The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

November 18, 2009

West Virginia University working to become veteran friendly campus

Mannix Porterfield

CHARLESTON — West Virginia University is pulling out all stops to make veterans welcome on campus while providing them a college education, lawmakers learned Wednesday.

Veterans bring a unique character to any college setting since they are older and are accustomed to challenges and working as a team, said Terry Miller, WVU’s veteran advocate.

In contrast, he told the Select Committee on Veterans Affairs, the typical non-veteran student is 18, leaving home for the first time.

“Veterans have the ability to work under stress,” he said. “They possess leadership skills. They have faced unique challenges.”

Five years ago, before WVU launched its concept of a “veterans friendly campus,” he pointed out, there was a 35 percent decline in the number of military personnel enrolled over a six-year period.

There were no specific services for veterans and active military students, and often they were compelled to wait as long as a week for officials to certify their education benefits, Miller said.

What ensued was a “one-stop shop” idea in the office of the veterans advocate where all programs were outlined and new ones were conceived, Miller told the panel.

In an open-door policy, the waiting has been eliminated and WVU has entered into relationships with outside veterans agencies, he said.

As a result of such innovative programs, Miller said, the school has nearly doubled its veterans on campus.

Just this fall, the school launched the “veterans only” classes concept that puts them exclusively in classes in the first semester and provides a combination in the second one.

Miller said returnees from battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan benefit from being in classes by themselves initially after serving in a combat zone.

“It eliminates all the external influences,” he said. “They know if they’re in a crowd, they’re in trouble. That transfer from soldier to student is so fast.”

Another new wrinkle was the creation of a veterans campus committee that conducts monthly meetings with students, faculty, staff, administrators and veterans service agencies.

“That’s one of the most important things we’ve done at WVU,” Miller said.

Two years ago, Veterans Day was markedly absent from the academic calendar and veterans felt they were being slighted by the omission, Miller said.

“They saw it as a slap in the face,” he said.

Now, the school designates Nov. 11 as a Day of Concern, and veterans are allowed to skip classes to take part in special ceremonies.

Miller said he is attempting to set up a veterans center on campus because returnees from war zones need some insulation at times from the rest of the students.

“They still have to deal with the crowds,” he said. “They need a place to escape and be off to themselves.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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