Work study opportunities available to student veterans

By Janice Semmel, December 2011
Copy Editor

On campus support for student veterans at Paradise Valley Community College is available through Veterans Services and the PVCC Veterans Association.

Veterans Services Work Study Opportunity
Work opportunities exist for student veterans for Spring 2012 in Veterans Services, according to Nancy McNeill, PVCC veterans certifying official and work study supervisor.

Work study duties include learning and working with the Student Information System and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ VA-ONCE computer systems, a means of submitting VA forms via Internet. The student employees also communicate with students, staff and faculty, managing telephone calls  and mailing the VA newsletter and other information to student veterans .

Charles Bunce, supervisor of work study Phoenix VA Health Care System, explains veterans implement the work study portion of their GI Bill benefits. They qualify for the work study program by being a veteran or a dependent of a disabled veteran. The program gives them three advantages according to Bunce:

McNeill stresses that the work study salary received is part of the GI Bill benefit, but this money does not reduce the GI Bill educational benefit portion received.

An eight-page document McNeill gave to all new student veterans at the New Student Veteran Orientation gave them a detailed road map of the complete process to Receiving Veterans Education Benefits.

Bunce classified the document as “unbelievable,” and said, “I would like to see that everybody in the system gets something like this to show around.”

A benefits packet  is available at Veterans Services and given out at every New Student Orientation .

October saw the start of a brand new email Veterans Services newsletter provided to anyone who supplies Veterans Services with a current email address.

For further information on applying for the PVCC Veterans Services work study program, contact McNeill at 602-787-7028 or email her at veteran.services@pvmail.maricopa.edu.

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 22
Gary Frankson, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 22 adjutant service officer, spoke at the Oct. 28 Veterans Association meeting.

The DAV helps veterans apply for their service benefits, said Frankson. Chapter service officers help veterans fill out forms, discuss benefits already earned and explain how to get them. As a voluntary, nonprofit organization, the DAV has done this since 1920, and there are 15 chapters located in Arizona .

Scottsdale Chapter 22 wants younger members involved in the DAV, so it continues to have a support system for veterans, Frankson explained, when veterans join through Chapter 22, Chapter 22 pays the initial $40 membership fee, and members pay annual fees of $10. Existing DAV members can also transfer their memberships to the chapter.

Chapter 22 also boasts its own service club located at 1510 N. 79th St., Scottsdale, AZ 85257, which it rents to generate income or reserves for Chapter 22 members free.

Frankson donated a generous check from Chapter 22 to the Veterans Association.

For more information on the DAV, contact Frankson at 480-947-9301 or AZ22adj@davfrat.org.

Club Meetings
The Veterans Association holds its last meeting of the semester on Friday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. in room M-128. At that time, the club plans to vote for a new club president since its outgoing president, Russell Glick, served the maximum term. He leaves the club with a solid foundation to continue to grow and to help veterans. Candidates should prepare to tell members why they qualify to be president. The club invites student veterans, veterans’ advocates, families and supporters to attend this meeting. For further information on the PVCC Veterans Association, go to http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/clubs/veterans/, http://www.studentveterans.org/pvcc/ and the club’s Facebook page at pvccveteransclub.