Learning to serve veterans on campus through NASPA’s Veterans Conference

My name is Lauren Williams and I'm the director of military and veteran services at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. We are a small private 4-year Catholic University with an enrollment of 3200 undergraduate and graduate students combined. The office was created on April 12, 2012 and the Veterans Resource Center was established on Sept. 15, 2014. 

I first got involved with NASPA as a graduate student pursuing my masters in higher education administration in 2010. It was during this time that I had begun researching best practices on working with student veterans on a college campus. I began my master’s program in the spring of 2009 when my husband deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army. 

I needed practical information to establish a one-stop shop to assist student veterans with their transition from service to a student in Northeastern, PA as no other colleges in the area were taking steps to create an office to service this growing student group. The University of Louisville has been conducting the Veteran Symposium for Higher Education for the last few years.

I had first heard of the conference in Feb. of 2011 and attended as a graduate student to network and gain information and resources to propose an Office of Military and Veterans Services at Marywood University. The second year I attended as the director of military and veteran services at Marywood University, bringing along with me my experience in creating an office on our campus.

I was answering questions for those first-year conference attendees that were hoping to create something similar on their campus. Year three brought with it the opportunity to serve as one of the presenters, which is a huge honor to be selected as part of this elite group of experienced practitioners.

Three years and three symposiums later I was able to leverage the skills taught through this symposium and gain support from university administration and the President of the university to establish a Veterans Resource Center at Marywood University. This center is a renovated residence hall that serves more than 100 student veterans and their families enrolled at the institution.

The space currently houses the Office of Military and Veteran Services and the R-VETS office on the first floor along with a quiet study space and lounge. We have a very active veteran club on campus, the Student Veterans Alliance, which is a chapter of the national organization of the Student Veterans of America and the 2nd floor is their home.

There is a large lounge and computer/study space on this floor as well. It also has a full kitchen, which can be utilized by all student veterans and dependents. The space is open to the Marywood community and outside visitors from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and is accessible to student veterans and dependents via card reader access from 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

The evolution of my attendance at this conference has been interesting and one that has been vital to my career. Not only for the information attained, more so for the relationships made with colleagues in this field. Their friendship and expert advice over the last three years is why I continue to attend this conference each year. It truly is the premier event for anyone in student affairs that will encounter the student veteran in their day-to-day job. 

There is still so much to learn about serving the student veteran population on college and university campuses and that is why attending this conference is so very important. As a member of the conference planning committee I can assure you that each program presented is one that will greatly influence your encounter with serving the student veteran on your campus.

By attending this conference, you will walk away with a better understanding of the unique needs that face this group and will have the ammunition to better assist retention and graduation rates of this non-traditional student population. Student affairs professionals are in the business of ensuring the students that come through our doors are provided a quality education and an opportunity for a rewarding career after graduation.

I can honestly say that without the tools learned and relationships made at this conference I wouldn’t have had the ability to grow my office into what it is today. This will be NASPA’s first year taking over this program from the University of Louisville and it is sure to impress those who attend. Hope to see you all in Louisville next month!

To learn more about the 2015 NASPA Veterans Conference visit the conference website.

This post is part of the 15 Days of NASPA campaign. To learn more about this activity, as well as about the #NASPAshares Stipends, an opportunity for new professionals and graduate students to win registration and stipend money to attend the 2015 NASPA Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA, please see the blog announcement.

Today’s key word of the day is “I”.