For Faculty and Staff

Recognize Challenges that Create Barriers to Academic Success

• Those returning from active duty in a combat zone almost have all been ambushed, attached, shot at, and know someone who was seriously injured or killed.
• One in six Iraq veterans has had post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, or generalized anxiety.
• One in nine Afghanistan vets has experienced PTSD, major depression or generalized anxiety. Because PTSD alters brain processes, it affects learning and memory.
• Traumatic Brain Injury and Mild traumatic Brain Injury are the “signature” injuries/disabilities from the current war. Modern medical advances mean more with severe damage live.
• Veterans with disabilities have a hard time admitting they are disabled and asking for accommodations since they see themselves as warriors.
• Ex-military men and women have a difficult time relating to their campus peers’ everyday concerns and issues after being in a combat zone.
• Readjustment issues with families and coworkers are common, since deployment disrupts the structure and continuity of family and work units.
• Returning vets are used to clear protocols and designated chains of command. They may have a low tolerance for bureaucracy, indecisiveness, or lack of structure. In the campus environment, rules may be unclear or change from setting to setting, there is a lower sense of order, and bureaucratic problems often arise. These difficulties can create anxiety or frustration for many veterans.
• Soldiers can get used to the “adrenalin high” of being in a combat zone and dealing with life and death situation. So they may find the pace and content of college life to be boring, trivial, or frustrating.
• They may feel guilty about something they experience or had to do during deployment (e.g. injure or kill someone, be unable to prevent the injury or death of a friend or comrade, accidentally hurt a civilian, be ordered to do something they felt bad about, etc.)
• They may attempt too many credits in a term to make up for lost time, leading to failure.

Student Academic Success

• Veterans have been trained to work with many different kinds of people, often in a group environment. They know how to get a group to focus on the tasks assigned and use the strengths of each member of a group.
• They have developed strong habits of self-discipline.
• Many are adept at managing their time as they juggle jobs and family as well as school.
• They are focused on their goals and may not have time or inclination to take part in extraneous activities.
• The educational experience is highly valued and they want to take full advantage of the opportunity for a degree.
• Their past experiences provide a broad background that they bring a new knowledge and their world view is more global then the average college student.
• Through their military training and travel, they may have discovered interest areas that can lead to a career or vocation.
• Previous experience have given them confidence as they have persisted over many obstacles to be where they are today.