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Summer 2011

Veterans KC The Veterans Knowledge Community will advance Veterans Best Practices through the education and

activation of its members

NASPA

Inside this issue: Abby Kelso

The Evergreen State College

In anticipation of the upcoming academic year, the Veteran’s

Knowledge Community is pleased to announce a new webinar series

designed for professionals working to improve their campus’ support of

student veterans.

This area of student affairs is rapidly changing and much of the current

knowledge and experience is widely distributed amongst different uni-

versity and college campuses. The goal of the webinar series is to pro-

vide a common forum for the NASPA membership to learn from the

experiences of colleagues at other campuses and share best practices

across significant geographical distances.

In this time of challenging economic circumstances when travel and pro-

fessional development budgets are limited, the webinar format provides

an affordable means to keep up to date with current events in the field.

The following webinars will kick off the series.

Remembrance Roll Call 2011: Honoring the Fallen

September 15, 2011

12 Noon-1:30 PM PDT

Brett Morris, Associate Director for Veterans Affairs, Eastern Kentucky

University

Abby Kelso, Admissions Counselor, The Evergreen State College

See Webinars on page 2

Veterans KC Announces 2011-2012

Webinar Series

New Webinar Series ……………… 1

Pictures from NASPA’s

Annual Conference …….….. 2-3

Get Connected…………… ………… 3

Mark Your Calendars …...………4

Check this Out …………………...4

New PTSD Application...……… 4

Call for Articles..……………….. 4

VA Creates Women Veterans

Call Center ……………..5

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Pictures from NASPA’s Annual Conference

NASPA VETERANS KC SUMMER 2011

Webinars, continued from page 1

This year Veterans Day will coincide with the 10th year anniversary of the Post 9-11 conflicts. On November 11, 2011, the

NASPA Veterans Knowledge Community is sponsoring a Remembrance Day National Roll Call for Veterans Day to honor

military service members who have died in these conflicts. Join this webinar to discover how to participate in the National

Roll Call and learn from the experiences of two campuses that have hosted similar celebrations. Presenters will provide

suggestions on logistics, organization, and communications, discuss how to establish the appropriate tone for the event, and

provide strategies for soliciting support from key campus constituencies. There will only be one 11-11-11 in our lifetime, so

what will you do to make it memorable?

Developing Cultural Competencies on College Campuses: An Approach to Student Veterans

Friday October 21 12:00 PM PST

Presenters: Michelle Cyrus, Katrina Whitney, and Dr. Delores Cleary of Central Washington University

Veterans face a difficult transition from military service to academia. Some of this difficult is related to the loss of military

structure and unfamiliarity with the college environment. Faculty and staff who understand both of these unique cultures

may be better able to assist veterans in successfully navigating this transition. This presentation allows participants to devel-

op their own cultural competencies regarding student veterans through exploration of the transition from military to civilian

life, the classroom experiences of some veterans, and some best practices for serving student veterans.

Registration for this webinar is free to NASPA members and is available online (link to http://www.naspa.org/membership/

mem/profdev/confcall.cfm )

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Get Connected Join the Knowledge Com-

munity by clicking

"membership" from the NASPA

homepage, then select "Update

Membership Profile & Prefer-

ences" and scroll to

"Knowledge Community Prefer-

ences."

Contact your Regional KC

Chair to discuss how you might

be helpful in your geographic

region.

Everyone interested in

providing updates, information,

and other important infor-

mation related to Veterans are

welcome to join our listserv.

You do not have to be a mem-

ber of this Knowledge Commu-

nity or a member of NASPA; we

welcome everyone with an in-

terest in these issues.

Interested in joining our

listserv? Please email Joseph

DeSanto in the NASPA office at

jdesanto@naspa.org and specify

the name of the listserv. NASPA

will add you within a few busi-

ness days.

