Stockton, Other Colleges Cater to Military Personnel with Housing, Academic and Social Support
Press of Atlantic City
September 21, 2010
Like most students, Richard Stockton College sophomore Justin Loza registered for his fall classes online.
Unlike most students, he did it while stationed in Afghanistan with the NJ Air National Guard. Working with Martha McGinnis in the college's veterans affairs office, he was able to schedule courses, arrange financial aid and housing, all while still overseas.
"We used e-mail to stay in touch, and I was ready to go when I got back," he said.
Enrollment of veterans and active duty service members in the state's colleges is up about 5 percent over last year as both veterans and active service members take advantage of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, the state's tuition waiver program for National Guard members, and programs such as Operation College Promise, which work to streamline the process and ease the transition from the military to college.
Stockton had the largest increase in military enrollment among the state's public colleges, almost tripling from 60 students in June 2009 to 175 in the spring of 2010, according to a survey by the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, or NJASCU. Stockton Assistant Dean of Students Tom O'Donnell said there are almost 200 students this fall, many of them active members of the 177th Fighter Wing at the nearby William J. Hughes Technical Center.
"They are very focused and committed students," he said.
Rowan University coordinator of veterans affairs Anna Marie Pustizzi said the lack of jobs and the ability to get a housing stipend through the GI Bill are also encouraging more veterans to go to college.
"Many are older and first-time college students," she said. "If they can't find jobs, they figure they can use the benefits to get an education."
Statewide at least 11,600 military and veteran students are registered at the 10 four-year state colleges, according to the NJASCU survey and college data. Thomas Edison College, which offers all of its programs through distance learning, has by far the bulk of the enrollment at more than 10,000 students, 46 percent of whom are active duty military serving all over the world. Last year, Rutgers had 470 students attending with military benefits.
Louis Martini, director of military and veteran education at Thomas Edison, said the college is popular because it can accept many of the programs and skills the service members learn in the military and convert them into college credits. They can take courses online while deployed overseas, then finish anytime. If they return and want to take classes on campus at another four-year state college, they can apply those credits to a Thomas Edison degree.
"We can be their home college no matter where they are," Martini said.
Stockton is creating its own home for military students. The college has a Veterans Affairs Office and has set aside some of its graduate student housing just for veterans. The college dedicated a Veterans Lounge in April and has a Student Veterans Association headed by Rebecca Patterson, 23, a senior communications major and native of Shiloh, Cumberland County. She is serving with the 177th and lives in the Stockton veteran housing. The group sponsored a reception for veterans last week at the college.
"When it started, it was just five of us," Patterson said, looking at the 30 or so veterans at the event. She pushed to start the group to offer the services she needed when she enrolled.
"I really had no help when I got here, and it was confusing," she said. "Now they have the resources, and that camaraderie of just having people here who have gone through the same things together."
Patrick Shields, veterans affairs coordinator at Stockton, said the transition to college may be jarring, especially for those who have just returned from a war zone. The college can offer counseling, academic and social support.
"They tend to be a little older," he said of the students. "They're not really going to fit in with the typical 18-year-old college student living away from home for the first time."
Paterson said living in a house with other veterans has been like family. She had lived in student housing, and recalls having roommates who did not understand when she had to get up at 5 am for military duty.
Bob Ford, vice commander of the Absecon VFW Post 9462, has worked with Stockton to promote the programs. he said during the Vietnam era, veterans services were common at colleges, and the immediate impact of Operation College Promise proves to him that students want and need the specialized programs it offers.
"They need a group of their peers," he said.
He is now hoping to get programs expanded at the community colleges, although he said they don't always have the same level of resources as the four-year schools.
Atlantic Cape Community College has assigned a counselor, Ellen Spaver, and financial aid officer, Michelle Andrews, to work with veterans. A Veterans Club has been started, though membership right now is small.
Erik Downs-Holtzin, 26, a member of the Army National Guard, hopes to get into the ACCC nursing program. He said he had difficulties getting enrolled at Stockton in 2009 when he got back from Iraq, and at the time wasn't even aware the college had a veterans affairs office. He knows some veterans at Stockton, and plans to get involved with the veterans group at ACCC.
The students don't generally dress in military gear for class, preferring to blend in as college students. But they also like knowing there are other members of the military around.
"It's nice to know you're not the only one," Downs-Holtzin said. "Especially if you're in a class where people start talking about soldiers as baby-killers."
Students said trying to work toward a degree when they might still get deployed on short notice can be stressful. State law outlines the options for students who are deployed during an academic semester, but not all professors are familiar with it, which is another area where veterans affairs can intervene on a student's behalf.
"It's just a great atmosphere," Loza, 23, said of Stockton. Originally from California, he lived in Manahawkin before moving into one of Stockton's veterans' homes.
"I love it a lot here," he said. "There's a lot of respect."
Source: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/education/press/article_fe684706-c518-11df-a972-001cc4c002e0.html