Veteran & Family Resources

VA Counseling Services - 1-800-905-4675

Readjustment Counseling, Find a Vet center, Family Member Counseling, and more.

Mental Health Services - Help is available.

Suicide Prevention - 1-800-273-8255

(More information coming soon)

Duke Human Resources

Military Leave

Military leaves of absence will be provided to regular and benefits-eligible staff in accordance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and applicable North Carolina laws that protect individuals with military commitments from detrimental employment decisions based on those commitments. Military leaves of absence may be paid or unpaid leaves in accordance with the provisions of this policy.

Military Family Leave

The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 (NDAA), Public Law 110-181. Section 585(a) of the NDAA amended the FMLA to provide eligible employees working for covered employers important new leave rights related to military service. 

• New Leave Entitlement. An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember who is recovering from a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active duty is entitled to up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12-month period to care for the servicemember. This provision became effective immediately upon enactment. This military caregiver leave is available during "a single 12-month period" during which an eligible employee is entitled to a combined total of 26 weeks of all types of FMLA leave.

Additional information on the amendments and a version of Title I of the FMLA with the new statutory language incorporated is available on the FLMA website.

Share Links!

We welcome links to websites that you think might be beneficial to DukeVets members and families. Please send links to DukeVets.

GI Bill Information

Factsheet About the "New GI Bill"

Find out if you are eligible for The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.

Department of Veteran's Affairs

This site covers education benefits, veteran benefits, GI Bill Information, and many other programs.  Call toll-free number 1-888-GI-BILL-1 (1-888-442-4551) to speak with a Veterans Benefits Counselor.

IAVA Veterans Benefit Calculator

Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran's Association website that calculates your benefits under the new GI Bill that was passed in 2008.  For IOF & OEF veterans only. 

Looking for resources or assistance?  The best way to meet fellow vets, get involved, and maximize your benefits is to join The Student Veteran's Association at Duke University! We look forward to hearing from you. Join DukeVets.

Letter to President Brodhead

Date:      March 19, 2009

To:         Richard H. Brodhead, President of Duke University

From:     Student Veterans Association at Duke University

Subject: Duke University Should Adopt the GI Bill Yellow Ribbon Program

Duke University should adopt the GI Bill Yellow Ribbon program.  This improvement will attract high quality, service minded veterans to Duke. 

The Post-9/11 GI Bill Overview

The Veterans Education Assistance Act, known as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, activates on August 1, 2009.  The basic benefits provided by this bill cover the full tuition plus fees up to the highest in-state tuition rate for a four-year public institution in the state where the recipient is attending school.  This money is paid directly to the college or university.  A housing allowance, book stipend, and tutorial assistance are also paid to student veterans as part of the program.

A public-private matching fund program, known as the “Yellow Ribbon” program, would increase benefits for students using the Post-9/11 GI Bill at private institutions where tuition and fees exceed the state public-school tuition cap.  Private universities and graduate school programs that charge tuition above the cap may participate in the program by offering either scholarships or tuition forgiveness.

This Yellow Ribbon program requires the Veterans Administration to sign agreements with each participating school.  Under the agreement, the federal government matches dollar for dollar what the school provides, up to the full cost of tuition. This makes it possible for full tuition to be covered at private schools with the federal government providing the full amount of the GI Bill, plus one half of the remaining difference.

Schools can limit the number of people receiving reduced tuition under the program as long as they make the reductions available on a first-come, first-served basis. Schools also must promise that the reduced tuition rates remain in effect for an entire academic year.

Why Duke Needs the Yellow Ribbon Program

Without the Yellow Ribbon Program, Duke will be unable to compete for high quality veterans with public institutions.  For veterans interested in attending school in North Carolina, the choice will be to either attend a public school completely free, or pay over $30,000.00 per year to attend Duke.  This choice will likely shrink the undergraduate veteran population from the current handful to zero within a few years.  The financial aid calculation catch-22s identified by Paul Salem in his earlier letter, further reduce the incentive for veterans to take their GI Bill benefits to Duke.

Because North Carolina public schools are moderately priced, Duke will also be less able to compete for veterans with private schools in other states.  This impact will likely be most evident at the graduate school level, because under the old GI Bill, most military officers were not entitled to education benefits.  Under the new program, alumni from military academies and prestigious ROTC programs (the majority of graduate student veterans at Duke) are entitled to the GI Bill.  These veterans often have their choice of graduate programs.  Previously this cohort paid out of pocket no matter where they attended school.  Since elite graduate programs are similarly priced, these students made their decision based upon factors other than cost.  Under the new GI Bill, this calculation changes significantly.  For example, consider a high quality graduate student veteran who was admitted to Fuqua, and a similarly priced private MBA program in Pennsylvania.  She would receive $16,840 in additional tuition benefits by taking her GI Bill benefits to that other school.

Without the Yellow Ribbon Program, Duke University is effectively providing an incentive for high quality veterans, both undergraduates and graduate students, to attend school somewhere else.    DukeVets members understand that this is not your intent.  We are aware of the $30-million civic engagement effort recently begun at Duke.  We believe that veterans, with their global perspective, leadership experience, and proven commitment to public service are just the type of civically engaged student that Duke wants to attract.  Nevertheless, absent the Yellow Ribbon program, the Post-9/11 GI Bill will drive many of these students away to states with higher tuition caps.