Serving Those Who Serve Making an institution more veteran

friendly

Michael Gable Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014. 8:00am Session ID# 1824

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HISTORY 2009: • The Ohio State University embarks on a

project to improve their veteran services • Consultant hired for 2 year study

• Retired Air Force Colonel

Serving Those Who Serve

History

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FINDINGS • Veteran population increasing • 13,300 “student-veterans” in Ohio • 1,776 attend Ohio State University • Approximately 1 million veterans will come home as the

wars in Iraq and Afghanistan close • 400,000 benefits have been transferred to dependents

not of college age, under the Post-9/11 GI-Bill

• Students using veteran benefits will increase, and be around for decades to come. Serving them will be a challenge.

Serving Those Who Serve

Findings

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• Reporting Requirements • As the number of students using benefits increases,

reporting gets more complicated. • Ohio GI Promise:

• Like Yellow Ribbon, but extends in-state tuition to spouses and dependents of veterans

• More students associated with benefits = more money moving

around. The reporting of this data may come under more scrutiny, particularly as budget talks continue in Washington.

Serving Those Who Serve

Findings

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• Student-veteran demographics • 84% are over the age of 24

• 53% are over the age of 30 • 40% are non-Caucasian • Twice as likely as civilian counterparts to study Computer Science

or Engineering • 50% have contemplated suicide

• This is an at-risk group!

• They are used to receiving all support services in a one-stop shop

manner.

Serving Those Who Serve

Findings

Statistics taken from US Department of Education’s “Stats in Brief—Military Service Members and Veterans: a Profile of those enrolled in Undergraduate and Graduate Education in 2007-08,” published September 2011; “The Truth About Who Fights For Us,” by Ann Marlowe, The Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2011 at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903791504576587244025371456.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTTopCarousel_1 ; and “Half of Student Veterans Have Contemplated Suicide, Study Shows,” by Sara Lipka, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 4, 2011

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PREVIOUS STRATEGY • Since 1991, the Office of Affirmative Action and

Veterans Affairs existed within the Office of Human Resources

• 1 FTE processed most veteran benefits for OSU • Completely overwhelmed, causing benefit delays every term • A survey among Ohio and Big 10 schools showed that OSU

has one of the largest Veteran student populations, but one of the smallest benefit processing staffs.

• Anyone on campus that was dealing with a “veteran” issue usually consulted with this staff member.

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Previous Strategy

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Serving Those Who Serve

Previous Strategy

Fall 2011 data University Number of Veterans Served Number of Employees

Ohio State 1776 1.75 FTE

Chicago 100 1 Part-time

Illinois 400 2 + Part-time Liaisons + 2 VA Work Study

Indiana 450 2 + 4 VA Work Study

Iowa 500 2 + 2 VA Work Study

Michigan 250 2 + 2 Part-time + 1 VA Work Study

Michigan State 400 2 Part-time

Minnesota 800+ 4 + Director who shares duties elsewhere

Nebraska

Lincoln—575

Omaha--900

1 Part-time + 1 Univ Work study

1 + 4 VA Work Study

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ROADMAP TO SUCCESS Critical: Set up a centralized “Office of Military & Veterans Services” • This is what the students want / expect, and a best

practice according to the American Council on Education

• Should have 6 formal responsibilities 1. Seamless processing of benefits 2. Academic Success 3. Positive transition to civilian and college life 4. Internal liaison to University 5. External liaison and University representative 6. Senior leadership advice and consultation

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Roadmap to Success

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Stopping the “pinball effect” • Like many students, veterans complain of being bounced from one office

to another • OSU built a Student Academic Services building in 2010

• Housed Registrar, Financial Aid, Admissions and Student Service Center

• The Veterans Affairs office was located in HR

Serving Those Who Serve

Roadmap to Success

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Solution: Establishment of the “Office of Military & Veterans Services” • Where do you put it? • Human Resources? Disability Services? Office of

Diversity and Inclusion? Student Advocacy Center?

• Located within the SAS building • If the office can’t help you, they can direct you to the

correct area (most likely on another floor)

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Roadmap to Success

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Student Service Center Lobby

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Roadmap to Success

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Office of Military & Veterans Services

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Roadmap to Success

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Strongly Recommended: Organizational structure with 7 FTEs, work study / intern opportunities, and minimal turn-over Solution: 4 FTEs and a rotating staff • Assistant Provost (veteran) • Director (veteran)—oversees certification and reporting • 2 benefit specialists: Process VA benefits

• 2 academic advisors from University Exploration hold hours on-site every Tuesday

and Wednesday • Staff therapist holds counseling sessions every Friday (veteran) • 1 intern • A number of work study students

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Roadmap to Success

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Strongly Recommended: Office layout • Located on campus proper • Private areas for advising / counseling • Veteran Lounge outside of office Solution: • Location already addressed • Private offices available for rotating staff • No lounge, but plenty of space in our Union

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Roadmap to Success

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Critical: • Effective Website

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Roadmap to Success

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• Military and Veteran-student orientation • Very popular, even with current students • Held outside of normal / typical orientation

• Identify military and veteran-student records • Registrar puts a “positive service indicator” on veteran records.

• This prevents holds for students if benefits are delayed by no fault of the student

• Link the application question on veteran status to residency system • Priority scheduling

• Graduation Aiguillette

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Roadmap to Success

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• Develop more Veteran-only courses • Eases the transition for new students • Allows the students to meet peers

• Develop Faculty / Staff mentoring network • OSU has over 1,000 veterans serving as faculty and

staff • Vets 4 Vets: Veteran student social network.

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Roadmap to Success

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Strongly Recommended: • Tangible shows of faith. Trust is hard to gain, but easy

to lose. • Waived application fees? • Free proficiency exams • Normally these are $60

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Roadmap to Success

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FUTURE TRENDS • The veteran population should increase 5-

10 years then stabilize • Future trends are difficult to predict • Military size

• In 2000, no one would have predicted we would spend the next 10 years at war in Afghanistan

• Military has averaged a size of 1.4 to 1.7 million since WWI • Recruits 171,000 active duty and 128,000 reservists a year

• ALL receive some kind of education benefit • As the military shrinks, deployments are increasing

• Since 1991, the U.S. military has seen combat EVERY DAY

Serving Those Who Serve

Future Trends

http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1443, http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61068

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• As of 2010, 22.7 million veterans in U.S. • Should fall to 15 million as WWII and Korea vets pass

• 11.4 million have served since Gulf War • 5 million are currently aged 25-40

• Female veterans will rise from 8% to 12% • 27% of current undergrad veterans are female

• Federal Spending • Has increased over 400% since 2000! • Benefits are typically used at 50%

• Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits expected to be used at 70%

Serving Those Who Serve

Future Trends

http://www.va.gov/vetdata/Veteran_Population.asp

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Questions or Comments? THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!

Serving Those Who Serve