CGCC Veterans Services

Registration for summer and fall opens Mar. 7th.

Registration for the summer and fall semesters at Chandler-Gilbert will open to continuing students and all veterans (new and continuing) on Monday, Mar. 7. You can search for classes through the searchable class schedule and enroll in them through your my.maricopa.edu Student Center page.
Full-time for fall is 12 credit hours. See the following article for the necessary number of credits to be full-time in the summer semester.

Register early to guarantee you get the classes and schedule you want. Once you are finished registering, don’t forget to turn in your Request for Benefits (RFB) form to CGCC Veterans Services. You can do this in person, by fax at 602-396-5057, or by email at veteransservices@cgc.edu. You will need separate forms for summer and fall.

Upon receipt of the RFB, Veterans Services will apply a tuition deferment to your account for the appropriate semester, preventing you from being dropped from classes for non-payment. Since the system begins dropping unpaid, undeferred enrollments 35 days before the start of the term, it is important to get your paperwork turned in to Veterans Services before then. Turning in paperwork early also insures VA will pay you on time.

Remember, your classes must all apply to your degree plan for VA to pay, and stipend or BAH depends on your full-time status at any given moment in time. Full-time for classes that last the entire semester is 12 credit hours. Under Chapter 33, Post-9/11 GI Bill, you must be enrolled OVER half-time to earn any BAH.

For full benefits, you must be enrolled full-time for summer classes

Most students are aware that the VA prorates payment for enrollments that are less than full-time. But what constitutes full-time can be tricky with summer terms.

Although CGCC considers summer as all one term, the VA calculates full-time status (and therefore pay) according to the exact start and end dates of classes within that term.  It is therefore important to know what constitutes full-time enrollment in the summer sessions, whose shorter length gives each credit hour more “weight” in the VA’s calculations.

There are three standard sessions within the summer term. The chart below shows how many credit hours you need to be enrolled in to be considered full-time for that time period. The chart only applies to the exact start and end dates listed. For different start/end dates, or for sessions that overlap, feel free to email Veterans Services (veteransservices@cgc.edu) and we will calculate your full-time status.

Many students choose to take one 3-credit-hour class during the first five week session, and another 3-credit-hour class during the second five-week session. That way, they are full-time from May 31 to Aug. 4, other than the four days in between the two sessions. The majority of three-credit hour classes are offered during the five-week sessions.

Most lab sciences, and many math classes, are taught only during the longer 8-week session. A student could elect to take a combination of credits adding up to 5 or more credits during that session, and thereby be full-time from May 31 through July 21. Adding a 3-credit class in the second 5-week session class could extend the full-time status to Aug. 5, but beware the time period where the classes all overlap, as this might be an overwhelming amount of work.

If a student took only one 4-credit lab science during the 8-week session, his/her enrollment level would be 4/5 of full-time. That would earn him 80% of his normal BAH under Post-9/11 GI Bill, or 3/4-time pay under any other chapter, from May 31 to July 21.

Remember, as with any other term, your summer classes must be required for your Chandler-Gilbert degree to be certified to VA for payment. Be aware as you build your summer schedule that summer courses are more intense, because the same amount of material is packed into a much shorter period of time. Most students prefer no more than one or two classes to be in session at any given time.

Mar. 16 is priority deadline to apply for graduation

It may seem early to think about graduation, but Wednesday, Mar. 16 is the deadline to receive priority status when applying for graduation. Priority status guarantees your graduation petition will be processed during the current semester—something students looking to transfer to a university need.

The awarding of degrees is not automatic: students must complete a graduation petition to be granted a degree or certification, whether or not they plan to attend the graduation ceremony. Details on graduation, the petition process and commencement ceremonies can be accessed at cgc.edu/graduation.

There is no charge to apply to graduate. There is a $25 fee for participating in the commencement ceremony, which covers the cost of cap and gown.

