Notes From The Edge - Military Times Edge

Preparing for college? Give some thought to whether or not you will identify yourself as a veteran on campus.

Self-identification can be formal — many schools now have a question on their admissions forms that allows veterans to disclose their status — or informal — telling your professors on the first day of class that you are a veteran, for example.

American Council on Education research has shown that veterans often are hesitant to self-identify at college. In the summary report from its May 2010 Veterans Success Jam Webinar, ACE concluded that:

* Many veterans do not self-identify to and/or request services from campus disability services offices because they feel the term “disability” carries a stigma.

* Veterans often fear that self-identifying will make them feel a greater disconnect from faculty, staff and other students.

It all comes down to what makes you comfortable, experts say. But there is a strong case for self-identifying. Doing so better ensures that you receive all the services to which they are entitled at college, from counseling and tutoring services to priority registration.

One important note: Schools can not require you to identify yourself as a veteran. Doing so is strictly voluntary. It is also illegal for schools to ask students about physical or mental disabilities.

The National Center for College Admission Counseling recently hosted a webinar on assisting veterans with the college admission process. The Chronicle of Higher Education covered the event in a blog entry by senior writer Eric Hoover.

Two important points from the webinar, as highlighted by Hoover:

* Veterans Affairs isn’t the personal savior of all veterans attending college. There’s a misperception at many colleges that VA is waiting in the wings to step in and assist veterans at the first sign of any type of trouble.

Unfortunately, as we all know, VA — while it does have the best interest of veterans at heart — is a big, lumbering giant that can’t always help vets who run into problems on their higher education journey, or is slow to respond when it can.

Schools need to research other solid avenues to get veterans assistance, said webinar participant Jack Fanous, executive director of the G.I. Go Fund, a nonprofit that assists veterans. Some other sources for help include state departments of veterans affairs, charity groups or organizations like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

* A little means a lot to veterans in higher education. It’s not so much how much you do, but rather how sincere you are in doing it. It can be as simple as designating a veterans-only space for veterans on campus, or as involved as steps undertaken by Montclair State University in New Jersey to change its admissions criteria for military members and veterans. In part, Montclair State waives its standardized testing and grade-point average requirements for military applicants who are 23 or older and have not received a dishonorable discharge. Military applicants also enjoy extended application deadlines, can defer their admission and do not get charged late fees for past-due tuition.

College graduation is just around the corner for the Class of 2011. And while employment prospects are looking up — employers taking part in a recent National Association of Colleges and Employers jobs survey anticipate hiring 13.5 percent more new graduates from the Class of 2011 than they did from the Class of 2010 — it’s still a tough job market.

Recently, I came across an article about job search tips for the New Year on PrimeCB.com, a division of CareerBuilder.com. It’s a great list, and very informative. However, reading it made me realize anew just how unique the job-search process is for former service members.

I’ve written many times in the past about the military-to-civilian job hunt. Much of the advice from two stories, in particular, still rings very true. Consider, for example, these words from “14 tips to land you that dream job”: Former Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Jon Harol of Lighthouse Recruiting emphasizes the need to make your resume understandable — i.e., free of military jargon — and urges transitioning service members to have their resumes proofread for clarity by someone outside the military.

Or heed this advice from Craig Griffin, senior vice president of operations for recruiting firm Bradley-Morris Inc. and a former Army aviator. In the story “Inside information: Experts reveal 12 tips for job-hunt success,” Griffin cautions against assuming that a civilian interviewer can make the connection between your military experience and how that has prepared you for the job in question. Be prepared to show potential employers examples from your experience that directly relate to the job you’re applying for. If you’re a military pilot interviewing to manage a manufacturing shop, for example, emphasize the managerial experience you received in the military.

Finally, it’s something I preach about time and again: Beware of so-called cyber-skeletons, the curse of sharing too much of one’s personal life on the Internet. Would-be employers don’t want to see those embarrassing photos of you doing a keg stand at your 20-year high school reunion, so keep them offline. It’s advice that will benefit any job-seeker.

A policy change supported by North Carolina’s State Board of Community Colleges could have far-reaching implications for combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder who apply to the state’s community college system.

Recently, the board voted to amend a long-standing open-door admissions policy at North Carolina’s 58 community colleges. Pending approval by a state board that reviews new regulations, the policy, which could take effect later this year, would allow the state’s community colleges to refuse admission to prospective students who may present “an articulable, imminent and significant threat.”

