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Serving as a VA Work-Study, President of the Student Veterans Organization, and a member of the Veterans Steering Committee at my college, I assist our brothers and sisters in arms with a wide variety of issues. The greatest common factor among them are professors who are not so "veteran friendly". To define "veteran friendly", it is a professor that makes accommodations not exceptions, when a student veteran is facing his or her unique transitional challenges. It is also a professor that is wise enough to avoid controversial topics, that may excite anger or other unwanted emotions in a prior service member.
What have been your experiences with college professors? On average, do you feel that they understand to some degree what veterans are facing while transitioning back to civilian life? Lastly, what are some things you would like college professors to know and/or be trained on, to better interact with student veterans?
What have been your experiences with college professors? On average, do you feel that they understand to some degree what veterans are facing while transitioning back to civilian life? Lastly, what are some things you would like college professors to know and/or be trained on, to better interact with student veterans?
Transition
College
Student Veterans of America (SVA)
Success
Edited 11 y ago
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 7
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Many college professors don't care one way or another about students in general. Only about a handful of mine were decent. Many professors are going to be provocative especially in social sciences and other liberal arts courses. I don't know if you can tame the beasts to be honest with you. Many professors are what they are. You might be able to get a awareness orientation to professors and make it mandatory for them if the school gets federal money. You may never know what might set someone off. I have friends brother who was a infantryman in gulf war I getting his PHD. He was teaching a class and got a un-desired response by a recent vet.
It probably needs to be two way street. And maybe the VA needs to identify vets that have stress issues from OCO and council them by giving them expectation management and counseling on how to deal with those encounters in a rational manner. Maybe identify professors to avoid who maybe more likely to cause issues. But at the end of the day the stress management is something they will have to figure out how to control. It's not just professors in some cases students maybe more extreme and provocative. Take some young stereotypical hippie the that blurts out "all military people are baby killers and savages, or the young conservative type that says "why do these needy vets need my tax money for a handout, they should fend for themselves" How is the said veteran going to react to those two statements? It's a cold cruel world out there. Many people who act like they care when they really don't.
It probably needs to be two way street. And maybe the VA needs to identify vets that have stress issues from OCO and council them by giving them expectation management and counseling on how to deal with those encounters in a rational manner. Maybe identify professors to avoid who maybe more likely to cause issues. But at the end of the day the stress management is something they will have to figure out how to control. It's not just professors in some cases students maybe more extreme and provocative. Take some young stereotypical hippie the that blurts out "all military people are baby killers and savages, or the young conservative type that says "why do these needy vets need my tax money for a handout, they should fend for themselves" How is the said veteran going to react to those two statements? It's a cold cruel world out there. Many people who act like they care when they really don't.
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SGT Matthew DePaul
To your point about the VA sir, identifying if you have issues should be on the student. Most colleges have a disability resource center that they can register with. As I stated in a previous comment, most of us are terrible when it comes to asking for help. Having a somewhat trained faculty would assist in closing the gap for student veterans who do not want to outright ask for help. This doesn't mean sudden accommodation when the student faults to their own conduct.
Identifying veteran friendly professors and those not is a common practice. However, this narrows options for student veterans. Also, if a professor is veteran friendly, it is likely they are an extraordinary instructor and would have their class filled up quickly by non-veteran students.
Yes, it is a cold and cruel world out there. Our men and women know that, which is all the more reason they should not have to consider mistreatment or unfair bias when entering back into the civilian world. Your input is well taken sir, and I appreciate it.
Identifying veteran friendly professors and those not is a common practice. However, this narrows options for student veterans. Also, if a professor is veteran friendly, it is likely they are an extraordinary instructor and would have their class filled up quickly by non-veteran students.
Yes, it is a cold and cruel world out there. Our men and women know that, which is all the more reason they should not have to consider mistreatment or unfair bias when entering back into the civilian world. Your input is well taken sir, and I appreciate it.
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As an infantry veteran who now teaches in a university liberal arts department, I can very clearly assert that I am not "veteran friendly" according to your criteria. I treat veterans the same way I treat every other student and I do not cater to the sensibilities of any of my students. I give one disclaimer at the beginning of every semester and at the top of every syllabus: this is an adult course in which we will cover adult topics and discuss such topics like adults. If you feel you cannot handle this course, I recommend you disenroll immediately.
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I graduated from Upper Iowa University as an adult student. I received my bachelors of science in Emergency and Disaster Management in 2010 at the age of 40. College itself was a struggle for me. As a veteran and a straight white conservative Christian male it seemed to me I was challenged to some point in almost every class about my views. Not just by my professors, but by other students and faculty... Fortunately because of my degree choice many of my professors for my degree specific classes were retired or active law enforcement members or firefighters. I'm not a quiet man about my personal views...never have been never will be...the best thing I did was to remain objective. To always give them respect and listen to their views...I only asked the same in return. I found that most people were actually very veteran friendly even when they did not agree with politics or current military actions. The "You can support the troops and still not support the war" mentality.
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For the most part my professors were very helpful and understanding in my case. I did however have great issue with fellow students that only care about themselves.
As a 40 plus year old student, I see younger students are happy to just get by and barely pass classes. I have issue with that being a perfectionist.
