Slippery Rock University has partnered with the Butler VA to offer student-veterans on-campus referrals.
This is made possible through a new initiative called VITAL, which stands for Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership. Through VITAL, Butler VA representatives will make regular campus visits to better serve student-veterans and refer them to VA services.
SRU does have a student Veterans Center, located inside the Smith Student Center on campus.
Butler VA representatives met with SRU administrators and student-veterans earlier this month to confirm plans for at least one VA representative to make scheduled visits during the academic year. The first two scheduled times are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., March 21, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., May 2, in the SRU’s Veterans Center.
“When they approached us, I thought it was an amazing idea because it helps our student-veterans become more likely to take advantage of services available to them,” said David Wilmes, SRU associate provost for student success. “This makes a stronger partnership between SRU and the Butler VA. They are not just here to meet with our student-veterans, but the entire SRU community, to find better ways to serve our veterans.”
According to the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, about 40 percent of post-9/11-era veterans with a service-connected disability use VA health care nationwide, compared to 26 percent of other veterans.
Overall, a majority of veterans are not enrolled in VA health care, including fewer enrolled post-9/11 era veterans compared to other veterans.
“We’re veterans; we’re stubborn,” said Logan Lantz, a senior computing major from Oil City, who served in the U.S. Navy from 2013-17 as an information systems technician. “A lot of us are older than traditional college students and we feel out of the realm and we don’t like to seek help as much as we should, so it’s good for student-veterans to see that people care about us.”
“It can be challenging for student-veterans to get to our offices compared to offering the services on campus, because their lives are busy and many student-veterans have families and some may be working in addition to going to school,” said Tim Morrison, Butler VA’s vocational rehabilitation supervisor and one of the VITAL coordinators. “Many of the veterans are presenting crisis or difficult situations and they are trying to manage the academic side of things. With us seeing veterans in these situations, it made sense to connect with and provide additional support for student-veterans.”
