2014 Post-9/11 GI Bill Communications Assessment

1. Stakeholder Interview Questionnaire

Thank you for agreeing to participate in stakeholder interviews conducted by the MITRE Corporation on behalf of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ Education Service. The purpose of these interviews is to assess and improve outreach and communications to veterans and other key stakeholders.

Our objectives are to:

• Gather your perceptions on key areas of concern regarding communication of the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to Veterans and other stakeholders.

• Assess the effectiveness of Education Service’s current methods of communicating to you about the Post-9/11 GI Bill as well as other education programs and initiatives. In addition, we want to identify additional methods that could improve outreach efforts.

Please rate the degree to which you agree with the following statements, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree.”

1. Communications from VA about the Post-9/11 GI Bill have improved since 2012 [or since we last spoke with you in ____ FOR PREVIOUS INTERVIEWEES ONLY].

2. Communications from VA help veterans better understand the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

3. Communications from VA about the Post-9/11 GI Bill are accurate.

4. Communications from VA about the Post-9/11 GI Bill are timely.

5. Communications from VA about the Post-9/11 GI Bill are sufficient in helping you provide information to Veterans.
   
   

Today, we would like to better understand the current level and nature of your concerns about issues related to the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

For these issues (and related questions), we’re interested in open-ended responses. Please share your thoughts or impressions about what you have experienced with the VA’s outreach and communications to Veterans and other key stakeholders concerning the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Communications:

• Timeliness/accuracy of information

• Effective outreach to veterans

• Effective outreach to other stakeholders

Providing Guidance to Veterans:

• GI Bill complexity (makes the decision process difficult)

• Inaccurate or inconsistent information (could result in poor choice of programs)

• Irrevocability of choice (no going back if a poor choice is made)

Payment Issues:

• Delay in payments to schools and/or veterans

• Overpayments charged to veterans

• Potential for fraud by schools/educational institutions

1. Which VA communication resources do you find most useful (e.g., the VA GI Bill website; VA GI Bill Facebook page; VA blogs; conference calls; brochures, letters, and other mailings; presentations at conferences / meetings; webinars)?

   1. VA recently redesigned the GI Bill website. Have you noticed any changes that you enjoy? Any additional suggestions for VA about the website?

2. How would you characterize your understanding of the GI Bill enhancements resulting from the President’s Principles of Excellence? These include the new school comparison tool and the feedback (or complaint) system featured on the GI Bill website.

1. What have been your primary sources of information about the comparison tool and feedback system?

2. What communications, if any, have you received from VA about these enhancements? Do you have suggestions for how VA can improve its communications about the comparison tool and feedback system?

3. What have you heard about the helpfulness of these enhancements? Any suggestions for improvements?

4. What have you heard, if anything, about how schools are adhering to the Principles of Excellence? What’s going well? What are the challenges? Do you think schools know about their role regarding the feedback system?

3. What is your perception of the role of State Approving Agencies (SAAs) with the Post-9/11 GI Bill? Do you think schools view the SAAs as intermediaries between themselves and VA?

1. VA Education Service launched quarterly webinars to share information about the Post 9/11 GI Bill and other education programs with a broad audience including SAAs, School Certifying Officials, VetSuccess on Campus Counselors, and more. Are you aware of these webinars? Any suggestions for improvements in the way VA communicates with SAAs?

1. Do you have suggestions for additional ways that VA could communicate with you about the Post-9/11 GI Bill or other education benefit programs?

5. What didn’t we ask you that we should have?