ACUHO-I News Blog

After a hectic morning, the Veterans Administration is hoping the afternoon goes a little more smoothly. The fall administration of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill was confusing for veterans, institutions, and, seemingly, the VA itself. Some payments were delayed as the agency dealt with an upswing in demand for education benefits. The increased demand was probably due to the more generous provisions of this bill compared to other recent G.I. Bills, and the slow economy.

V.A. officials say the have received 132,000 enrollment certifications for the current term, and 105,000 have been processed. They didn’t say how many veterans have their benefits in-hand. The agency has promised all veterans who submitted materials by January 19 will have received their benefits by February 1. Materials received after that will be processed as soon as possible.

There are still about 500 veterans who have yet to receive their fall benefits. The V.A. and institutions blame each other for the fall delays, and relations between them are frosty. The V.A. says it didn’t receive some enrollment certification forms until the late fall; institutions say the V.A.’s work was backed up well before the late fall, and that they offered students leniency, and even interest-free loans, to help veterans stay in school and pay for necessities.

Both parties are hoping things will be easier this spring; the V.A. is expressing confidence about this; institutions are expressing doubt.

The American Council on Education has created a Web site to help veterans use their educational benefits to their best possible advantage. Many veterans have found it confusing to navigate the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs while also attempting to navigate college or university life. The aim of the website is to simplify the decision-making process. The site helps differentiate between the post-9/11 G.I. Bill and the Montgomery G.I. Bill and provides success stories from other veterans.

For more information on helping veterans adapt to life back on a college campus, check out the most recent Talking Stick, with an article from NASPA president Gwen Dungy.

More than half of eligible veterans are waiting for their educational benefits. Some institutions have allowed veterans a longer grace period; some students are relying on family to help pay the bills.

A selection of college housing and student affairs headlines from InsideHigherEd.com. This week, the US government releases guidance for higher education institutions for various H1N1 scenarios.

COMMON SENSE AND SCENARIOS ON H1N1: U.S. releases guidance for colleges on possible flu outbreaks. Goal is to keep institutions open, but officials say fall semester could pose unusual challenges:

RANKINGS FRENZY ’09: ‘U.S. News’ sees slight uptick in participation in controversial peer rankings, but shift in methodology may anger SAT-optional colleges. Plus, alumni group issues new ratings based on traditional curricular requirements:

MIXED RESULTS FOR ACT: Overall scores are stagnant and some racial gaps grow, but testing outfit sees progress because of rapid expansion of the test-taking pool and shifts in preparedness:

ARE VETS’ CHECKS BACKLOGGED?: Government denies report of major delays, but some on campuses see evidence that influx of veterans isn’t being matched by speed in processing their benefits:

REORIENTING THEMSELVES: Some community colleges move substantial portions of new student orientations online to maximize efficiency; others push face-to-face programs to make process more personal. Is there a happy medium?

When veterans enroll in college after leaving active duty, they often feel lost and alone. The unstructured, somewhat willy-nilly nature of college life is unsettling after years of strictly ordered schedules and rules in the military. Lingering, sometimes lifelong injuries from their service, both mental and physical, dog them. Other students are at least five years younger, often naive, usually with much less world-experience. At best, their classmates are blissfully ignorant of the combat in Iraq and Afghanistan; at worst, they are insensitive and ask intrusive questions. Classrooms are claustrophobic and loud noises unnerving.

On top of all this, until recently, the veteran’s benefits offered by the G.I. Bill barely pay for two years at a modest community college–if combined with full-time work–which discouraged many veterans from using the benefit at all, even though it was the reason many had enlisted. However the new G.I. Bill covers more classroom benefits as well as books and a living stipend, and an uptick in veteran enrollment is expected in August 2009, when the bill takes effect. The law, and higher education’s embrace of it, is seen as a way to do well by veterans, in contrast to the cool reception many recieved in many venues after the Vietnam conflict.

This New York Times Education Life story profiles three veterans who returned to college after their service, the struggles they encountered and the coping skills they developed. The students profiled needed more academic assistance, ways to manage stress, and support from others in their situation. Veterans in the story established their own campus veteran groups.

Since we know there will likely be an influx of veterans in about 9 months, that gives us time to prepare; to establish support groups (if they don’t yet exist); prep the health center, and otherwise prepare campus to be a welcoming place for veterans. What have you done, what will you be doing? Share ideas here.

Also, stay tuned: The next issue of the Talking Stick (leaving the printer’s as I type) will feature a story on veterans on campus.