Implementing a Specialized Student Success Course for Veterans and Military-Connected Students
Keywords:
student success course , student veteran, military connected student, veteran servicesAbstract
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36896/5.1pp2
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the 1985 Montgomery G.I. Bill, and the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill all represent a commitment of higher education to support a unique population of students— namely—student veterans (Vacchi et al., 2017). To assist with improving the types of support offered to student veterans, there has been a small surge in research being conducted with this student population in the recent decade (e.g., Demers, 2011; Diamond, 2012; Elliott et al., 2011; Hammond, 2015; Jones, 2013; Sansone & Segura, 2020). Researchers point to several obstacles in higher education that can impact student veterans. For example, for some, learning to seek help when needed is often a challenge. According to Vacchi (2012), student veterans may feel they must live up to a false expectation and not burden others with their problems. He also found that student veterans have indicated challenges with interactions with faculty and difficulty with disability accommodations. Other researchers suggest that student veterans struggle with being more mature, being impatient with their traditional- age civilian student peers (DiRamio et al., 2008), and having a student life that is less structured than military life (Rumann et al., 2011).
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