

The new provision improves upon a little known change in federal law
last year that authorized veterans to render the military-style hand
salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag, but it did
not address salutes during the national anthem. Last year’s provision
also applied to members of the armed forces while not in uniform.

Traditionally, members of the nation’s veterans service organizations
have rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events
involving the national flag while wearing their organization’s official
head-gear.

The most recent change, authorizing hand-salutes during the national
anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel, was sponsored
by Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, an Army veteran. It was included in the
Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which President Bush signed on Oct.
14.

The earlier provision authorizing hand-salutes for veterans and
out-of-uniform military personnel during the raising, lowering or
passing of the flag, was contained in the National Defense Authorization
Act of 2008, which took effect Jan. 28, 2008.

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Veteran’s Fridays

Dan Parker — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:54:35 +0000

This Friday Felix and I are reviving an old CVA tradition of heading out after classes and getting a couple beers. It’s something that we used to do every Friday a few years ago wen CVA first started and have gotten away from in the last couple years. We should be headed down to the Wheel around 2:00PM.

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MTV Choose or Lose Tour and IAVA

Dan Parker — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:19:38 +0000

Tonight the MTV Choose or Lose Tour will be in Lawrence at the Bottleneck. In addition to the music Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) will be there collecting signatures for B.R.A.V.E. (Bill of Rights for American Veterans) from concert-goers. IAVA is another free veterans organization and has done a great deal for veterans of our generation, if you’re not already familiar with them. The Bill of Rights for American Veterans is an excellent initiative to push our legislators to provide things that we can all agree on such as adequate mental health screenings for veterans, assistance to prevent homelessness amongst veterans, and comprehensive veterans health care just to name a few. You can learn more about IAVA’s legislative agenda here.

The show will start at 8:00PM, Locksley will be the featured act of the evening, the show is an all ages event. I’m volunteering a little of my time to help out and any other KU Collegiate Veterans members are certainly welcome to join us. If you want to help out simply contact me and we’ll get you a free ticket into the show.

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KU Collegiate Veterans has no ties to Iraq Veterans Against the War

Dan Parker — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:45:59 +0000

A little over a week ago, some students were confused by the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) display on campus. There was apparently some confusion between our organization (a registered student group at the University) and IVAW, an off-campus group visiting from Kansas City. KU Collegiate Veterans does not, and will not in the foreseeable future, have any association with IVAW. Our organizations are largely incompatible in their beliefs and missions. KU CVA is a nonpartisan organization that does not endorse political candidates or advocate a particular course of action in Iraq or Afghanistan. Our organizations can agree on only one point, that returning veterans deserve all the support that our nation can give.

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Kansas Veterans Promise, Kansas Governor and legislators dismissive of veterans

Dan Parker — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:46:31 +0000

Politicians claiming to be pro-veteran fail to return phone calls and emails from veterans.

Our latest initiative here at KU Collegiate Veterans Association is something that we’re calling the Kansas Veterans Promise. Initially is was inspired by the Ohio GI Promise, an executive order signed by Governor Strickland in July shortly after the passage of the new GI Bill. In the passing months many states have followed Ohio’s example by providing in-state tuition at their universities for any veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And scholarships to Kansas Army and Air Guard members who served in those conflict areas.

Unfortunately, our efforts in Kansas thus far have been met with unresponsiveness from both the Governor’s office and state legislators. We began calling and emailing both Governor Sebelius’ and various state legislators to include many Lawrence-area representatives and so far have received only a form letter from the Governor’s office telling us to contact our state legislators. The original intent behind contacting the Governor was to get an executive order signed creating the program as every other state has. But enough about the politics, how about a brief summary of what this program is intended to do.

The Kansas Veterans Promise is intended to grant in-state tuition and residency to any veteran of the Iraq and Afghan theaters who gains entrance to a Kansas Board of Regents institution and relocates to our state to attend college. Additionally, the program will provide funds to “top-up” the tuition of any Kansas resident who served honorably overseas but does not have enough Active Duty time to receive 100% compensation under the new GI Bill when it comes into effect next fall. The funding for this program is already available in the form of a veteran’s program that will become obsolete next fall when the new GI Bill comes online. The funds allotted for the then-defunct program will simply be rolled over to the new program.

