VA fails to efficiently support its students during COVID-19

With the spread of COVID-19, otherwise known as the coronavirus, students within the University of North Carolina (UNC) System have experienced a massive amount of change in their education over the last few weeks. Though some East Carolina University facilities and organizations have made adjustments during the switch to online instruction, so its students feel accommodated, ECU Veteran Affairs (VA) struggled to decide to offer its students proper support during this time.

My first few encounters with the VA at ECU were unpleasant to say the least. As an incoming freshman, there was a lack of communication between myself and members of the VA when it came time to turn in my benefits request form.

There were never members of the VA present in the office during its listed hours, I never got efficient responses and when I finally was made aware that my benefits request was received, it took weeks for my tuition to hit. I constantly had to call the Office of Registrar to make sure my courses were not terminated due to the untimeliness of the VA. This has been an ongoing experience every semester since I have started college.

When we returned from spring break, a switch to online instruction was something none of us expected. There are reasons I have never taken online courses before, they're awful. Now this isn't the case for everyone, some people would rather take online courses than face-to-face. However, online instruction is not something I personally thrive in. With fear that my GPA will suffer due to the switch to online courses and my stress increasing over the coronavirus itself, I was relieved to hear the UNC System presented its students with the pass/fail option.

Though I planned to continue to work hard in my classes, knowing that if I did struggle with online instruction and that I had a cushion to fall back on gave me some kind of assurance during this hectic situation. Unfortunately, this relief only lasted a few days until the VA announced on March 27 that it would not supply benefits to those classes students deemed pass/fail.

So, now that I was given one of the only options to assist myself during the switch to an online course institution, it was taken away from me in an instant. However, the VA then announced on April 1 it had changed its decision and would still supply benefits. Although my worries are gone, there should not have been a decision made to not supply benefits to students during this time.

The VA should have realized earlier that if a student who is receiving benefits completes a course with a passing letter grade and decides to utilize the pass/fail option the VA should supply benefits for that course. This is supposed to be a time of accommodation and the VA has failed to act efficiently and accordingly to the situation.

I understand that the decision to not supply students who utilize the pass/fail option with benefits is still under consideration, but I hope that the VA realizes the lack of support it was providing to its students with the choice they originally made. Especially when a majority of the student population will be able to make the choice for themselves, dependents and veterans who attend ECU should not be left out of the mix. I am glad the VA has come to this realization and hope it keeps this decision in mind if a similar situation were to arise.