Activities:
- Introduction to staff that was present and toured the center.
- Discussion of plans and tentative schedule for summer.
- Brought up to speed on the current issues facing the center and discussed the many projects currently in the works.
Reflection on practice:
This
week I had my first meeting with the director of the Center for America’s
Veterans, Ken McRae, and we discussed what I will be responsible for over the
course of the summer. Due to my other
commitments, Mr. McRae has allowed me to backload the majority of my practicum
experience and I will therefore only be in the center approximately 5 hours per
week for the month of June. I met with
Mr. McRae on Friday the 12th and we discussed a number of different
issues facing the center and issues that I would be attempting to tackle. A large portion of my efforts will be focused
upon helping the center as they attempt to attain a number of different grants
for various projects that they have.
Each of these projects are at various stages of completion and it will
be very interesting to see what funding we are able to attain for each of
them. I was quite surprised to learn how
much the center relies upon grants and private funding to function. However, after our discussion I understood
that Mr. McRae is someone who is attempting to break a lot of new ground
regarding the student veteran population and he needs a larger budget to do so. I am very excited for this experience as it
will give me exposure to grant proposals and new program implementation, both
of which I have no experience with.
Reflection on theory:
For
linking what I experienced this week to theory I wanted focus a little on the
history of student affairs, specifically the role of student veterans. We discussed in our Intro to Student Affairs
class that the development of our field was largely due to the influx of
student veterans following the World War II.
I couldn’t help but to reflect upon this a little as I spoke with Mr. McRae. It came to me during our discussion that
student veterans birthed our field, but now are almost the forgotten population
on many campuses. That’s a big part of
the reason why I professionally and personally really appreciate Mr. McRae’s
and Mr. White’s efforts. There aren’t
many institutions which have a dedicated veteran office, let alone a staff of
at least six individuals. That in
combination with some of the projects that the center has planned is very
impressive. I realized that this is an
area that I can really see myself working in at some point in the future. I also discussed with Mr. McRae what their current
numbers looked like. He mentioned that
the number of actual veterans has decreased, but the number of dependents has
increased. Many of the projects that Mr.
McRae laid out for me are focused upon meeting the needs of current veterans
and are part of a focused effort to bring more of them on to Mississippi State’s
campus.
Emily:
ReplyDeleteI would like to know more about you personal feelings regarding the veteran Live Learning Community that is in the works. This "new ground" is very cutting edge for veteran services on a college campus and I would like to know more about what you think. Also, I would like to know your opinion about student development of veterans. The GI Bill is benefiting many students on Mississippi State's campus and I would be interested to discuss your perspective of their college experience. Personally, I find it very hard to relate and work with veteran students. Do you have any tips or thoughts on how to serve this population better?
I enjoyed reading this post. I could definitely see you working in a veteran affairs office one day. You have a passion for students and you would be able to relate to veterans because you are one. I found it very interesting what you said about how student affairs was basically started because of veterans and now that is not really a talking point in student affairs conversations. I personally have always had a heart for veterans because my grandfather was one. I do not want that to ever be a population that student affairs professionals forget about. I am glad also glad the office your are working with cares a lot about these students. It will be a good experience for you to see how grant writing works and how that process goes. That will benefit you as a professional in the future.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say my name lol. ^^^Nazim^^^ I posted the last commnet
ReplyDeleteEmily - I think what they have in the works is really amazing and I'm very interested to see how it all comes together. As far as the development of veterans goes, it's very hard to put one theory on the group. Veterans can be almost any age and may either hold tight or reject their status as veterans. Unfortunately, I think it's really a case by case scenario.
ReplyDeleteAs far as working with veterans, it goes back to the case by case thing. There are a few scenarios in which veterans would be attending college and each brings with it certain implications. The scenarios relate to their status at the time of their attendance. Such as retired, separated (may be different based upon number of years in service or experience while in service), active duty, reserves, guard, and so on. I can definitely discuss each of these with you at some point in the future if you like. I think that the main thing is getting to know the various experiences that they may have had and having some knowledge as to how their status may impact them.
Nazim - I didn't really think about veterans being pushed to the side until I sat down to write this blog post. My last institution did little for veterans and was more focused upon attaining the guaranteed money that they bring to a campus. I think that Jasmine, Taylor, and Summer's group from assessment really highlighted this issue. They found that many institutions don't have a center, let alone dedicated professional staff. Hopefully some of us will change this in the future!