6. Alert Veteran students prod stodgy professors. (1947). Journal of Education, 130, 31. Bannier, B. (2006). The impact of the GI Bill on developmental education. The Learning Assistance Review, 11, 35-44. Cohen, J., Warner, R. L., & Segal, D. R. (1995). Military services and educational attainment in the all-volunteer force. Social Science Quarterly, 76, 88-104. DiRamio, D., Ackerman, R., & Mitchell, R. L. (2008). From combat to campus: Voices of student-veterans. NASPA Journal, 45, 73-102. Feldman, S. F. (1974). Geography controls GI Bill opportunities (Staff Report). Washington, DC: National League of Cities and United States Conference of Mayors. Roach, R. (1997). From combat to campus. Black Issues in Higher Education, 14(13), 26. Rumann, C. B., & Hamrick, F. A. (2009). Supporting student veterans in transition. New Directions for Student Services, 126, 25-34. Ryan, S. W., Carlstrom, A. H., Hughey, K. F., & Harris, B. S. (2011). From boots to books: Applying Schlossberg’s model to transitioning American veterans. NACADA Journal, 31, 55-63. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). Stats in brief: Military service members and veterans (NPSAS:08). Wilson, R. (1995). The G.I. Bill and the transformation of America. National Forum, 75(4), 20. References

7. Post-WWII Era 1944 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act 1947 49% of college students in the U.S. were Student-Veterans (Wilson, 1995) 1945 to 1955 Student-Veterans demanded support services 1950s Support services, such as mental health counseling, academic advising, and orientation and new student programs, were created to meet Student-Veterans needs

8. Alert Veteran Students Prod Stodgy Professors “Exceeding pre-war records by 50%, 2,062,000 men and women are now crowding America’s colleges to the bursting point. With individual institutions showing increases of from 10 to 500%, educators are finding that lack of space is not their only problem. One college official viewed the influx of 1,073,000 ex-servicemen into the nation’s classrooms as stimulating, if not always comfortable. ‘The performance of teachers is being challenged for the first time by their students,’ he said, citing the case of a Western Reserve student-veteran who told a professor his lecture was ‘the stupidest I’ve ever heard.’ ‘Teachers have had to throw their old lecture notes out of the window,’ said M. B. Toler, mathematics department head at Fenn College. ‘We’ve had to acquire a whole new body of knowledge to keep apace of the widely traveled and experienced GI’” (Alert Veteran Students Prod Stodgy Professors, 1947).

9. Late 20 th Century 1960s to 1970s The Student-Veteran population in colleges diminished drastically and services created with veterans in mind served all students (Cohen, Warner, & Segal, 1995) 1970s Student-Veterans of the Vietnam war were given significantly diminished federal benefits, decreasing their numbers and, consequently, the attention placed on them by colleges (Feldman, 1974) 1970s Despite Vietnam Veterans’ desire for education, anti-war protests on college campuses discouraged them further from attaining four-year degrees (Cohen et al., 1995) Late 1980s & 1990s Veterans in the All-Volunteer Force of the post-Cold War era were not able to achieve the educational attainment of previous generations of student-veterans, due to reduced federal financial benefits and reduced attention given to the population (Cohen et al., 1995)

10. Vietnam Era & All-Volunteer Force Veterans on Campus Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) was an enlistment incentive for Vietnam and post-Vietnam Era veterans (Bannier, 2006) Inferior to previous incarnations of the GI Bill (Bannier, 2006) Required contributions to the plan with federal government matches at a rate of two to one (Bannier, 2006) Veterans believed they were unwelcome on campuses during this era & consequently were more likely to try to ‘blend in’ to civilian college life (Rumann & Hamrick, 2009)

