The Veteran-Friendly Campus

Air Force veteran Mike Haynie just wanted to be a college business professor. But he had an idea for a summer hobby of sorts: creating a small-scale entrepreneurship program for disabled veterans at Syracuse University in New York.

A decade later, the summer project that helped 17 veterans has blossomed into the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse. IVMF is the umbrella organization for various programs helping transitioning servicemembers and their families, such as the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE), Boots to Business and others.

More than 70,000 military-connected students have participated in IVMF programs since its founding. Through IVMF, veterans learn entrepreneurship skills, military spouses receive the support they need for a secure economic future, and employers hire well-rounded military veterans. 

“We realized through our experience that it’s possible for us to align the intellectual capital of the university in different ways other than the traditional four-year degree,” says Haynie, IVMF founder and vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation at Syracuse. “Then we can have a real, meaningful impact on the transition from military to civilian life among those who served.”

As Haynie researched how a university could best assist veterans, he realized there was no template to follow. Universities housed institutes on national security, counterterrorism or defense. But few, if any, centers focused on educating veterans.

“Almost nowhere in higher ed was there an academic institute or a center focused purposefully and solely on the social/economic wellness concerns of vets and their families,” he says.

Thanks to IVMF, Katherine Sargent received the help she needed with her mental health practice. She attended EBV-F, the boot camp for military spouses, after her husband died by suicide. “As a mental health counselor, I didn’t know too much about the business world,” Sargent says. “This was a great opportunity for me to really learn how to grow my business and do it effectively.”

The boot camp helped prepare Sargent for the operational side of her business – from marketing to understanding legal aspects to networking. IVMF graduates single out networking as a large contribution to their continued growth as entrepreneurs. 

“The ongoing support has allowed me to reach out to the EBV-F program for assistance and connecting with other veterans,” she says. “Everyone has been so supportive and helpful. The success of my business is something I owe a lot to EBV-F.” 

‘COLLEGE CAN BE SCARY’ San Diego State University (SDSU) is also prioritizing student veterans and helping them achieve meaningful college experiences. Still, transitioning servicemembers face numerous challenges. 

Holly Shaffner understands those challenges firsthand. Upon retiring after 24 years in the Coast Guard in 2011, she enrolled at SDSU. 

“As I was transitioning from active duty to college life, it was very exciting,” says Shaffner, who graduated in 2015 and is now the military liaison officer at SDSU. “But as a transitioning servicemember, I can tell you that it is scary. The military is everything you have known, whether you have done four years, eight years or 24 years. Every single day is planned for you. You know what uniform you are going to wear. You know how you can get fed for that day. If you have a cough, you can go to sick call. Transitioning to college life can be very scary.”

As part of its welcoming environment for veterans, SDSU has gone from a walk-up window at the registrar’s office to a 4,000-square-foot facility with full-time employees, part-time student workers and a VA representative. The Joan and Art Barron Veterans Center also has a room called The Bunker where student veterans can study, mingle and unwind.

“I can’t imagine what it would be like without it,” says Todd Kennedy, a retired Marine and SDSU’s military program administrator. “When we got it in 2010, that spoke volumes. Up to that point, many schools across the nation did not have a veterans center. So having that space that military students could come to and ask questions – to get support or have a place to hang out or vent – spoke volumes. It serves as a great entryway into higher education.” 

A gift from the late Art Barron, a Legionnaire, The Bunker is among the connections between the Legion and SDSU. 

“We have a very strong relationship with a number of support organizations on the local, regional, state and national levels,” Kennedy says. “The American Legion has been one of our strongest supporters. District 22 sponsors one of our scholarships. We are very happy to have that relationship. We are very thankful for it.”

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SDSU and IVMF are only getting started.

Shaffner says SDSU will launch a Womens Veterans Success program in October, focusing on academics as well as personal and professional excellence. “Women veterans have different needs than their male counterparts,” she says. “It’s important to connect with them and make sure they understand what their benefits are and some of the things they have to offer as well. And to connect them with other female veterans.”

At Syracuse, work has begun on the National Veterans Resource Complex, a $62.5 million, 115,000-square-foot facility intended to be a national hub for research, programs and community impact for the nation’s veterans and military-connected families.

It will be the latest advancement for Syracuse, which grew from a quiet regional school of 4,800 students to a major university of 17,000 in a few years thanks to the GI Bill.

“Today most historians will highlight the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 as probably the most significant piece of legislation in this country’s history,” Haynie says. “The GI Bill empowered an entire generation of Americans to pursue education. This university has what I would argue is a nationally distinct history and a legacy related to veterans as a community. Quite literally, you can’t tell the story of Syracuse University as it exists today without veterans.”

The new resource center makes it possible for the university to host national symposiums and conferences on higher education as well as conduct its own research into veterans issues. 

“It will have a national research center focused on the segment of the research community that is not normally connected to DoD or VA research,” Haynie says. “But it will also bring under one roof all our military and veteran-connected programs: a state-of-the-art student veteran resource center and new facilities for both our ROTC programs.

“We want to be able to, again, honor and grow the legacy that started after World War II.”   

Henry Howard is deputy director of media and communications for The American Legion.