This second clause is one that I came up with after having a conversation with a Kansas Army National Guard member who was wounded by an IED in Iraq, but still does not receive full education benefits because he was only activated for a total of two years. It seemed patently unfair to me that someone who served honorably and was wounded in combat would only be eligible for 60% compensation for education, while a service member that never deployed overseas but did their three years of honorable service would receive 100%.

KU Collegiate Veterans is willing to work with any interested veterans organizations that want to help make this idea a reality. We will be working closely with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and any other organization that expresses interest. With the VFW’s assistance we can hopefully get the traction with Kansas’ elected officials that our organization could not by itself.

If you believe that this is a worthy cause I urge you to contact your Kansas state legislator, and Governor Sebelius to let them know.

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Veterans Day at KU

admin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:05:04 +0000

For anyone interested in assisting in the planning of Veteran’s Day 2008 at the University of Kansas Please contact our organization (kucva@ku.edu) at your first convenience. We are currently planning the day’s activities with the KU Reserve Office Training Corps. We would be delighted to hear any ideas that you might have for this event and would be happy to accept any volunteers that want to help out with setting up the event as well.

We’re hoping that in Lawrence - for the first time - we can get the entire veterans community together by coordinating between Collegiate Veterans Association, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Dole Institute on campus, the KU Reserve Office Training Corps, and the KU Veterans Service Office in the Registrar’s Office.

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KU Veteran’s Tuition Payment Plan

Dan Parker — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:32:11 +0000

This year, before the new GI Bill comes online next fall, veterans at KU be free from the burdens traditionally placed on them by the University’s payment system. Traditionally veterans have been required to pay their tuition at the beginning of the semester like every other student. However, veterans do not receive their financial aid at the beginning of the semester like every other student. Instead they receive their benefits in monthly increments at the end of each month during the course of the semester. This meant that veterans had no funds to pay the tuition bill with when it was due in mid-August. Working together, members of KU Collegiate Veterans, the KU Bursar’s Office and the KU Registrar’s Office have found a new solution.

Starting in the summer term of 2008 veterans can pay their tuition increments as they receive their education benefits. This plan has been put in place on the account of every student receiving VA education benefits at KU. The implementation of this plan required its approval by the Kansas Board of Regents. Allowing students to make tuition payments up to the time when they receive their final installment from the Veteran’s Administration weeks after they have taken their last final of the term.

The impact on the lives of the individual veteran is significant. Instead of using credit cards or taking school loans to temporarily cover the tuition bill, the veteran can now prepare an actual financial plan for the coming school year. Now veterans at KU have a tuition payment plan that is tailored to their very specific needs. While next year chapter 30 recipients will be free from paying tuition, other recipients of VA education benefits will still be using this plan to ease the financial strain of getting an education in America today.

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Outsourcing the administration of GI Bill not the answer

Dan Parker — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:00:18 +0000

In the last two weeks it has come to light that the Bush Administration intends to outsource the administration of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. Not only will the initial launch of the GI Bill next fall be administered by an external contractor, but the long term administration will also be outsourced. There is no good reason for the VA to suddenly outsource a program that it has overseen with (relative) success since 1946. The indefinite outsourcing is unacceptable. That is why our organization along with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and Student Veterans of America will be contacting our representatives and urging them see that the long term management of the GI Bill remains within the Veterans Administration.

I urge everyone that reads this article to contact their legislators and keep the management of the GI Bill within our government and not some private entity. We, as veterans and citizens, cannot allow our government to back out of the GI Bill and endanger the program’s efficacy and integrity. Oversight and management in the VA is difficult to begin with, there is no sound reason to insert yet another layer of bureaucracy between veterans and their benefits.

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