Certifying and VA Payment of Tuition

Posted: December 22, 2011 by Paul in News
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I recently received a letter from the VA telling me about the upcoming Spring semester, but I was a little bit surprised by the wording. It stated that they would not be paying for any tuition and fees. I asked Margaret Flint about this, and she offered a response to clarify the process. Definitely wanted to pass this along to anyone else out there that may have received something similar.

Margaret,

I just received a letter from the VA.. the normal letter I receive talking about benefits/enrollment, etc.

I was confused by this however:

 ”A tuition and fee payment will not be made on the following enrollment since there are no charges.

 University of Tampa reported that you were not charged tuition for the certified enrollment period beginning January 17, 2012 and ending May 6, 2012; therefore, VA did not pay towards your tuition.

 University of Tampa reported that you were not charged fees for the certified enrollment period beginning January 17, 2012 and ending May 6, 2012; therefore, VA did not pay towards your fees.”

Can you explain to me what this means? Why are they saying that UT is not charging tuition?

 

And she responded very quickly with this:

Hi Paul,

To hopefully clear up any confusion: for the past three semesters, I have been certifying each student twice every semester; once, to report enrolled hours, and a second time to report net charges (tuition/fees).  The purpose of this process is to ensure timely payment of BAH and books as a result of pre-certification and then accurate, although delayed, payment of tuition and fees.  Since student schedules and financial aid (now a critical element of invoicing) are not “locked in” until after the first week of school, reporting tuition and fees too early can create problems for both students and school.

As for the VA letter, maybe I certified too early this term, or maybe the VA is trying to be more proactive with communication, because I’m doing the same thing this time as I did last time.

So… long story short: crisis averted.

Also FYI: The BAH rate was reduced to $1500 for 2012. This doesn’t mean you will get the lower rate, however. As long as you do not change schools or have a break in between longer than 6 months, your rate will remain the same.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Vetrepreneur

Posted: November 23, 2011 by Paul in Events
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We just wanted to point out that our own Vice President, Paul Szoldra, recently won some competitions where he pitched his business idea, CollegeVeteran.com.

Last Thursday, in front of a crowd of over 500, in addition to three judges to include Kevin Harrington from ABC’s Shark Tank, Paul gave his two-minute pitch of his idea. Talking about the difficulties with searching for the right college and learning about going through the process of applying, he put forth his concept- a website that connects the huge number of veterans who are in college or who aspire to be. In this competition, he shared first place with 2 other teams.

The next day, he gave a longer 15-minute presentation at UT where he expanded upon the concept. He talked about the market reach and potential revenues. He was able to take home second place in this competition.

It was a great week for Paul and we just wanted to pass the word along. The site is currently under development, but you can sign up for the mailing list and share it with friends here.

Last Chance for Tickets!

Posted: October 25, 2011 by Paul in Events
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Please support the biggest day of the year for the SVO as well as Liberty Manor (www.libertymanor.org) as the benefiting charity and celebrate it with fellow veterans & friends!  Here are the dates/times where you can grab tickets:

  • Wednesday, Monthly SVO Meeting – 10/26 @ 5pm, ROTC Building, Room 101
  • Thursday, 10/27, 8am – 5pm – Vaughn Center – Come by the SVO table and pick them up!

We need an official head count after next week. If you can’t make these times, please contact veterans@ut.edu in order to reserve your tickets.

Veterans Day Dinner: Tickets Now Available

Posted: October 12, 2011 by Paul in Events, News
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Our Veterans Day Dinner is coming up on November 11th and there is limited seating and tickets available! Read below and support this great event for a great cause!

The University of Tampa Student Veterans Organization present the Veterans Day Dinner in the Plant Hall Grand Salon.

This dinner is open to all University of Tampa Student and Faculty Veterans. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to a local veterans charity.

