SB1373 (2011)

SB2602 (2012)

The Center for Veterans’ Education and Training (CVET) is recruiting a speakers bureau of student veterans, graduated veterans, trainers, and subject matter experts (MSW and doctoral levels) to respond to requests for sensitivity and awareness training on student veterans for college and university staff. Collaborative trainings are provided from within a coalition of interested organizations such as the American Veterans’ Education Foundation, the National Alliance to End Veteran Suicide and the Western States Brain Injury Alliance.

A pilot training was offered to faculty and staff from ten Arizona community colleges on February 3.

Faculty and Staff from 10 Arizona Community Colleges Participate in “Veterans Dialogue” Sensitivity and Awareness Trainings

Featuring Student Veterans, Recently Graduated Veterans, Faculty Informed on Veterans’ Issues, and VA Healthcare Subject Matter Experts. Provided by the Arizona Veterans’ Education Foundation, More >>

AZVEF Chairman Douglas D. Brown and Past-President Gene van den Bosch deliver the first donation check for the Student Veteran Fund to MCC Foundation President and CEO Dr. Steven Helfgot and Executive Vice President and COO Mary O’Connor.

New Partnership to Raise Funds for Veterans’ Education

TEMPE, AZ – The Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation and the Arizona Veterans Education Foundation have created a new fund to create scholarships for deserving veterans who want to attend any one of the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges. More >>

Th Arizona Veterans’ Education Foundation and the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation sign a agreement to create the Student Veteran Fund

Student Veteran Fund Created

The Student Veteran Fund (SVF) is designed to provide critical financial support for men and women who served as members of the U.S. Armed Forces and who have enrolled in a community college. Priority in selection for recipients is reserved for those who, because of special circumstances, need extra financial support beyond that provided by the G.I. Bill. More >>

… many veterans have discovered that going back to school is a bit rougher than they had anticipated and that not all schools are created equal. There are three BIG cautions veterans should be aware of before they start college.

1. Military Friendly is not what it is chalked up to be.

2. Most veterans need some remedial training to prepare academically for college rigor.

3. Veterans need to have a career plan and goals before jumping in to college.

S. 2241 will provide servicemembers and veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill and other VA education programs with information that will help them to judge a school’s performance with other veterans, among other resources.

According to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee press release, the GI Bill Consumer Awareness Act of 2012 complements veterans’ educational assistance programs by requiring VA to provide beneficiaries with easy-to-understand information about schools that are approved for GI Bill use.

• Information Availability: Calls for disclosure of, among other data, statistics related to student loan debt, transferability of credits earned, veteran enrollment, program preparation for licensing and certification, and job placement rates.

• Information Dissemination: Requires VA to provide educational beneficiaries with easy-to-understand information about schools that are approved for GI Bill benefit use.

• Staffing and Training: Requires educational institutions to have at least one employee who is knowledgeable about benefits available to servicemembers and veterans.  This legislation further requires that academic advising, tutoring, career and placement counseling services, and referrals to Vet Centers are available and that institutions offer training to faculty members on matters that are relevant to servicemembers and veterans.

• Curbing Misleading Marketing and Aggressive Recruiting: Requires VA and the Department of Defense to develop a joint policy on aggressive recruiting and misleading marketing aimed at servicemembers, veterans, and other beneficiaries.

• Educational Counseling: Makes educational counseling available to more beneficiaries.

Patrons Kathleen Winn, Matt Salmon, and Nancy Salmon

Eighty patrons attended a Reception Dinner to benefit the Student Veteran Fund on the evening of February 21, 2012 at the Phoenix Country Club.

Host Douglas D. Brown and sponsor Mrs. Margaret Goldwater and the other guests mingled, dined, and enjoyed learning more about the U.S. Constitution from speakers Shane Krauser, JD, Director, of the American Academy for Constitutional Education and Dr. Byron Schlomach, Director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Goldwater Institute. The theme of the evening was “The Constitution and Free-Market Capitalism.” More >>

We need to do more for those coming home and reintegrating with their families and their communities. This is especially true for many of our colleges and universities. From an article in the New York Times by David Wallace:

The war in Iraq is over, and approximately 22,000 troops are scheduled to return home from Afghanistan by the fall. Leon Panetta, the defense secretary, is calling for a “smaller, leaner” military, so colleges and universities are welcoming — or in some cases ignoring — an invasion of students taking advantage of the modern heir to the G.I. Bill. Despite the influx of former soldiers on campus, a veterans-only class that awards credit is the exception, not the rule.

Asked whether the 6,700 colleges and universities approved as eligible to educate veterans on the G.I. Bill were doing enough to support former troops, Rodrigo Garcia, national chairman of the Student Veterans of America, gave them “an overall C+.”

Quoting the Arizona Veterans’ Education Foundation:

… some schools pay student-veterans little more than lip service. “Perhaps some colleges are trying to maximize a public relations benefit and portray themselves as being military- or veteran-friendly,” Mr. van den Bosch said. “And yet when you investigate and say, ‘Define that,’ it turns out it may be in many cases, ‘We have somebody who’s going to help them process their G.I. Bill checks.’ ”

More >>