Enough of my rambling, I would suggest classes with only other Veterans if it were possible to schedule that. Just seems most veterans respect and understand that while
In class that is your mission to complete at the moment.
As a 40 plus year old student, I see younger students are happy to just get by and barely pass classes. I have issue with that being a perfectionist.
Enough of my rambling, I would suggest classes with only other Veterans if it were possible to schedule that. Just seems most veterans respect and understand that while
In class that is your mission to complete at the moment.
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SGT Matthew DePaul
Issues with fellow students are very common, especially in a case like your's, being you are an older student. I only wish all student veterans would aspire to be the best in their higher education endeavors, but sadly I see many just using benefits for income.
When the idea comes up in my circles about veteran only classes, I'm quick to point out that it would not prove for an effective transition. We need exposure to our younger/same age non-veteran counterparts. The only reason I point this out is because I too once thought that an all veteran format would be beneficial. Considering how the post 9/11 GI Bill is purposed to get us in a classroom, we would be missing out on valuable experiences with our counterparts, if we were to just once again be around our own people.
When the idea comes up in my circles about veteran only classes, I'm quick to point out that it would not prove for an effective transition. We need exposure to our younger/same age non-veteran counterparts. The only reason I point this out is because I too once thought that an all veteran format would be beneficial. Considering how the post 9/11 GI Bill is purposed to get us in a classroom, we would be missing out on valuable experiences with our counterparts, if we were to just once again be around our own people.
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MAJ Michael Scharff
First, for full disclosure, I’m both a veteran and current college professor (for the past 9 years). Overall most college professors I know are very opinionated and fall on the liberal side of the political spectrum. That being said, there is a smaller subsection that barely “tolerates” the military and veterans – but this isn’t so different than the entire population. It is difficult for me to comment on this post as I’m unclear what exact accommodations SGT DePaul is suggesting “when a student veteran is facing his or her unique transitional challenges”. I think I am accommodating but others may not think so. However, I am a business professor and I think part of my job is to bring up controversial topics so that they can be explored from all sides while asking students to develop some critical thinking. For example, I just got through in my business ethics class discussing Chiquita Banana paying a terrorist organization in Columbia money to not kill their employees. Is that something I shouldn’t discussed and explored? What about the political science professor that is discussing the history of the middle east?
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SGT Matthew DePaul
PO2 Jonathan Scharff thank you for getting MAJ Michael Scharff in on this discussion. An example of accommodations would be, an extended deadline because a string of VA appointments interrupted a student's normal routine. Since no two veterans have the exact same experience during transition, it would be difficult to pinpoint a myriad of scenarios, to better paint you a picture. In my experience business and political science topics have not catalyzed any negative reactions from student veterans. Typically, they are philosophy and English 101/102 courses that have brought on more of the hurt, in terms of topics that didn't agree with a combat veteran. There is nothing wrong with bringing up a controversial topic, but it should be done with discretion. Seemingly harmless topics could turn out to rise all sorts of emotions.
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MAJ Michael Scharff
I agree that many English professors are the ones I mentioned earlier and I’ve known some to assign topics to advance their views/ideology and potentially embarrass or degrade others that they know hold a differing opinion. As far as the example you used… I’m not sure if any accommodation would be needed. Teaching working adults, there are a myriad of demands on your time (family, health, work, etc). This is why I do my best to describe/detail every assignment in the syllabus as well as when it is due. So, if you know you have a paper due in week 6 of the course and have a number of VA appointments the last two days before the assignment due date – is that a reason for an accommodation or a learning opportunity to plan on Murphy’s law (which all veterans should know well ☺). Now, if a student couldn’t make class because they had to drive to the VA and couldn’t get back in time to take a test – that would be a completely different story.
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SGT Matthew DePaul
All student veterans SHOULD know how to plan around Murphy's Law, but again no two veterans are the same. One thing most of us share in common fresh out of service is that we are terrible at asking for help. Despite an enormous amount of resources to assist student veterans with their needs on campus, they mostly go unused because of the 'suck it up and drive on' mentality. To use myself as an example, I got a call from the VA one morning for a last minute physical therapy appointment that I did not schedule myself. Weighing my options, I chose to miss a quiz that morning because the appointment I did make, was over a month out. I was in pain and wanted to seek out that therapy. Thankfully, my professor made arrangements with me, and I went on to ace that quiz.
I appreciate it sir, that you make a point of transparency via syllabus. I've yet to have a semester where everyone of my classes has a spelled out syllabus. There is always at least one with a "tentative" assignment schedule. Because class format is left to the professor, there is a lack of uniformity even within a given department. Most rely on online assignment postings a week or two out at most, and just put a blurb in their syllabus to check online.
Overall, I appreciate and value your input on this topic sir. A private message will be inbound shortly.
I appreciate it sir, that you make a point of transparency via syllabus. I've yet to have a semester where everyone of my classes has a spelled out syllabus. There is always at least one with a "tentative" assignment schedule. Because class format is left to the professor, there is a lack of uniformity even within a given department. Most rely on online assignment postings a week or two out at most, and just put a blurb in their syllabus to check online.
Overall, I appreciate and value your input on this topic sir. A private message will be inbound shortly.
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Mine were not...but then again I went to a British Business School, I was more of a "interest" than a student.
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