Commencement ceremonies will be held at Sloan Park, the Chicago Cubs spring training facility in Mesa, on Friday, May 13 at 6 p.m.

Need accommodations in classes? See Brenna!

When you use the term “Disability Resources & Services,” some people think only about physical disabilities like blindness or paralysis. Or they think about the Special Ed department back in high school. But veterans might be surprised to know that CGCC’s Disability Resources specialist, Brenna Peck, can help out with accommodations for a number of common issues facing student veterans.
Do you have medical appointments at the VA that may interfere with classes? We can help with flexible attendance.

Do you get anxious taking a test in the classroom?  We can give you extra time in a private room of the Testing Center.

Do you need to sit in the back of the class to feel comfortable? We can give you preferential seating.
Does an assignment or class discussion trigger a traumatic event? We can help advocate.
Do you have short term memory impairment? We can get you books on CD or Assistive Technology (text-to-speech software). Many times, that is very helpful in retaining text that you read.

Brenna points out that once you’ve been granted an accommodation, there is nothing forcing you to use it—but it’s there if you find you need it.

About a third of students answering the student veteran survey last fall indicated they thought they would or might qualify for disability services, but had chosen not to register with CGCC’s DRS office. Brenna hopes that this list will encourage students to seek the accommodations that can help them be successful.

Learn more at cgc.edu/disability. To make an appointment with Brenna Peck, call 857-5188.

CGCC offers learning community focused on military/veterans

A new learning community will be offered fall 2016 semester with special appeal to veterans and military-connected students. The combination of ENH 110 Intro to Literature and ENG 217 Exploratory Writing will feature readings and writings related to veteran and military experiences. The theme is “Leadership and Everyday Heroism.”

ENH 110 (section 32637) meets general education requirements of Humanities and Cultural Awareness. ENG 217 (section 40186) satisfies the Literacy general education requirement. The combination of classes will meet in person one day a week (Tuesday), with the rest of the coursework online.

In a learning community, a student must register for both classes.
The courses are being taught by Chris Reider and Miguel Fernandez.

City of Chandler offering Operation Welcome Home

The City of Chandler is accepting nominations for its fourth Operation Welcome Home Chandler ceremony. Operation Welcome Home Chandler is an opportunity for Chandler residents to honor and show appreciation for military men and women who are returning from active duty or leaving for service.

Nominations are now being accepted for veterans to be recognized. Veterans should be Chandler residents and have been on active duty within the last three years or leaving soon.
During the ceremony, veterans are part of a procession escorted by the Arizona Patriot Guard to the Chandler City Council Chambers where the Chandler City Council will recognize and thank each individual. During the ceremony, the honorees will be presented with a gift basket with donations from the community. After the public event, the veterans and their family will be treated to dinner at a local restaurant.

Operation Welcome Home Chandler ceremonies are scheduled several times a year, based on the number of nominees.

To nominate a veteran or sponsor the program, visit chandleraz.gov/patriotism.

Mark your calendar:

Career Services will hold a job fair Thursday, Mar. 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Ironwood Bridge.

The University Transfer Fair will be held Thursday, Mar. 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m at Ironwood Bridge. Numerous colleges and universities will have representatives there to answer your questions about transferring.

Sign up to take a student success workshop either in person or online, offered by CGCC Counseling Faculty. The Classroom Academic Skills Integration (CLASI) workshops are free, and many CGCC instructors offer extra credit for participation. March workshops include Motivation/Procrastination, Notetaking, Overcoming Test Anxiety, and Time Management. You can register for either an online or in-person session here.

CGCC Receives Military Friendly School Designation

For the third consecutive year, Chandler-Gilbert Community College has been designated a Military Friendly® Schools by G.I. Jobs® Magazine for providing leading programs for veterans, members of the Armed Forces leaving military service and military spouses. 

