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Military Student ServicesAssessment PracticesMay 2011

Military Times Edge study 2010 Military Times EDGE magazine

Evaluation criteria used:Financial assistanceAcademic flexibilityCampus cultureSupport services

NIU Ranked #49Financial assistance: Scholarships, discounts and waivers specifically for veterans, including the Yellow Ribbon program and relaxed residency restrictions for in-state tuition. Also: measures taken to protect veterans in the case of late-arriving benefits; most schools hold students harmless for late GI Bill payments, but some score extra points for advancing bookstore credit or even emergency housing funds.

Academic flexibility: Participation in the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges consortium and Degree Network Systems and acceptance of military learning and subject tests, like the College Level Examination Program, for academic credit. Also: school policies on military-related withdrawals for example, do students have to reapply or repay any fees after returning from a deployment?

Campus culture: General receptivity to veterans, including percentage of vets in the student body and faculty. Also considered: ROTC programs, Veterans Day observance, local student veteran organizations and training for faculty and staff in veterans issues.

Support services: The number and kind of staff designated to work with veterans, including the number of students receiving work-study allowances from the Veterans Affairs Department. Also: efforts to reach out to veterans, acclimate them to campus and create a veterans community, including mentorship programs, special orientation sessions, service projects and academic support.

2CAS StandardsVeterans and Military Programs and Services (VMPS)

14 parts (e.g., Mission, programs, human resources, ethics, leadership)

Although VMPS is relatively new to higher education, colleges have had a relationship with military service since the founding of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson indicated that we must train and classify the whole of our male citizens, and make military instruction a regular part of collegiate education. We can never be safe till this is done" (University of Virginia, 2010).

the United States provided educational benefits for disabled veterans as part of the Rehabilitation law of 1919 (Olson, 1974). Several states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin offered free or reduced tuition and other education benefits to World War I veterans (Mosch, 1975).

In 1944 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Servicemens Readjustment Act (1944). This legislation, known as the GI Bill, provided tuition assistance and subsistence to support educational pursuits for returning WWII veterans.

A key outcome of the GI Bill was the development of student advisement centers to support veterans (Altschuler & Blumin, 2009).

Colleges and universities, eager to demonstrate their accessibility to military personnel and their families, sought alignment with Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC). SOC is affiliated with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) in partnership with the Department of Defense (DOD)

3MSS AssessmentSurvey created, distributed, and analyzed by students in CAHE 572Conducted by Sharon Anderson, Amy Buhrow, & Richard Mitchell

MSS 2011 benchmarking studyConducted by MSS staff

CAHE 572 AssessmentNeeds Analysis - surveyed Fall 2010 population of 552 veterans & active military students

146 (26% response rate) took the survey

Demographic data Mean age 32 (n=129)

88% white (n=118); 6.5% Latino/a (n = 9)

46% (n=62) have one or more children

26% (n=33) reside in DeKalb

55% (n=70) live more than 25 miles from DeKalb

61% (n=89) undergraduates 77% (n=105) transfer students

Of the graduate students responding, 75% (n=52) were married or in a committed partnership and only 39.8% (n=83) of undergraduate respondents reported the same.

76.6% of military students responding (n=137) transferred credits from another institution as illustrated in figure 6. Of those students, 76.5% transferred credit from community colleges and 38.2% transferred credit from another four-year institution

6Demographic data cont.Deployment status (n=134) 93% have been deployed (n=125)

60% were deployed (n=79) to combat theatre

*Only 2 were deployed while a student at NIU Why NIU?Reasons for choosing NIU75% (n=109) indicated location

38% (n=56) indicated specific program/major

34% (n=51) indicated cost

21% (n=30) indicated veteran-friendly campus

Benefits & ChallengesUse of Benefits

71% (n=97) use GI Bill benefits

66% (n=90) use IVG/ING

Biggest college-related challenge

40%(n=38) Finding balance (e.g. family, education, commuting, and working)

25% (n=24) Financial issues

25% (n= 24) Adjusting to college life (e.g., studying, immature students, socially connecting)

18% (n=17) Interpersonal communication challenges

9Campus Services93% (n=127) found NIU to be a veteran- friendly campus

85% (n=123) were completely satisfied or satisfied with services and support at NIU.

