During the last five years, an increasing number of war veterans have been using G.I. bills to earn their degrees.
N.C. State has long been involved in the process of producing a better environment for military veterans, but not until recently have larger steps been taken to further the cause.
The Military Veterans Working Group, a military task force group on campus comprised of 35 on-campus members as well as many off-campus veteran affiliated organizations, is working together toward producing more benefits for veteran students.
Jose Picart, vice provost for Diversity and Inclusion and chairman of the task force, said he proposed a list of recommendations for better accommodating war veterans entering the University.
Picart said he is hoping the school will implement these recommendations as soon as possible “to make N.C. State more accessible and more welcoming to military veterans that decide they want to use their G.I. benefits to get a degree.”
Some of the recommendations Picart proposed include a centralized military office on-campus to review as a “one-stop shop” for veterans, a comprehensive veterans’ Web site to inform and facilitate access to veterans’ services and programs and developing sensitivity and awareness training programs for veteran and military dependent issues from the entire campus community.
Picart said there are three specific actions that should be taken first to implement the recommendations.
“We need to realign some resources to create a point of contact for helping military veterans,” Picart said. “We need to find dedicated resources, staff in particular. We need to set up a military veteran’s advisers council long-term.
Picart also said the University needs to be more aware of the more nontraditional learning needs of veterans.
“We need to make it easier for military veterans to complete their degree,” he said. “We recommend some policy changes. We need to give credit to nontraditional forms of learning that veterans have undergone already.”
Student senator and eight-year military veteran Jason Lindsey, who co-founded the NCSU Student Veterans, a newly formed student organization, said he believes NCSU is making improvements for veterans, but at a very slow pace.
“NCSU is making efforts to improve services available, however, the Administration is moving too slow to adequately serve our veterans,” Lindsey, a senior in political science, said.
According to Lindsey, Registration and Veterans Affairs coordinator Deborah Waller is the only person processing applications for G.I. bills for students even though the number of veterans has increased in the passed five years.
“The only way that we will be able to serve our veterans in the way they deserve, for their sacrifice to our country, is to add an additional staff member to lead the University efforts,” he said. “We must have additional resources to make these changes.”
Lindsey, along with other students, has recently formed a student-based veteran’s organization that he said he believes will make a difference on campus.
“Myself, along with other students, have formed a Student Veterans organization, which is on Facebook, NCSU Student Veterans,” he said. “This group will advocate for veterans, working to improve available services and act as a social group to get student veterans together.”
Lindsey said the support of peers is crucial for incoming student veterans.
“Peer support is one of the best things out there to help out veterans acclimate to college life,” he said.
Despite budget cuts, the Military Veterans Working Group and Student Veterans Organization are pulling strings and working with on and off campus organizations to make a change to help the University’s post-war veterans feel comfortable and welcome in the college environment.