at Ohio State
How big is the veteran population at Ohio State and whatare some of the unique challenges student-veterans face?
In what we like to call our Buckeye Military Family, we have about 3,400 people across our campuses. That includes 1,200 faculty and staff and 2,200 students who are using some form of an education benefit from either the Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense. Those students include active-duty military, National Guard and Reserve, veterans and their family members and an active Tri-Service ROTC program.
Student-veterans face a threefold transition challenge as they enroll. They are transitioning to be a college student, which we inherently know is hard as shown by OSUs commitment to our First Year Experience programs. Veterans also face a transition back to civilian life. This transition entails a shift from a military world primarily focused on the team and mission with the dampening of individual needs to one almost completely the opposite in approach here in school. Finally, many veterans are transitioning from combat and operations, which is the hardest of the three. We ask veterans to make all three transitions simultaneously while sitting next to their peers who are four to 20 years their junior.
What is Ohio State doing to help student-veterans?
The creation of the Office of Military and Veterans Services under the vice provost and dean of undergraduate education was the first step in building trust with student-veterans and helping them toward academic success and graduation. Weve taken several more steps since then including, but not limited to:
Increasing dedicated resources to both process and troubleshoot benefits as well as working military and veterans issues on campus, helping to ensure that students can keep focused in the classroom.
Adding dedicated academic advisors and developing university policies like holding students harmless if the VA hasnt paid the tuition on time, and free Credit by Examinations for veterans.
Being competitively chosen by the Department of Veterans Affairs to host one of its Vet Success on Campus counselors full-time out of our office to help with any VA-related issues.
Partnering with Student Life support services such as Counseling and Consultation, Disability Services and Tutoring not only to support students but to meet them where they are.
Opening a student-veteran lounge as a place to relax, study, socialize and hold meetings.
Advocating for student-veterans issues by partnering with state and local agencies such as the Ohio Board of Regents, the Department of Veterans Services and the City of Columbus Veterans Advisory Board.
Are there any unique programs to help veterans?
Two jump out the first is our Student-Veteran Community Advocate program. This completely donor-funded effort gives students a scholarship and places them within a partner university office. During the year, the students act as liaisons, helping faculty and staff better understand issues military and veteran students face on our campus, while educating other veterans on the services and programs that exist to help them. We were able to expand that program from 10 to 20 students this year, including at our regional campuses.
The second is our work with the Ohio Board of Regents and legislature. This summer, the governor signed House Bill 488 and we co-chaired an OBOR Military Implementation Team that created a single veterans point of contact on campus; priority registration for veterans; increased credit for military training, education and experiences; and encourages student-veteran organizations on campus.
