Centers recognize veterans' needs

Janice Semmel, December 2010
Copy Editor

Photo by Janice Semmel

Veterans await the grand opening of the Veteran Services Center at GCC.

As thousands of military personnel return from deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq
and around the world and others complete their military service, an increasing number return to school to take advantage of their veterans’ benefits and prepare to embark on careers at home.

Because of their unusual circumstances, these veteran students face more challenges than regular students. On-campus veterans service centers contain a one-stop place for veterans to acquire all the information they need to make smooth transitions from military to college student roles.

This month, Glendale Community College opened a new Veteran Resources Center in renovated space formerly occupied by GCC Public Safety. Currently, Paradise Valley Community College offers veterans support through Veterans Services in Admissions, but the campus has, of yet, no dedicated space for veterans to congregate and access resources. PVCC officials have been reviewing the veterans on-campus situation this fall.

Webinar presents program solutions
Larry Fields, Paradise Valley Community College executive assistant to the vice president and a veteran, says, he noticed an advertisement to apply for grant funds to develop a veterans resource center and further research led him to register for a webinar.
Dr. John Schupp, a chemistry professor at Cleveland State University, recipient of the Department of Defense Humanitarian of the Year Award and creator of the Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran program, presented the webinar to show his research findings and document why campuses need veterans resource centers for their student veterans.

Fields took notes so he could compile a report for Dr. Paul Dale. “It is very clear to me that he (Schupp) has a passion to help veterans, and he did his homework,” said Fields.

From his notes, Fields said Schupp pointed out many problems and transitions student veterans face :
-Only 3 percent of freshman veterans received their degrees as compared to 30 percent of others.
-Veterans try to fit in, but it’s hard for them to fit in because they’re used to structure, which colleges don’t have.
-Veterans have been trained to give up their lives, and college students don’t understand that concept.
-Veterans work well together, so they need help to transition and adjust together.
-Veterans need brief and to-the-point orientations designed and presented separately just for them.
-Veterans primarily go to community colleges.
-Veterans connect with people, so the college needs to supply them with consistent help.

Fields says, Schupp also developed classes exclusively for veterans. “Some schools have done that, and it works,” he says, “However, it’s not very cost effective.”

The webinar also suggests getting the veterans resource center off the beaten path, but in close proximity to everything on campus, says Fields.

“The message that comes from the individual who presented the webinar is if we are committed to really help veterans, then we should be very committed towards creating a veterans resource center,” says Fields.

PVCC veterans express ideas for veterans resource center
When Daniel Fox, a 7-year U.S. Army veteran and PVCC student, came to PVCC, he said, “I was the first one in my family to ever go to college.

“I have a major issue,” he said. “I registered for school, but no one really told me the importance of registering with the VA (Veterans Administration) because the whole thing was kind of new to me. So about a week later I figured out how to register with the VA.” By that time, he said the payments to the school were late.

Russell Glick, a 10-year Army veteran  and PVCC student on Work Study, says that veterans run into trouble when they go to an adviser with no veterans benefit experience. He says the student goes to the adviser and asks what to do because they’re getting an “F” in the class, and the adviser tells them to take a “W.” He says with the GI Bill, students loose funding (if they withdraw with a “W”), and they need to pay back their money.

“I tell everybody to go to Andy (Andrew Helman, PVCC program adviser),” says Fox. “He gave me a game plan , t old me what classes I should be taking. He laid it all out for me. It was amazing.”

A visible, centrally located veterans resource center on campus staffed with veterans or others knowledgeable in veterans affairs gives student veterans a one-stop place to go to handle all of their needs. At PVCC, while there is no veterans’ resource center, the college supplies Nancy Epps-McNeill, PVCC veterans records technician, along with Work Study students like Glick, who register student veterans and help take care of VA paperwork. They also aim to launch orientations specifically targeted for new student veterans in spring 2011.
Andrew Kay, an 11-year U.S. Air Force veteran, says after establishing a center, outside organizations like the American Legion and VFW volunteer to come in and share their knowledge and expertise in helping to resolve issues.

