Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges From the Battlefield to the Classroom: Making the Transition to Higher Education QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. AACRAO March 24-27, 2008, Orlando, FL Marcy Shapiro, Senior Program Manager Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges
Discussion Points Introduction Supporting facts Combat to the classroom Adjustments Challenges Resourcefulness Scholarship opportunities Transition hints for returning servicemembers Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges role Information on the Web Other campus-based projects to reach out to veterans Questions?
Introduction The higher education community has made exceptional adjustments for their military students who withdrew from school for a call to active duty. Now that their tours are ending, many of those same students want to re-enroll in school and continue or complete their academic programs. Recent reports indicate that some veterans will be victims of depression, other post-traumatic stress disorders, and physical challenges when they resume or begin their college career.
Introduction (continued) This interactive discussion will identify innovative ways that college and university officials can partner with staff from non-college support programs in order to provide adequate services and other safety nets for the unique needs of returning veterans who will be college students. Let s explore how the higher education community and the military can work together to reintegrate these students into the classroom.
Supporting Facts Majority of state Guard/Reserve soldiers are college students Most soldiers deployed involuntarily Overall, 18-20% of deployed Guard/Reserve soldiers are students 15-17% of those serving in combat zones suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Combat Zone to Campus Life Easing students acclimation: Students returning from active duty will seek to re-enroll following their period of adjustment Ease application process for readmission Some schools offer priority course registration for returning military students Special university web pages for returning military students Scholarship opportunities Extend enrollment deadlines Academic and counseling services
Combat Zone to Campus Life Student-Servicemembers orientation: Focus on earning degree Mature and motivated Better students Priorities are different - may change due to combat experience
How Colleges Are Adjusting - Examples Author Ray Scurfield, Associate Professor of Social Work, Univ of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast - books show impact of war on veterans http://www.usm.edu/gc/health/scurfield/index.html North Georgia College - web site for servicemembers who are deployed or on active duty training University of Texas web site for returning veteran students University of Idaho Operation Education Scholarship
How Colleges Are Adjusting - Examples Veterans Centers: St. Paul College (MN); Sonny Montgomery Center at MSU (MS); Salt Lake CC (UT); University of Minnesota (MN) University of NM facilitates readmission - registration process begins prior to redeployment; similar process at Clovis CC Colorado State University-Pueblo students may sign on as guest students during transition period following return from deployment
How Colleges Are Adjusting - Examples Military students return to class without penalty Northern Kentucky University extending enrollment deadline Grantham U Military Severely Injured Scholarship Program Embry-Riddle center to deal with transition units University of Kansas Wounded Warrior Initiative - injured soldiers apply for grad programs
How Colleges Are Adjusting - Examples Western Michigan University Returning Veterans Tuition Assistance Program Utah Battlemind training - delivered by Walter Reed Army Medical; multi-media previews of stresses, strains, and impact of deployments http://www.battlemind.org/index.html Active Army transition units Supportive Education for Returning Veteran (SERV) program at Cleveland State University
Challenges Before Rapid deployments can complicate official withdrawal Financial aid - Rules for submitting refunds confusing - May be hardship if tuition not waived Some incompletes converted to grade of F Students/professors overestimate feasibility of completing coursework while deployed
Challenges During Impact of duty location, military job, OPTEMPO Being away from the home college Changes in rules governing tuition and enrollment Adjusting to course delivery through distance learning Internet connectivity
Resourcefulness in the Field Online instruction during downtime while deployed relieves boredom, keeps soldiers connected to campus Soldiers in Iraq with laptops jointly purchased a high-speed Internet link Soldiers apply classroom education to their military job (civil affairs; problem solving; law enforcement)
Helping Fellow Servicemembers Returning veterans sensitive to the needs of those who follow - Student veterans group at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, started by a returned veteran, helps soldiers adjust to a return to school - UMN mentorship program matches returning veterans with vets in their field of study - UW-Milwaukee Student Vet Org (SVO) Many schools provide counseling services for returning servicemembers
Severely Injured Military Veterans: Fulfilling Their Dreams (ACE) Academic advising service started 2/2007 2 full-time advisors help servicemembers find educational programs that match their goals locate legitimate distance learning providers while identifying and avoiding diploma mills navigate the college application and financial aid process request transcripts and make plans to take any applicable standardized tests, assess what it will take them to succeed academically Once veterans are established in a program, advisors refer them for further assistance to their college of choice, a Department of Education-funded Veterans Upward Bound counselor, or an educational opportunity center
Support Services for Severely Injured Servicemembers
Welcome Back to Campus
Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) SOC, established in 1972, is a consortium of national higher education associations and more than 1,700 institutional members. Functions in cooperation with the Department of Defense, the Military Services, including the National Guard and the Coast Guard, to help meet the voluntary higher education needs of servicemembers.
Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC)
Information on the Web Administrative resource pages at institutional Web sites: University of Texas - Returning Veterans http://www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/veterans/vetstudents.html Minnesota Online Military Programs http://www.mnonline.mnscu.edu/military/ University of Minnesota (Veterans Transition Center) http://blog.lib.umn.edu/vtc/vtc/ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Campus Vet Org begun by vets) http://www.uwm.edu/news/features/05.03/vets.html University of Idaho http://www.uihome.uidaho.edu/operationeducation
Information on the Web Administrative resource pages at institutional Web sites: University of Maryland University College - Military Scholarship Programs http://www.umuc.edu/financialaid/scholarships/02_programs_d.shtml Illinois State University http://www.arr.ilstu.edu/veterans/ Eastern Oregon University http://www.eou.edu/fao/ North Georgia College and State University (Before/During/After) http://www.ngcsu.edu/enrollment/registrar/deplydadt.shtml Excelsior College https://www.excelsior.edu/portal/page?_pageid=57,424842&_dad=portal& _schema=portal Grantham University http://www.grantham.edu/admissions/scholarships_injured.php
Information on the Web Campus-based projects to advance Servicemembers /veterans academic experience and invigorate the campus by involving veterans directly: University of Kansas - Wounded Warrior Initiative http://www.news.ku.edu/2008/february/5/army.shtml Cleveland State University - Supportive Education for Returning Vets (SERV) http://www.csuohio.edu/serv/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04277/388936.stm Weber State University (in Utah) offers free writing workshops to veterans http://weber.edu/wsutoday/011608writingworkshops.html Humboldt State University (California) seminar series featuring Iraq War veteran speakers http://www.humboldt.edu/%7ersclub/calendar.html
Information on the Web VA Web sites: Department of Veterans Affairs - Voc Rehab http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/index.htm Women's VA Mental Health Center, Palo Alto, CA http://www.womenvetsptsd.va.gov/ VA Program for Women Veterans http://www1.va.gov/wvhp/page.cfm?pg=26