COLUMN: Veteran students welcomed by SDEI, but still waiting on VSO director

Early January, before the spring 2019 semester began, I (and I assume all registered veteran students), received an email from the Office of Student Affairs with an update regarding the progress of the university’s efforts to hire a replacement director and support staff for the Veteran Services Office (VSO). Additionally, the email said the VSO would be moving out of the Division of Academic Affairs and into the Division of Student Affairs effective immediately.

As most veteran students who attended classes in the fall 2018 semester probably remember, the previous two personnel who held the positions of director and interim director of the VSO left first in July 2018 and then in October 2018, respectively. Their departure was unexpected and came with little to no warning to the veteran students. At the time, many of my fellow veteran students that I spoke to felt like there was little to no transparency from the university as to what the university was doing to find replacements, and we were all very concerned as to whether or not the university would be able to provide the quality of service that the school and its pledge to be “veteran-friendly” had promised to us.

When I saw this email, I felt a sense of relief. This feels like a step in the right direction, at least. Full transparency in the hiring process would be a much-needed good faith gesture, one that I feel still hasn’t quite been made. But, moving the VSO under the Division of Student Affairs, I feel, is a natural fit for the program, and I look forward to what interim Vice President for Student Affairs Daniel Maxwell has in store for the program.

When I saw that the “Weeks of Welcome” program planned for the beginning of the spring 2019 semester included a luncheon for veteran students hosted by the Office of Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (SDEI), a new sister-office of the VSO under the Student Affairs umbrella, I jumped at the chance to get to meet with their staff and learn what they have to offer.

The luncheon was a small, casual affair held in the SDEI’s large, comfortable space on the first floor of the Student Services and Classes Building (SSCB). Director of SDEI Aliya Beavers and Coordinator for Women, Gender and Sexuality Joshua Quinn gave a presentation explaining the services they offered, followed by a presentation by the VSO staff member Bruce Bradley.

Beavers talked a little about the recent move of the VSO into the Student Affairs hierarchy, saying how excited they all were about the move.

“We focus on the intersectionality of identities — veteran and a woman, for instance,” Beavers said. “[Interim Coordinator of Veteran Services] Natasia Pilling will be a member of the senior leadership committee. We’re going to do a good job of collaborating with everyone to serve the veteran student population.”

This being a new arrangement, both Beavers and Quinn wanted to make it clear that both the Division of Student Affairs and the SDEI were open to suggestions about the way to move forward.

“If you have ideas on how to help us help the veteran population, please let us know,” Quinn said. “And, tell your friends and other vets about what we have to offer.”

The excitement and earnestness that Beavers, Quinn, and the rest of the SDEI staff expressed during the luncheon was welcomed, and I sincerely hope that it is indicative of the future of the VSO under the Student Affairs umbrella.

That said, it is now February, seven months since we lost the previous VSO director, and four since the previous deputy director left. Natasia Pilling, Bruce Bradley, and the rest of the VSO staff have been working miracles squeezing blood out of rocks up on the third floor of the SSCB. They have consistently been doing more with less like the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines they are, and they deserve full respect for their tireless dedication to the veteran students and dependents who utilize VSO services.

But when will their relief arrive?

The email that Maxwell sent in January was the first update the general veteran population has received since the town hall meeting held November 2018, and it didn’t really say much more than “work in progress.” The posting for the Director position was listed on UHCL’s LinkedIn on Dec. 17 and was taken down Feb. 12. It is no longer on UHCL’s external job posting site, either. There has not been a posting for an additional program assistant.

What’s really needed is a full, comprehensive update of the current state of the university’s search to man the VSO. Is there a shortlist of applicants? Do we have a specific timeline for interviewing and selecting candidates? Will there be an open presentation of the candidates? What are the next steps in the process? Does the university plan to only hire one person, which would leave the office which has seen a 66 percent growth in customers in the last five years just as undermanned as it has been the entire time I’ve been going to school here?

As of the spring 2019 semester, there are over 1,000 students utilizing the VSO to facilitate access to their veteran and dependent educational benefits. That is a ninth of the student population. You would think the school would make manning the office with the proper level and number of qualified personnel a bigger priority, and I’m sure the school will insist that it is.

But, actions speak louder than words.

Moving the VSO under Student Affairs is a good move, in my opinion. As I stated above, it indicates that something at least is happening, and I am hopeful for the direction Maxwell plans to take the program. All I ask, now, is that the university goes that extra step toward giving its veteran students a goodwill gesture while we wait for the new VSO director and, hopefully, deputy director: full transparency for the current state and the future plans regarding hiring the leadership of the VSO.

Until then, all my respect to the VSO staff.

UPDATE: 3/3/19 – Daniel Maxwell, interim vice president of student affairs, provided an update to The Signal stating phone interviews for a director were conducted Feb. 21 and 22. Additionally, top candidates, as to be determined by the search committe, will be invited to vist campus during the last two weeks in March. There is currently no plan to fill the program assistant position.