UT is home to about 600 self-identified student veterans.
The average age of an undergraduate student veteran is 28 while the average age of a graduate student veteran is 36.
Many student veterans receive some type of educational benefits, but those benefits may dictate the number of credit hours they take, the courses they choose, and the ramifications they encounter if they withdraw from or drop a class.
Those are just a few insights gleaned from Green Zone training offered by the Veterans Resource Center. The workshops are geared to faculty and staff, but interested students are welcome to attend.
The first Green Zone Training workshop was held in April. The next workshop will be held from 12:30 to 3 p.m. on May 14 in Haslam Business Building Room 202. Those interested in attending should sign up online.
“Our student veterans come to UT with unique strengths and concerns,” said Thomas Cruise, Green Zone training leader and one of the coordinators and school certifying officials in the VRC. “We thought it would be helpful for the campus community to hear directly from student veterans, learn about some of the administrative obstacles they must maneuver, and gain an understanding of what they’re going through as they transition from military to college life.”
During the two-hour workshops, VRC staff discuss common terms used when talking about student veterans and their educational benefits. They discuss student veterans’ strengths and challenges, the culture shock of leaving the military and coming to college, and specific issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury that afflict some veterans.
A panel of student veterans is on hand to join in the discussion.
The workshop also includes information about various resources on and off campus for student veterans.
Participants receive 2 credit hours toward their employee HR professional development. For more information about Green Zone training, contact Cruise at tcruise@utk.edu.