UA takes steps to ease veterans’ transition to college
by Sheryl Kornman on Oct. 09, 2008, under Education, LocalThe University of Arizona is expecting a spike in enrollment from veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and is making an effort to ease their “complex” transition, said Johnny Cruz, a spokesman for the university.
Various services for vets are already available on campus, but they are being organized under one new entity – Veterans Education and Transition Services or VETS – Cruz said in a news release.
The new entity will be celebrated at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at a public reception at the bookstore in UA’s Student Union.
More than 400 vets are enrolled at UA. There is no breakdown on how many are recent combat vets, Cruz said.
One of the new VETS initiatives is the establishment of a veteran’s office that is run by student veterans. It will provide information, referrals and “programming” and serve as the central resource on campus for veterans.
Congress recently approved a new GI Bill, which expands education benefits to veterans and is expected to help make it possible for many more veterans to get a college education.
The new benefits are available to members of the armed forces who served at least 90 days after Sept. 11, 2001.
They can attend any public college and that school will be paid tuition fees in advance each semester, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
They also can use the benefit for up to 15 years and will get $1,000 a year for books and supplies and a monthly living allowance.
The University Teaching Center, which offers a transition curriculum for vets, is part of UA’s stepped-up effort to help recent combat vets. It was offered for the first time last semester.
The curriculum teaches how to manage stress, how to do research and how to be a successful student.
