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Veterans Success Center

MISSION STATEMENT Provide a comprehensive suite of wrap-around support services for Purdue University’s students who are veterans, members of the military, or benefit-using family members. When referred to as a group, these students are unified under the acronym “VMF.”

VISION STATEMENT Improve access, retention, and graduation and employment opportunities for the VMF students as well as increase Purdue’s national recognition as a leader for supporting the VMF student.

CURRENT PROGRAMMING The following programming supports our mission: Access

• Welcome all incoming Purdue veteran and military students each term. • Document the history of Purdue’s connection with the veteran and military population.

Retention • Provide incoming veteran and military students with one year of dedicated Peer Advisors for

Veterans in Education (PAVE) peer guidance. • Facilitate VMF awareness Green Zone training. • Advocate for the unique needs of VMF students. • Create camaraderie, connection, and support opportunities for VMF students.

Graduation and Employment • Provide student engagement and leadership opportunities. • Facilitate access and networking opportunities with employers. • Provide red, white, and blue graduation cords to veterans and military students graduating.

FUTURE GOALS The following goals support our vision: Access

• Create a digital work-flow process to assist in the certification of GI Bill benefits. • Complete the initial launch of the Veterans Success Center (VSC) webpage and provide an initial

round of updates. • Consult with the cultural centers to develop opportunities to increase the diversity of VMF

students. Retention

• Transition to the use of BoilerConnect. • Launch a yearly campus climate survey.

Graduation and Employment • Host a graduation dinner each semester. • Establish the infrastructure for the Education to Occupation (E2O) program.

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MEASURING MISSION AND VISION OBJECTIVES The following are five specific objectives designed to assess the program’s mission and vision:

Objective 1: Increase the diversity of the veteran population—specifically in regards to black or African Americans. In the military the black or African American population is 17%, but as they become veterans and students the black and African Americans only make up 1.7% of our veteran population. Over the next four years I would like to increase the black or African American veteran population to at least match the university’s rate (currently 4%). Approach: Consult with cultural centers to develop recommendations. Increase the visibility of current diverse students. Engage diverse students to serve as leaders. Measurement: Monitor the incoming class of student veterans for diversity. Report yearly with Program Overview. Objective 2: Comparing veterans and military student retention and graduation rates to Purdue’s mostly traditional student population is not effective. Purdue’s measurements are based upon first time-first term student cohorts and a large percentage of veteran and military students are not first time-first term students making their cohort very low. We wish to create a baseline that can be used to compare actual retention and graduation rates for veteran and military students. Approach: Working with Student Success Programs assessment and data specialist we wish to determine a definition and approach to having a better understanding and more accurate comparison points. Measurement: Creation of a data set and standard report that is replicable. Objective 3: Our PAVE program is in part designed to improve the retention of new students. For students that participate in the program we want the retention rate to meet or exceed the overall university first year retention rate. Approach: Enroll all incoming veteran and military students into the PAVE program. Measurement: After creating a comparable data point for retention (Objective 2) we will compare the first year retention of students that participate in PAVE, students that do not participate in pave (including historical data prior to PAVE’s implementation) to Purdue’s first year retention rate.

Objective 4: Support the transition and leadership development of our student leaders as they transition from military, through education, and towards employment. Approach: Engage VMF student leaders in the PAVE, PSVO, Workstudy, and E2O programs. Provide leadership development and professional mentorship opportunities. Measurement: Working with Student Success Programs assessment specialist we intend to survey student leaders each semester to determine an initial baseline of effectiveness that will be used to guide future program adjustments. Objective 5: Implement a yearly climate survey to assess the awareness and effectiveness of VMF student programming. Approach: The first “climate survey” conducted was in the fall of 2012 and none have been conducted since. Many of the needs and concerns the students expressed in that survey were addressed and since a new report was developed giving us a more comprehensive list of the entire VMF population this is an appropriate time to re-evaluate the campus climate. We will conduct a survey in the spring, compile the data, determine what programming and services can be provided or changed to best support out students, and then survey again yearly. Measurement: Working with Student Success Programs assessment specialist we will launch the climate survey to the VMF students. This will serve as the baseline for future surveys and used to guide future program adjustments.

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO STUDENT SUCCESS • The PAVE program supports the students’ transition to Purdue and their first-year retention. • The VSC removes or minimizes barriers derived from utilizing educational benefits across various

agencies and coordinates with existing Purdue, regional, state, and national services to create a play book of success and to create a more streamlined process.

• Green Zone raises awareness regarding the unique attributes of VMF students in order to create a supportive campus environment.

• The E2O works with the CCO to train student leaders and partner on various initiatives in order to help develop VMF workforce transition skills.

• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) sends a representative to our office once a week to help students feel comfortable with CAPS services and to help answer questions.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNIVERSITY’S DIVERSITY ACTION PLAN

1. The Veteran and Military Student Program contributes to the Provost Advisory Committee on Diversity Items in the following ways:

a. According to the Provost’s Advisory Committee Report diverse differences may include; race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, national origin, socioeconomic status, veteran status, marital status, and parental status. By definition the Veteran and Military Student Program is designed to support a diverse population, veterans, but veterans also represent all of the other diverse categories.

b. Veterans tend to be at a higher percentage of the following as compared to the traditional age college student:

i. First generation ii. Disabled

iii. Non-traditional iv. Married or in a domestic relationship v. Parents

c. In the day-to-day operations, programming, and services we provide are directly contributing to the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Diversity Action Items. Specifically:

i. Peer Advisors for Veterans in Education (PAVE) is a transition program for new student veterans. The primary purpose is to ease transition to campus and ultimately retain this diverse group of students beyond the first year.

ii. The Purdue Student Veterans Organization (PSVO) is the student organization that provides social support for our student veterans. This organization provides co-curricular activities in support of diversity and inclusion by specifically outreaching and engaging the veteran students.

iii. The Education to Occupation (E2O) Program is designed to support veterans in their transition to the workforce—by creating a pipeline of targeted services we are supporting all our veterans and their job search process.

iv. The Veterans Success Center is the hub of support for these activities and provides for the processing of GI Bill benefits—the very vehicle that allows for the veterans to attend Purdue.

d. At all times we work to outreach within the diversity of our population often specifically contacting women or African-Americans veteran students in order to set a positive example for like students.

e. We educate institutional leaders to foster diversity and inclusion by offering Green Zone Training to faculty and staff about the veteran and military populations. Since its inception over 300 persons have been trained.

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2. The Veteran and Military Student Program contributes to the Provost Advisory Committee on Diversity Items in the following ways:

a. The population of the military is very diverse and more reflective of society as a whole, but unfortunately the population of veterans on campus more directly reflects Purdue’s lack of diversity. This is as an opportunity to directly increase Purdue’s diversity in student enrollment. In order to explore this opportunity the Coordinator intends to reach out to all the cultural centers on campus and host a brainstorming session.

b. We will continue to outreach across the diversity of our population, specifically African-American student veterans, and engage them for leadership and work study positions in our PAVE, PSVO, E2O and our VSC.

c. Finally, we are documenting the history of Purdue’s veteran and military involvement. This will serve two purposes; to create campus awareness of the significance of our population as it relates to Purdue’s history and, most importantly, to make our current and future students aware that their history is interwoven into the very fabric of Purdue. This will help them, as veteran and nontraditional students, feel less alienated on a traditional student focused campus.

NOTABLE CHANGES FROM 2014-15 Academic Year • Created a stronger PAVE orientation including campus tour, intro videos on iPads, and a

welcome luncheon. • Developed a PAVE yearly timeline. • Submitted an IRB, conducted research, and determined results for the E2O program. • Hired two VA workstudy students to support the E2O program and had them trained by the CCO

as Peer Consultants. Consult frequently with the CCO for developing our career programming. • A student created an introduction video for the PSVO. • Hired a GRA to document Purdue’s history with military and veteran students. Created a simple

Prezi timeline to outline some of the history. • Consulted with TLI to help them develop specific outreach and programming for veteran and

military students. • Priority registration for veteran and military students requested by the PSVO and approved. • New report created by Josh Newberry/Bursar’s Office gives better access to the entire VMF

population. • Teresa Harris, Veterans Certifying Official, awarded the 2016 NAVPA’s Service Award. • Teresa Harris and Sarah Underwood recognized by Student Success Programs as top tier

employees at the yearly department retreat. • Jamie Richards, Program Coordinator, co-authored a book on developing programs and

supporting student veterans on college campuses. • PSVO carried the Bicentennial Indiana torch on campus in honor of Gus Grissom.

OUR DATA Since 2012 our access to more robust data continues to improve. The latest data improvement was a report created by Josh Newberry in the Bursar’s Office. It was created to support identifying students eligible for Priority Registration, but proved to be the most comprehensive report available to date. This report pulls students from Admissions, the Division of Financial Aid, the Bursar, and the Veteran Certifying Official reports. We track three broad categories of students:

1. Veterans—any student who served in the U.S. military.

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2. Military Students—any student who is currently serving in the U.S. military either active duty or in the reserves or National Guard.

3. Family Members—any student who is a dependent and who either had benefits transferred to them from a U.S. military service member or earned due to the disability or death of the U.S. service member.

There are two primary categories of benefits:

1. Federal a. GI Bill Benefits b. Tuition Assistance c. Military Contracts d. Military Spouse Career Advancement Account (MyCAA)

2. State a. National Guard Supplemental Grant b. Purple Heart Recipient c. Child of a Disabled Veteran

The categories of students and their eligibility for benefits are dynamic and under certain circumstances an individual student might be eligible and utilize benefits from numerous categories or might not be eligible for any benefit. Our data will be reviewed in three areas: Access, Retention, and Graduation and Employment. Unless specifically noted, all data excludes Polytechnic Statewide site locations. These students are certified for benefits at each individual location, tend to have full-time jobs, have lower rates of pursuit, and with 106 students their demographics and programs of study would significantly skew main campus data. ACCESS Population In 2008 Purdue transitioned from the Student Information System (SIS) to the BANNER student system. For data collection and research purposes this is as far back as these reports go. For purposes of consistency and simplicity only data from the fall terms are represented. The overall VMF population is represented in the adjacent chart. Some notes regarding increases in enrollment:

• In the fall of 2009 the Post 9/11 GI Bill was introduced.

• In the summer of 2010 the Post 9/11 GI Bill Transfer of Entitlement (TOE) to a dependent was introduced.

• In the summer of 2015 the Veterans Choice Act Section 702 was introduced.

Future Trends The number of persons eligible to use education benefits is directly related to two factors; conflict and force manning levels. Currently we are facing less levels of conflict and a reduction of force. If current

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trends continue there should be a slight increase of veterans using education benefits and then a steady decrease as they matriculate through the system. Demographics Our veteran students tend to be male, white, and at 32, older than the average Purdue age of 22. There is a higher percentage of female veterans (27%) on campus than there are in the military (17%), but still well below the numbers for the entire Purdue population (43%). The race and ethnicity of our student veterans is more reflective of Purdue’s lack of diversity rather than the military’s diversity—specifically in regards to black or African. Sixty percent of veterans are residents. Our military students tend to be male, white, and at 25, slightly older than the average Purdue age of 22. The percentage of Purdue military women matches the percentages of those serving in the military overall, but still well below the numbers for the entire Purdue population. While more diverse than Purdue’s overall diversity, the population is underrepresented in black or African Americans as compared to the military population. Ninety-three percent of military students are residents. Our family member students tend to be an equal mix of gender, mostly white, and at 21, slightly younger than the average Purdue age of 22. While similar in diversity to Purdue’s overall population, there is a slightly higher percentage of 2 or more races. Eighty-five percent of family member students are residents.

GENDER Female Male Veteran Students 27% 73% Military Students 18% 82% Family Students 52% 48% All Purdue 43% 57% Military 17% 83%

AGE Age Veteran Students 32 Military Students 25 Family Students 21 All Purdue 22

RACE/ETHNICITY White Unknown Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

Hispanic / Latino

Black or African American

Asian American Indianan or Alaska Native

2 or More Races

Veteran Students

84% 2% 0% 7% 2% 3% 1% 2%

Military Students 74% 6% 0% 7% 3% 4% 1% 6% Family Students 78% 2% 0% 4% 6% 3% 1% 6% All Purdue 75% 3% 0% 6% 4% 8% 0% 3% Military 71% 4% 1% * 17% 4% 1% 3%

*The Department of Defense and Office of Personnel Management do not recognize Hispanic/Latino as a separate racial or ethnic category.

RESIDENCY Resident Non-Resident Veteran Students 60% 40% Military Students 93% 7% Family Students 84% 16% All Purdue 59% 41%

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Future Goals Not only would I like to see our VMF population increase, I would also like to see our students become more diverse—specifically for black or African Americans. Without a recruiting budget or an Admissions-specific initiative, we have to rely on quality programming and word of mouth. Next year’s Program Goals will look at trends regarding the demographics of our students since 2008. Programming to Support Access Peer Advisors for Veterans in Education (PAVE) Orientation In the fall of 2015 Purdue became a Peer Advisors for Veterans in Education (PAVE) affiliated institution. PAVE is a program developed and administered out of the University of Michigan’s M-SPAN group of initiatives. PAVE is a peer support program that connects incoming student veterans with student veterans already on campus in order to help them navigate college life, identify challenges they are facing, refer them to the appropriate resource on or off campus, and provide ongoing support to their academic and personal ventures. The program is tiered with paid Team Leaders (TLs) and volunteer Peer Advisors (PAs). The TLs lead and organize the program while the PAs reach out and communicate with first year students. The PAVE team leads new students through an orientation at the beginning of the semester. The orientation is designed to introduce the students to locations on campus to support their unique experiences and to help veteran and military students connect with Purdue’s military and veteran history. Communications (sans personally identifiable data) is logged a system maintained by the PAVE headquarters (HQ). The PAVE HQ introduced a new logging program in 2016 and their data from the first year is no longer available for review. Due to this we will not have student outreach data until the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. The following are our enrollment and activity numbers for PAVE: Fall 2015: Number of TLs: 2 Number of PAs: 8 Number of Incoming Veteran and Military Students for Outreach: 47 Number Attended Orientation: 2 Number of Outreach Events First Semester: 4 Lessons Learned:

• Our list of incoming students was not a good list. • We did not reach out early enough to engage the new student. • We relied on emails initially followed by phone calls. • Host “logging parties” to ensure PAs log their student outreach. • Incentivize the logging process with monthly winners.

Spring 2016: Number of TLs: 2 Number of PAs: 7 Number of Incoming Veteran and Military Students for Outreach: 5 Number Attended Orientation: 2 Number of Outreach Events First Semester: 4 Lessons Learned:

• Have to be more flexible with new students in the spring.

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• Need to recruit new TLs and PAs starting in the fall semester. • Need to conduct TL/PA training in the spring rather try to over the summer.

