PCC staff working extra hours to process veterans' records

The office of Admissions and Records is a full house on weekends for the project.

Registrar Terra Benson helps process veterans' records on a Saturday.

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Staff at Pima Community College are working around the clockto process the necessary paperwork for the school to meet a deadline imposed bythe Arizona Department of Veterans' Affairs.

In March, the agency gave PCC 60 days to submit a correctiveplan for several violations for recording keeping that DVA reported in an auditof the college.

Registrar Terra Benson is overseeing the process and itsroughly 46 staff members, which include men and women from differentdepartments and campuses around the county.

Team members are working late hours during the week and extrahours on weekends. Benson said some folks are volunteering, others will collectovertime. Either way, she said no one is complaining.

"Thereis definitely the understanding that these are students that have given for ourcountry and they want to give back to them," Benson said.

Their workloadis more than crunching numbers. Benson said some staff will reach out toinstructors to confirm a student's attendance in class. Others are calling thestudents themselves to confirm transcripts.

"It'sa lot of moving pieces to keep organized," she said. "But we're doing great."

Thecollege is not allowed to enroll new students with veterans' benefits untilthis is cleared up, according to the state. In a previous report, college administratorssaid the issue will not affect current students, only new ones.

Benson said Saturday that she feelsgood about meeting the 60 day deadline. As long as they can maintain the sameresources and staff, she said the college will be okay.