PVCC plan for Veterans Service Center
As the renovation of the Q Building draws to a conclusion, PVCC plans to start renovation of the Kranitz Student Center.

“There are a number of cohort groups that we’d love to create space for because it gives people a chance to connect, a place to hang out, and the language we use is to create ’ sticky space ‘ on campus, so students want to be here on campus between classes,” says Dr. Paul Dale, PVCC president. “And part of our challenge, is how do we meet more needs than we have budget available?”
No definite plans for a veteran’s resource center at PVCC are in the works so far.

About 300 student veterans come to PVCC. To date, they have attended the same new student orientation as other students, but they need to know additional information to get the veterans benefits they’re entitled to receive. Veterans Services located at Admissions and Records inside the KSC building affords student veterans a public area to discuss registration and veterans benefits with either Epps-McNeill or Glick, PVCC Work Study and student.

“But as with many areas, (considering) the fact that the vets have a coordinator that works out of the office of Admissions and Records, sometimes that area is not as conducive to having private conversations,” says Dale. “I know that they’ve made some accommodations in our office to provide some space, but that’s an evolving area, and we need to look at that.”

Even though Dale realizes that veterans share a common bond, he says campus growth of 18 to 19 percent over the last two- to-three years causes a space problem on campus.

“The metaphor I’ve used for many years is that right now at KSC we have 20 pounds of potatoes and a 10 pound bag,” says Dale. “We’re just going to have to get real creative on how we create additional space.”

Glendale Community College dedicates Veteran Services Center
On Nov. 10, the 235 birthday of the Marine Corp and the day before Veterans’ Day, Glendale Community College dedicated its new Veteran Services Center. Visitors toured the facility before and after the dedication ceremony.

“I understand we are one of the few Maricopa colleges who has a separate facility dedicated to veterans’ services,” said Alberto Sanchez, Glendale Community College vice president of student affairs and veteran.

Charles Pierce, coordinator of veterans’ services, and his assistants that serve student veterans occupied a single desk in the enrollment center, said Sanchez. The new Veteran Services Center divides space into offices for the staff, a communications area, a lounge area, a media room and a conference room for meetings and training.

Pierce, an Air Force veteran, beams as he shows people around the new facility. He and one of his Work Study students, Jeffrey Overly, demonstrate the Skype capabilities in the large, state-of-the-art conference room. Veterans and families use Skype to communicate with their deployed friends and family members.

They found out at the end of August that the facility would open, says Pierce. College craftspeople accomplished the renovation of the building on time and under budget. They tore out walls and installed doors and cabinets, he said.

Between the north and main campus, GCC maintains eight Work Study students, says Pierce. This illustrates veterans serving veterans.
Overly, a Work Study student since the summer of 2009 and Air Force veteran, says, “We’re proud of it. It’s a one stop shop.” He adds that a new veterans’ club becomes official shortly and is on Facebook as Veterans Support Coalition.

“We’ve always had veterans as part of our student population,” says Sanchez. “This year we’ve had something like a 50 percent increase and the numbers have jumped from about 700 or 800 to 1,400 students for veterans. Of course, veterans are not looking for any special consideration, but they are a group that we need to be very much aware of.”

GCC’s Public Safety moved from the 1, 300- square-foot building in summer, said Sanchez, and the remodeling began. The building resides on “prime real estate” in the student services area surrounded by the enrollment center, the student union, the testing center, the counseling center and the administration building.

Sanchez served as master of ceremonies at the dedication. Veterans, administrators, students, guests and community leaders celebrated the dedication with the “Pledge of Allegiance,” the n ational anthem and acknowledgements to those involved with the completion of the facility. The official ribbon cutting ceremony took place after the ceremonies.

Bobby Diaz Lopez VFW Post 6310 served as color guard and posted the colors, and command chief master sergeant of the Air Force, Rory L. Wicks, from the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base gave the keynote speech.

“Today we remember those who gave everything they had when their country was at stake,” said Wicks. “This is a time for all of us to remember that freedom is not free.”