Fall 2016: Number of TLs: 2 Number of PAs: 8 Number of Incoming Veteran and Military Students for Outreach: 45 Number Attended Orientation: 7 Number of Outreach Events First Semester: 4 Lessons Learned:

• Have to be more flexible with new students in the spring. • Need to recruit new TLs and PAs starting in the fall semester. • Need to conduct TL/PA training in the spring rather try to over the summer.

While we do not yet have full data regarding all of the peer outreach there are have 2 instances where the new student reached out to their PA with mid-level crisis issues that involved connecting them with health services. As noted, we will have more concrete data after the 2016-2017 academic year. RETENTION Prior to assessing retention it is helpful to have an understanding of what programs the VMF population are studying. Most veteran and military students are pursuing Graduate or Professional degrees or pursuing programs in Polytechnic Institute. The majority of our students served as enlisted with many of their occupations technical and hands on and transitioning to a degree in a Polytechnic field places them in a similar career track. Those who served or are serving as officers are more frequently in the Graduate School working towards an advanced degree as they already earned their undergraduate degree prior to commissioning.

Military Colleges/Schools

# Family Colleges/Schools #

Polytechnic Institute 31 Polytechnic Institute 93 Graduate School/Prof 29 College of Engineering 83 College of Liberal Arts 21 Health & Human Sciences 80 College of Engineering 9 College of Liberal Arts 51 College of Science 8 College of Agriculture 49 College of Health and Human Sciences

7 Graduate School/Prof 35

Krannert 7 College of Science 32 Exploratory Studies 7 Exploratory Studies 28 College of Agriculture 5 College of Pharmacy 21 College of Education 2 Krannert 20

College of Pharmacy 1 College of Education 10 Temporary 1 College of Vet. Medicine 8 College of Vet. Med 0 Temporary 2

Veteran Colleges/Schools

#

Graduate School/Prof 87 Polytechnic Institute 46 College of Liberal Arts 20 College of Veterinary Medicine

14

College of Agriculture 13 College of Health and Human Sciences

10

College of Engineering 9 College of Science 9 Temporary 7 Exploratory Studies 4 College of Education 3 College of Pharmacy 2 Krannert School of Management

0

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These are the top programs across the VMF population:

Military Top Programs # Family Top Programs # Aero Astro Engr-MS-AAE 7 Engineering First Year 29 Political Science-BA 7 University Explorers 28 University Explorers 7 Animal Sciences-BS 22 Aeronautic Engr Technology-BS

6 Comp Info Tech-BS 16

Mech Engr Tech-BS 6 Biology-BS 15 Management-BS 5 Hosp Tour Mgmt-BS 14 Org Ldrshp-BS 5 Mech Engr Tech-BS 14 Sociology-BA 5 Health & Kinesiology-

BS 13

Undergraduate/Graduate or Professional More veterans are pursuing graduate degrees than the overall Purdue population.

U/G Undergraduate Graduate Veteran Students 60% 40% Military Students 77% 23% Family Students 91% 9% All Purdue 76% 24%

Rate of Pursuit Veterans tend to vary their rate of pursuit most likely due to being non-traditional students.

RATE OF PURSUIT

Full Time Three Quarter Time

Half Time Less than Half Time

No Credit

Veteran Students 60% 23% 1% 14% 2% Military Students 91% 4% 5% 0% 0% Family Students 94% 3% 1% 2% 0% All Purdue 87% Part Time

13%

Retention and Graduation Rate Retention and graduate rates for Purdue are based upon students who are first-time, first-term, but because veteran and military students tend to fall outside of this category their cohorts tend to be smaller in number. This creates a low data sample and mismatched data comparisons. We made some initial reviews of data earlier in the fall 2016 and based upon the 2009 cohort our first year retention rate was 91.7% and our 6 year graduate rate was 68.3% as compared to Purdue’s 2009 overall first year retention rate of 87.3% and graduation rate of 73.8%. Clearly, more time needs to be

Veteran Top Programs # Communications-MS 19 Vet Tech Dist Learn-AAS 13 Aviation & Aero Mgmt-MSAAM

9

Construct Mgmt Tech-BS

8

Aeronautic Engr Technology-BS

7

Interdisc Engr-MSE 7 Management Exec-MBA 7 Comp Info Tech-BS 6 Aviation Technology-BS 5 Mech Engr Tech-BS 5

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dedicated to determine how to best document our unique population of veteran and military students in order to get the most accurate retention and graduation rate comparisons.

GPA Veteran and military students GPA is on par with the Purdue GPA as a whole, but family member GPA is lower.

AVERAGE GPA GPA Veteran Students 3.1 Military Students 3.0 Family Students 2.6 All Purdue 3.1

Dismissal Rates The general trend of dismissal rates for the veterans and military is downward. For family members there has been a small rise since 2013.

Probation Rates Both veterans and military students exhibited a downward probation rate trend. Family members have increased in probation rates since the spring of 2015, but this may have more to do with the change in University policy regarding probation. Interestingly, from 2015-16, both dismissal and probation rates for "family" seems to be 2-3% higher than university rates.