Dress Code:
Business Formal or Military Dress Uniform

Menu:
Sliced Top Sirloin with Hunter Sauce, your choice of vegetable (Broccoli or Cauliflower), Caesar Salad, Dinner Rolls, Twice Baked Potato, Apple Pie

Sequence of Events:
5:30 
Check-in/Registration 
5:40 
Fallen Heroes Table Recognition – Shae Ley
5:45-5:50
Honor Guard, Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem
6:00-6:30
Guest of Honor/Speaker (TBD)
6:30
Dinner Begins
7:45
Closing Remarks
8:00
Event End

This is a ticketed and very limited seating event so it will be first come, first served. Tickets for Student Veterans and/or their dependents are $10/each. All other ticket sales will be for $20/each. Ticket purchase also gets you entered into the raffle!

For tickets, please see Paul Szoldra, Shae Ley, or Joe Walters, or look for our table in the Vaughn Center in the coming weeks. You can also send an email to veterans@ut.edu or comment on this event to ask for tickets.

Come support this great event for a great cause! Thanks.

—A limited number of tickets will be available to our wonderful non-veteran supporters!—

UT SVO Newsletter

Posted: October 6, 2011 by Paul in News
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We started up a newsletter to get the word to everyone out there about events coming up and other opportunities for veterans on campus. This of course is just “another cog in the wheel” of our Social Media strategy and hope that you’ll sign up and enjoy the updates every once-in-a-while. The newsletter has other things that aren’t always going to be on the website or the Facebook page so check it out.

You can sign up here.

First Meeting Notes

Posted: October 1, 2011 by Paul in College Life, Events
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We had a great first meeting of the semester and a really awesome turnout. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for coming and hope you had a good time. We are very excited about the many things we have planned in the future and hope that everyone in attendance felt the same way.

Great Turnout at our First Meeting of the Semester in Rescom Community Room

If you weren’t able to attend the meeting, here’s a brief synopsis of the topics discussed:

Officer Introductions: Eddie Hoffmann, President, Paul Szoldra, Vice President, Farida Burenbeiya-Graham, Vice President of Finance, Danny Josecite, Vice President of Outreach

Past Events and Accomplishments: Veterans Day Event 2010, WWII Veterans Honored by French Government, and Gateways for Veterans Class

Ongoing Projects: University of Tampa Veterans History Project, Volunteer Opportunities at the VA Hospital, UT Fellows/Veterans Alliance

Future Ops: Veterans Day Events/Dinner, 11/11/2011, UT Fellows Career Panel Discussion, 11/16/2011 @ 5pm, Toys for Tots, December

We also formed up and assigned members to committees. Our Planning Committee will be in charge of strategic planning, execution of events and activities, and tasked with developing new initiatives. The Finance Committee is tasked with developing our budget and financial statements. They also will be reaching out for fundraising support. Finally, our Outreach Committee will be our public relations face, interfacing with other groups, coordinating events, and building relationships in our community.

You had to be in attendance to sign up for membership within the Student Veterans Organization. If you would like to be a member but could not attend, please send an email to paul.szoldra@spartans.ut.edu with the following information to be added to our membership:

  • Your Name and Graduation Year
  • Email Address
  • Phone Number
  • Career Interest
  • Area You Wish to Volunteer In (Not Required if you do not wish to be on a Committee)

First Meeting of the Semester!

Posted: September 20, 2011 by Paul in Events
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Just wanted to pass on the word to all of you that our first meeting of the semester is coming up very soon. We’ll be getting together on 9/28 (Next Wednesday) at 5-6pm in the RESCOM Community Center. This is located next to the Thomas Parking Garage right behind the Campus Security building. We would love for everyone to attend at least this first meeting because we have a lot of information to get out to you and we also want to hear some of your feedback as well. If you have a class, or just show up late, that’s ok too- we’ll be around until around 6:30.

To give you an idea of the agenda- we’re going to be introducing the officers of the organization, talking about past, ongoing, and future event plans and we’ll be brainstorming about any new ideas you may think of. If you would like to help out, we’ll also be discussing committee assignments and possible leadership roles.

Food and drinks will be provided! Please bring yourselves, your significant others/kids if you would like, and be prepared to meet some great people with similar experiences.

We would appreciate an RSVP (Not required but will help give us an idea of the turnout) here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=232323883483681

Thanks and look forward to seeing you!

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