Serving Our Military Heroes

On Saturday, March 4, 1865, at his second inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln spoke of providing support and services for the veterans of the Civil War. Lincoln concluded his address in 1865 summarizing his belief that the United States should provide for those who served in the Civil War. He stated as a country the United States should “… care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan…”

Nearly 150 years later higher education is faced with this charge for our post 9/11 military veterans. The challenge begins with the vast and varied needs of our military veterans. ACPA has identified meeting the needs of our veterans and their families as a priority. Past ACPA President Tom Jackson and I, along with the leadership within ACPA have listened to our membership in seeking to address these challenges. The need grows each day as more and more veterans are making the decision to change their lives through education.

With the approval from Congress, on August 1, 2009 the new GI Bill era began. The new GI Bill covers up to full tuition and fees for in-state public universities in addition to financial support for housing and books for post 9/11 veterans who decide to pursue a college or university education. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) expected a significant increase in the number of veterans returning to school due to these increased benefits. We have certainly witnessed such an increase here in Rochester, NY, not only at Monroe Community College (MCC) but also at our neighboring institutions, in addition to the entire State University of New York (SUNY) system.

The military and the US Government made a monumental step in attempting to meet the financial needs of these veterans transitioning to the role of students. But this is just a hint of the challenges and obstacles these students and their families may face.

Researching the policies and regulations in addition to the best practices and narratives on this subject matter brought me to the VA website. The quote I referenced above from Abraham Lincoln was brought to my attention while researching the VA website. I found the Mission Statement, Vision, and Core Values all to be reflective of our goal to assist veterans through a successful transition and experience on our college and university campuses. I ask that we reflect on these as we consider how our campuses can better meet these needs. The VA lists the following about their department (found online at http://www4.va.gov/about_va/):

VA Mission Statement
To fulfill President Lincoln's promise “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans.

Vision
To provide veterans the world-class benefits and services they have earned - and to do so by adhering to the highest standards of compassion, commitment, excellence, professionalism, integrity, accountability, and stewardship.

Core Values
Compassion: We will treat all veterans and their families with the utmost dignity and compassion. We will provide services in a caring manner, with a sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.

Commitment: Veterans have earned our gratitude and respect. Their health care, benefits, and memorial service needs to drive our actions

Excellence: We strive to exceed the expectations of veterans and their families. We strive to perform at the highest level of competence and take pride in our accomplishments.

Professionalism: Our success depends on maintaining a highly-skilled, diverse, and compassionate workforce. We foster a culture that values equal opportunity, innovation, and accountability.

Integrity: We recognize the importance of accurate information. We practice open, truthful, and timely communication with veterans, employees, and external stakeholders. By carefully listening and responding to their concerns, we seek continuous improvement in our programs and services.

Accountability: We will perform in a manner at all times that makes us accountable, responsible, and answerable to veterans and their families, our leaders and other employees as well as external stakeholders.

Stewardship: We will ensure responsible stewardship of the human, financial, and natural resources as well as data and information entrusted to us. We will improve performance through the use of innovative technologies, evidence-based medical practices, and sound business principles.

I trust that each of us can share our belief in these statements found on the VA website. But we also know that words or programs identified by the VA alone cannot meet all of the needs of our students. These are students who at times wear both the emotional and physical scars of war and conflict, scars that we cannot always visually identify.

There are a handful of resources available online that provide a deeper understanding and further insight into our goal to best serve our veterans and their families. I hope to share more in the future but I wanted to provide a brief list of articles I feel are worthy of our attention. They provide insight and perspective from various points of view:

1) POV: Veterans Returning To College Aren’t Victims, They’re Assets By Peter Katopes
2) Valuing Veterans By Rose Sachs and the CTC Team
3) Soldiers in the Classroom By Mike Rose
4) Course to help transition veterans into civilian life By Stacy Quillen-Armstrong

Among the online resources that I found the most touching was “Half of Us.” For those of you not familiar with this website it is an online resource focused on depression and similar mental health topics faced by college students every day. It also has an area dedicated to military veterans. The site includes first person accounts from veterans as they return to college. I encourage you to visit this website at http://www.halfofus.com.

This conversation will continue as we support our heroes as they take the next steps in their lives as college students.

Dr. Susan Salvador
ACPA President 2010-2011
acpaprez@gmail.com

From Dr. Susan Salvador, 2010-2011 ACPA President

Boston 2010… what a great experience! I hope that each of you who had the opportunity to attend this year’s conference found it to be everything you expected and more. Past-President Tom Jackson Jr., Convention Chair Robin Diana and their teams did an outstanding job planning and orchestrating the ACPA International Convention in Boston. The challenge to build on this year’s success has been acknowledged and we look forward to going beyond these expectations at the ACPA Conference in Baltimore 2011… Patty Perillo, 2011 Convention Chair and her convention planning team have already started the planning for BMORE in Baltimore!

As I embark on my journey as ACPA President for the 2010-2011 year I look forward to the opportunity to build on ACPA’s past success as a leader in higher education. I see the next year as a year in which ACPA will continue to take the lead in advancing the profession of student affairs. We will remain strong, focused, and committed to the efforts we have undertaken in the past while moving forward and continuing to address our strategic priorities.

As the president of ACPA, I will continue to be guided by ACPA’s strategic priorities which include: Knowledge & Competencies; Professional & Career Development; and Membership & Recruitment. As members of ACPA, it is important for each of us to keep these priorities before us.

While I use these strategic priorities as guidelines, my presidency will focus on four primary areas as well as support. These areas include:

1) Our students who are veterans of the armed forces and their families. We need to strengthen and ensure our services meet the needs of these veterans. We need to partner with faculty and staff to ensure our veterans are not overlooked in the educational process. We cannot forget their families. We need to ensure services are available, whether through our campuses or community partners, that expand beyond the traditional campus services. Our veterans cannot and should not be separated from the issues of their families who may also have adjustment concerns.

2) Learning and understanding more about community college students as well as the student services staff who serve them. What strategies, philosophies, and approaches are used by community college student services colleagues? How can a better understanding of community colleges help us in our efforts? What should staff and faculty at two and four colleges learn from and partner with to best serve students?

3) The continual globalization of ACPA which includes an increased international presence, including membership, growth of study abroad, research and the sharing of knowledge.

4) Growing in our ability to serve our students as the stresses and pressures they face continue to mount. Our need to enhance the ways we assist our students with the “invisible book bags” they carry … which are filled with issues related to work, mental health, finances, and family, just to name a few. How can we approach and assist students differently? How can we recognize that to do the same thing harder is not the answer.

For those of you who were at the ACPA 2010 Conference at Boston you may have had the opportunity to attend the business meeting to hear my mentor, Monroe Community College President Emeritus R. Thomas Flynn, speak. He shared that one simple question has always been at the heart of his success. Reflecting on his earliest days in college student personal administration at Rutgers University to his most recent position as President of Monroe Community College, for President Flynn the question has always been “Is it good for the students?”

We need to ensure that we maintain a similar focus and remember why we chose the career path we have… for most of us that is to have a positive impact on our students and our campus communities.

I ask that you join me in this next year as we look forward to making a difference on our campuses and preparing for ACPA Baltimore 2011 in being more… be more intentional, be more principled, be more connected, be more engaged, be more happy, be more inclusive. Be more of what makes you who you are!

From the New VP-Electby Dr. Heidi Levine

I am thrilled to have been elected to serve as the next Vice President of ACPA. It is an incredible honor to have been selected to work with and represent you, and I am so very appreciative of the faith you have expressed in me.

I am looking forward to meeting with the Assembly, leaders and members in Boston. This is such an exciting, challenging and vital time for our profession and association. We have important work to do together, and I’m ready to listen, facilitate, and join with all of you in that work.

See you in Boston!
Heidi