School Certifying Officials
Email: veterans@gmu.edu
Names:
Kathleen Fox
Daniel Steciack
Joe Quintanilla
Maura Keenan-Gondek
The school can only certify classes that directly contribute to your degree program. We verify this using Stellic, Mason’s degree audit tool. Stellic reflects your degree requirements as outlined in the state-approved catalog, and we are required to use it as the sole authority on whether or not classes are part of your degree requirements.
Before each semester, we strongly recommend discussing your academic plans with your academic advisor prior to registering for classes. We recommend sharing the following information with them so they can consider your VA education benefits while helping you make your academic plans.
Courses that can be certified:
• Courses that fall into one of the main categories listed on the degree audit
• Courses that you must retake because a previous attempt did not meet a specific grade requirement as noted in the catalog
• Prerequisite courses that you must take to be able to register for a future degree-required class, even if the prerequisite course is not specifically part of your formally declared degree program
• Prerequisite courses you have previously attempted, but did not receive a grade sufficient to take the next level of a required course. For example, if your degree requires you to complete Botany 345, and Botany 345 requires that you first pass Botany 123 with a minimum grade of C, you may retake Botany 123 until you receive a C or better
• Courses that are part of a formally declared minor or concentration
Special cases:
• Each degree has a minimum number of credits students must complete. Sometimes, this number is greater than the total number of credits from classes that are explicitly listed as required classes in your program. For example, a degree may require you to complete a total of 120 credits, but your degree audit only lists classes totaling 110 credits in the core, college, and major sections. In this situation, you may take 10 additional elective credits in classes that are not specifically listed as required for your degree. Courses in excess of that requirement will not be certified
• ROTC courses can be certified for all students
• ROTC may require an undergraduate history course prior to commissioning. We can certify this course
• Some graduate degrees require undergraduate credits. Please submit proof of this requirement, such as your Content Area Review or similar documentation to veterans@gmu.edu. Please note that “recommended” is not “required”
Courses that we may not be able to certify:
• Courses that do not fall into one of the specific categories on your degree audit, unless your degree has room for elective credits as explained in the above section on minimum credit requirements
• Courses that fall in the “unmatched” category
• Courses that are part of a major, minor, or concentration that you intend to declare, but have not yet formally declared and are not part of your current degree program
• Courses in which you have already received a passing grade, unless a higher grade is explicitly required as explained in the above sections on prerequisites and grade requirements
• Courses listed as “recommended,” but not “required” for your degree
If you receive an e-mail that one or more of your courses was not certified:
First check your Stellic degree audit; then discuss your classes with your academic advisor. You may reach out to veterans@gmu.edu for the specific course or courses and a brief description of any issues. In some cases, an academic advisor may be able to submit a substitution waiver, which adds an otherwise uncertifiable class to your degree plan. You should then submit another VRRF. We must see this substitution waiver in Stellic before we can reevaluate your certification.