By Paul Browning
It's a challenge to find someone who is not grateful to our military veterans for the daily service and sacrifice they endured to protect and better our nation.
Now, in sharp contrast to other eras such as during the Vietnam War, there are few places better than university campuses to experience this gratitude.
Cal State Long Beach is no exception. In fact, there are hundreds of faculty, staff and students who dedicate their time to the university's more than 400 veterans and the dozens of veteran-based programs on campus to assist them.
From the Student Services Department and Academic Affairs, to the colleges of Health and Human Services, Engineering, Education and Business Administration, CSULB's reputation as the region's "Veterans University" and how it reaches out to this community on and off campus continues to grow.
The university's mission is to increase the number of student veterans successfully obtaining formal education and later employment. This is being done by developing and exploring veteran-friendly policies, one-on-one academic counseling, quality internships, state-of-the-art orientation programs and comprehensive career planning services.
"The university, as a team, has identified strengths and weaknesses regarding veterans programs on campus, and the campus leadership has enabled us to prioritize and address each area that needs improvement," says retired Army Lt. Col. Pat O'Rouke, acting director of Veterans Affairs at CSULB.
Student veterans at CSULB benefit from a myriad of campus services designed to assist them through the rigors of college coursework and prepare them to enter the workforce long before they toss their caps into the air.
To help ease veterans into campus life, CSULB provides specifically tailored financial aid services and credit evaluation of previously completed military coursework. Some of the more direct benefits offered by the university include relaxed rules for late admissions and campus orientation programs.
"We are all working to identify as a campus the needs of returning vets and the various support services and educational options they will be seeking in order to be successful at CSULB," says Karen Gould, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "We are all committed in every way possible to their success."
Cal State Long Beach recognizes the importance of addressing the physical and psychological challenges war veterans face when seeking higher education and acclimating back into our communities, so the university has developed a close connection with the neighboring VA Long Beach Healthcare System, which treats thousands of returning war veterans each year. On campus, the Disabled Student Services (DSS) office assists student veterans with disabilities as they earn their degrees.
Offering camaraderie, the student veteran club VetNet provides student veterans a place on campus to meet and socialize with others who have served.
More can always be done.
Campus leaders have placed streamlining academic advising, credit transferring and benefit certification as top priorities. To guide the way, CSULB is in the process of opening the Veterans Resource Center. Some of the functions of the center will include centralized veteran processing and referrals, career planning, advocacy and services that build self-awareness and effective communication skills.
CSULB is also seeking more partners on behalf of veterans in business and government who can assist and benefit from mutual collaboration.
Cal State Long Beach will continuously explore other avenues in its mission to help students veterans launch their academic and professional lives. This is the university's moral imperative.
• Combat veterans and recently medically separated veterans may apply for late admission within a six-month period of leaving the service. Veterans also receive three units of general education course credit for the basic training they received in the military.
• CSULB assigns academic credit to veterans for experiential learning, such as education in technology and medical services, and provides a process to apply for this academic credit.
• Veterans at CSULB are offered orientation services regarding Veterans Administration claims and benefits, vocational rehabilitation benefits, job placement services, educational services, and programs through Disabled Student Services and Counseling and Psychological Services.
• The campus has designed a virtual veterans' center on the campus Veterans University Web page, providing a central location for student veterans to receive updates regarding changing benefit information, view activities and research financial resources.
• The university selects student veterans who are close to graduation but short on resources to apply for training funds that enable them to finish their baccalaureate degree. After graduation, these veterans enter an intensive job development program to help them obtain a job.
• CSULB has developed a close relationship with local workforce investment boards to help student veterans secure employment, which is an essential part of transitioning them back into our communities.
For more information, visit www.csulb.edu/colleges/chhs/veterans-university.
