Issue 75 | 9/12/25

Welcome to Fall Semester 2025!

Hello, I’m Dr. Mia Garcia-Hills Director of UIC’s Office of Student Veterans Affairs. Student Veterans Affairs provides a welcoming and supportive environment for our military-connected community via the Císar Student Veterans Center. We provide resources, assistance, and programming to ease the transition to academic life and promote academic success.

Stars and Stripes will help you stay up to date with Federal policies, 

UIC Student Veterans Affairs news, events, and announcements. We thank you for being part of our community and hope you enjoy reading our newsletter. Archived newsletter editions are available on our website.

Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Update
The VBA Education Service is consolidating all G.I. Bill® and education benefit payments into a single bank account to modernize systems, reduce fraud, and ensure timely payments. If you previously had multiple accounts on file, one account has now been automatically selected as your primary. This update will not affect your payments. For questions or to update direct deposit information, contact the Education Call Center at 888-442-4551.

2V Hold for Chapter 31 and 33 Beneficiaries
For students who receive Chapter 33 and Chapter 31 benefits, an administrative 2V hold is assigned, so internally, staff in accounts receivable and the Bursar's Office can contact Student Veterans Affairs to confirm that payment is pending from the VA. This administrative hold is not visible to students and also ensures the following policy is upheld.

Veterans Affairs Pending Payments
Effective August 1, 2019, and despite any policy to the contrary, UIC will not take any of the four following actions toward any student using the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Post 9/11 G.I. Bill® (Chapter 33) or Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Chapter 31) benefits, while their payment from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is pending to the educational institution.

• Prevent their enrollment
• Assess a late penalty fee
• Require they secure alternative or additional funding
• Deny their access to any resources (access to classes, libraries, or other institutional facilities) available to other students who have satisfied their tuition and fee bills to the institution

To qualify, students may be required to:

• Produce the VA's Certificate of Eligibility by the first day of class
• Provide written request to be certified
• Provide additional information needed to properly certify the enrollment as described in other institutional policies (see the VA School Certifying Official for all requirements)

More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website.

Chapter 33 Dual Certification Requirement
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs mandated a policy effective August 2021 that impacts Chapter 33 enrollment certification processing. The procedure requires what is called a dual enrollment certification. The 2nd certification must occur within 30 days after the add/drop deadline and will include tuition and fees.

For Fall 2025, dual certifications began on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. It may take four to six weeks for the VA to process certifications and apply payments to student accounts. If you add a class, a new advisor verification form is required. If you drop a class, a new advisor form is not needed; however, you must still submit a benefit appeal form to report any enrollment changes and indicate if mitigating circumstances apply.

Monthly Housing Allowance - Payment in Arrears
Students who received a housing allowance as part of their G.I. Bill® education and training benefit will receive payment in arrears. For example, students who were enrollment certified for the term that began on August 25, will receive payment in September covering 8/25 through 8/31. Payment for September will be distributed in October, and so on. Allowance payments are only generated after an enrollment certification is submitted to the VA. All students get confirmation from the Enrollment Manager when the VA receives an enrollment certification. Update your VA profile to ensure automated communication is received in a timely manner.

Drop Deadlines

Familiarize yourself with the drop deadlines for the fall session. If schedule adjustments are made after an enrollment certification was submitted, notify the Student Veterans Affairs by submitting a benefit appeal form. We will make an amendment in VA-Once. Dropping a course does not require a new advisor form. However, student veterans are still required to report enrollment changes. Students with mitigating circumstances may use the benefits appeal form to provide supporting documentation.

In School and Received Orders?
If you are a Reservist or in the National Guard, inform your instructors immediately when you will be deployed or need to report for training. Fill out a benefit appeal form to update our office.

Nicolle Velasquez

My name is Nicolle Velasquez and I proudly served in the United States Army National Guard as a Military Police Officer for four years and now pursuing the ROTC Program to Commission as a Second Lieutenant now on my fifth year as a cadet. I’m currently pursuing my Bachelor’s in Marketing with a concentration in digital marketing and promotions and a Minor in Business analytics here at UIC. My ultimate goal is to work within the cosmetic, entertainment, tech or airline industries as the chief marketing officer. I’ve had the awesome opportunity to work within the Císar Student Veterans Affairs office for about 3 years now and have loved my time here. I get the chance to work on this newsletter that

you are reading now and anything that has to do with advertising and social media for the SVA office. Additionally, I’m the Public Affairs & Recruiting officer for the ROTC program this year!

This summer, I completed my Cadet Summer Training (CST) program in Fort Knox, Kentucky and had the chance to go to Vilseck, Germany for Cadet Troop Leader Training (CTLT). The training allows for a cadet to shadow an active duty officer to learn about their day to day and reality of what it is like to be an officer within that specific MOS. I had the privilege of shadowing an awesome Military Police Lieutenant! I was able to learn about the newest form of warfare; drones, try on a K9 suit, as well as firearms training with German soldiers to learn about their weapons but also understand what it is to be a good leader.

The Dog Tag Fellowship Program

Over the course of five months, Dog Tag fellows explore a variety of career paths, learn about resources available to them, and strengthen their personal and professional networks as they develop strategic plans for plausible business ideas as well as their own futures. A monthly stipend is provided to all fellows, and all program-related expenses are covered, so fellows do not need to use the GI Bill or other military benefits to participate.

Complete your application by September 26, 2025 to be considered. APPLY

Upcoming Events
Join the Student Veterans Affairs Group to stay up to date on all our events and programs. We look forward to seeing you!

The Císar Student Veterans Center (CSVC) is located on the second floor of Student Center East (SCE) room 248. Go through the Inner Circle food court, turn right (west) at the entrance to the Wellness Center, go past the Wellness Center front desk down the hall through the Commuter Student Resource Center, and you will see the CSVC entrance on the back wall.

Check out this step-by-step guide to the center: VIDEO

Fall hours: Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM


Contributing Editor: Nicolle Velasquez