military education guide
sity sidewalks creates plenty of angst, never mind encounters like those of Stalcup or the heckled student. Echoing these concerns, a recent study on veterans attending schools in Ohio found academic success was tied directly to whether a campus had veteran-friendly policies. Veterans and school administra-
tors say much is being done to raise awareness on campuses nationwide. That includes new laws in Arizona to help create and publicize “vet- eran-supportive campuses,” Ohio’s GI Promise to offer all veterans in-state tuition, and ad hoc commit- tees at places like the Metropolitan State College of Denver to examine perceptions of veterans, awareness of veterans, and visibility of veter- ans on campus.
Barriers in understanding Former Marine Staff Sgt. Michael Dakduk is executive director of the SVA. He served two tours in Afghan- istan and Iraq, came home, and start- ed school at a community college before transitioning to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas — all within his first year out of the military. He grad- uated in 2010 with a degree in public administration and policy. “The funny thing about my cam- pus is that there are some things that can be generalized with all campuses and others that are unique,” he says. “The average age was about 24. The difference was, I felt older, that I had more experi- ences and like I did not fit in. But at the same time, I was going to freshman-level courses, and there would be kids age 18 who were just out of high school living at home with mom and dad. “It was clear there was a differ-
ence, but it was necessary for me to obtain my college degree. But at the same time, there’s no sugarcoating it; it was difficult. I’d sit in a class
Veteran Approved
Arizona is one of many states forging ahead to make campuses more amenable to veterans. State law has established this slate of services schools must provide to be considered on the Department of Arizona Veterans' Services list of Veteran Supportive Campuses: • a campus survey of student veterans to identify the needs, issues, and suggestions of veterans; • a campus steering committee consisting of student veterans, fac-
ulty, and staff to share information and develop programs to establish or strengthen a Veteran Supportive Campus based on best practices but that also integrates the campus culture and identifies the real needs of the student veterans; • sensitivity and awareness training on military and veterans' cul-
ture, including related issues such as traumatic brain injury, PTSD, physical and mental disabilities, suicide, and hyper-vigilance for faculty and staff; • student-veteran orientation programs, including student-veteran
guides for the first day on campus, an optional student-veteran orien- tation session, and at least one optional veteran-only course taught by a veteran or by a trained volunteer on veteran issues; • peer mentoring and peer-support programs for student veterans; • outreach strategies to local military bases; • one-stop resource and study centers on campus for student vet-
erans, their families, and student family members of the Armed Forces who currently are deployed; and • community-based collaborations to allow the private sector to support veteran resource centers through financial and in-kind gifts. The Arizona Veterans’ Education Foundation has stepped up to offer
consultation, training, and other resources to schools interested in be- coming veteran-friendly or improving their existing veterans’ programs.
about international relations talk- ing about the Middle East in a book, and I’d be thinking, ‘I was there.’ It was theory versus real life. It was a positive and a negative, bringing real life to the classroom.” Dr. John Schupp, a part-time
professor of chemistry at Cleveland State University and the founder of the Ohio study, was teaching at Cleveland State when a female student approached him, con- cerned she was failing his class. She’d just returned from Kosovo and was having trouble adjust- ing. So Schupp consulted Vietnam veterans, who told him their big-
C MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2011 MOAA’ S MILITARY E D UCATION GUIDE
gest challenge: “We just couldn’t concentrate.” Because of that, they couldn’t pass a test and would drop out without returning. “There are two reasons why they
can’t: either it’s the person them- selves or the environment,” Schupp says. “So I decided, ‘I can change the environment.’ ” He experiment- ed with throwing civilians out of his classes and teaching a veterans- only section. Their academic per- formance immediately improved. Schupp also has been working on
a state-legislature-sponsored com- mittee for Ohio’s GI Promise. He con- ducted a study on the student veteran
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