[Agvisors] FW: Workflow for Advisor and GI Bill Students

Wed Sep 30 11:46:25 MST 2015

Greetings Agvisors:
I am sending this email to request feedback regarding students with Veterans benefits.  Please read from the bottom up and tell me your reactions.  Although advisors are already doing this (to some capacity) it seems like an increase in advisor workload, but the VA staff reps. are implying that it is not exactly that.
Your feedback is valuable so please send me your thoughts by 10/7 so I can compile the information and share accordingly on behalf of CALS.
Thanks in advance.
Nancy

Nancy G. Rodriguez-Lorta, M.Ed. | Associate Director - Advising, Orientation and Retention
UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | Office of Career & Academic Services
Forbes Room 203 | PO Box 210036 |Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Phone: (520) 621-3611 | Fax: (520) 621-8662
Twitter: @CALS_UA  | Website: cals.arizona.edu/cas

To schedule an appointment call (520) 621-3616

The University of Arizona
Arizona's Land-Grant University

From: Cashen, Cori J. - (ccashen)
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 8:50 AM
To: Hensley, Martin B - (hensleyb); Vossler, Kendra M - (vosslerk); Jepsen, Heather R - (jepsenh); Catts, Roxie L - (catts)
Cc: Dowell, Regina M - (rdowell); Vlahos, Elizabeth C - (ecvlahos)
Subject: RE: Workflow for Advisor and GI Bill Students

Hi there:  As it sits today, we send advisors an email asking them to sign off on enrollment.  So we’re already doing this but it’s super clunky, time consuming and delays the process.

I had a few questions . . . I apologize if any are rudimentary, but I’m just not that familiar with the process myself.

•         What role do advisors currently play in the VA benefits approval process?

o   They approve classes as meeting a degree requirement or they deny the approval.

•         Is this request a “nice to have” workflow or is it being federally mandated?

o   It’s a nice to have but there is a federal mandate that all enrollment must be approved to meet a degree requirement in order for the VA to pay tuition.

•         How many students at UA receive VA benefits (i.e. what would the number of requests advisors would need to review each semester)?

o   About 1,200 each in fall/spring and the number of students are less in summer but the number of requests are probably close to the same enrollment is more difficult to manage.

•         If a student is pursuing a double degree do they need the primary advisor for each degree to sign off or just a single advisor?

o   Preferably we’d get the advisor that matches the degree—right now we just email all the advisors listed for the student.

•         #2 says “Their advisor should be sent an email listing the classes they selected for the certification.” Can the student select courses they are not enrolled in as part of the certification or is this intended to be an enrollment summary?

o   The student can only pick from a list of enrolled classes.

•         What is the timeline for the VA benefits process? When do the certification requests go out and when is the deadline for them to be returned?

o   This is part of the issue we’re hoping a workflow would fix—in order for students to get their money around the 1st day of class—we need to have them submitted to the VA 6 to 8 weeks prior.

•         #5 says “The advisor should be required to approve the major and minor combination as being appropriately combined.” What exactly does that mean? If a student is majoring in art with a minor in biology it would be the advisor’s call to determine whether those two subjects align toward a specific career? If this is a judgment call, what rubric would advisors use in making that determination?

o   This is a new requirement from the VA—if a student is pursuing what they call a “dual objective” (a major AND a minor or two majors or basically any additional non-required plan/sub-plan) then the student must tell us how that will impact their ability to get a job in their field and the advisor needs to agree.

Cori

[cid:image001.png at 01CFA7F3.15F5B730]

Cori J. Cashen | Assistant Registrar
The University of Arizona | Registrar’s Office
PO Box 210067 | Tucson, AZ 85721
📞520.626.9061 | FAX: 520.621.9473
ccashen at email.arizona.edu<mailto:ccashen at email.arizona.edu>

From: Hensley, Martin B - (hensleyb)
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 8:41 AM
To: Vossler, Kendra M - (vosslerk) <vosslerk at email.arizona.edu<mailto:vosslerk at email.arizona.edu>>; Jepsen, Heather R - (jepsenh) <jepsenh at email.arizona.edu<mailto:jepsenh at email.arizona.edu>>; Catts, Roxie L - (catts) <catts at email.arizona.edu<mailto:catts at email.arizona.edu>>
Cc: Dowell, Regina M - (rdowell) <rdowell at email.arizona.edu<mailto:rdowell at email.arizona.edu>>; Vlahos, Elizabeth C - (ecvlahos) <ecvlahos at email.arizona.edu<mailto:ecvlahos at email.arizona.edu>>; Cashen, Cori J. - (ccashen) <ccashen at email.arizona.edu<mailto:ccashen at email.arizona.edu>>
Subject: RE: Workflow for Advisor and GI Bill Students

Hi all. I am including Roxie in this email since the request has an impact on advisors.