Current Issue: Student Veterans

Kristina Bryant Case

EDL 762
April 12, 2011

Literature Review
Student Veterans (SV) have been identified at institutions of higher education as a group of
students with special needs. This is evident through the many articles and studies conducted about
student veterans, through the offices especially set up to address student veteran concerns, and through
the special circumstance allowances they are frequently entitled to at colleges and universities. But are
these special treatments enough to make our student veterans successful? Do student veterans feel
connected to their college or university? How can we as student affairs professionals connect to student
veterans?
In the article What admissions offices can do for Veterans, the author seeks to identify some of
the ways Admissions Offices can improve the student veteran experience. Hoover, 2011, uses examples
from what other institutions have done to improve their services as a best practices model. Some of the
examples of improvements were waiving ACT/SAT & GPA requirements in exchange for 23 year old
former soldiers to submit 2 recommendation letters and a personal essay. Hoover also suggests allowing
military experience to count for college credit, extending deadlines for applications, allowing deferred
admissions, no tuition late fees, online placement testing, counselors being available for instant
messaging and virtual advice, and to re-examine websites to make sure that veteran needs are addressed.
Are these changes enough? There are several other issues with veterans other than these changes, such
as admissions offices basic knowledge of the GI Bill and Veterans in general is very little.
Lipka, 2011, in her article To support student vets, be visible and engage other students, grant
winners advise, reports on several colleges and institutions that have received grants to improve the
student veteran experience and develop best practices. Some of these suggestions to improve include:
Improved Visibility, institutions should have a designated office and visible office space for veterans to

located to have their questions answered and special orientation sessions that include information
relevant to student veterans.
Vet Friendly Zones, these zones would be offices of administration, staff, and faculty offices that would
have an at least basic knowledge about student veteran issues and could answer questions and go the
extra mile to help those veterans out, much like the safe space program at Wright State University.
Student Veteran Lounge, a space for student veterans to go and connect with other veterans
Counselor/Student Veteran Relationships can often be strained because of the stigmas associated with
military and mental health issues. Counselors should try to connect to veterans in non threatening
settings and get to know them so that student veterans are trusting of the counselors and may feel
inclined to reach out for help.
Institutional Staff/VA Officials Relationship, the institutions designated student veteran staff member
should make every effort to connect to local VA officials in order to get information about students and
to give information about students.
Online Tool Kit, an online manual that student veterans can access from anywhere that gives them the
tools to be successful in a college setting from admissions, to registering for classes, to how to apply for
graduation etc.
The next two studies outline the issues that student veterans often have in transition. The studies
are Rumann & Hamrick, 2010, Student veterans in transition and Ackerman, DiRamio & Mitchell,
2009, Transitions: combat veterans as college students. The studies outline four areas in which student
veterans have transition issues: Practical Issues, Role Incongruities, Stress & Mental Health, and
Maturity Issues. These issues are explained in the nest several paragraphs.

Practical Issues- difficulty in getting their email accounts set up, getting their financial aid and
GI Bill in order, registering for classes, finding an academic advisor, buying books, and getting their
questions answered.
Role Incongruities- In the military student veterans were given orders daily, they were told what
to do, how to do it, where to do it, and when to do it. Very little was left for the student veterans to
choose or ascertain themselves. This is the exact opposite of college life. Professors very often leave the
students to create their own ideas, projects, papers, with sometimes very little guidance. This is an
integral part of the learning process needed to be successful in the real world. Employers will expect
students to often be self directed and create on their own. They will not provide a rubric for students to
follow step by step to accomplish every task. This is frustrating for student veterans who have for a long
time been told exactly what to do to be successful.
Stress & Mental Health- the stigma associated with PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and
other combat related mental health issues, GAD Generalized Anxiety Disorder etc, is debilitating. Many
cases of PTSD and other disorders go untreated. In the college setting this can manifest itself in many
different ways including trust issues, inability to form relationships and connections with other students,
overwhelming emotions, easily flaring tempers, depression, losing interest in things the student
formerly found joy and excitement in, etc.
Maturity- Student veterans often have a hard time building relationships with their younger coeds. Student veterans find other students to be immature who are preoccupied with things such as
partying, not completing the work needed for in-class discussions, skipping class, and being
disrespectful during class time. Although the age disparity is often only five years, the life experience
gained in those five years, especially the maturity needed to survive military life, gives student veterans
an entirely different outlook on life.