Civil liberties groups and others have expressed concern that the amended policy would lead to discrimination against people with mental-health conditions. But in the wake of mass shootings such as those at Virginia Tech, Fort Hood and Tucson, the measure also has supporters.

The rate of PTSD among veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan was at an estimated 20 percent in 2009, and rising. Stories like that of Army veteran and Community College of Baltimore County student Charles Whittington highlight the need for more understanding of PTSD on college campuses and emphasize the potential negative repercussions North Carolina’s policy. Whittington was barred from his school’s campus after writing an essay for his English class about his addiction to war and his need to kill.

Policies such as those being considered for North Carolina’s community colleges are well-intentioned but ill-conceived. Schools do have an obligation to keep their students safe, but, as the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina pointed out, the new policy under review could be applied unfairly and arbitrarily.

Combat veterans with PTSD have enough hurdles to overcome in their re-entry to civilian life. They should not have to be concerned about unfair policies seeking to bar their attempts to gain an education.

For-profit colleges long have been popular education choices for service members and veterans. Anyone reading the headlines lately knows that for-profits have been weathering a storm of criticism recently.

One piece of that criticism, a recent report by the Education Trust that offers a scathing assessment of for-profits, is igniting controversy on all sides.

The online education news source Inside Higher Ed offers a thoughtful, balanced view of the report that goes beyond the surface treatment it received in major news outlets like The New York Times and Bloomberg.

In a nutshell, the main criticisms of for-profits detailed in the report are not new: high prices and low graduation rates. Critics and defenders of for-profits remain busy putting their own spins on this latest release.

For prospective college students, it’s hard to know what — and whom — to believe. But for those in the process of deciding on the path for their education journeys, some basic rules of thumb can ensure success no matter what direction one takes. When choosing a school, use common sense and some sleuthing skills to answer such questions as:

* Is the school accredited by a recognized, legitimate accrediting organization?

* What are the school’s graduation rates?

* Does the school have employment data for recent grads?

* Does the school have a strong degree program in a field of interest to you?

* What is the cost, and what sorts of financial aid are available?

* What support services does the school offer for service members and veterans?

* What do friends/co-workers who go or went to the school say about their experiences?

Education is one of the biggest commitments in time and money that most people make. It’s imperative that you do your own legwork.

It’s still a tight job market in a lackluster economy. But if you’ve left uniform and are about to embark on a civilian job search, you could have a leg up on the competition.

According to a recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the top so-called “soft” skills that employers are looking for these days are those most service members develop through military training.

Topping the list were verbal communication skills, according to NACE. Rounding out the top five: strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills and initiative.

And while NACE acknowledges that these soft skills are not enough to win you that coveted job if other areas of your resume are lacking, they are important in a tight job market.

“Among candidates with similar qualifications, the candidate who can offer the employer more of those important soft skills has an edge,” said Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

Another piece of good news from NACE? The employment outlook for the Class of 2011 is looking good, with employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2011 Fall Preview survey reporting plans to hire 13.5 percent more new bachelor’s grads from the Class of 2011 than they did from the Class of 2010.

When Army veteran Charles Whittington enrolled as a student at the Community College of Baltimore County, he probably didn’t anticipate that his hardest lesson would be one learned outside the classroom.

The 24-year-old former infantryman recently was barred from campus until he obtains a psychological evaluation after an essay he wrote for a college English class appeared in the campus newspaper. In the essay — an “A” paper that his instructor encouraged him to have published — the Iraq veteran referred to war as a “drug” and wrote that killing “is something that I do not just want but something I really need so I can feel like myself.”

As reported in The Baltimore Sun, Whittington hoped that writing the paper would be a first step toward ridding himself of the anxiety and troubled thoughts that had plagued him since his time in combat. But school officials saw the piece as a potential threat to campus security.

In a school environment forever changed by the Virginia Tech massacre of 2007, the decision of school officials is not surprising — and it should serve as a cautionary tale to other combat veterans.

Back in February, I wrote a piece about how much information is too much information when it comes to sharing combat experiences with your college. The education experts I spoke to urged combat veterans to use great discretion when electing to share mental or physical conditions that arose from their military service. Sally Rubenstone, senior adviser on the popular college admissions advice Web site College Confidential, warned that school officials can be wary of bringing to campus those students who have mental health issues that may be perceived as making them unstable or prone to violence.