This year’s lists highlight more than 1,400 Military Friendly® Schools and 220 Military Friendly® Employers exhibiting best practices in support of military students and employees, respectively. Institutions of higher learning competed for the title by completing an extensive survey covering ten indicators of success, including:
•    Support for student veterans on campus,
•    Graduation and employment outcomes, and
•    Military spouse policies.

"This is our third year on the military friendly list, and we are honored to be considered among the top 15 percent of colleges nationwide in terms of serving our veteran and military-connected students," said Reda Chambers, CGCC Veterans Service Coordinator.

For more information about the 2016 Military Friendly® Schools visit http://victorymedia.com/pr-category/military-friendly/.

Join CGCC at the 7th Annual Veterans Expo Special Guest SFC Cory Remsburg to Address Attendees

Gilbert resident and retired Army Ranger Sergeant First Class (SFC) Cory Remsburg will serve as the guest speaker at this year's 7th Annual Veteran Expo at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) on Thursday, November 5 from 1 to 4 p.m. While at CGCC, Remsburg will share his remarkable story of 10 deployments, his new mission as America's most famous 'Wounded Warrior,' and his six meetings with the President of the United States.

 In October of 2009, Remsburg suffered severe brain trauma and was left partially paralyzed by an IED explosion in Afghanistan. After undergoing dozens of surgeries and years of rehabilitation, Remsburg has made a miraculous recovery; however, he is still blind in his right eye and partially paralyzed on his left side. In 2014, he received a  two-minute standing ovation at  President Obama's  State of the Union address for his military service. Today, Remsburg serves as an advocate and spokesman for injured veterans. 

"Cory's story of courage, both during and after his ten deployments is an inspiring message for everyone, not just college students or student veterans," said Reda Chambers, Veterans Service Coordinator at CGCC.  "We hope residents of our surrounding communities will also attend and hear Cory's remarkable story." 

While at the event, veterans and their families can network with local businesses about job opportunities and learn about veteran resources and services offered by CGCC and  community groups. The event is also an opportunity for non-Veterans, in advance of Veterans Day, to honor those who have sacrificed to serve our country. 

"The Veterans Expo allows us to showcase college and community resources that may help our veteran students be more successful, and gives us an opportunity to offer our heartfelt thanks to CGCC's more than 500 student veterans in the week leading up to Veterans Day," said Chambers. 

About 30 exhibitors from a variety of government and community groups as well as businesses and organizations looking to hire veterans will have tables at the Expo. Among these are the VA and VA Healthcare, VA Vet Centers, Arizona Department of Veterans Services, DAV, VFW, Fleet Reserve Association, Veterans Stand-Down, Department of Labor and employers such as Boeing, Chandler Police Department, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and State Prison. Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University will also have their military outreach specialists in attendance to speak with students about transferring. 

The 7th Annual Veterans Expo will be held inside the Agave Building Community Room at the Pecos Campus located at 2626 E. Pecos Rd. from 1 to 4 p.m. Remsburg will address attendees at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, particularly student and local veterans. Complimentary refreshments will be served. 

Training faculty to better serve veterans leads to district award

Miguel Fernandez

The Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation recognized English faculty Miguel Fernadez with the 2015 Employee Recognition Award for his outstanding contributions to the District's mission.

Fernandez, who is a faculty liaison for veterans as well as a co-sponosor of the Chandler-Gilbert Community College chapter of the Student Veterans Organization (SVO), spent his sabbatical semester (Fall 2014) researching and developing an online training program to assist faculty members in understanding and dealing with student veterans. Working closely with the SVO, the result was "Toolkit for Training Faculty to Best Serve Student Veterans."

The training program is available free of charge through a creative commons license and consists of PDFs organized into 10 chapters. It can be used as a self-paced training for individual instructors, or its modules can be used by others to conduct in-person training at individual campuses.

Since veterans awareness training for faculty is one of the required components of Veterans Supportive Campus designation by the State of Arizona, Fernandez's toolkit directly benefits all of the Maricopa County Community Colleges in advancing them one step closer to that very important designation.