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FINANCIAL DATA The average unmet need for veteran students increased in 2009-2010, but this is a false perception probably due four reasons:

1. The Higher Education Act of 2008 changed that GI Bill benefits not be counted towards financial aid awards.

2. The Post 9/11 GI Bill was implemented in 2009 and pays tuition and fees directly to the school, book and supply stipend to the student, and monthly housing allowance to the student. There is no less “need” for the students.

3. Most of those using the Post 9/11 GI Bill are able to focus on their education rather than part or full-time employent meaning they have no reportable income.

4. As independent students they do not rely on the reportable income of their parents.

2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-2016FAMILY $3,350 $3,586 $5,059 $4,880 $5,393 $6,226 $6,745 $5,082MILITARY $1,862 $4,303 $5,246 $4,997 $5,498 $4,130 $3,414 $3,013VETERANS $3,218 $8,044 $8,249 $9,167 $9,988 $9,702 $9,389 $8,512OVERALL $3,137 $5,046 $6,033 $5,936 $6,612 $6,626 $6,762 $5,681

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

AVERAGE UNMET NEED FOR MILITARY, VETERANS & FAMILY 8 YEAR TREND: 2008-2009 to 2015-2016

FAMILY MILITARY VETERANS OVERALL

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Because of the strength of their education benefits and tending to be first-generation students veteran and military students tend to not pursue scholarships or grants at as high a rate.

Because of the strength of benefits debts for veteran and military students are low.

2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016VETERANS $314,072 $899,044 $974,814 $1,054,61 $695,661 $749,895 $809,213 $892,293MILITARY $1,145,50 $1,335,08 $1,744,73 $2,101,15 $2,149,42 $1,985,29 $1,770,34 $1,428,93FAMILY $3,300,07 $3,450,41 $3,626,45 $4,032,85 $4,140,23 $4,371,45 $4,558,37 $4,857,20OVERALL $4,759,64 $5,684,54 $6,346,00 $7,188,61 $6,985,32 $7,106,64 $7,137,93 $7,178,43

$- $1,000,000 $2,000,000 $3,000,000 $4,000,000 $5,000,000 $6,000,000 $7,000,000 $8,000,000

SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS FOR MILITARY, VETERANS & FAMILY2008-2009 to 2015-2016

VETERANS MILITARY FAMILY OVERALL

2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016VETERANS $107,685 $889,677 $979,360 $997,722 $1,049,07 $773,761 $674,333 $686,241MILITARY $335,459 $558,274 $825,701 $1,256,33 $1,089,70 $774,394 $695,987 $488,566FAMILY $1,326,19 $1,705,63 $2,074,92 $2,198,76 $2,116,28 $2,015,52 $1,667,82 $1,773,02OVERALL $1,769,34 $3,153,59 $3,879,98 $4,452,82 $4,255,05 $3,563,68 $3,038,14 $2,947,83

$- $500,000

$1,000,000 $1,500,000 $2,000,000 $2,500,000 $3,000,000 $3,500,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000

LOANS FOR MILITARY, VETERANS & FAMILY2008-2009 to 2015-2016

VETERANS MILITARY FAMILY OVERALL

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Overall, the VMF population brings in over $7,000,000 directly to the university.

This is the first year that this data was collected. In the future I hope to create more comparisons and averages of the VMF population as compared to the rest of the Purdue population. Programming to Support Retention PAVE, the PSVO, the VSC, and Green Zone sessions are all designed to support students.

1. PAVE helps provide connectivity and access to resources. When PAs reach out to new students they often field questions regarding academic resources and help connect the students with appropriate support.

2. The PSVO provides camaraderie, social activities, and a shared mission to improve the environment on campus for their fellow veteran.

3. Not only does the VSC provide a location for VMF students to congregate, we help students apply for benefits and admissions, advocate for them, provide access to resources, and in many instances connect them directly with support services. Student usage of the VSC continues to increase.

4. Green Zone awareness training helps faculty, staff, and other students understand some of the unique attributes of the VMF population as well as providing them with tools in their tool box to best support them. One-hundred and twenty five faculty, staff, and students were provided Green Zone training in 2015-2016 to bring to the total trained on campus to 301. The assessments from 2014 through 2016 demonstrate a knowledge and awareness increase of 1.91 points on a 5 point scale after attending the training.

5. Providing leadership positions for our students helps engage them professionally and personally while building a support network.

