New York State Senate Public Hearing 

 

Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs 

& 

Committee on Higher Education 

 

 

Examining the Programs and Potential for Job Retraining for Returning Veterans 

in Their Pursuit of Higher Education in the State of New York 

 

 

Testimony of: 

 

Dr. Cathleen McColgin 

Provost and Senior Vice President 

Onondaga Community College 

 

 

May 17, 2010 


 

Onondaga Community College Veterans� Services & Lessons Learned 

Onondaga Community College is privileged to be one of twenty institutions of 
higher education nationwide to be awarded a $100,000 American Council on 
Education/Wal-Mart Success for Veterans grant. Established in 1974, Onondaga�s 
Office of Veterans� Affairs has flourished, due to the dedication of the OVA staff and 
volunteers. This office is essential in meeting the unique needs of the veteran student 
population and is fully supported by the College�s mission and its President, Dr. Debbie 
L. Sydow. At Onondaga the needs of veterans and their potential contribution to the 
community are fully recognized and appreciated. 

With the ACE/Wal-Mart grant as catalyst, the recent activities that the College 
has initiated have already impacted potential students, current student veterans, the 
college community, and the larger veteran service community. Our enrolled veterans and 
their dependents, under various VA education benefit programs, has increased from 209 
students in spring 2009 to 292 students in spring 2010; a 40% increase in one year. 

To date, several initiatives have been completed as per the project plan that 
provide clear-cut evidence that progress has been made. These activities include: hiring 
of additional staff member, development of a resource guide and training manual, and 
modifications to the College�s website to ensure that potential and current student 
veterans, as well as other higher education representatives, have easy access to accurate 
and up-to-date information. Visible displays of the College�s awareness and appreciation 
of military service have been witnessed by many veterans and employees alike. These 
include a welcome banner for student veterans and a Veterans� Recognition Day event 
and exhibit. New faculty members are made aware of the Office of Veterans� Affairs 
services and the many issues our student veterans encounter during their orientation. 
Faculty and staff members have benefited from valuable information sessions provided 
by OIF/OEF and mental health specialists from the Syracuse VA Medical Center. 

Veterans� Advisory Committee meetings, list-serve messages from the Office of 
Veterans� Affairs, a more accessible website, and support to other higher education 
representatives have forged and strengthened working relationships among Onondaga�s 
Office of Veterans� Affairs, other colleges, and relevant community organizations. Doors 
to powerful collaborative ventures are widening. 

In addition to the activities describe previously, the first several months of the 
project were used to establish important baseline information. These data will allow for 
future meaningful assessment of the services we are providing to our student veterans. 
Results from focus groups, employee surveys, input from the Advisory Committee, and 
anecdotal comments have been used to inform our next steps. 

Of the numerous activities undertaken, the project coordinator and manager are 
most pleased with the improvements to our communications �systems� and their impact 
on our service to student veterans. Staff and faculty have a greater awareness of the 
Office of Veterans� Affairs existence and services available to our veterans, as well as 
many challenges our student veterans and their families face on a daily basis. 

In response to survey results, an online Veterans� Resource Guide was compiled 
and is now available to employees and students alike. The list-serve for Veterans� 


Advisory Committee members is an efficient mechanism to share the latest information 
important to all veterans in higher education, and the student email distribution list 
provides this and a convenient informal connection between the Office of Veterans� 
Affairs and each and every veteran attending Onondaga Community College. 

Professional development opportunities such as attendance at the ACE 
Servicemembers Opportunity College meeting in Albany and the National Association of 
Veterans� Programs Administrators national conference provide valuable information for 
even the highly experienced professional. As a result of these meetings, the counselor 
responsible for evaluating transfer credits for incoming students is now giving 
consideration to utilizing the American Army Council on Education Registry Transcript 
System (AARTS) and the Sailor-Marine Council on Education Registry Transcript 
System (SMART) transcripts. 

Based on what Onondaga Community College has learned over the years and 
through this project, we recommend that other institutions recognize the importance of 
the following for the establishment and ongoing maintenance of an effective Office of 
Veterans� Affairs: (1) knowledgeable and caring professional dedicated to serving 
veterans, both those considering your college and those who have enrolled; (2) adequate 
space for veteran services and lounge as vets need their own place to support one another, 
defuse, regroup; (3) VA work-study or other student assistants appropriately trained to 
provide peer support; (4) establishment of a Vets� Club and social interaction that 
expands beyond veteran to veteran; (5) a VA student email distribution list to quickly and 
easily communicate important information; (6) support of the institution�s college 
president; and (7) collaborations with area colleges and agencies when feasible. 

Finally, perhaps the most powerful lesson was learned through our employee 
survey. Of the hundreds of respondents, three out of four indicated an interest in 
workshops and professional development in order to improve their personal 
understanding of veteran issues and how to more effectively interact with them. 
Therefore, those directly responsible for veteran services need not consider themselves on 
their own in this important work. 

As stated earlier, Onondaga Community College has a thirty year history of 
providing high quality services to our student veterans. The ACE/Wal-Mart award 
provides the necessary assistance to enhance and expand these services, thereby 
improving access to and success in higher education programs for veterans and their 
families.