Not Enough Colleges link veterans with others

This is a very interesting article but I wanted to spotlight the part that only 32 percent have set up veterans groups so they can find each other. Considering they already feel out of place, more colleges need to focus on putting these veterans in touch with others. This way they can find the support they may not be able to find on their own.

Survey of Services for Veterans
July 22, 2009
Colleges are preparing for an influx of student veterans, but how prepared are they? A new report from a group of five higher education associations, "From Soldier to Student: Easing the Transition of Service Members on Campus," represents, the authors write, the first attempt to assess the current state of programs and services nationally.

A new, much-expanded Post-9/11 GI Bill goes into effect August 1 (less than two weeks from now). In anticipation, many colleges have been stepping up their outreach to and support for veterans -- creating veterans' offices, training faculty and staff on challenges unique to student veterans, creating specialized orientation programs, expanding counseling center capacity, and, perhaps most significantly, putting extra money into institutional aid for veterans by joining the Yellow Ribbon program. The new report attaches numbers to the anecdotes.

But colleges have much more work to do in the following areas, the report notes:

Assisting in the transition to college. Just 22 percent of colleges with services for veterans provide such assistance.
Offering professional development to faculty and staff, on transition issues and issues specific to students with brain injuries and other disabilities.
Easing the path to re-enrollment for service members once they return from deployments. Again, just 22 percent of colleges with services for veterans have an expedited re-enrollment process in place (16 percent even require veterans to reapply and be readmitted to re-enroll!).
Helping veterans connect with other veterans. Just 32 percent of colleges with services for veterans have a club (although that might be changing, given the rapid growth in Student Veterans of America chapters).
read more here
Survey of Services for Veterans