Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 23.1 > Subtitle II > Chapter 6 - Financial Assistance

• Abducted child: means a child (i) whose whereabouts are unknown, (ii) who is believed to have been abducted, (iii) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age, and (iv) whose disappearance poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Adequate confinement: means that, while on the property of its owner and not under the direct supervision and control of the owner or custodian, a hybrid canine shall be confined in a humane manner in a securely enclosed and locked structure of sufficient height and design to: (i) prevent the animal's escape; or if the hybrid canine is determined to be a dangerous dog pursuant to § Virginia Code 3.2-6581
• Adoption: means the transfer of ownership of a dog or a cat, or any other companion animal, from a releasing agency to an individual. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amber Agreement: means the voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a child will be declared abducted, and the public will be notified, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Amber Alert: means the notice of child abduction provided to the public by the media or other methods under an Amber Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Animal: means any nonhuman vertebrate species except fish. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Animal control officer: means a person appointed as an animal control officer or deputy animal control officer as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Associate-degree-granting: means that an associate degree is the most advanced degree that is granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education: includes Richard Bland College and each comprehensive community college. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Baccalaureate: means that bachelor's degrees or more advanced degrees, or both, are granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Baccalaureate public institution of higher education: includes Christopher Newport University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Longwood University, the University of Mary Washington, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, the University of Virginia, the University of Virginia's College at Wise as a division of the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: means the Virginia Board of Workforce Development. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• care: means the responsible practice of good animal husbandry, handling, production, management, confinement, feeding, watering, protection, shelter, transportation, treatment, and, when necessary, euthanasia, appropriate for the age, species, condition, size and type of the animal and the provision of veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering or impairment of health. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Codi Agreement: means the voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a child will be declared missing or endangered and the public will be notified, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Codi Alert: means the notice of a missing or endangered child provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Codi Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 52-36
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Companion animal: means any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership of a person or any animal that is bought, sold, traded, or bartered by any person. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Competency-based: means awarded on the basis of demonstrated knowledge and skills rather than completion of instructional hours or participation in an instructional course or program. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Comprehensive community college: means an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education governed by the State Board that offers instruction in one or more of the following fields:

