Operation College Promise Testimonials

Testimonials

"I was honored to participate in the Veterans' Service Providers Conference at Stockton College this past week. It was an amazing group of veterans, veteran service providers and educators sharing information and experiences, brainstorming and camaraderie. Thank you OCP for this wonderful opportunity to learn and better serve our veterans."

Barbara Lang, OCP Volunteer

"You sure know how to put on a great show! UMA will gain volumes from my participation! The presentations were top-notch and the networking opportunities far exceeded my expectations. I feel like 'the best of the best' were at the event!"

"As a veteran, I am truly grateful to have folks like you in my corner. Thank you for all you do, and please let your team know the same."

Amy Line University of Maine/Veteran

"Through Operation College Promise's leadership and dedication to support veterans on campus, they have impacted many veterans lives and the larger community in ways that are truly inspiring."

John T. Powers
Veterans Advocate, Consultant Operation Vets LLC

"I wanted to thank you again for putting together the awesome conference. The information provided by the presenters, as well as the networking, was by far, the best of any conference I have attended."

Debbie Bottomley, MSW
Monmouth County Office on Disabilities

"The Certificate for Veterans Service Providers (CVSP) program not only provided informative and engaging presentations, but also gave me access to the speakers over the three-day period. I came away with many new ideas that could be immediately implemented on our campus."

Denise Rodak Coordinator of Veteran and Military Resources
Montclair State University

"The CVSP experience was truly enlightening. I have been serving students for 30 years as a student affairs professional and I found this program very rewarding and important to my professional development."

Student Affairs Professional

"The CVSP program is a must for anyone working with our veterans on campus. The program is packed with valuable information, but more importantly, it recognizes and highlights the personal experiences of our student veterans on campus -- who better to learn from! It is well worth the time and travel to attend. Operation College Promise is a program we can all benefit from."

Higher Education Official

"The conference provided an excellent opportunity to brainstorm ideas with colleagues, and the information provided is critical for our success in helping our student veterans have a successful transition into the classroom."

Higher Education Official

"I was very impressed with the overall program. I did not know how to explain to my Commander, my relevance of attending this briefing. Great professional team."

NJ Air National Guard

"Veteran or not, faculty, administrators and staff should attend this conference to understand the advantages of recruiting and supporting vets in their educational pursuits, and also understanding the specific issues facing veterans attempting school."

Recruiter, National Guard

"The CVSP conference is something that anyone that is working with the military for any reason should attend because it helped answer so many questions and provided information that was extremely useful. Too many times student veterans get the run around regarding their benefits, schools they can attend, the difference in one pay out to another, and it causes so much frustration. If this can also be offered at the bases for the soldiers before they get out, it would be extremely beneficial! This was one of the best conferences I have attended."

Higher Education Official

"In this environment of increased veteran student enrollment, the opportunity for universities to come together and discuss mutual concerns is invaluable. The conference afforded me the great chance to meet with representatives from other schools and learn what has worked for their programs. I can utilize this information in constructing the new veteran student outreach program on my own campus."

Higher Education Official

"The CVSP conference was a great experience for me and I would love to attend again."

Member of the Public

"This conference was well organized and presented a wealth of knowledge. The speakers were excellent and we available for questions during the conference. The networking was an added benefit as we could share our knowledge with others and glean helpful information from the other attendees. I have been a social worker for close to 25 years and felt this conference was by far the best conference I have ever attended in my professional career. Kudos to the organizers for ALL their efforts."

Social Worker

"This week, I have attended a three-day seminar, hosted at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The seminar, Certification for Veterans' Service Providers, was sponsored by Operation College Promise (OCP)."

"The certification seminar was attended by college veterans' affairs officials from Maine to North Carolina and as far west as Indiana. The seminar was opened by Major General Maria Falca-Dodson, Commander, NJ Air National Guard, who discussed military culture and the military member's experience."

"This was an outstanding and extremely informative seminar. Those in attendance were riveted to every word by every speaker. It was heart warming to see the enthusiasm and dedication to veterans and veterans' issues."

Bob Ford, Senior Vice Commander
VFW Memorial Post 9462, Absecon, New Jersey

"The New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities and its member presidents demonstrated insightful leadership in recognizing early on the need to prepare their campuses for the arrival of this latest generation of returning veterans."

Jim Selbe, Assistant Vice President
American Council on Education (ACE)

"Operation College Promise has been our organization's strongest partner in the quest to connect our Post 9-11 veterans with their post 9-11 G.I. Bill. They truly understand that an educated twenty-first century veteran will be the key to our nation's twenty-first century resurgence."

Jack S. Fanous, Executive Director
The G.I. Go Fund

"The Operation College Promise Resource Guide will enhance the ability of college and university officials to better serve the educational needs of veterans and their families."

Dr. George Pruitt, President
Thomas Edison State College

"Since our partnership with Operation College Promise, there have been many collaborative efforts that have yielded a better educated faculty regarding our returning heroes. This assists the veterans, not only in the reintegration process, but also in achieving their educational goals. Our positive result has been the formation of veteran student support groups at several New Jersey college campuses."

