Akron Magazine - Winter 2010 - (Page 10)

( feATure sTory ) UA Welcomes Veterans Home “The military discipline has helped a lot with my course work. I feel I am much more disciplined and organized than my class mates.” — JERRY SMITH he trickle of military veterans returning to America’s campuses is becoming a flood, and The University of Akron is positioning itself to welcome them home. “We’ve made great strides in following the American Council on Education (ACE) guidelines for making the campus veteran friendly,” says Janet Corey, UA’s veterans’ services coordinator within the office of Adult Focus. “We want to get the word out to veterans.” Corey, a retired Navy commander who joined the University in August 2009, is the only such coordinator among Ohio universities to be funded through the federal AmeriCorps VISTA program. The VISTA funding idea, Corey said, was pushed by Laura Conley, director of Adult Focus, who recognized that veterans had needs “over and above those of other adult learners.” Those needs can include extensive paperwork required to secure veterans’ benefits, social isolation, a more casual, less-structured environment than they are used to, ongoing military obligations, credit transfers, and repeating class work they already learned in the military, as well as the more serious needs for some such as disabilities or post traumatic stress. Even the little things can be frustrating, Corey says. “When these veterans were 19-to-21-year-olds they were responsible for the lives of others. They made decisions that were life changing,” she states. “That is totally different from the experiences of 19-to-21-year-olds on campuses.” T Veterans’ transition experiences are not all negative, of course. Veterans tend to be more mature, motivated and task-oriented than many of their fellow students. “In the military, you always had a job to do,” says Jerry Smith, 38, an Army veteran from Akron who is pursuing a double major in sales management and economics. “The military discipline has helped a lot with my course work. I feel I am much more disciplined and organized than my class mates.” The impact of veterans on campuses will continue to grow. With the newly enacted Post-911 G.I. Bill, the government projects that the U.S. student-veteran population will increase by 25 percent this year alone. Over the next decade some two million Americans will be eligible for benefits. UA now has more than 600 students receiving Veterans Administration benefits. But Corey said the actual number of veterans on campus is around 1,000. Many have either maxed out the benefits or get support from an employer, ROTC or other sources, she said. Ohio universities have a special opportunity to attract veterans because the Ohio GI Promise plan waives out-of-state tuition to any veteran from any state. In response, UA President Luis Proenza has directed the University to become “the most veteranfriendly campus in the State of Ohio.” The centerpiece of this effort is the University-wide Veterans Steering Committee, co-chaired by Martin H. Belsky, dean of the School of Law, and Dr. N. Margaret Wineman, dean of the College of Nursing. Adult Focus, ROTC, offices of the Registrar and Provost, and other University offices and academic units support the committee. Already, goals of the veterans committee are being met, including hiring Corey to be an advocate on campus for veterans through the Veterans Services Center. Corey serves as liaison to the ROTC office, educates faculty about veterans’ unique needs and develops support groups for veterans and their families. The widely representative steering committee reports directly to President Proenza. | 10 |

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Akron Magazine - Winter 2010

Akron Magazine - Winter 2010