Vanessa Johnson, Military
Program Assistant at Duquesne University,
is a disabled Army veteran who is helping
service members make the same transition
to student life that she made.
photo courtesy
of Duquesne University
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Institutions Ease Veterans' Transition to the Classroom
From the july/August 2007 Issue of InFocus
The adjustment from military service to civilian life has traditionally
been difficult for some service men and women. For many young veterans
seeking to leverage tuition benefits, the prospect of transitioning
from the service to student life poses an additional challenge -
one particularly magnified for those returning from war.
"When they are deployed in highly dangerous areas, they're
not thinking about their post-military career - they're thinking
about survival," says Kimberly Kelley, Vice Provost and Dean,
Academic Resources at University of Maryland University College.
And, unlike during peacetime when the steps toward pursuing an education
post-service are more delineated, a veteran's educational path today
can be murky. "It depends on what they do when they return
to civilian life - it can be a situation where they are deployed
repeatedly to Iraq and they keep having to go back," says Kelley.
"That's very disruptive."
Continuing education units, with their focus on non-traditional
students, are particularly well equipped to aid veterans in navigating
the complexities of higher education. Institutions are developing
programs and creating support systems that not only offer guidance
with choosing and enrolling in classes, but also provide social
and emotional support to service members adjusting to higher education.
Addressing the Disconnect
One of the largest obstacles for veterans seeking a degree involves
translating skills learned in the service to those required in the
classroom. "The kind of training they get on the job involves
a credentialing process, and not an education process," says
Kelley, who is Chair of UCEA's Military Education Community of Practice.
Soldiers learn a particular skill, but later may have trouble adjusting
to a university liberal arts curriculum. "It's very strange
for them, and it creates a disconnect in what they know they need
versus what they learned in the military," Kelley says.
In FY 2006, UMUC enrolled more than 8,400 active-duty military
students through stateside and onsite programs. Its total military
enrollments number nearly 60,000. One key to addressing the disconnect
between military training and education is to get service members
to think about their educational needs early during their service.
"We try to get them to think about a career, and we try to
get them into school in one of the programs available to them while
they are deployed so it's a smoother transition," says Kelley.
A course called EDCP 100 helps students plan for their academic
careers, and UMUC's Excel program can give college credit for military
experience.
UMUC has field representatives at deployment locations, where upon
return service men and women receive information specifically tailored
toward transitioning out of a military career. The University also
provides career services at no cost to veterans, and offers 24/7
online and telephone counseling to service members.
"When they realize they're coming back to the States, and
they're looking for options, that's the time when they are receptive
to learning about their educational opportunities," Kelley
says. "That's an important time to reach them, because it can
deter depression and make for a smooth transition back. It gives
them some sense of control over something."
It helps, she says, that UMUC's diverse student population, online
offerings and personalized approach to veterans are more comparable
to military training than would be a traditional four-year college
setting. "It varies by the individual, but it can be very uncomfortable
to be around individuals who have not served, and these continuing
education models are more the model they know if they were working
in the military," says Kelley.
"We have a special unit that works with them directly - there
is information you need to know and policies unique to military
members," she says. "They are a large segment of our students,
and we have those who know the ins and outs of the G.I. Bill and
can work with them, so they're not this odd duck that nobody understands."
Student Service at Duquesne
Like UMUC, Duquesne University's Military Education Program helps
veterans envision how skills they developed during their military
service will translate to the classroom.
"They're not sure what area of study to go into, and part
of our job is to find out what their skill areas are, and what education
gaps might exist that we might help them fill," says Mary Jane
Snyder, Director of Duquesne University's Military Education Program,
which is under the umbrella of the School of Leadership and Professional
Advancement.
The program includes some 300 students comprised of active duty,
reserve, veteran and retired personnel; they receive special military
tuition rates for undergraduate and graduate credit courses. The
program extends credit for military training as recommended by the
American Council on Education (ACE), and is a member of DANTES,
a Department of Defense organization through which veterans can
earn transfer credits. The primary focus of the program, says Snyder,
is on providing student service.
"Our main and primary goal when those students come to us
is that we know them as individuals, and we are committed to helping
them get through the program and get their education," she
says.
Many active duty students from worldwide locations take courses
online that are designed to be interactive; Duquesne has been testing
synchronous voice tools that Snyder says students especially like.
The tools work within Duquesne's Blackboard learning management
system and are archived so that study sessions and other events
can be reviewed any time. Instructors also hold study sessions through
synchronous tools at different times in an attempt to allow veterans
stationed in different time zones to access some in real time.
"We try to make their experience more personal, and we can
do that because we are a smaller school," she says.
A 'Veteran-Friendly' University
Mississippi State University opened its Montgomery Center for America's
Veterans last November to recruit veterans, and provide them with
counseling and guidance, academic advice, and mentoring. The center
is named after the late G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery, an MSU
alumnus, veteran and congressman who in 1984 revamped the G.I. Bill
that now bares his name. It was initiated by MSU President Robert
H. "Doc" Foglesong, a retired four-star general and close
Montgomery friend.
"We're hoping to increase our enrollment as the word gets
out that we are a veteran-friendly university," says Veterans
Benefit and Program Coordinator Lorene Cox. (Cox currently is directing
the program as well; she took over the duties in June when Director
Andrew Rendon, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, was deployed to Kosovo
for a year.)
The Center currently serves some 400 veterans, with the majority
in their 20s. It offers educational benefits, counseling, and serves
as a liaison between students and the V.A. regional processing office.
It also provides a computer self-help center and is developing a
job fair/career assistance program to assist with job placement.
A part of MSU's Division of Student Affairs, the Center offers courses
to active duty students stationed elsewhere through the Division
of Academic Outreach and Continuing Education.
Prior to transferring to the Center, Cox worked for 16 years in
the registrar's office at Mississippi State handling G.I. Bill paperwork
for veterans. She says the Center hopes to offer a degree program
specifically for veterans in the future, offering credit for military
training. "We want to maximize whatever benefit they're eligible
for," Cox says. "They have served our country, and the
least we can do is help them in any way that we can when they return
and transition back into school."
— Doug Davala
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