Colleges get tips to attract soldiers
Soldiers know combat. But they can sometimes be more comfortable kicking in doors than sitting in a classroom.
In an effort to help veterans make a transition into an educational setting, 18 colleges and universities and four employment organizations came to Jefferson Community College to get a crash course in how to become more veteran friendly.
"This generation of veterans are now eligible for the most sizable increase in educational benefits since World War II and they are shopping around," said Retired Col. James D. McDonough Jr., who is now the Director of the state Division of Veterans Affairs. "And you are in the middle of that, and whether you position yourself in a favorable position or not, is your mission."
The session, presented by the state Division of Veterans Affairs and by State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, was held on Wednesday afternoon. College administrators heard ways to make their campuses more veteran friendly, like creating a space just for veterans, waving the application fee and publishing a veteran reference book for their school.
According to Sean J. O'Keefe, the northeast regional director of Student Veterans of America, having a place that veterans can call their own is perhaps the most important.
"The biggest problem I have seen is having a peer support group," he said. "When veterans are disconnected from a group, it can be emotionally difficult for them."
Mr. O'Keefe spent five years in the Army Special Forces and is now attending Columbia University and pursuing his undergraduate degree in general studies. He said that navigating the benefit system and having access to mental health assistance are other problems. But by being able to connect with other veterans, it can help ease the transition anxiety many veterans feel.
That anxiety exists because many veterans are entering college with students who are right out of high school. These 17- and 18-year-olds have spent the last 12 years in school and it can be easier for them to settle into the routine of classes and homework. In comparison, Mr. O'Keefe said, many veterans are coming out of four, six, eight or 10 years of military service.
Andrew D. Davis, the training coordinator for the state Division of Veterans Affairs, agreed.
"There can be a feeling of alienation and for me it was in my first group project," he said during the session at JCC. "I did group projects for six years in Iraq and Afghanistan but my use of four letter acronyms and timelines did not resonate with the people in my group."
Mr. Davis attended the University of Minnesota before moving to New York. There he said that out of 65,000 students, only 1,200 were combat veterans. In a small group such as that, he said, it was easy to get lost in the shuffle and feel ignored by the administration.
According to Mr. Davis and Mr. McDonough, there are approximately 1 million veterans in New York State and 85,000 of them served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The federal Department of Veterans Affairs is expecting at least a 25 percent increase in enrollment in colleges in the coming five years. And for colleges being prepared to take on that population, it is important to start now, not later.
That is exactly what Paul Smith's College, near Saranac Lake, is doing.
"I think a lot of the stuff they talked about today, we are already doing," said Amy M. Tuthill, a tutor coordinator at Paul Smith's. "What we need to do is bring them in as a community. We have no identified veteran club and that would be a great thing for us to start up."
Mrs. Tuthill's colleague, Carol S. Swirsky, an admissions counselor, said it is important to make sure veterans don't get lost in the shuffle.
"We only expect our enrollment of veterans to go up and we want to continue to pursue that group and make a commitment to them so they stay with us for their whole education," she said.
Other suggestions to become more veteran friendly include having an employee act as veteran liaison — someone who deals solely with veteran issues, ranging from accessing benefits to coordinating events. Another idea was to provide free tutors to veterans who may have difficulty getting into the swing of college life.
There is in fact a federal program through the Department of Veterans Affairs that will pay up to $100 per month and $1,200 a year to provide a tutor for a veteran.
"Tutorial assistance can make it or break it for the readjustment of a veteran," said Mr. McDonough.