These transition issues can keep student veterans from being successful is they continue to be
unaddressed. In addition to the transition and adjustment issues there are several articles and studies
dedicated to the benefits that student veterans receive and the complicated system in place that hold
student veterans back from getting all the benefits they deserve. In Maximizing Financial Aid for
Veterans, Chitty, 2008, discusses what administrators can do to help veterans take advantage of
education benefits as well as a detailed summary of the new Post 9/11 GI Bill and discusses the issues
surrounding why veterans are not taking advantage of these benefits.
Even after all of these articles, some of the basic student veteran issues have not been addressed.
Sometimes these issues are small concerns such as student veterans cannot register for classes outside of
their program of study in order to become a full time student otherwise they will not receive their GI
Bill. Student Veterans often do not receive their GI Bill benefits in time to pay their tuition and are
kicked out of the classes they have registered for. When they finally receive their funds, the classes are
closed and the student veterans have to register for all general education courses or have to go to school
half-time. This often keeps student vets from graduating on time. These are just a few minor issues
facing student veterans, but student affairs (SA) professionals are unfamiliar with student veterans. SA
professionals are not equipped to handle issues with student veterans.
Student veterans are a difficult student population. Not only do they rarely ask for help, but we as
SA professionals do not have the knowledge and tools to help them. SA professionals need to become
more familiar and knowledgeable about student veteran issues in order to make sure they are connected
and become successful.
How student veteran conditions are Wright State University? Average at best. There is a lot to be
improved, but overall veterans issues seemed to be addressed, especially in the Office of Veterans
Affairs (OVA). Student veterans seem to be drawn to WSU because of its central location, cost, concern

of veterans issues, and close proximity to a military base. College staff and administrators seem to
know the bare minimum information about student veterans.
There are several changes and updates that WSU could make to improve the student veteran
experience but here are just a few that may not cost a lot, but would involve designating services to
veterans. Admissions Counselors should have a designated counselor to familiarize her/himself with
Veterans issues, much like they have for home schooled students or PSEO (Post Secondary Education
Option) students. The same should happen with other offices on campus such as Financial Aid, Bursar,
and Academic Advising (University College). These people in the offices could establish the vet
friendly zones.
The VA office could do more outreach to other offices and could hold their student veterans more
accountable by having check in sessions with them once a quarter to make sure their needs are being
met. There should be specialized orientations, UVC classes, and first year academic advisors for
veterans. A physical space for veterans could be designated for veterans with simple amenities like a
microwave and a couch. A task force or committee could design a Veterans Guidebook to Wright State
University as suggested in the Literature Review.
Overall, there needs to be a little more hand holding for student veterans and SA professionals
need to become more knowledgeable. Student veterans are use to being told exactly what they need to
do and are less self directed, so to get them started, WSU should make the very first steps a little closer
to their former lives so they can gradually transition to self direction.

References
Rumann, C. B., & Hamrick, F. A. (2010). Student Veterans in Transition: Re-enrolling after War Zone
Deployments. Journal of Higher Education, 81(4), 431-458. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Ackerman, R., DiRamio, D., & Mitchell, R. (2009). Transitions: Combat veterans as college students.
New Directions for Student Services, (126), 5-14. doi:10.1002/ss.311
Hoover, E. (2011, February 9). What admissions offices can do for veterans. The Chronicle of Higher
Education, p. 2.
Chitty, H. (2008). Maximizing Financial Aid for Veterans. University Business, 11(9), 43-44. Retrieved
from EBSCOhost.
Lipka, S. (2011, March 8). To support student veterans, be visible and engage other students, grant
winners advise. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. 1.