Student Development Theory of Veteran College Students

By: Kelly DeSisto, Samantha Bates and Hannah Kelliher

Definition of Veteran • “A Veteran is someone who, at one point in

his/her life, wrote a blank check payable to the ‘United States of America,’ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.”

• “A person who has served in the armed forces or (2) an old soldier who has seen long service.”

Sarah

• 27 year old female from Lynn, MA • Married mother of a toddler• Joined military at age 20• Active for 4 years and inactive for 4• Deployed to Iraq and served as a Chaplin’s

Assistant• Individual Ready Reserve

Jeremiah

• 25 divorced male from Grand Rapids Michigan• Enlisted in USMC for 7.5 years.– Deployed 3 times:• Iraq one year Lead security gunne• Afghanistan: 8 months-Motor transportation chief• NewTok Alaska: 3 months-relocated village

• Transition to Salem State has been good– Connected with Veterans Learning Community– Keeps days filled– Desire to be seen as a traditional student.

Patrick • 27 year old from Nahant, MA• Joined Marine Corps - Enlisted for 8 years• Aviation Supply Specialist – Became Sergeant• Deployed twice: Iraq and Afghanistan– Sense of “brotherhood”

• Awarded Certificates of Commendation and Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal

• Transition into Salem State has been “okay”– Wants to be held to a higher standard– Lack of connection to campus life– View on Veteran Affairs and Military Support Group

Our Theory In order for student affairs practitioners to adequately serve their institutions’ Veteran communities, the following four areas should be considered:• Structure / Sense of Purpose• Giving Back• Immersion into the Campus

Community• Desire to be seen as a

Traditional Student in Classes

Structure and Sense of Purpose• Civilian vs. Military– Civilian life provides less structure than military – Veterans have a hard time adjusting themselves to

the lack structures. • How Student Affairs Professionals can help– Recommend involvement in campus activities

Giving Back• Major motivator for entering military – Two of our veterans were on government support

growing up • Entering for the “right reason” – Financial benefits versus real desire to serve

others

Immersion into the Campus Community

• Age differences:– Veterans versus their peers

• Veterans are more developed– Tend to be older and therefore more mature

• Greater cognitive development• Experiences significantly differ

Desire to be seen as a Traditional Student in Classes

• Veteran classes separated from other traditional students

• Special treatment– Feel they are held to lower standards than

traditional students• Desire small recognition for their service– Special events/organizations– Benefits (i.e. free parking sticker)

Contributing Theories

• Chickering– Developing Purpose Vector

• Perry– Dualism

• Kegan– Orders 3 and 4

• Kohlberg– Stages 3 and 4

Chickering’s Theory

• Psychosocial development in college students’ formation of identity

• Adjustment from rigid structure to more flexibility

• “Attempting to find a life direction that makes sense for them” (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton & Ren, 2010, p. 69)

• Role in military versus campus life

Perry’s Theory• Theory of Intellectual and Ethical

Development.• “Perry’s scheme begins with begins with

simplistic forms in which the individual interprets the world in ‘unqualified polar terms of right-wrong, good-bad’” (Evans, et al., 2010, p. 85)

• Follow directions– Looks to professor to answer all questions and

thinks they know all of answers

Kegan’s Theory • Theory of Evolution of Consciousness. • “’evolution of consciousness, the personal

unfolding of ways of organizing experience that are not simply replaced as we grow but subsumed into more complex systems of mind”(Evans, et al., 2010, p. 177).

• Six levels of consciousness– Veterans fall in between order 3 (socialized mind)

and order 4 (self authoring mind)

Kohlberg’s Theory

• Interpersonally Normative Morality– “right is defined as meeting the expectations of

those whom one is close and carrying out appropriate, acceptable social roles” (Evans et. Al, 2010, p. 104)

– Veterans were inspired by others to enlist• Social System Morality – Veterans versus rules and regulations

Advice from our Veterans• If they are just returning home they

should seek help and be open to new experiences

• Make sure you are ready for school – be mentally prepared for the drastic change in structure and environment

• Know the degree that you are seeking• Take advantage of all the programs and

benefits that you receive • Connect with older veteran students

Patrick, Jeremiah and Sarah’s Suggestions for Salem State University

• Option for living on campus• Remove an IDS class and replace with a class that

would count towards graduation• Organizations on campus should be more friendly

towards veterans. • Academic affairs should uphold veterans to same

standards as everyone else• More advertising and support from military support

group on campus.

Limitations of our research• Quantity of research participants– Three in-person interviews– One female– One from an underrepresented ethnicity

• Only assessed veteran experience at Salem State University

• Research conductors’ lack of experience/knowledge of Military

Questions/Comments

Special Thanks

To Jeremiah, Patrick, and Sarah for all of their help and service!

References

• Evans, J. N., Forney, S. D., Guido, M. F., Patton, D. L., & Renn, A. K. (2010). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Powers, R., (n.d.). Do you qualify for veteran’s benefits. Retrieved from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/benefits/a/vetbenefits.htm