Looking for Answers on Student-Veterans' Centers

This week, Cleveland State University professor John Schupp, founder of Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran, or SERV, is in Washington looking for answers on how colleges and universities can take advantage of the recently-approved federal grants to establish student-veterans' centers of excellence.

Thanks to the hard work of Schupp and the AMVETS legislative team, the provision commissioning such grants was included in the Higher Education Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 and funding was secured in the Department of Education budget for FY2010.

Though Congress approved $6 million for a pilot program, the Department of Education has yet to clarify how these initial grants will be administered.

Since news of the grants became public in December, AMVETS and SERV have been inundated with calls, e-mails and letters from colleges and universities asking how their campuses could take advantage of the new program.

Some of the nation's top public schools, such as Indiana University, Kent State, University of California Santa Cruz, Mississippi State and Washington State, have formally inquired about how they can become involved. For this week’s meetings in Washington, Schupp has brought more than 60 of these letters with him to show key decision-makers.

AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley said he hopes that the Department of Education will start the grant process shortly to ensure that funds will be delivered in time to have true centers of excellence up and running for the fall 2010 semester.

AMVETS and SERV originally recognized the need for student-veterans' centers once the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill was signed into law, offering unprecedented educational opportunities for 21st century veterans.

American Veteran will continue to follow this story. Check back regularly for updates.

Department of Education Budget to Include Funding for Student-Vets' Centers

This morning, AMVETS received confirmation from Congressional staffers that the FY2010 budget for the Department of Education will included funding for federal grants to colleges and universities to establish student-veterans' "centers of excellence."

Two summers ago, AMVETS worked with Congress to include a provision in the Higher Education Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 that would commission the grants, however, actual funding for the grants remained a major question throughout this year's fiscal budget process.

AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley worked with leaders in the House to include $8 million in funding for student-vets' centers in their version of the bill, but the provision was absent in the original Senate bill.

Once the budget went to conference, both chambers compromised to include $6 million in funding for a pilot program for these student-vets' centers.

AMVETS anticipates that the conference budget should easily pass both the House and Senate, and that President Obama should sign it into law shortly.

Federal funding for student-veterans' "centers of excellence" has been a top priority for AMVETS since the passage of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. While AMVETS viewed the new G.I. Bill as an integral tool in ensuring student-veterans had an opportunity to go to college, AMVETS believed that student-veterans' centers would ensure that today's veterans would have all the tools necessary to succeed in the classroom.

AMVETS continues to work with Cleveland State University Professor John Schupp, founder of the Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran (SERV) program as a model for campuses to meet the needs of their student-veterans.

AMVETS and Schupp were the visionaries behind the original legislation in Congress to commission these grants in an effort to ensure college campuses were prepared for the influx of veterans seeking to use their education entitlements.

Once Department of Education clarifies the grant process, AMVETS will work with Schupp and other student-veterans' advocates around the country--such as John Powers at the University of Rhode Island--to ensure campuses have the tools necessary to receive federal grants and establish quality student-veterans' centers.

Stars & Stripes reports on student-vets' centers.

(Photos: Top: Ray Kelley speaks with John Schupp between meetings on Capitol Hill, advocating for student-veterans' "centers of excellence. Photo by Ryan Gallucci. Bottom: Student-veterans enrolled in Schupp's SERV program pose for a photo with the chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, Eric D. Fingerhunt, who visited Cleveland State University to see the merits of SERV first-hand. Photo courtesy of SERV.)

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due...

This morning, AMVETS Legislative Aide Christina Roof came across a Rutgers University press release published on an online veterans' forum, which highlighted the university's efforts to support New Jersey student-veterans.

Here is the official release.

Unfortunately, the release seems to take credit for the hard work of Rutgers' student-veterans who have fought tooth-and-nail for every inkling of support that the university and Rutgers President Richard McCormick now seem eager to offer.

“As the State University of New Jersey, we want to make sure that we are ready to assist these men and women who so honorably served our nation,” said President Richard L. McCormick.

Oh really? Over the last two years student-veterans at the Rutgers-Camden campus have put in all of the leg work to convince the university that its student-veterans were being treated inequitably.

Veterans For Education, which American Veteran has highlighted on multiple occasions, built up support within the student body and within the community, ultimately forcing President McCormick's hand on veterans' issues. All along the way, V4E faced active resistance from campus administration until they had mustered enough grassroots support to facilitate change. Now the university cannot give credit where credit is due.

V4E and its leaders John Cosby, William Brown, and Bryan Adams, have worked tirelessly with state and federal legislators to allow New Jersey's state colleges and universities to accept military credits as Servicemembers' Opportunity Colleges.

Only after an exhaustive public awareness campaign and letters from legislators at all levels of government did Rutgers and President McCormick decide to act.

Fortunately, news sources such as the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New Jersey Star-Ledger have acknowledged the hard work of V4E in pushing for Rutgers' support to its veterans.

