Attend veteran cultural competency trainings and learn about the invisible wounds.
Promising Practice
Many veterans and military family members deal with different issues than a lot of traditional students do. Some of these issues may include: being a first-generation college student, having to relearn successful studying habits, adjusting from service member to student, becoming accustomed to physical injuries, and living with invisible injuries. These issues are fairly complex and can have a significant impact on their transition onto campus and into the academic environment. It is important to learn about the issues they face from subject matter experts. Building your cultural competency about veterans and military family members will help ensure that you and your institution are better equipped to serve them effectively.
General Areas of Competence
Veteran and Military Culture, Women Veterans, Post-Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Military Sexual Trauma, Communication with Veterans, Accommodating the Invisible Injuries, Impact of Deployment on Military Families, Employment for Veterans, Crisis Intervention, Suicide Prevention.
King County Institutions Implementing Practice
Art Institute of Seattle, Cascadia Community College, Central Washington University, Divers Institute of Seattle, Eastern Washington University, Green River Community College, Highline Community College, North Seattle Community College, Renton Technical College, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle Central Community College, Seattle University, Shoreline Community College, South Seattle Community College, University of Washington- Bothell.
From Timm Lovitt's Promising Best Practices: Veteran-Supportive Institutions of Higher Education in King County (Veterans Training Support Center, 2013). See the full report: download pdf, 99 pages
Project provided by King County Veterans and Human Services Levy
and the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs.