DVS Kicks Off Veterans on Campus-NYC
Last week was the kick-off event of Veterans on Campus-NYC. Announced during Fleet Week by Mayor de Blasio, Veterans on Campus-NYC is a coalition of colleges, universities, and private entities dedicated to better supporting and understanding the student veteran and family member experience. Veterans on Campus is geared toward academic leadership, like those in attendance. Hosted in partnership with Columbia University’s Center for Veteran Transition and Integration, this event brought together over 70 representatives from nearly 40 NYC colleges and universities. These leaders, collectively representing almost half a million students, gathered to discuss how academic leaders can better serve student veterans.
Peter Awn, Dean of the School of General Studies
Loree Sutton, MD, DVS Commissioner
Mike Abrams, Executive Director of the Center for Veteran Transition & Integration
Deputy Mayor Richard Buery and DVS Commissioner Loree Sutton both gave remarks on behalf of the City. Deputy Mayor Buery is the City’s liaison to the City University of New York, a system of 24 colleges, graduate, and professional schools serving 274,000 degree-credit students each year. He discussed the advantages of Veterans on Campus-NYC for students and institutions alike. Commissioner Sutton then announced the initiative’s next step: a City-wide listening tour. DVS has already reached out to several schools with a large student veteran population with the goal identifying and adopting best practices that create a supportive student veteran experience.
So what attracts veterans to certain colleges and universities over others? Crosby Kisler, Vice President of Columbia’s MilVets, answered succinctly: cash and community (His response received enthusiastic head nods from a room full of bursars and financial aid officers). Education is expensive. Getting an education in one of the most expensive cities in the world can be crippling. Fortunately for veterans, most of the changes implemented by the Forever GI Bill alleviate their financial burden.
Cynda Quattrini, Education Liaison Representative for the Department of Veteran Affairs, walked us through some of the known changes to the GI Bill. Here’s what we learned:
· The previous 15 year time limit for using the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits will be lifted from veterans who left active duty on or after January 1, 2013;
· Reservists who lost eligibility due to the REAP program’s sunset provision will have that service credited to the Post 9/11 GI Bill;
· Students taking courses at multiple campuses will receive the housing allowance for the campus in the more expensive zip code;
· Most work-study positions are permanently authorized.
Of course, there’s much more to the bill, and Cynda assured us she’ll keep us up to date on the changes.
The Armed Forces is inherently a community-based organization. Service members form familial bonds and rely on mentors to help them professionally and personally. So it makes sense that student veterans would seek out community as they transition to civilian life.
That’s where DVS comes in. We take a community and peer-based approach to veterans’ well-being. In line with this community focus, we launched the NYC Veterans Mentoring Initiative, aka Mentor A Vet-NYC, also announced by Mayor de Blasio during Fleet Week.
This initiative was created with the belief that any NYC veteran who wants a mentor should have a mentor. Therefore, Mentor A Vet-NYC is not limited to student veterans, but is extended to all veterans, servicemembers, caregivers, and their families. DVS sees the Mentor A Vet-NYC program as an ideal entry point for student veterans and their families to access greater support. We have assembled a coalition of over 25 mentoring programs and are leveraging the Vet Connect-NYC platform to intake veterans and refer them to the appropriate mentorship service providers. Through this initiative, we have committed to serve 2,000 NYC veterans and family members by July 1, 2018.
Student veterans are the City’s most valuable renewable resource. They are dedicated and disciplined. Student veterans vote more, volunteer more, and earn more than their civilian counterparts. That’s why we are especially committed to ensuring all of NYC’s student veterans get the support they need to translate their skills from the battlefield to the classroom.
