Artillery support: When to call in the big guns p1 - College Campus Life for Veterans - Military Times EDGE

Former Air Force C-17 pilot Erik Brine can attest to the strength of Student Veterans of America’s advocacy efforts from both sides of the fence.

As co-founder and president of an SVA chapter at Georgetown University, Brine has worked with the school to coordinate veterans’ resources via a page on the school’s website and offered the student perspective on improving its Yellow Ribbon Program.

And when he ran into delays getting reimbursement from the Veterans Affairs Department’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program, he reached out to the SVA’s headquarters for help.

“SVA actually contacted VA for me,” he said. “They have contacts to address [issues] at a higher level.”

National advocacy groups like SVA do more than shape veteran policies and benefits — they also work with individual service members and vets to answer questions, mediate disputes and put them in touch with just the right person. A look at some of these groups and the situations they can help with:

Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges

Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges is best known for its consortium of schools that make it easier for mobile military students to earn a degree. But SOC troubleshoots hundreds of individual cases a month as well.

Contact SOC if you:

• Need clarification on a school’s academic policies, especially relating to acceptance of military training for credit or for college withdrawal for military deployment reasons.

• Want help finding appropriate points of contact for VA benefits, federal student aid or tuition assistance.

• Need assistance obtaining official military and college transcripts.

• Want guidance on how to start or resume pursuit of a college degree.

Contact: http://www.soc.aascu.org, (800) 368-5622.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

IAVA envisions its NewGIBill.org website as a one-stop shop for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, said IAVA membership assistant Adam Bryant. In addition to a GI Bill calculator and blog, the site allows veterans to submit questions about their specific GI Bill situation.

“We generally get back to them the same day or within one day,” Bryant said.

Contact IAVA if you:

• Need help deciding between the new and old GI Bill.

• Have questions about how to file for benefits.

• Can’t find the answer to your GI Bill question.

• Are trying to keep up with the latest changes to the GI Bill.

• Want to get involved in upgrading the new GI Bill.

The group’s advocacy efforts get a ringing endorsement from Jim Selbe, assistant vice president for lifelong learning at the American Council on Education and a former Marine.

“If I were a vet right now and needed help navigating the GI Bill, [IAVA] would be my first stop,” he said.

Contact: http://www.newgibill.org

Student Veterans of America

SVA, a coalition of student veterans groups at colleges across the U.S., advocates for veterans on both the chapter level — at press time, there were 246 chapters nationwide — and the national level.

At the chapter level, SVA members push for policy changes on their campus, said Brian Hawthorne, legislative director for SVA and president of the chapter at George Washington University until he graduated last month. At GW, for example, Hawthorne and other chapter members are pursuing priority registration for veterans and working on Yellow Ribbon Program agreements.

At the national level, SVA advocates on behalf of student veterans on issues such as veterans’ mental health and expanding the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Hawthorne said. However, the national office gets involved in individual student advocacy as well.

“We can advocate with VA if students are having trouble with GI Bill [benefits], for example,” Hawthorne said.

Go to your local SVA chapter if you:

• Need help with issues regarding transfer credits.

• Are having trouble with your benefits.

• Need resources to help with the transition from combat to college.

Contact the national SVA if you:

• Need guidance on starting a chapter.

• Have a question about national legislation of concern to veterans.

• Don’t have a local chapter or cannot find resolution at the chapter level. In fact, since becoming legislative director last June, Hawthorne estimates he has worked with hundreds of veterans on different issues.

Contact: http://www.studentveterans.org, (866) 320-3826

Before you ask ...

No problem ever is too big or too small to ask for assistance. Often, however, the student is his own best advocate.

“We encourage vets on campus to take on their own issues through the [Student Veterans of America] chapters,” Hawthorne said. “We’d rather the vets on those campuses do that advocacy themselves. Most vets can stand up for themselves.”

Often, “advocacy” involves little more than connecting students to the right resources, he added.

Student advocates like Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges are not substitutes for college advisers, VA representatives or education services officers, said Mary Jo Watlington, academic counseling coordinator for SOC. Starting with the people most familiar with you often is the best way to resolve problems.

“We want people to go to [the local] chapters for as much as possible, because the chapters are really the experts on what their lives are like,” Hawthorne said. “If they have issues with their school or their benefits, we want them to use those local resources, because they are going to be much more customized.”

In addition to SVA chapters, many schools have their own veterans programs organized by student services.

Call in the big guns after efforts at this level have been exhausted.