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By Jenna Johnson
Enrollment of veterans is surging at America's college campuses, but as a group they don't feel supported and understood, according to a national survey.
Researchers with the National Survey of Student Engagement interviewed nearly 11,000 student veterans who were first-year students or seniors at four-year schools. The veterans reported interacting less with their instructors than did classmates who had not joined the military, and they were less likely to partake in educational opportunities such as internships or study abroad.
The Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research produces the survey each year to measure how students and faculty interact and learn. The latest found that colleges should "seek ways to more effectively engage student veterans in effective educational practices and provide them with the supportive environments that promote success."
Transitioning from military life to civilian life is difficult enough, but trying to fit in on a college campus is "a culture shock that's hard to adjust to," said Michael Dakduk, the deputy executive director of Student Veterans of America, which has chapters on more than 300 campuses. In Hampton Roads, the group is active at Regent University and ECPI College of Technology.
Other factors can also make veterans feel disconnected: They are more likely to transfer between schools or to enroll part time, the survey found. One in five combat veterans reported having a disability, compared with one in 10 non veterans. Veterans also spend more time working or caring for a family than do traditional college students.
Still, the veterans reported just as many hours studying as their peers. "What amazes me is how many people are succeeding, despite the obstacles," Dakduk said.
Colleges need to realize that student veterans are different from typical students and need more support, said Brian Hawthorne, who served two tours in Iraq for the Army and is a graduate student at George Washington University in political management.
Hawthorne said veterans need administrators who understand the "depth and breadth" of the GI Bill and can help students graduate in less than four years. "The veteran experience is not one that most people know," he said. "I could pay anyone to go to college.... It's the services that keep veterans in school."
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This is not just a problem
This is not just a problem for Vets. A good majority of older students experience the same problems. I have tried repeadedly to go back to school and not been able to overcome the many problems not related to the subject matter.
Not just in college
Immaturity does not exist just in college. The majority of the younger generation has not been taught or even understand work ethics. They are taught to go to work (sometimes on time), expect a fat paycheck and party hardy.
Why would I want to be in that environment?
As a senior NCO, I spend all day dealing with immature attitudes. The last thing I want in my off time is to be around more kids running around with no real understanding of discipline, or initiative. I've switched to all on-line courses. After taking three courses at ODU, I decided I will never set foot in a college again. I have something I want to accomplish and it seems like none of the administrators understand either our mentality about 'get sh!t done' or how flexible the GI Bill is. Why am I the one explaining the process every time? Are you freaking kidding me?
which is why...
we need you as an administrator! YOU could "get ___ done" and know how to do it, share the knowledge of it, and enlighten them all. The biggest key missing here is communication. I agree the kids get annoying to say the least, but this problem WILL always be there unless people like yourself and other seasoned leaders in the military stand up and calmly explain how things work over and over again, if that's what it takes.
Running in circles will continue until moral improves!
Vets are products of the real world
and have developed a work ethic, principles, and wisdom that clashes with the immature attitudes and "enlightened" and world view that so permeates most college faculties. I tried for a couple semesters, but the bad taste it left in my mouth wasn't worth even temporarily abandoning reason in order to get through it.
It's ironic
Funny-I decided early in my military career to "abandon reason" as a civilian in order to "get through" the military's way of thinking so I could get an education. Interesting how that worked.
Perhaps the opposite applies
Vets experiance the uncommon elements of life and human behavior within wartimes. It is the college students and staff that are in the "real world", not the vet. Most people do not experiance military life especially war; so we as vets are "outside the box"; therefore we must adapt or risk living our lives "stuck" in spoils of the darkness of war and the "dark side" of human existence as experianced during wartime.
Disabled Vet Sends.
maybe the perception of "real world"
is the disconnect here. There seems to be some semantics at play. Vets are more in tune with the real world as compared to say...an 18 or 19 year old classmate. Most vets have served stateside during peace-time. So they have dealt with some of the mundane tasks of adulthood. ie getting up for work everyday, traffic, bills, etc etc., and they continue to deal with these real life problems while attending classes, whereas the 18 or 19 year old is just hoping mommy and daddy refill their prepaid Visa on the 1st of the month. (Before I am verbally assaulted, I do know that some college students actually work and pull themselves through school, and as a rule, those students have a better idea of what the Vet is going through).