NASPA VETERANS KC SUMMER 2011

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania March 12-16, 2011

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CALL FOR ARTICLES

If you are interested in sharing:

Your original work;

Suggestions for articles from outside sources that

you feel would be especially useful to readers

(please include citation);

Pictures;

Book reviews; or

Events taking place (please include title, descrip-

tion of event, date and time, and location)

Please contact Megan Ziegler, Veterans KC Newslet-ter Editor at ziegler.80@buckeyemail.osu.edu

Mark Your Calendars

NASPA VETERANS KC SUMMER 2011

NAVPA Certifying Official Trainings

July 17 - 20, 2011 Irving, TX

Western Association of Veterens Education Special-

ists (WAVES) Where: Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas - Irving,

TX

Contact: Vicki Henson

Telephone: (580) 581-2234

Email: vickih@cameron.edu

October 19 - 21 Houston, TX

2011 Veterans Civic Council Conference Where: University of Houston - Downton Houston

Contact: Alicia Bradley

Telephone: (713) 348-8034

Email: abrad@rice.edu

NASPA’s Veterans Knowledge Community has added a NEWS section to our website:

http://naspa.org/kc/veterans/

news.cfm

The Department of Defense Worldwide

Education Symposium 2012

July 23-27, 2012 Las Vegas, NV

MGM Grand Hotel,

Information: www.ww2012.com

The federal VA has been launch-

ing applications for smartphones

and one of these is the PTSD

Coach. Please find below the

link to the VA’s PTSD center

webpage. It has great infor-

mation and things to do and par-

ticularly a section for wom-

en. This will be a good tool to re-

fer people to. To date it is only

available for iPhones, but shortly

the android version will be avail-

able.

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/

pages/PTSDCoach.asp

Check This Out

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NASPA VETERANS KC SUMMER 2011

WASHINGTON – The De-

partment of Veterans Affairs (VA)

has embarked on a major initiative

to reach out to women Veterans in

order to solicit their input on ways

to enhance the health care services

VA provides to women Veterans.

“We are taking a proactive

approach to enhancing VA health

care for women Veterans,” said

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric

K. Shinseki. “We are seeking the

input of women Veterans so that

VA can continue to provide high

quality health care to the growing

numbers of women Veterans.”

Representatives at VA’s

Health Resource Center (HRC) are

placing calls to women Veterans

nationwide, asking them to share

their experiences with VA and sug-

gest potential enhancements that

will further VA’s mission to pro-

vide the best care anywhere.

Women Veterans are one of

the fastest growing segments of the

Veteran population. Of the 22.7

million living Veterans, more than

1.8 million are women. They com-

prise nearly 8 percent of the total

Veteran population and 6 percent

of all Veterans who use VA health

care services.

VA estimates by 2020 wom-

en Veterans will constitute 10 per-

cent of the Veteran population and

9.5 percent of VA patients. The

HRC, which started placing calls

on June 1, is contacting women

Veterans who have enrolled, but

have not begun using VA services.

“Through this contact center,

we are placing friendly, conversa-

tional calls to women Veterans,”

said Patricia Hayes, chief consult-

ant of the VA’s Women Veterans

Health Strategic Health Care

Group. “We want these Veterans

and their caregivers to talk candid-

ly about why they are not using

VA, whether they are aware of the

gender-specific services we offer,

and what additional services they

would like to see VA offer.”

The HRC representatives

making the calls are also informing

women Veterans about the services

VA offers and quickly connecting

them with appropriate departments

if they are interested in trying VA

health care. Veterans who have

complaints about VA are connected

to a patient advocate who helps

resolve issues.

VA has trained professionals

in all aspects of women’s health,

including general primary care,

osteoporosis management, heart

disease, mental health care, meno-

pausal services and obesity-related

issues, such as diabetes. Preventive

screenings for breast and cervical

cancer are also areas in which VA

excels. Soon, all VA facilities will

offer comprehensive primary care

for women from a single provider.

The Women Veterans Health

Care program has made significant

changes in the last few years to

enhance the health care offered to

eligible women Veterans. This pro-

gress includes:

Adopting key policies to im-

prove access and enhance services

for women Veterans;

Implementing comprehen-

sive primary care for women Vet-

erans;

Conducting cutting-edge re-

search on the effects of military

service on women’s lives;

Improving communication

and outreach to women Veterans;

and

Providing mental health,

homelessness and other services

designed to meet the unique needs

of women Veterans

For more information about VA pro-

grams and services for women Veterans,

please visit: www.va.gov/womenvet and

www.publichealth.va.gov/

womenshealth.

VA Creates Women Veterans Call Center

Major Outreach Effort Launched