On Tuesday, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson announced that the Provost’s Office will fund a part-time position for a graduate student to work with veterans on campus.
The announcement, which came during a town hall meeting hosted by the Georgetown Student Veterans’ Association in the Intercultural Center, marks a victory for student veterans on campus, who for years have lobbied for a student veteran coordinator.
According to D. Heath Scott, assistant registrar for athletics, veterans affairs, and certifications, approximately 250 student veterans are currently enrolled at Georgetown—a 100 percent increase since 2008. As that number increases, so does the need for an employee to coordinate events and reach out to prospective students.
Much of the meeting was spent discussing the revisions made last December to the GI Bill under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, which will go into effect Aug. 1. According to Erik Brine, graduate student and president of GUSVA, the meeting was intended to “start a dialogue between the veterans, administrators, and deans.”
However, Brine worried that a graduate student would not have adequate time to dedicate to veteran issues.
“Accessibility is key,” he said.
The most significant change to the GI Bill, he added, involves the adjustment of tuition benefits: the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs will pay up to $17,500 in tuition and fees for veterans at private and foreign colleges, with increases to be made annually in proportion to the average cost of undergraduate education. Brian Hawthorne, an M.A. candidate from George Washington University and Student’s Veterans of America board member, called the changes “monumentous.”
Hawthorne also added that the increased benefits come at the expense of the so-called “active duty loophole,” which allowed active duty service members to bill tuition expenses directly to the service. Under the revision, they will also have their tuition assistance capped at $17,500, in accordance with the benefits received by the veterans.
Herb Carmen, a graduate student in the McDonough School of Business and active duty service member in the Navy, expressed his concern that the changes would place significant financial restrictions on active duty service members who hope to complete their studies.
Attendees voiced concerns about Georgetown’s participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program. Currently, Georgetown only contributes $5,000 per undergraduate student-veteran per year, while neighboring schools, such as GWU, contribute up to $18,300 per student.
Olson also fielded questions about Georgetown’s support of student veterans on campus. In regards to student veterans’ issues, Georgetown is just recently “getting aligned as an institution,” he explained.
Nonetheless, he pointed to the Provost Office’s funding as a step in the right direction. Brine and Hawthorne, however, continued to stress the importance of a full-time staff member.
School of Nursing and Health Studies Dean Julie Deloia added that her school has begun three different research projects around veteran health issues to “pull students in and raise awareness.”
Brine concluded the meeting by reiterating GUSVA’s long-term goal—the development of a veteran resource center staffed by a full-time coordinator—and urged for continued dialogue and student support.
