Veteran services at Ohio University might be changing.
Ohio University is reforming how it assists the more than 260 military veterans who take classes on its Athens campus.
Ohio House Bill 488, passed this summer, set new standards for supporting students who are military veterans at public universities in Ohio. It also allowed military training to count as college credit.
At OU, the legislation has prompted changes including creating a new center for veterans in Baker University Center, designating a “contact person” to work directly with students and forming a survey to better understand veterans’ needs, said Howard Dewald, associate provost for Faculty and Academic Planning.
“The university has been well-positioned with regards to trying to support military persons,” Dewald said. “The institution has been concentrating on ways of improving those things that they currently do.”
One of those improvements includes designating David Edwards, OU’s current director of Veterans and Military Services, as the primary contact person for veterans.
Two-hundred and sixty-two veterans currently attend OU, Edwards said, a veteran who also attended OU.
Edwards said his role is to make sure veterans receive educational benefits as well as tutoring, psychological counseling, academic advising and other services they might need.
“All of those things that a traditional student goes through are some of the things that veterans go through, but veterans have a unique experience that they bring to school,” Edwards said. “My role is to build those bridges with the university, and help the faculty and staff understand the unique qualities that a veteran brings to the classroom.”
Another change is the development of a center for veterans in Baker. That will open later this semester, Edwards said.
“It’s going to be a liaison between veterans and services that we provide here at the university as well as what’s in the community,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be exciting to see how we can grow the veterans center.”
The new center will be more visible and will replace the current, limited office for veterans in Chubb Hall, he said.
Dewald said the university is also in the process of creating a survey to better understand veterans’ concerns.
“We’re working on developing a survey of all the (veteran) students to see if they have any particular identifiable needs or challenges that are present, and eventually follow that survey up periodically,” Dewald said.
The university is also working with the Career and Leadership Development Center to enhance job opportunities for veterans.
Part of the bill also calls for universities to have student-led groups for veterans. Edwards said the university already has two such organizations, Student Veterans of America and Combat Veterans Club, which are “looking to enrich the lives of the people who want to join through community action.”
Tyler Daniels, a veteran and senior studying global studies war and peace and political science, said he works with Edwards as part of a work-study program in the Veterans and Military Students Center.
Many of the bill’s changes are beneficial, including requiring training for faculty and staff, Daniels said.
“We want to go above and beyond to make it a world-class center that ranks among the top universities,” he said.
@ALXMEYER
AM095013@ohio.edu
