New law requires veterans’ resource centers, colleges struggle to accommodate

By Barb Teed

It’s a tough transition from Bradley-designed tank gunner to doing homework but NCC student Pete Froehle is doing just that.

Froehle, 27, finished a tour of duty in the army a year ago. “I went all over the world, including Germany, Iraq and Korsakov,” he said. “I was a specialist in a multi-launch rocket system.”
Froehle’s experiences in army life made his switch to student life more difficult. “As a veteran, it’s hard to find people to talk to sometimes after four years. I can’t relate to the typical college kid. It’s a little hard to assimilate to the average high school kid,” Froehle said.

To help veterans like Froehle deal with the changes from battleground to backpack,
the state of Minnesota now requires institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities System to establish on-campus resource centers for veterans.

“When these wonderful military heroes come back, we want to provide a one-stop shop where people on campus can go,” Gov. Tim Pawlenty told The Lions’ Roar. “We want [colleges] to be focused on, and [commitmed to] these resource centers and we are helping with funding.”

NCC’s veterans’ center is a table in the back of the Nath Career and Academic Center. This location has gotten criticism for not being sensitive to veteran privacy needs, and not providing the campus commitment Gov. Pawlenty wants.

Although NCC administration said this location is a temporary one, some people are frustrated by what they feel is a lack of dedication toward a permanent place. Chad Lunnas, NCC alumni and Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan, wants more assurance from campus officials.

Lunnas, founder of the Veterans and Friends club, works in the NCC business office while attending the University of Minnesota. He thinks NCC needs to have a more direct plan on where the permanent location will be and when. “It’s very important to establish a timeline now so they are accountable,” he said. “I think these veterans have sacrificed plenty. Students whose brothers and sisters are in Iraq, and husbands over there, need private
space to speak about things.”

Remodeling the campus Fine Arts building is squeezing an already tight space problem and finding a private location for a veterans center isn’t easy. But other colleges with similar space constraints found ways to accommodate their veteran’s centers, according to several coordinators.

Anoka-Ramsey Community College veterans’ center director Scott Bay said the Coon Rapids campus found room. “This is a MnSCU directive and Normandale is expected to provide space. Normandale isn’t the only institution dealing with space issues,” he said. “What it boils down to is what is a resource center and what is adequate space and no one can answer that. But setting up a table in the back of a resource center and calling that a veterans’ resource center isn’t quite it.”

Bay said their veterans’ area is located adjacent to the student center. “Anoka-Ramsey is working on not a resource veterans area, but a veteran-friendly area with the expectation of dealing with families of veterans,” he said. “[Our] number one rule is to be completely non-political. We at least were able to carve out a space. We have a vision, but other colleges have the same struggles with the space issue.”

Sue Flannigan, veterans coordinator at Inver Hills Community College, said her campus faced similar space issues as NCC but made their veterans’ center a priority.

“Space was a premium here, too. We had a new addition made and the veterans
center fit into it,” she said. “The college has to be dedicated to their veterans to make it work. When push came to shove, we got our space.”

Flannigan said their veteran’s center is now part of the campus budget. “We’ve actually gone all out for [the veterans]. You need to care about your veterans and we have a strong population here for veterans.”

Inver Hills also had roadblocks but the campus worked through them, Flannigan said. “It is ultimately up to administrationas to what type of space they would provide,” she said. “Inver Hills was kind enough to offer an office for the Vets Center. Even though we just started our center, I see only good things happening and it is due to our administration for allowing
such a center.”

NCC’s Dean of Student Affairs, Ralph Anderson, declined to be interviewed for this article and NCC President Kathi Hiyane-Brown was unavailable for comment.

Jim Kilps, director of Veterans Upward Bound at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, said their campus has provided services for returning veterans for 25 years. “Part of our pay is from the college and part is from the [Veterans Upward Bound] grant. We took on that responsibility,” he said. “We agreed to continue after federal money dried up for Vietnam vets.

The whole idea of [Veterans Resource Centers] is these people have made all of these sacrifices and we owe them a courtesy above and beyond to make them feel that people care about what they did.”

Clark Dyrud, Commissioner for Minnesota’s Department of Veteran Affairs, understands the bind colleges have for space, but says the state is committed to veterans. “[The law] just passed and colleges, in turn, are scrambling. Space is at a premium,” he said. “The governor is very interested in veterans and their concerns.

The governor’s number one priority is to serve the needs of the returning soldiers.
That’s what a lot of what they do, they go back to school or pick up where they left off.”
Dyrud said the state of Minnesota expects a record number of returning soldiers will need help returning to college.