2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016VETERANS $154,829 $1,528,46 $1,960,73 $1,930,32 $2,056,47 $2,038,50 $2,193,25 $1,991,08MILITARY $862,019 $945,042 $1,201,94 $1,447,36 $1,476,95 $1,389,30 $1,124,83 $990,479FAMILY $2,396,78 $2,498,48 $3,140,20 $3,529,94 $3,850,95 $3,981,85 $3,948,76 $4,072,55OVERALL $3,413,63 $4,971,98 $6,302,88 $6,907,62 $7,384,38 $7,409,66 $7,266,84 $7,054,11

$- $1,000,000 $2,000,000 $3,000,000 $4,000,000 $5,000,000 $6,000,000 $7,000,000 $8,000,000

Veteran, Military, & Family Benefits2008-2009 to 2015-2016

VETERANS MILITARY FAMILY OVERALL

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GRADUATION AND EMPLOYMENT As noted, the graduation rate for our students are lower than the University averages, but these are based upon first-term, full-time students and our population often falls outside of those parameters—most specifically in the veteran and military populations. The majority of family members are using the state benefit Child of a Disabled Veteran. Previous observations from working with this and a similar GI Bill Chapter 35 benefit students infer that these students struggle more academically than traditional students. There may be a correlation between students from families with the sort of trauma that death or disability of a parent may have as a negative impact upon the student. I intend to explore these areas further to determine more accurate representations of graduation data and trends for our VMF population and, if gaps exist, determine what measures we can put in place to best support them. Graduation Cords When student veterans, military, or ROTC students graduate and commission we offer red, white, and blue graduation cords for them to wear at commencement. We used to rely upon the Registrar’s Office to produce a list each year, which was moderately accurate. A new employee in the Registrar’s Office took over the list and he is a veteran and helped empower our office to be able to produce our own, more accurate list. We use this to target email those graduating and now call them as a reminder. The number of cords we distribute continues to increase. Eventually I wish to share these cords with Purdue faculty and staff so when they attend commencement they can proudly represent as well.

Education to Occupation (E2O) The VSC is at times inundated with employers reaching out to connect with our students. In the fall of 2015 an IRB research project was submitted to survey current students, graduated students, and employers to determine their needs. The outcomes of this research are being used to develop and Education to Occupation (E2O) program. Some of the findings are listed below.

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Judged to be the three most important job skills for each population:

Current Students 1. Face-to-Face Interviews 2. Preparing a Resume 3. Networking

Graduated Students 1. Face-to-Face Interviews 2. Preparing a Resume 3. Job Search Strategy

Employers 1. Face-to-Face Interviews 2. Translating Military to

Civilian Skills 3. Networking

The job skills with at least a 40 percentage point’s perception gap of preparedness between current students and employers are:

1. Translating Military to Civilian Skills 2. Preparing a Resume 3. Face-to-Face 4. Job Search Strategy 5. Social Media Etiquette

The following is the program we intend to follow in order to fill in student needs:

Semester Activities Fall Semester 1) Resumes

a. Reach out to students and have them bring a resume in for review b. Translate military to civilian c. Make recommendations for areas to develop d. Have an employer in the segment they want to work review the resume

2) Strategic Job Search a. What do you see as your dream job? Job, company, location specific… b. Who do you want to target? Narrow or broad spectrum c. Personal branding d. The importance of internships

Spring Semester 1) Career Fair Preparation a. Dress b. Etiquette c. Approach d. Reality check e. Have an employer practice a job fair communication

2) Employer Panel & Networking Opportunities a. Opportunities for students to meet with employers and exchange

questions b. Etiquette

To facilitate the administration of this program we hired two VA work study students who were trained by the CCO to be Peer Consultants. We intend to work with the CCO and key corporate employers to help deliver the program starting in the fall of 2017.

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OUR STORY The original GI BILL was signed into law as part of the Servicemember’s Readjustment Act of 1944. Prior to the GI BILL, there was no benefit for veterans. After WWII many service members would have returned to hometown factory jobs or family farms, but instead armed with a benefit to help pay for their education, veterans flocked to college campuses. In 1946 there were 700+ student veterans at Purdue with an overall campus population of just over 11,000 and by 1949 there were over 1,100 student veterans with a campus population of approximately 12,000 students. With the immediate increase of students Purdue responded by creating temporary housing and classrooms. It was during this period that the first student veteran organization (SVO) was formed. The organization was called DUNROAMIN and was a statement that they were “done roaming” the world. A plaque commemorating the original SVO can be found outside the Veterans Success Center. The class with the most veteran influence was the class of 1950. Their leadership seeded the funds for the Class of 50 building and a statue inside the building shows a typical male and female student from the period chatting along a park bench. The male student is wearing his WWII bomber’s jacket—he was a student veteran. There is also a plaque providing the history of the GI BILL and the significance to the graduating class of 1950. The DUNROAMIN organization faded rapidly after the Korean War in 1953 and there appears to be no significant SVO until the late 2000’s. With so many service members deployed to support the Global War on Terror and with the implementation of the Post 9/11 GI BILL Purdue again saw a significant increase in the student veteran population and in the fall of 2008 a small group of students formed a Student Veterans Organization. This organization quickly became a voice for student veterans to improve the campus culture for their fellow and future student veterans. In the 2010-2011 academic year the PSVO and Purdue Student Government (PSG) recognized a need for more support for student veterans and petitioned the Provosts Office to address this need. A university committee travelled to Indiana University and the University of Illinois for benchmarking and spoke with other institutions with similar positions. In the spring of 2012, a job description was written and a Student Veterans Advisory Team was convened in order to move forward and interviews took place during the summer. In October of 2012, Purdue appointed Jamie Richards as its first Coordinator for Military Veteran and Nontraditional Student Programs. The program was initially focused on building a base for the military and veteran students with the following first steps:

