When veterans enroll at a university, they should immediately see a well-organized and smooth-functioning Veteran Services Office (VSO). This office should be a place to thank veterans for their service to our country and to show that the university cares about their higher education journey. Veterans should not feel isolated on campus as they so often do.
A key component of any well-functioning VSO is a director with a clear vision for the office and services it offers. Trisha Ruiz and Jay Hernandez were hired as full-time employees at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) in 2013 when the VSO opened. Ruiz served as the director of VSO until she left the university in July 2018.
Hernandez, hired as a certifying officer in 2013, was promoted to coordinator in 2015 and then was promoted to interim director after Ruiz’ resignation. On Oct. 19, Hernandez officially resigned as the interim director of the VSO at UHCL.
It has been four months since Ruiz left the VSO and one month since Hernandez left. The positions for director and coordinator of VSO have still not been posted to the careers page of the UHCL website.
These position vacancies have created a void the university simply cannot afford to have. The resignation leaves the VSO only with a graduate student bravely manning the front lines of what is now a one-person led office. This is unacceptable.
Hernandez, an Iraq/Afghanistan veteran who got his bachelor’s degree from UHCL, meant a lot to the UHCL veteran community. While working at the VSO, Hernandez did more than help students with their GI Bill status, but also helped consult veteran students on issues in the classroom and provided students with resources outside of the university. With his resignation, who is it that veteran students are to turn to in times of crisis?
There are other resources on campus where student veterans can go to for help. The Office of Counseling Services offers a lot of wonderful services; however, they do not have a counselor who is specifically certified to help consult veterans or their families.
The Dean of Students Office is a great resource to consult about issues in the classroom, however, if veteran students are able to talk to someone who has been in a similar situation, they are more likely to feel understood and heard. A lot of times empathy can be the most powerful tool.
The veteran student population at UHCL has risen from 662 when the office opened in fall 2013 to 1,105 this fall. With this 66 percent increase, however, there has not been an increase in personnel or services offered from the VSO at the university.
From the actions taken by the university, or lack thereof, one cannot help but feel as if UHCL does not care enough about its veteran students. That is unacceptable.
Steven Berberich, senior vice president of academic affairs and provost, Daniel Maxwell, interim vice president of student affairs, and Yvette Bendeck, associate vice president of enrollment management, held a town hall meeting on Nov. 5 to address what the plan for the VSO is going to be.
At the town hall meeting, Berberich described the current time as a “transition window” at the university and that Brad McGonagle, executive director of human resources, would be leading a conduction of “focus groups to help understand needs of veteran students and to help [administration] define a vision for the VSO in the future.”
While these focus groups are a step in the right direction for the VSO, the void remains. Ruiz and Hernandez cannot be replaced. However, the things that their positions do, such as implement programming for veterans, help with GI bills and reporting veteran class drops are crucial for the success of veterans at UHCL.
There are currently five student workers that work in the VSO assisting the graduate student manning the office. Student workers should not be responsible for keeping the VSO’s doors open and functioning. While they put in hard work, there should be full-time professionals in place to oversee and manage the VSO operations.
The town hall gave members of the UHCL community an opportunity to voice their concerns about the VSO. The predominant concern raised was the fact that the two vacant positions have not been posted. The response from McGonagle was that filling the director position may or may not fill the immediate need, but that the focus groups the university is conducting will help UHCL understand what it is that veteran students need and want out of a VSO.
Filling vacancies and hiring veterans to lead the office would definitely help the veteran community at UHCL feel supported and valued. The search process should be transparent in order to allow the UHCL community the chance to ensure that new VSO hires are the right fit. Furthermore, having a director of VSO allows for the university to seamlessly transition from focus groups to the implementation of practices learned at these focus groups.
Overall, the town hall meeting felt more like a public relations, face-saving event than a desire to help understand the needs of veteran students. The university needs to be proactive in its inclusivity of veteran students and their needs.
The first step that UHCL can take is posting the director and coordinator positions and subsequently filling them as soon as possible. Another step is adding a full-time position similar to UH Central’s VetSuccess on Campus Counselor (VSOC); an experienced vocational counselor who will serve as a ‘one shop stop’ for veterans on campus.
Another step is to create an ongoing dialogue with veterans at UHCL. By doing this, UHCL will enable its veterans to feel heard and appreciated.
As for the veteran community of UHCL, they can continue to make their voices heard to the administration via participation in the focus groups conducted by the university, as well as speaking during the open forum portion of SGA meetings.
Our veterans and their families sacrifice a lot for our country. The least that UHCL can do is show them that they care about their educational journey.
Also published on Medium.