Thankfully, the climate for American student-veterans seems to be improving thanks to the hard work of veterans such as V4E and hundreds of Student Veterans of America (SVA) groups across the country.

Students are also starting to receive the administrative and faculty support that they will need to succeed thanks to the hard work of educators like John Schupp, the founder of Cleveland State's SERV program, which AMVETS and SVA proudly support.

AMVETS and American Veteran will continue to follow the developments of student-veterans' services at college campuses nationwide to ensure that veterans transition smoothly into campus life.

(Photo: V4E student-veterans from Rutgers Camden discuss Servicemembers Opportunity College credits with New Jersey Governor John Corzine. Photo courtesy of Veterans For Education.)

This Week at American Veteran

The spring issue of American Veteran magazine has shipped. It is currently available online, and it should hit mailboxes by the end of the week.

Please take a look and let us know what you think.

This week at American Veteran Online, we will follow AMVETS Legislative Director Ray Kelley to Capitol Hill for testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs on a host of pending bills.

This morning, American Veteran also accompanied Kelley and John Schupp, director of Cleveland State's SERV program, to CNN's Washington Bureau to discuss veterans' education. Check back with American Veteran Online to see when the CNN segment will air.

American Veteran will continue our Women in Service series this week with the long-awaited Brig. Gen. Vaught piece. A major thank you goes out to the staff at the National Women's Memorial for providing us with a wealth of information on Gen. Vaught's military career and her work with WIMSA.

We will also launch a new segment this week called Battle Stripes, which will highlight some of the most historic military units and chronicle their combat experiences. If you have any suggestions of features down the road for either our Women in Service or Battle Stripes series, please let us know.

Dispelling student-veterans' stereotypes: Penn State's teaching aide

This video was featured on the Penn State Web site for Counseling & Psychological Services to address "Worrisome Student Behaviors." The link on the Web page was removed last month, but it was preserved on YouTube by the PSU College Republicans, who brought the issue of student-veteran stereotypes to the forefront. A special thanks goes to the director of Cleveland State's SERV program, John Schupp, who brought the video to our attention.

When asked about the questionable nature of the video, Penn State quickly responded to American Veteran's query. Dr. Dennis Heitzmann, Director of Counseling & Psychological Services acknowledged that the video, "may be viewed at worst as unfairly stereotyping members of this important [veterans] constituency." He went on to say in an E-mail that, "...upon realizing the unintended impact on some and the potential impact on others, we immediately removed the video from our website."

Since AMVETS has taken up the cause of veterans' education, the organization has heard from student-veterans across the country about the stigma and stereotypes they often encounter when returning to academia.

Of these stereotypes that AMVETS commonly hears, the Penn State video seemed to reinforce just about all of them: Anger, intimidation, bad attitude, arrogance, academic ineptitude, poor language skills, inability to adapt, self-righteousness, and so on. It appears that stereotypes of the angry veteran have permeated some of the supposed "best and brightest" that our college campuses have hired to mold our nation's youth.

An interesting side-note. I recently was a student-veteran, finishing my degree. From my experience, student-veterans are motivated, hard-working, and outspoken leaders among their peers--usually the type of student a professor would enjoy having in their classroom.

The SERV program at Cleveland State has demonstrated that student-veterans, like any underserved population on a college campus, will succeed in a system that recognizes and addresses their legitimate transitional issues. Programs are in place on college campuses nationwide that address the unique needs of inner-city students, minority students, disabled students, GLBT students, and so on. I've never seen an instructional video on how facutly members should "deal with" these students--that would be an abhorrent gesture--but it seems acceptable when "putting up with" student-veterans.

Thankfully, Student Veterans of America (SVA) has also fought to dispel this stigma through the work of its chapters on college campuses nationwide, and they recently adopted the SERV model as a "best practices" to meet the needs of student-veterans. The VA also recognized the merits of SERV, and I've included their video here:



Studies show that when student-veterans are given the opportunity to succeed, they will often exceed expectations, and Penn State acknowledged that the university values its relationship with student-veterans on their campuses across Pennsylvania.

"The student counseling service has helped scores of veteran students to resolve their unique challenges," Heitzmann said. "We would not want to jeopardize those relationships in any way, particularly in view of the many services we believe we have yet to offer this important student constituency."

AMVETS was encouraged by the swift and thoughtful response from Penn State and Dr. Heitzmann. AMVETS and American Veteran Magazine will continue to work with our partners within the veterans' community, like SERV and SVA, to uphold the honorable reputation of our student-veterans.

Let us know how you feel about this issue by posting your comments below.

-Ryan

(Media: Top: Penn State video about "Worrisome Student Behavior" embedded from the PSU College Republicans' YouTube page. Bottom: Video from the VA's "American Veteran" series highlighting the SERV program from Cleveland State University.)