Veterans Affairs Office
College programs are approved by the North Carolina State Approving Agency for educating and training veterans, dependents of deceased or disabled veterans, and members of the Selected Reserve under Title 38 of the United States Code. Information and assistance regarding these benefits may be obtained from the Coordinator for Veterans Affairs Office on campus or from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. VA Education Benefit monthly rates are based on the recipient’s period of service, curriculum, and training load. A list of current rates for each program is maintained in the Coordinator for Veterans Affairs office.
VA Retention Requirement
Students receiving VA Educational Benefits who fail to attain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average after attempting a minimum of twelve semester hours will be placed on academic probation. Such veterans will remain on academic probation for one semester. At that time, if the student’s cumulative grade point averages are below 2.0, benefits will be terminated. Conditions for re-entrance are listed below.
VA Standards of Attendance
Students are expected to be present for all regular class meetings and examinations for which they are registered. A student who does not attend the equivalent of two weeks of class contact hours will be dropped from the class roll and the instructor will notify the Registrar by submitting a withdrawal form. Additional or alternate attendance requirements may be established for individual courses. Students may be readmitted only with the permission of the instructor.
- Students legitimately dropped from a course by an instructor cannot be readmitted without that instructor’s permission.
- Students are considered to remain in membership in a course until students officially withdraw or transfer to another course section or officially withdrawn from the course.
- Students will not be carried in membership after the equivalent of two weeks of absences, or after withdrawal.
- Students who are withdrawn or who withdraw from a course will receive VA benefits only for the hours in membership reported through the last attendance date in class.
- Students who return to class after having been withdrawn may not include those class hours from the time students were withdrawn until students were readmitted.
VA Standards of Conduct
Western Piedmont’s policy on student conduct is the same for all students, veterans included. (See the College’s Student Code of Conduct.) If a veteran is dismissed from the College for misconduct, veteran’s benefits are terminated immediately.
VA Conditions for Reentrance
Western Piedmont operates under an open-door policy so no student is denied readmission after having been dropped for unsatisfactory progress or conduct. However, certain conditions must be met before a student receiving Veterans Educational Benefits will be recertified for those benefits. Those conditions are the following:
- Reevaluation of program objectives to determine if students would be better suited to another program.
- Students will receive counseling at Western Piedmont in an effort to identify and eliminate the cause for unsatisfactory progress or conduct.
- Students will carry a half-time load until reaching a grade point average of 2.0 or higher.