• Determine the military and veteran population; • Assess their needs; and • Synchronize existing services and develop programming based upon student needs,

benchmarking, and best practices. In the fall of 2012 the Director for the Purdue Memorial Union proposed to make space available for the Coordinator position, along with the Purdue Student Veterans Organization, and a veteran’s lounge to

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be located in PMU 284/286. The space would not be available for renovation until the spring of 2014 and for occupation until the summer of 2014. During the official request for space it was discussed that this is an opportunity to work towards a national benchmark for veterans services—a first-stop-shop, or Veterans Success Center (VSC). The heart of any center revolves around GI BILL benefits and the persons who process those benefits the Veterans Certifying Officials (VCO). Historically the VCOs were housed in the Office of the Registrar, but after discussions with the Registrar’s Office in the spring of 2013 it was agreed to move the VCO positions to Student Success on July 1, 2013. Since the Veterans Success Center was not yet created the next step was to secure space to house all three employees. On June 1, 2013, Space Management agreed to allow the temporary repurpose of ENAD 402 to create Purdue University’s first Veterans Success Center which opened on July 1st, 2013. In February of 2014, there was a reorganization and the Veterans Success Center was transferred to the Office of the Dean of Students and the Coordinator was given direct responsibility over Span Plan non-traditional student programs to include the Director and Assistant Director. In October of 2014, the suite of non-traditional services were transferred back to Student Success. In the summer of 2015 Span Plan once again became an independent program. In the late spring of 2014, the VSC moved to temporary space in the PMU and renovations started on the permanent space with support of $10,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation administered by the Student Veterans of America Vet Center Initiative. On September 11, 2014, Purdue University opened the Veterans Success Center in PMU 284/286. The space houses both Veterans Certifying Officials, the Program Coordinator, VA Workstudy students, the offices for the Purdue Student Veterans Organization, and study and lounge space for all VMF students. The space is regularly used by students as well as meeting space for the PSVO and other organizations such as VA representatives and employers wishing to network with veterans.

YEARLY CYCLE & TIMELINE VSC Schedule (Calendar Year)

PROGRAM DOOR LOCK

COMPLETE PREVIOUS YEAR'S PERFORMANCE

APPRAISAL

YELLOW RIBBON PROGRAM OPEN

ENROLLMENT

SET GOALS FOR NEXT YEAR'S PERFORMANCE

APPRAISAL

PURDUE DAY OF GIVING

WORK STUDY PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

MEMORIAL DAY FLAG RETIREMENT WITH PSUB

PROGRAM DOOR LOCK

WORK STUDY PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL 1ST QUARTER

MILITARY APPRECIATION FOOTBALL GAME

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL MID-TERMS

PROGRAM DOOR LOCK

VETERANS DAY WITH PSUB

WORK STUDY PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL 3RD QUARTER

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Certification Process (Semester Cycle)

VSC Conference Schedule (Calendar Year)

Assessment Timeline (Calendar Year)

OPEN CERTIFICATION PROCESS AND CERTIFY $0

TUITION AND FEES

SAVE LIST OF STUDENTS

RUN VA ENROLLMENT REPORT/VA AUDIT BI-WEEKLY AFTERWARDS

REPORT TUITION AND FEES (IMMEDIATELY

FOLLOWING DFA CENSUS)

RECONCILE PAYMENTS AS THEY COME IN

EMAIL VREC FORMS FOR NEXT TERM TO STUDENTS

REPORT TO THE VA: GRADUATION, FAILING GRADES, PROBATION.

REPORT TUITION ASSISTANCE GRADES TO

GOARMYED AND AI PORTAL

RESEARCH OUSTANDING DEBTS AND RESOLVE

STUDENT ISSUES

120 Days Priorto the Start of

the Term

1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week 6th Week End of Term Continually

SVA NATCON

NASPA VETERANS SYMPOSIUM

AVECO CONFERENCE (ST. LOUIS)

PAVE TRAINING IN MICHIGAN

BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE CONFERENCE

NAVPA CONFERENCE

STATE ELR CONFERENCE

Beginning ofJanuary

Beginning ofFebruary

Middle of July Early August Early October Middle of October TBD

EMAIL QUALTRICS CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY

REVIEW CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY

LEADERSHIP SURVEY

REVIEW LEADERSHIP SURVEY

E2O EMPLOYER SURVEY

REVIEW E2O EMPLOYER SURVEY

PAVE ORIENTATION SURVEY

GREEN ZONE EVALUATION

1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Apr 1-May End of May End of June End of August Ongoing

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PAVE Timeline (Academic Year)

PSVO Timeline (Academic Year)

