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Adapting to College Life: What
We can do to Assist the
Florida Atlantic University's
5th Annual Forum on Student Veterans
Returning Veteran
Supporting Veterans Through College
• Understand the veteran
• Use institutional strengths
• Look for opportunities to improve services
• Use veteran positive traits and skills to good advantage
Veterans are not all created equal
Some veterans may not relate very well to the average "peer"
Pre-Forum Survey ReviewQuestion 1
Other: Work with FAU student Veterans and Disabled American Veterans State of FL
Survey Review: Questions 2 & 3
Survey Review: Question 4 In the context of Veteran issues that most closely surround transitioning to college, please rank these issues in order of importance, with 1 being the
highest and 8 being the lowest importance
1. Military Credit Transfer2. Education Benefits3. On Campus Veteran Services 4. On-Campus Sensitivity
toward/from veterans
5. Program Portability between colleges for Active Duty students
6. Veteran College Attainment7. Career Development8. Military friendly curriculum
Mili
tary
Cre
dit
Tran
sfer
Educ
ation
Ben
efits
On
Cam
pus
Vete
ran
Serv
ices
On-
Cam
pus
Sens
itivi
ty
tow
ard/
from
vet
eran
s
Prog
ram
Por
tabi
lity
be-
twee
n co
llege
s fo
r A
ctive
D
uty
stud
ents
Vete
ran
Colle
ge A
t-ta
inm
ent
Care
er D
evel
opm
ent
Mili
tary
frie
ndly
cur
ricu
-lu
m
3.25 3.42 3.644.56 4.75 5.17 5.47 5.75
Transition to College Issues
1. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
2. Mental Health Counseling3. Veteran Disabilities4. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
5. Housing/Homelessness6. Women Veterans issues7. Minority Veterans issues8. LGBT Veteran Issues
Post
-trau
mati
c St
ress
Di
sord
er (P
TSD)
Men
tal H
ealth
Co
unse
ling
Vete
ran
Disa
biliti
es
Trau
mati
c Br
ain
In-
jury
(TBI
)
Hous
ing/
Hom
e-le
ssne
ss
Wom
en V
eter
ans
issue
s
Min
ority
Vet
eran
s iss
ues
LGBT
Vet
eran
Issu
es
2.51 2.714.11 4.4 4.46 5.23 5.89 6.69
Health and Welfare Issues
Survey Review: Question 5In the context of Veteran issues that surround their Health and Welfare, please rank these issues in order of importance, with 1 being the highest and 8 being the lowest
importance
Survey Review: Question 6Of the areas listed above, you have expertise in (list all that apply):
LGBT
Vet
eran
Issu
es
Vete
ran
Colle
ge A
ttai
nmen
t
Min
ority
Vet
eran
s iss
ues
Prog
ram
Por
tabi
lity
for A
ctive
Dut
y St
uden
ts
Hou
sing
/hom
eles
snes
s
Wom
en V
eter
ans i
ssue
s
Mili
tary
Cre
dit T
rans
fer
Educ
ation
Ben
efits
Mili
tary
frie
ndly
cur
ricul
um TBI
Empl
oym
ent
Care
er D
evel
opm
ent
PTSD
Sens
itivi
ty to
war
d/fr
om v
eter
ans
Men
tal H
ealth
Cou
nsel
ing0
2468
101214
Survey Review: Question 7Agree or Disagree
We should see more Vets returning to school and possibly they will be the largest sub-population entering universities. If so we will encounter more students with visible physical disabilities and unseen health issues and generally a new unique set of needs versus past populations-say in the past 20-30 years.
Survey Review: Question 8Agree or Disagree
1. We are just beginning to address serving this population to a greater extent too early to tell2. I think above options aren't valid options for myself. For instance some VA & University programs are exceptional while others are terribly inadequate...So maybe I should select "disagree".
Survey Review: Question 9If you could synthesize two or three of the most important issues
facing veterans into a single, coherent message for people to consider, what would that message be?
• …It is the government's responsibility to provide [veterans] with the best medical care, mental health counseling, educational and career opportunities on their return to ensure a smooth transition...
• Even though many veterans have experienced difficult and/or traumatic events, they're people just like you & me.
• ...[veterans have] limited access to overall health services, including mental health… "acceptable" providers are limited and waiting lists are long.
• …education promises need to be kept. Training to help skills won in the military transfer into civilian life is important.
• Issues that are not on the surface such as TBI and PTSD• Do not focus on PTSD... Smothering is not helping.• …a strong academic foundation and … a timely graduation.• Sensitivity to their needs…facilitate the enrollment process and orientation and course selection as it
begins before they set foot on the college campus• There are skills and knowledge that veterans possess that are not considered transferable - nor are they
being properly merited...• Be prepared for culture shock and new challenges!• The difficulty coming out of a regimented environment where everything follows a very streamlined
format to an environment of individualism…• …help[ing] Vets transition or reintegrate to where they want to be … means making non-Vets
aware/sensitive to that population's needs and how to assist them...
Survey Review: Question 10 Do you think society and institutions are doing a good job or a bad job at
fulfilling the terms of your message? What should be done to improve this?
• … provide Empathy Training.• Improvement can be made through promoting awareness in the community.• I think an adequate job is being done by society and a good job is being done by FAU (or at least
we are headed in that direction). We need to continue working on improving our services.• Offer the help, if vets want it they will come.• Society is reactive rather than proactive…• A unified message needs to be created and advocated across institutions, organizations and
communities...• Little known about challenges facing veterans returning to colleges and few services available
presently• They are trying to do and are doing a fairly good job but need to be educated in how to do it
better.• …we are not providing veterans … with adequate resources. For example, the VA is underfunded.• During new employee orientation is any time spent addressing the needs of …vets or FAU's
Mission as it relates to them? Is the issue addressed in departmental "retreats" or staff meetings?
Adapting to College Life: What
We can do to Assist the
Florida Atlantic University's
5th Annual Forum on Student Veterans
Returning Veteran