UNC announced two initiatives to help veterans navigate the sometimes complicated path into higher education.

Jim Gregory is the Director of Media Relations at UNC, but he is also a veteran of the US military and says announcements like the one made on Wednesday make him very proud.

“When you’re in the military, you’re thinking of ‘What’s the mission? What do I need to be doing to make sure that I’m doing my job?’ but stepping outside of that can be scary,” Gregory says. “This provides two concrete initiatives to help active-duty navigate this higher education process.”

The two initiatives are the hiring of a Student Veteran Assistance Coordinator at Carolina and the launch of a new program – UNC Core.

“That program is really a [UNC] system-wide initiative, but it’s led by [UNC] Chapel Hill. And it’s designed to accelerate higher-education opportunities for active-duty military in North Carolina,” Gregory says. “It involves self-paced and summer-based courses that take advantage of what’s already available out there.

“But it packages it in a way that helps them satisfy their general education requirements.”

Gregory says this is viewed as the first step for veterans who are not able to come to class on campus to complete a four-year degree online.

He adds the newly created position will provide a singular point of contact for veterans who are taking courses.

“That is a position that will report to the Dean of Students. It’ll be filled this summer. They’re looking at candidates now,” Gregory says. “That person will work with others within the dean’s office, around the university, state, [and] local organizations to help veterans navigate the higher education process.

“It’s not always easy to know what’s out there [and] what’s available. And I can speak as a veteran myself, it’s a complex environment.”

The goal of the initiatives is to streamline the communication and accessibility for veterans to migrate into higher education.

The UNC Core program is open to all military members and will be housed in the Friday Center for Continuing Education. More information on that program is available here.

These initiatives are in addition to programs already in place for veterans at UNC including online MBA programs, physician assistant degrees, and the Warrior Scholarship Project.

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