11. Schlossberg’s Transition Model Transition = “any event, or non event, that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles” (as cited in Ryan, Carlstrom, Hughey, & Harris, 2011, p. 56) Four factors will influence the quality of any transition: the self, the situation, the support, and the strategies utilized, otherwise known as the 4 Ss (as cited in Ryan et al., 2011) This model will give a framework for working with Student- Veterans transitioning from active duty military to college, including perceptions of the cultures of college and military life (self), perceived negative or positive reasons for leaving the military (related to the situation), family and connection to others (support), and techniques for navigating through the academic bureaucracy (strategies), among a multitude of other factors (Ryan et al., 2011)

12. Schlossberg, Lynch, and Chickering’s Transition Framework Identified the “Moving In, Moving Through, Moving Out” structure of transitions (as cited in DiRamio, Ackerman, & Mitchell, 2008) Structure is a useful way of evaluating transitions over time by separating stressors into these headings Research (DiRamio et al., 2008) shows that student-veterans identify six factors associated with “Moving In” to college: “connecting with peers, blending in, faculty, campus veteran’s office, finances, students with disabilities, mental health and PTSD” (p. 80)

13. DiRamio, Ackerman, and Mitchell’s Results (2008)

14. Percentage distribution of undergraduates and graduate students, by military status and receipt of GI Bill education benefits: 2007–08 UndergraduatesGraduate students Military status and receipt of benefits PercentNumberPercentNumber Total in U.S.100.020,928,000100.03,456,000 Military students Veterans3.1657,0003.1107,000 Active duty0.7139,0000.829,000 Reserves0.476,0000.29,000 Nonmilitary students95.820,055,00095.83,312,000 Among military students Received GI Bill education benefits for2007–08 academic year 37.7329,00020.529,000 Did not receive GI Bill education benefits for 2007–08 academic year 62.3 543,00079.5115,000 (U.S. Department of Education, 2011)

15. New cohort of Student-Veterans is likely to increase in size as troops draw down in Iraq and Afghanistan (Ryan et al., 2011) New “Post 9/11” GI Bill includes increased educational benefits (Ryan et al., 2011) Student-Veterans of this era may have difficulties distinct from other eras (Ryan et al., 2011; DiRamio et al., 2008) Current Student-Veterans are a population worthy of student affairs professionals’ consideration in developing specific programming that can help them to transition out of combat and into college My program addresses the transitioning difficulties of Student-Veterans new to college campuses and would work best at an institution similar to Oregon State University

16. Peer-to-Peer Group Mentoring Program New Student-Veterans are identified during the college application process and informed that another orientation program is available to them; they must opt-in to the program Student-Veterans who have been on campus for at least one year are trained by a staff member to facilitate mentor groups of clusters of 5 to 8 new Student-Veterans and are supervised by a staff member throughout the program New Student-Veterans elect to participate in this extended orientation that continues through the first term of their college experience

17. Mentor Groups meet once a week for an hour over the course of the term, with the trained Student-Veteran facilitator, to discuss transitioning issues, such as financial, relationship, academic, cultural, and mental health difficulties Student-Veteran facilitator will be well versed in resources available to his mentees and able to refer them to student affairs offices such as DAS and counseling Session topics may include in-depth discussion of college support services, challenges of the transition out of combat, culture shock, personal stories of military service, and overviews of the warning signs associated with PTSD, enabling Student-Veterans to look for those signs in others and in themselves At the end of the term, new Student-Veterans can elect to continue to meet periodically with their mentor one-on- one to check up and follow through the first year

18. Program Goals To empower Student-Veterans by offering extensive knowledge of the support services available to them To create an instant peer group of other Student-Veterans who share a common culture To offer a role model and confidant in the Peer Mentor To assist Student-Veterans in “Moving In” to college To give the Peer Mentor a valuable leadership and service experience in mentoring fellow Student-Veterans To act as an early warning system for Student-Veterans who are having particular difficulties with their physical, mental, or emotional health or with navigating the “red tape” of the college campus

19. Student Affairs Competencies Required to Facilitate this Program Multicultural Competence Staffing and Supervision Teaching in the Co-Curriculum Advising and Consultation Community Development Academic and Student Affairs Partnerships