Fernandez also has plans to introduce the toolkit to colleges across the country, including several major universities. The program has the potential to benefit student veterans and those who instruct them nationwide.

"Concise, accurate, worthwhile training for faculty and staff in dealing with student veterans has been hard to find for many years," said Reda Chambers, coordinator of veterans services, who nominated Fernandez for the award. "For-profit groups have stepped in to fill this need, but at several thousand dollars per unit, these programs have proven cost-prohibitive for many schools. Miguel's toolkit contains a wealth of information, yet its format is extremely readable and undaunting."

In recognition of his accomplishment, Fernandez will receive a $1,000 scholarship to designate to a student at any college or center within the Maricopa County Community College District.

Two alumni earn prestigious veterans scholarship

CGCC alumni Joe Schiavo and Russ Good

The Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society (AVHOF) awarded two of three state scholarships to Chandler-Gilbert Community College alumni. In addition to being honorably discharged, veterans are selected based on their academic scholarship, patriotism and service to their country and community.

Army vet Russ Good '13 and Air Force vet Joe Schiavo '14 both attended CGCC prior to advancing to Arizona State University, where they are now pursuing bachelor degrees. 

 Good, who is also a former Tempe police sergeant, is pursuing a secondary education degree and wants to become a high school science teacher in low-income areas. He has assisted with distributing medical supplies, building houses and drilling clean water wells in Central America and Morocco.

After his goal of earning a two-year degree in one year at ASU, Schiavo plans to enroll in the physician assistant graduate program at A.T. Still University. He is currently a volunteer at the Phoenix Allies for Community Health clinic in downtown Phoenix.

The scholarship winners were honored at the annual AVHOF Patriotic Gala on Saturday, Mar. 21 which was attended by, among others, Gov. Doug Ducey, Rep. Martha McSally and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.

CGCC named Veteran Supportive Campus by state agency

Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) was recently named a Veteran Supportive Campus by the Arizona Department of Veteran Services (AZDVS).

The Veteran Supportive Campus program was established by the Arizona state legislature in 2012 as a means of establishing measurable, meaningful criteria for determining if a school is indeed “veteran-friendly.” Among the eight criteria are requirements to provide resource and study centers, to conduct training for faculty and staff, to survey veteran students annually, and to offer veteran-specific orientation sessions.

The Veteran Supportive Campus application was forwarded by CGCC’s Veterans Steering Committee, composed of faculty, staff and student veterans who meet regularly to assess the veteran experience at CGCC and seek ways to improve that experience. The group, chaired by Veterans Services Coordinator Reda Chambers, includes faculty members Miguel Fernandez, Tom Foster and Zoila Tovar-Blank; staff members Cindy Barnes Pharr, Dave Fosburgh and Brenna Peck; and student veterans Matt DePaul, Antonio Felix, Alexis Gregg and Jamie Jenkins.

Yearly reporting of veteran enrollment, retention and graduation rates is required to maintain Veteran Supportive Campus designation. AZDVS will be supplying a plaque and certificate which will be placed on display in both the Pecos Campus and Williams Campus Veterans Centers.

CGCC joins the three Arizona universities and sister colleges Scottsdale Community College, Glendale Community College, and Rio Salado as well as six other Arizona post-secondary schools in having been awarded this honor.

Partnership with Quantum benefits veterans

(Photo: Quantum Helicopters)

Chandler-Gilbert Community College's partnership with Quantum Helicopters was highlighted in an Arizona Republic article written by Annie Yu.

Quantum Helicopters established a veterans training program in 1994 according to Quantum Helicopters President Neil Jones. The partnership between Quantum Helicopters and CGCC began in early 2012 and has trained about 50 veterans. Read the full story.

Coyote Center grand opening highlights community support and blended use

Lauren Lancaster, president of the Associated Students of
CGCC,  cuts the ceremonial ribbon of the new Coyote
Center during the Sept. 24 grand opening.

