UM-Flint earns Gold-level veteran-friendly status for ninth consecutive year

It's been said that all glitters is not gold, but for the University of Michigan-Flint it's a different story when it comes to taking care of veteran students. For the ninth year in a row, the university has been lauded with Gold-level status as a veteran-friendly school by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.

The gold ranking means the university has achieved at least six of seven program criteria:

• Established a process for identification of current student veterans.
• Created a veteran-specific website.
• Offered an active student veteran organization or club.
• Provided veteran-specific career services, resources, advising and/or outcome monitoring.
• Employed an on-campus veterans' coordinator and/or designated staff point of contact.
• Developed a system to evaluate and award academic credit based on prior military training and experience.
• Monitored and evaluated student veteran academic retention, progress and graduation rates.

"We are extremely honored to serve our military and veteran students and their families in the pursuit of their academic goals," said Helen Budd, program manager for the university's Student Veterans Resource Center. "Our military-connected students bring exceptional leadership skills to the campus community, and they are highly respected by their civilian peers for their contributions to group projects.

"In turn, we are pleased to offer them one-to-one support and assistance in the use of their VA benefits and military tuition assistance programs, wherever they reside in the state, country or at military installations overseas."

"UM-Flint's persistence and refusal to accept 'good enough' is what drives it forward," said Chris Taylor, MVAA education analyst. "The university provides a shining example of what student services can and should be for our military-connected students."

Last year, the SVRC launched the Peer Advisors for Veteran Education program. PAVE is a peer support program that connects incoming student veterans with those already on campus to help newcomers navigate college life and ease the transition from the military to academia by improving their sense of connectedness and belonging.

"We currently have four veteran peer advisors to support our new undergraduate students who have transferred to UM-Flint or who are first-time college students," said Budd. "The peer advisors' primary role is to provide outreach, support and linkage to resources on and off campus, and also to provide the new student veterans a sense of camaraderie."

For additional information about the SVRC, visit its webpage.