  1. See Virginia Code 23.1-100

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Critically missing adult: means an adult, including an adult who has a developmental disability, intellectual disability, or mental illness as those terms are defined in § Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Critically missing adult alert: means the notice of a critically missing adult provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreement: means a voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby an adult will be declared missing, and the public will be notified by media outlets, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Critically Missing Adult Alert Program: means the procedures and Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a critically missing adult. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the Department of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Division superintendent: means the division superintendent of schools of a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Elementary: includes kindergarten. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• elementary or secondary: include elementary, middle, and high school grades. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Eligible institution: means a baccalaureate public institution of higher education or baccalaureate nonprofit private institution of higher education whose primary purpose is to provide undergraduate collegiate education and not to provide religious training or theological education. See Virginia Code 23.1-622
• Eligible institution: means a comprehensive community college, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, New College Institute, Richard Bland College, Roanoke Higher Education Center, Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, or Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Eligible institution: means a nonprofit private institution of higher education whose primary purpose is to provide collegiate, graduate, or professional education and not to provide religious training or theological education. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Eligible student: means any Virginia student enrolled at an eligible institution who is domiciled in the Commonwealth as provided in § Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Euthanasia: means the humane destruction of an animal accomplished by a method that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death or by a method that involves anesthesia, produced by an agent that causes painless loss of consciousness, and death during such loss of consciousness. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fund: means a student loan fund. See Virginia Code 23.1-617
• Fund: means the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Fund. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Governing board: includes the State Board and the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Grant: means the amount of financial assistance awarded under this article whether disbursed by warrant directly to an eligible institution or directly to a Virginia student. See Virginia Code 23.1-622
• Grant: means a New Economy Workforce Credential Grant. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Grant: means a Tuition Assistance Grant. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• High-demand field: means a discipline or field in which there is a shortage of skilled workers to fill current job vacancies or anticipated additional job openings. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Humane: means any action taken in consideration of and with the intent to provide for the animal's health and well-being. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Humane investigator: means a person who has been appointed by a circuit court as a humane investigator as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Hybrid canine: means any animal that is or can be demonstrated to be a hybrid of the domestic dog and any other species of the Canidae family; that at any time has been permitted, registered, licensed, or advertised as such; or that at any time has been described, represented, or reported as such by its owner to a licensed veterinarian, law-enforcement officer, animal control officer, humane investigator, official of the Department of Health, or State Veterinarian's representative. See Virginia Code 3.2-6581
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Industry-recognized: means demonstrating competency or proficiency in the technical and occupational skills identified as necessary for performing functions of an occupation based on standards developed or endorsed by employers and industry organizations. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Institution: means a public institution of higher education that has established a student loan fund from appropriations from the general fund of the state treasury for fellowships, scholarships, and loans. See Virginia Code 23.1-617
• Insurance fraud: means any commission or attempted commission of the criminal acts and practices defined in § Virginia Code 52-36
• Insurance policy: means a contract or other written instrument between an insured and insurer setting forth the obligations and responsibilities of each party. See Virginia Code 52-36
• Insurance professional: means adjusters, agents, managing general agents, surplus lines brokers, reinsurance intermediaries, insurance consultants, brokers, and attorneys-in-fact. See Virginia Code 52-36
• Insured: means any person covered by an insurance policy. See Virginia Code 52-36
• Insurer: means any person subject to regulation pursuant to Virginia Code 52-36
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Law-enforcement agency: means a law-enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the search for a suspect in a case involving the death or serious injury of a law-enforcement officer or an agency employing a law-enforcement officer who is missing in the line of duty. See Virginia Code 52-34.7
• Law-enforcement officer: means any full-time or part-time employee of the Department of State Police or a police department or sheriff's office that is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and any campus police officer appointed under Article 3 (§ Virginia Code 52-34.7
• Law-enforcement officer: means any person who is a full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office that is part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Livestock: includes all domestic or domesticated: bovine animals; equine animals; ovine animals; porcine animals; cervidae animals; capradae animals; animals of the genus Lama or Vicugna; ratites; fish or shellfish in aquaculture facilities, as defined in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• local governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, responsible for appropriating funds for such locality, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Missing child: means any person who is under the age of 21 years, whose temporary or permanent residence is in Virginia, or is believed to be in Virginia, whose whereabouts are unknown to any parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis of the child, and who has been reported as missing to a law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 52-32
• Missing child report: means a report prepared in a format prescribed by the Superintendent for use by law-enforcement agencies to report missing child information to the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse. See Virginia Code 52-32
• Missing or endangered child: means a child (i) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age; (ii) whose whereabouts are unknown; and (iii) whose disappearance is under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Missing person with autism: means any person (i) whose whereabouts are unknown; (ii) who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as defined in § Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Missing Person with Autism Alert: means the notice of a missing person with autism provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreement: means a voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a person with autism will be declared missing, and the public will be notified by media outlets, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Missing senior adult: means an adult whose whereabouts are unknown and who is over 60 years of age and suffers a cognitive impairment to the extent that he is unable to provide care to himself without assistance from a caregiver, including a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease or dementia, and whose disappearance poses a credible threat as determined by a law-enforcement agency to the health and safety of the adult and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year. See Virginia Code 1-223
• New owner: means an individual who is legally competent to enter into a binding agreement pursuant to subdivision B 2 of § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Noncredit workforce credential: means a competency-based, industry-recognized, portable, and third-party-validated certification or occupational license in a high-demand field. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Noncredit workforce training program: means a program at an eligible institution that leads to an occupation or a cluster of occupations in a high-demand field, which program may include the attainment of a noncredit workforce credential. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Ordinance: means any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance adopted by the governing body of any locality. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Other officer: includes all other persons employed or elected by the people of Virginia, or by any locality, whose duty it is to preserve the peace, to make arrests, or to enforce the law. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means any person who: (i) has a right of property in an animal; (ii) keeps or harbors an animal; (iii) has an animal in his care; or (iv) acts as a custodian of an animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• parents: means any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Portable: means recognized by multiple employers or educational institutions and, where appropriate, across geographic areas. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Poultry: includes all domestic fowl and game birds raised in captivity. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Principal place of business: means the single state in which the natural persons who establish policy for the direction, control, and coordination of the operations of the institution as a whole primarily exercise that function, considering the following factors: (i) the state in which the primary executive and administrative offices of the institution are located; (ii) the state in which the principal office of the chief executive officer of the institution is located; (iii) the state in which the board of trustees or similar governing board of the institution conducts a majority of its meetings; and (iv) the state from which the overall operations of the institution are directed. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Private institution of higher education: includes each nonprofit private institution of higher education and proprietary private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Program: means the procedures and Amber Agreements to aid in the identification and location of abducted children. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Program: means the procedures and Codi Agreements to aid in the identification and location of missing or endangered children. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Program: means the procedures and Senior Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a missing senior adult. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Program: means the procedures and Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a missing person with autism. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Program: means the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program. See Virginia Code 23.1-622
• Program: means the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Program: means the Tuition Assistance Grant Program. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public institution of higher education: includes the System as a whole and each associate-degree-granting and baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Releasing agency: means (i) a public animal shelter or (ii) a private animal shelter, humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other similar entity or home-based rescue that releases companion animals for adoption. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Responsible ownership: means the ownership and humane care of a hybrid canine in such a manner as to comply with all laws and ordinances regarding hybrid canines and prevent endangerment by the animal to public health and safety. See Virginia Code 3.2-6581
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• School board: means the school board that governs a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Senior alert: means the notice of a missing senior adult provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Senior Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Senior Alert Agreement: means a voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a senior adult will be declared missing, and the public will be notified by media outlets, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• senior citizen: means any individual who, before the beginning of any academic term, semester, or quarter in which he claims entitlement to the benefits of this article, has reached the age of 60 and has been legally domiciled in the Commonwealth for at least one year. See Virginia Code 23.1-639
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
• State Board: means the State Board for Community Colleges. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• State Veterinarian: means the veterinarian employed by the Commissioner as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• sterilization: means a surgical or chemical procedure performed by a licensed veterinarian that renders a dog or cat permanently incapable of reproducing. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Student: means a medical student, dental student, intern, resident, or undergraduate student who is entitled to reduced rate tuition charges pursuant to Chapter 5 (§ Virginia Code 23.1-617
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• System: means the Virginia Community College System. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Third-party-validated: means having an external process in place for determining validity and relevance in the workplace and for continuous alignment of demonstrated knowledge and skills with industry workforce needs. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Virginia student: means any student who has established domicile in the Commonwealth pursuant to § Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Weaned: means that an animal is capable of and physiologically accustomed to ingestion of solid food or food customary for the adult of the species and has ingested such food, without nursing, for a period of at least five days. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500