William M. Keyes, QMC (SW), USN-RET, Outreach Coordinator
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey War Related Illness & Injury Study Center

"As a new Veterans' Coordinator, the Guide will enable me to efficiently find the resources I need to develop a comprehensive array of programs and services for my student veterans."

Sgt. Lynette Butler, Coordinator of Veterans Affairs
William Paterson University of New Jersey

"In my lifetime, nothing has done more, on any scale to create awareness of and to promote Student Veteran issues, than Operation College Promise."

Bob Ford, Senior Vice Commander
VFW Memorial Post 9462

"Student veterans come to campus prepared both to learn and to teach others about their unique experiences. A supportive, mutually constructive environment will evolve with better access to information that will stimulate communication through understanding. The Guide offers the resources to do just that."

Mark Pollard, Sgt. USMC
President, Rutgers SVO

"Following WWII, Willard Waller made two key points: 1) that every veteran is in need of some sort of rehabilitation upon return; and 2) that the job must be done in the local community. 'It is the job of the local community to make the veteran a civilian again, to train him to think, feel, and act like a civilian once more.' ^(a) New Jersey's Operation College Promise has taken Waller's tasks to heart and Wendy Lang is the right person in the right place at the right time to make it work."

^(a) Waller, Willard. (1944). The veteran comes back, the Dryden Press, New York.

John D. Mikelson, University of Iowa
Veterans Center

"This workshop was very informative and applicable to my daily work with veteran students. It was interactive and participatory. The program forces one to think critically and passionately. The content and presentation by the facilitators was high quality and engaging."

CVSP Attendee

"Having attended the CVSP events, the "field trip" to a military installation or carrier really compliments the Military Culture segment. Having SVM and Veterans is great, but nothing speaks to the culture differences until someone sees the living and working conditions."

CVSP Attendee

"I found this program very informative and it was geared to our region. The speakers were very well informed and were excited to be presenting to us. While the conference was very intense, it was also fun and laid back. It didn't feel like you had spent all day sitting in a conference."

Marie Paiz, Assistant Registrar
Texas Lutheran University
Seguin, Texas

"This was a very worthwhile workshop with outstanding presenters and up-to-date information for attendees. It was well worth the trip."

Lee Cox
South Plains College

"OCP is a class act! Whatever your position, if you're sincerely interested in getting involved and helping veterans, the CVSP program is a great way to start or continue your education. OCP offered all participants the opportunity to network with other administrators who share the same passion for helping veterans and to learn about various veterans issues, veteran resources and volunteer programs. Excellent on-site staff, programming and presentations!"

"I am so grateful for the opportunity to share such a unique passion with a group of individuals. As a military family member specializing in higher education, I've always sought ways to help veterans. This program gave me the confidence and information needed to reach out to our collegiate military servicemembers. Now I can return to my university and help other departments transition to the veteran-friendly status we are striving to achieve. Thank you for such an informative program."

DaNeetra Kersee
University of North Texas

Over the past two years in the "Lone Star State," I have noticed that many of the universities have committed to becoming "veteran friendly." However, most of them simply don't know how to accomplish that task. This has been frustrating for both the veterans and family members, as well as the universities and colleges.

Enter onto the scene, Wendy Lang and her Operation College Promise (OCP) team. They are spearheading a program that gives leaders an opportunity to earn a Certificate for Veterans' Service Providers (CVSP). This program teaches the educators how to laser focus their goals and how to best serve the veterans.

With a hosting partnership from Dr. Katherine Selber and Texas State University in San Marcos, the event was like nothing I have ever witnessed. It was well-planned, orchestrated, and received with enthusiasm. While attending the Operation College Promise event, I was honored to be part of the Resource Panel and explained the TexVet initiative. I was further impressed when I engaged the "mock scenarios" and put into action the information that I just learned. I am sure that OCP will succeed in its mission to help veterans reach their educational goals with this comprehensive program.

I think President Abraham Lincoln said it best, "Upon the subject of education, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we, as a people, can be engaged in." I'm looking forward to working with OCP to promote their program across the United States since it will finally put all of the schools, universities, colleges, and trade schools on the same page. Our veterans have earned the right to pursue their educational goals after serving our country. It is an honor to facilitate those goals with energetic and focused organizations such as Operation College Promise.

Tim Stroud
TexVet Manager

I want to commend and congratulate the OCP team and Texas State University for a successful CVSP program. It was an invaluable experience and a very productive meeting for the Veteran service providers from the various Texas institutions. The program offered modules that were relevant and informative, providing well-needed and essential resources and guidance. It was also a delight to overhear the positive feedback from the participants and to observe their eagerness to take advantage of the available resources. The participants' regard for and desire for such a program was evident in their attendance throughout and their interactions during the various modules. Again, it was a pleasure to participate in such a rewarding endeavor!

Ann-Marie Stephenson
Educational Testing Service

Operation Promise for Servicemembers

Testimonials