Most satisfiedScholarships, tuition waivers (n=118)Financial aid/benefits processing (n=130)

Least satisfied Employment assistance (n=40)Housing assistance (n=39)

Military Student Needs55% (n=44) of students deployed indicated that Mental Health Services were very or somewhat important

53% (n=42) of students deployed indicated that Physical Disability Services were very or somewhat important

36% (n=29) of those who had been deployed to combat theatre indicated that opportunities to connect to veterans were very or somewhat importantVeterans club75% were aware of NIUs Veterans club

13% (n=19) attended a meeting

11% (n=17) expressed interest in attending

Reasons having not attended included: Too busy, no time (39)Off-campus/commuter student (20) I dont know where they meet, or never been contacted by them (23)

Programmatic Services Top three areas of interest for programs (n=107)65% (n=69) Educational Benefits 50% (n= 53) Resume Development40% (n=43) Career Advisement

Programmatic Services cont.Mentoring program52% (n=41) of veterans deployed (n=79) indicated a military student mentoring program is very or somewhat important

Womens group37% (n=51) very or somewhat important to have a womens specific group

76% (n=22) of WOMEN veterans felt it is very or somewhat important to have a womens specific group Comparison to Campus Population Campus IR Statistics (547)

74% (405) white

81% (443) male

72% (396) full-time

72% (395) undergrads

Mean age = 30 (547)

CAHE 572 Study (136)

88% (118) white

79% (104) male

70% (96) full-time

61% (89) undergrads

Mean age =32 (134)

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Benchmarking Study

Benchmarking ProcessIdentified 18 institutions to benchmark with using the following criteria:

Ranked in the top 50 by Military Times Edge as a Veteran Friendly institutionSimilar in size/scope to NIU (~24,000 students)Nationally known for strong veteran servicesRecognized in the state/MAC for strong veteran services

Developed Areas to Benchmark23 areas were identified by staffInstitutional/Veteran enrollment data (number of veterans, SOC, IVG)

Service-related data (orientations, seminar classes, etc)

Veteran office data (number of employees, funding, space, mission, etc) Findings - Enrollment61% (n=11) institutions are SOC affiliated institutions

55.5% (n =10) institutions serve less than 1,000 veterans

10 institutions reported number of veterans using Post 9/11 GI Bill ranging from 132 650. Average is 473.

Findings Services100% (n=18) of institutions provide veteran-specific programs (workshops, mental health outreach, etc)

44% (n=8) of institutions provide some type of social programs designed to help veterans connect to each other

67% (n=12) of institutions have at least something during orientation for veterans specifically 39% (n=7) of institutions hold a seminar for veterans

Findings Veterans office100% (n=18) of institutions have an office for their services

61% (n=11) of institutions have a space for their VA Representative

61% (n=11) of institutions have a transition staff

28% (n=5) of institutions have some sort of recruitment mission

39% (n=7) of institutions provide some type of family services Major Themes17 institutions have strong relationships with veteran clubs (e.g., University of Arizona has their veterans club provide most of their programs)

Two institutions have developed models for programmatic services for uniformity and assessment (e.g., Kent State University & Arkansas State University)

22Major ThemesAll institutions used e-mail to communicate with veterans (news, information, events)

At least 67% used Facebook to communicate with veteran students

All have a web presence to communicate specific veteran information. Major ThemesAll institutions have created an office specifically for veteran services. Most are in the initial stages of creating or broadening their veteran services beyond providing educational benefits

Many are exploring offering similar programmatic services (e.g. womens group, mentoring, veteran honor societies)Next StepsData from the survey suggest:

Create a womens veteran group (Annual Priority)

Develop a mentoring program (Annual Priority)

Develop a programming model that largely focuses programming for veteran students who are non-traditional, off-campus, and parents

Next StepsData from the benchmarking study suggest:

Explore becoming a SOC affiliated institution

Strengthen relationship with the Veterans club (e.g., hiring veteran work study who are members, collaborative programming)

Possibly offer family services and have staff focus on transition of veterans

QuestionsThe End