The American Council on Education recently released a report that takes a close look at the experiences of student veterans and campus administrators during the first year of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

The report, Service Members in School: Military Veterans’ Experiences Using the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Pursuing Postsecondary Education, was based on the results of an online survey and focus-group sessions on campuses in three states. Many of its findings are unsurprising: On the positive side, the new GI Bill has driven more veterans to pursue a college degree. On the negative side, many respondents and focus-group participants still have trouble understanding what GI Bill benefits are available to them and which of those benefits would best suit their needs.

One interesting nugget in the report dealt with transferring military training to academic credits. Survey respondents and focus-group participants attending private schools indicated greater satisfaction with the credit-transfer process, on average, than those attending public institutions.

The report also includes recommendations from veterans and college administrators for improving the Post-9/11 GI Bill and veterans’ higher-education experiences in general. Suggestions include:

* Establishing an online accounting system available to both institutions and Post-9/11 GI Bill beneficiaries for keeping track of benefit eligibility and payments.

* Maintaining a separate VA telephone hotline dedicated to school certifying officials.

* Prompting prospective students to indicate their veteran status when they first request information or apply to the institution.

* Providing resources to ensure that veterans program administrators — and particularly school certifying officials — have adequate training.

Given the recent findings on veterans’ engagement from the National Survey of Student Engagement, let’s hope the Veterans Affairs Department and schools are listening.

As a whole, colleges and universities have made great strides in recent years to be more welcoming to student service members and veterans. But findings from the latest version of the National Survey of Student Engagement reveal there still is much work to be done to meet the needs of military students.

Among the findings of the survey, which for the first time in its 11-year history, specifically recognized students who were in the armed forces:

* Student veterans, especially in the senior year, were generally less engaged and perceived lower levels of support from their campuses.

* About one in five combat veterans in college reported having a disability, twice the rate of nonveterans.

* Although student veterans on average worked more hours per week and were more likely to spend time caring for dependents, they studied as many hours per week as their non-veteran peers.

The perceived lack of support of veterans “suggests that veterans have some distinctive needs and that colleges need to make an effort to meet them,” Alexander C. McCormick, survey director and Indiana University School of Education professor, told the Web site InsideHigherEd.com.

Yes, but how? As any student veteran can tell you, many schools out there that purport to be “military-friendly” actually are not. And those schools that do make the effort to more fully embrace men and women with military backgrounds offer up a mixed bag of hits and misses. Groups like Student Veterans of America have made great strides in addressing the needs of student veterans attending our nation?s colleges and universities, but work obviously still needs to be done.

I’m curious to see what student vets out there think about 1) the findings of the NSSE survey, and 2) what can be done to improve veterans’ experiences in higher education. Your thoughts?

I have a friend who is returning to the work force after taking six years off to stay at home with her two children. She is in her mid-30s, has a master’s degree and just landed a plum job as a teacher in a highly-sought-after school district.

After a night of celebration over the weekend, she almost put the plum job on the line with a Facebook posting extolling the virtues of her three favorite liquors, proclaiming her love of “getting wasted,” and pondering how she was going to manage to drive home.

Farewell, common sense.

It used to be that embarrassing and potentially damaging lapses of judgment like this affected us only, say, at the office holiday party, where, after a few too many drinks, we said something that got us in trouble. Now, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have moved the “office party” online — with the world watching. At best, the wrong post or Tweet may leave you in an awkward or embarrassing situation. At worst, it could cost you a job or admission to the college of your choice.

If it doesn’t concern you, it should. A 2009 report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling found that one-fourth of colleges surveyed used Web searches or social networking sites to find information about prospective students. In the work force, 45 percent of employers reported in a 2009 CareerBuilder survey that they use social networking sites to research job candidates, up from 22 percent the previous year.

CareerBuilder offers these tips for maintaining a positive image online — and it’s good common sense for always, not just when you’re looking for a job or hoping to get into the school of your dreams:

* DO clean up digital dirt before you begin your job search. Remove any photos, content and links that can work against you in an employer’s eyes.

* DO consider creating your own professional group on sites like Facebook or BrightFuse.com to establish relationships with thought leaders, recruiters and potential referrals.

* DO keep gripes offline. Keep the content focused on the positive, whether that relates to professional or personal information. Make sure to highlight specific accomplishments inside and outside of work.

* DON’T forget others can see your friends, so be selective about who you accept as friends. Monitor comments made by others. Consider using the “block comments” feature or setting your profile to “private” so only designated friends can view it.

* DON’T mention your job search if you’re still employed.