MAIL WELCOME TO NEW STUDENTS

EMAIL WELCOME TO NEW STUDENTS

EMAIL QUALTRICS SURVEY FOR ORIENTATION

INSTITUTIONAL TRAINING/PAVE

ORIENTATION

MILITARY APPRECIATION FOOTBALL GAME

LOGGING PARTY

BENEFITS DAY OUTREACH

LOGGING PARTY

HALLOWEEN PHOTO-MOTO BOOTH OUTREACH

LOGGING PARTY

TOYS FOR TOTS OUTREACH

CALLOUT FOR PAVE PAS AND TLS

LETTER AND EMAIL WELCOME TO NEW

STUDENTS

WELCOME OUTREACH

LOGGING PARTY

OUTREACH AND LOGGING PARTY

LOGGING PARTY

TRAIN NEW PAS AND TLS

OUTREACH AND LOGGING PARTY

OUTREACH, LOGGING PARTY, AND END OF YEAR

THANK YOU

BOSO TRAINING

CALLOUT MEETING

MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY FOOTBALL GAME

MONTHLY MEETING

HALLOWEEN MOTO-PHOTO BOOTH OUTREACH

MONTHLY MEETING

END OF SEMESTER SOCIAL

SVA NATCON

CALLOUT MEETING

MONTHLY MEETING

MONTHLY MEETING

OPEN ELECTIONS

MONTHLY MEETING/ELECTIONS

GRAND PRIX

END OF YEAR SOCIAL

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E2O Timeline (Academic Year)

BENCHMARK PROGRAMS The Veterans Success Center benchmarks against the following programs:

• Indiana University—a well-established suite of wrap around services with a veterans resource center. The center is run by John Summerlot.

• University of Illinois—led by Jason Sakowski. They created a dedicated space for veteran services as well as a separate space for a veterans study lounge and developed an occupation transition program that our E2O program is loosely based upon.

The Veterans Success Center aspires to benchmark against The Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland University, Rutgers, Arizona State, and Florida State—these institutions consist of large veteran populations and offer comprehensive and robust services. They initiated creative and well-funded programing, large success centers, and some have veterans housing options dedicated to veterans. While Purdue may not grow to this level, the dedication and creativity to serve military and veteran students are aspirational. Thanks to the development of a Big Ten Academic Alliance peer group for Military and Veterans Services and our office works closely with all Big Ten institutions. The inaugural conference was held at Purdue with consecutive conferences at Rutgers, Penn State, and Wisconsin and frequently one of the institutions will send out questions or updates to the rest of the group. The Veterans Success Center also utilizes the following resources to stay up-to-date on research and best practices:

• Servicemembers Opportunities Consortium (SOC) is longstanding organization to provide guidance and a standard of support for military and veteran programs on college campuses. SOC is now aligned with the Department of Defense’s Memorandum of Understanding.

• The following is legislation or guidance provided by various Federal and State entities: a. President Obama’s Principles of Excellence b. President Obama’s 8 Keys to Success c. Department of Defense’s Memorandum of Understanding d. IPEDS Data Tracking e. Indiana’s SEA 115 Combat to College f. Indiana’s SEA 177 Tuition for Veterans g. Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (“Choice Act”) as it

pertains to the in-state tuition provision – Section 702 Fact Sheet

PEER CONSULTANT TRAINING

REVIEW RESUMES OF NEW STUDENTS

CAREER FAIRS

REVIEW RESUMES WITH EMPLOYERS

STRATEGIC JOB SEARCH

CAREER FAIR PREPARATION

CAREER FAIRS

EMPLOYER PANEL WITH NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY

Mid August Early September Early September Early October Early November Early January March March

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The VSC staff participates in and belongs to the following organizations: • Association of Veterans Education Certifying Officials (AVECO) • National Association of Veterans’ Program Administrators (NAVPA) • NASPA Veterans Knowledge Community • Big Ten Academic Alliance • Peer Advisors for Veterans in Education (PAVE) National Team • Student Veterans of America (SVA)

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUNDRAISING AND DEVELOPMENT Fundraising and Development Over the course of a year we are presented with numerous opportunities for development and fundraising. Over the 2015-2016 fiscal year our programming received $13,280.

VSC PSVO Individual Gifts: $1,210 Individual Gifts: $2,820 Corporate Gifts: $3,000 Corporate Gifts: $6,250 Total: $4,210 Total: $9,070

One time donations are utilized for the following:

• For PAVE to conduct orientation, peer programming, and outreach. • PSVO to conduct programming and outreach. • E2O to conduct employment programming and outreach. • End of the year graduation dinner. • Continue purchase of graduation cords. • Pay for graduate student to continue developing digital veteran and military history. • Send student leaders to the SVA NATCON conference.

Larger donations or endowments would be utilized for the following:

• GI Bill student emergency fund. • Scholarships for the VMF population. • For students that exhaust their GI Bill benefit prior to graduation pay their tuition and fees.

LEGEND The following are acronyms specific to this program:

• E2O = Education to Occupation • PAVE = Peer Advisors for Veterans in Education • PSG = Purdue Student Government • PSVO = Purdue Student Veterans Organization (student organization) • SOC = Servicemembers Opportunities Consortium • SVA = Student Veterans of America • VA = Department of Veterans Affairs • VCO = Veterans Certifying Official • VMF = Veteran, Military, and Family • VSC = Veterans Success Center

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INFOGRAPHIC