I'm an Advisor: How Do I Help?
You play an important role, and we want to work with you to make it as easy as possible to assist our veteran and military-connected students.
You are an Important Part of the Process
We do our best to serve our veteran and military-connected students, but we at VMS need you to know that you are essential to the certification process. Without your collective help, we would not be able to serve our students as efficiently and holistically. For that, we thank you.
What You Need to Know
Below is a list of the ways that you can assist your veteran and military-connected students with the certification process.
As an advisor, students will often approach you for, well, advice. Make sure that you are able to direct our veteran and military-connected students to the variety of resources available to them. Reading this page will help you to stay up-to-date and assist each student with their individual needs. We are always willing to update our processes to better help you and the student, and this website should reflect those changes.
The below page will walk a brand-new student through the certification process, and explain some of what they may need to know. It may be helpful for you to be aware of the process:
I'm a Student: What Do I Need to Know?
The most effective thing you can do for them in most cases is direct them to visit our office. We're more than happy to directly assist any student with their questions and concerns. If they're not the type to want an in-person visit, or they are unable to make the trip, you can also direct them to our inbox, veterans@olemiss.edu.
For each term that a student wishes to use their VA education benefits, they must submit a Term Approval Form. This is our documented proof that the courses listed are approved (or not) as part of the student's degree plan. The VA will not pay for unnecessary courses (as tempting as underwater basket-weaving may be). As the advisor for your student, you are the most equipped to identify these unnecessary courses.
Our newest form is completed all within Box. No more broken PDFs and no more awkward printing and scanning. The student simply inputs your email and the form will automatically route to you when they've completed it. If you receive one of the old documents, please ask your student to use this link:
Once you have signed the document, it will automatically route directly to us. You don't have to email them to our office anymore. Both you and the student will, however, receive a link to a copy of any document you sign. In the event of some technological catastrophe that deletes our office's original copies from existence, you can submit additional completed documents here:
Advisor Document Submission Portal
NOTE: If a student submits their own document using this link, we will know, and we cannot accept it. This protects you, the advisor, from forged signatures and falsified documents.
You will probably receive a Change of Major Form at some point.This form serves as our office's documented justification in the event that the VA wants to check in on a particularly indecisive student. The VA must know that courses apply to a student's degree plan, so it makes sense that they need to be aware when that plan changes. This form also ensures that the student follows the correct academic process for changing their major and makes sure they make contact with you, their new advisor.
Our newest form is completed all within Box. No more broken PDFs and no more awkward printing and scanning. The student simply inputs your email and the form will automatically route to you when they've completed it. If you receive one of the old documents, please ask your student to use this link:
Once you have signed the document, it will automatically route directly to us. You don't have to email them to our office anymore. Both you and the student will, however, receive a link to a copy of any document you sign. In the event of some technological catastrophe that deletes our office's original copies from existence, you can submit additional completed documents here:
Advisor Document Submission Portal
NOTE: If a student submits their own document using this link, we will know, and we cannot accept it. This protects you, the advisor, from forged signatures and falsified documents.
You may receive Term Approval Forms for a past semester or term. Often, this is because a student has received approval to use a benefit that was in review. Maybe the veteran has been in appeal to prove their disability and has just now received their certificate of eligibility for their education benefit.
We just ask you to verify that the student took those courses, and that they were approved (or not) for their degree plan at the time. If you are not or were not the advisor for that program during the time the courses were taken, feel free to reach out to us and we can try to find the appropriate point of contact for the student.
As always, if you are unsure of how to proceed, we are here to help.
If you feel that the process isn't working for you, or you notice that the forms have a broken checkbox, reach out to us! We're more than happy to make adjustments. If there's a problem, we want to hear about it. That being said, if we make an adjustment and you feel the positive impact, tell us about it!
Any feedback, good or bad, please let us know at veterans@olemiss.edu.