More than 150 guests gathered on Sept. 25 for the grand opening of the Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) Coyote Center on the Pecos Campus. The event was held in the shadow of the two-story, 74,859-square-foot building and featured Maricopa Community College District speakers, elected officials representing local cities and towns, the architects and construction company who created the unique multi-use building, and college representatives and students using the facility.  Cutting the ceremonial ribbon was student Lauren  Lancaster, president of the Associated Students of  CGCC.

The building is one of a few in the nation to blend academics, athletics, enrollment services and student services to impact the success of each student which was noted by CGCC President Linda Lujan in her comments. View the Town of Gilbert news and video segment.


Launched in conjunction with the opening of the building was the introduction of a new model of student service that eliminates waiting in multiple lines and provides more efficient service. Students check in at the welcome desk and if they cannot be helped immediately, they are placed in the appropriate electronic queue. With nearly all student services located in the Coyote Center, students can find the much of the support they need in one location.

Athletics was also greatly impacted with the addition of a gym to the Pecos Campus, allowing the centralization of all nine athletic teams and their coaching staff to one campus. Located in the center of the building, the gym is now the largest gathering space for athletic, college or community events with bleacher seating for 1,000.

Most spaces were intentionally designed for this multi-use as well as adaptability and flexibility, according to CGCC Vice President of Administrative Services Jacalyn Askin. Many of the spaces can be easily reconfigured to adapt to the ever-changing needs of higher education. The facility also features a Veterans Center, classrooms and a 4,000-square-foot fitness center.

As part of the college’s ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability, the building incorporates many sustainable operations that make it certifiable LEED Gold rating. The facility was completed on-time and under budget with the full cost of $28.6 million coming from the public's approval of the 2004 General Obligation Bond Funds.

View the program to learn more about the Coyote Center at cgc.edu/coyotecenter.

Dean of Students Daniel Herbst
brought levity to the ceremonial
occasion by taking a picture from the
podium before his comments. 

Herbst's resulting photo

Veterans Centers offer sanctuary to students

Veteran and student worker Antonio Felix helps fellow students in the
Williams Campus Veterans Center. 

Chandler-Gilbert Community College opened two new Veterans Centers this year – one each on the Pecos and Williams Campuses. Veterans make up three percent of the national college population and four percent of the CGCC student population. The Veterans Centers enable them to locate each other more easily and provide the resources they need to be successful in college. 

“Research shows that veterans do best when they can connect with other vets at college,” said Reda Chambers, coordinator of Veterans Services.  “Part of our being a military-friendly college means we design a way for them to easily do that as well as easily access the services they need.”

Both Veterans Centers offer furniture and a TV for relaxing as well as computers and spaces for studying. Veterans Administration work-study students are available to help with registering for classes, filing for veterans benefits and learning about college resources. The centers will also be headquarters for the Student Veterans Organization (SVO).

“Having a dedicated space not only demonstrates the commitment of the college to veterans but provides a little command center, if you will, for the SVO,” said Matt DePaul, SVO president. “I can bring in speakers or SVO presidents from the other Maricopa colleges and hold regular meetings to facilitate more opportunities for club members.” 

The center offers important intangible benefits as well.

“The centers give me a place to sit and interact with like-minded individuals, to share our stories and give each other support in a space physically designed for veterans. For example, there are no chairs with their backs to the door,” said DePaul. “It’s a sanctuary.”

The Veterans Centers are located in the new Coyote Center, CYT 2110, on the Pecos Campus and in the Bluford Building, BLUF 134, on the Williams Campus. For more information call 480-726-4094.

Veteran Jake Spencer pursuing an education to help soldiers with PTSD

Veteran and Chandler-Gilbert Community College student Jack Spencer was interviewed by ABC Channel 15 last week regarding his interest to help other vets who suffer from PTSD. View the clip.

CGCC was awarded military-friendly designation in the fall for its support for veterans returning to school.