“As the state gets ready for the influx of returning soldiers, they are expecting 3,000 in a month period. Never in history have so many combat veterans come back in so short a time. This is unprecedented. We don’t know if they will hit schools like Normandale all at once. Normandale is a bustling place. I know in the MnSCU system the vet centers are very important to them.”

Ken Bursaw, NCC’s veteran center coordinator, thinks not prioritizing the veteran center’s space needs is not prioritizing the returning veteran. “We don’t want our veterans to be lost souls,” he said. “Those that fight and die for our freedom shouldn’t be allowed to become lost souls. [Veterans] aren’t the same as when they left and their families aren’t the same. They have to make adjustments. Veterans’ centers basically want to help these veterans with whatever needs they need.”

Bursaw, a Vietnam veteran, also served active reserve duty so he understands the needs of the returning veteran. “The biggest challenge to vets is re-integrating into school. They have trouble relating to younger students,” he said. “Our veterans need privacy. This is a major concern to us and there is no privacy with the current veteran assistance center in the corner. I hope we get better space down the road.”

Bursaw is also the adviser for the Veterans and Friends club.

David Schrader, Higher Education Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs, feels NCC is making efforts.

“This is a brand new program statewide. There is no defined space requirement,”
he said. “Normandale is in the minority that they have one, period. Some schools don’t even have anything at all.”

Schrader, who visited NCC recently to help look for a permanent location, feels campus administration is dedicated to their veterans’ center. “I think there is a long term plan and the ball is rolling, but they are remodeling,” he said. “From my conversations with the people at Normandale, there is a real commitment to this and they want to do something. I don’t think this is the end of it by all means. But there are valid concerns. What it comes down to is communication.”

A press release issued by MnSCU in April of 2006 stated that campuses are to provide adequate space for a veterans’ assistance office in order to provide information to students and family members, but was unclear what adequate space means.

Donald Pfeffer, coordinator of the Central Lakes College veterans center, directs the statewide effort and assists colleges in establishing resource centers on their campuses. He said the law states space must be provided, but that’s it.

“The college has to provide space, but [the law] doesn’t define space,” he said. “Your college
in particular doesn’t have much to move toward a different space. As long as they have space, they qualify. We encourage the campus to have space accessible but which allows privacy.”

A system-wide email sent Jan. 26 by NCC’s Dean of Student Affairs said that plans are in development to determine the best location for the veterans center.

Carolyn Jobin, director of the Career and Academic Planning Center, said she is pleased to help in the interim. “While the veterans are waiting for a permanent room to house their resource center, we are happy that we can provide a space for them,” she said. “They need a space to supply information and offer supportive services to all veterans. The veterans’ center is in the top of Normandale’s remodeling request list and should be ready this summer.”

Steve Klingaman, director of NCC’s Foundation Board, said the foundation has not yet raised money for the veterans’ center, but typically doesn’t fund capital projects. “A couple of students came to me and asked for information on making a request for grant money for the veterans’ center, but I haven’t heard anything back from them,“ he said.

Veterans’ resource centers need to go beyond serving veterans to include its communities and provide information for faculty and students, Lunnas said. Inver Hills views their veterans’ center as an extension of the campus, according to Flannigan. “Socialization is a big part of our veterans’ resource center,” she said. “We get the wives here and we follow-up on them.”

Bursaw agrees and would like to see NCC’s veterans’ center moved to a location
that allows more socializing between students and veterans. “The conference room 1438 in the student center would be perfect,“ he said.

Dyrud said there is a 30 percent drop out rate in the first semester after a veteran returns to school and the state hopes the veterans’ centers can help lower this. “The adjustment from that environment to the other environment can be difficult. The campus reps help re-entry into the college setting and if they don’t know the answers they know who to talk to,” he said. “One of our missions is to help the veteran find their benefits and why do so few veterans get the benefits they are entitled too. It’s a nationwide problem and Minnesota has jumped on the bandwagon.”

Froehle, who is pursuing a career as a dietician, did not know about NCC’s veterans’ center when he stopped by the career and academic center to get help with class registration. When directed to the veterans’ table, he sat down with fellow veteran and NCC student Patrick Griffith. Griffith is paid by work-study funds to be at the veterans resource table two days a week. There was an immediate connection between the two.

“It’s nice to actually have a resource available and he actually had some VA information I had never thought about that is very helpful,” Froehle said. “To find someone to talk to is refreshing. Kids think everything is so difficult. Wait a few years when cancelling the ‘OC’ isn’t your biggest problem.”