A VETERAN’S EXPERIENCE

Exploring the Experiences of Student Veterans Transitioning to College

 PLAN OF ACTION
• Why Student Veterans
• Problem Statement
• Research Questions
• Literature review overview
• Explore theories of development and how they pertain to the transition
process of student veterans
• Schlossberg’s Mattering & Marginality and Transition Theories
• Intersectionality
• Method
• Intended Outcomes
• Takeways
 WHY STUDENT VETERANS
• The transition experience is not well developed for student
veterans
• Multiple feelings of disorientation, sense of loss, alienation, etc.
• Student veterans needs more guidance and support in their
educational goals
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The purpose of my study is to identify the various

challenges that veterans go through and figure out
ways in which student affairs professionals can lend
their services to help them succeed.
 MY RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What challenges hinder military veterans on college
campuses when they are transitioning from military to
civilian life?
2. Are college student affairs professionals adequately
trained to aid in the transition of military veterans to
college life?
3. What kinds of services can be offered to student veterans
to better their college experience?
 VARIOUS CHALLENGES FACED
• Many military veterans report difficulties in assimilating back into civilian life
when leaving the military
• Mental and physical difficulties (PTSD, TBI, mental depression, etc.), financial
instabilities, sense of loss, and “feeling that the American public does not
understand the difficulties faced by service members” (Kurzynski, 2014)
• Underdeveloped resources once on campus
• Inconsistencies on the training that faculty and staff members have on veterans
• Less academically prepared than general student population
 SERVICES TO ASSIST TRANSITION
• College campuses are beginning to develop the resources that they offer to
student veterans in order to facilitate their transition to a college lifestyle
• Need more development
• Holistic approach to serving student veterans to transition them
• Specific Orientation Program geared to student veterans
• Mentorship Program and connection to other veterans
• Counseling and advising services for families
• Offering faculty and staff development programs on veterans’ issues,
particularly in areas related to military culture and the limiting stereotypes
that focus disproportionately on violence and trauma
 PROGRAMS TO MAINTAIN
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
• Call to make college campuses more veteran friendly
• One stop shop for veterans services (Lange, et al., 2016)
• Development of the resources available - Academic Services, Career Services,
Disability Services, and Veteran and Family Services
• SAPROS being intentional in programs, services, and support to facilitate the
development and success (Vacchi, 2012)
 SCHLOSSBERG’S TRANSITION
THEORY
• Transition is “any event, or non-event,
[which] results in changed relationships,
routines, assumptions, and roles”
(Goodman, Schlossberg, & Anderson,
2006)
• The 4 S’s of Transition
• Situation
• Self
• Support
• Strategies
• Mattering and Marginality Theory
 INTERSECTIONALITY
• Identity development in student veterans important given the context of
college campuses versus the military (Rumann et al., 2011)
• Race and Gender
• Male dominated culture
• Women being forced to hide their ”femaleness,” men facing gendered expectations
• Sexuality
• Challenges continued to those who identify as LGBTQ
 THEORY TO PRACTICE
• Holistic approach to serving student veterans to transition them
• Specific Orientation Program geared to student veterans
• Mentorship Program and connection to other veterans
• Counseling and advising services
• Recognizing the multiple identities being held
• Family background, sociolcultural conditions, current and previous experiences
• Re-adapting to a civilian identity
• Guiding through phases of self-authorship
 METHOD
• Setting
• For the purpose of this study, data will be collected from student veterans who
attend Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
• All the participants in the study will attend this university, although they will range
from different backgrounds such as sex, age, mental and physical ability, and
personal background factors.
• Participants
• Between ages 18 – 25
• Holding different identities, lifestyles, current situations, etc.
 METHOD (CON’T)
• Instrument
• Surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews
• Procedure
• Recruitment
• Data Collection
• Data Analysis
 INTENDED OUTCOMES
• More positive reports and outcomes for our student veterans
and their families
• Deeper understanding of their needs and how to assists in
their development
• Developing student affairs professional’s resources to better
serve these individuals
 TAKEAWAYS
• Call to make college campuses more veteran friendly
• One stop shop for veterans services (Lange, et al., 2016)
• Development of the resources available
• SAPROS being intentional in programs, services, and support to facilitate the
development and success (Vacchi, 2012)
• Deeper understanding of the specific needs of student veterans
• Meeting each individual where they are in their development
THANK YOU!