College of the Redwoods
Narrative for New or Substantial Change to Noncredit Certificate
Certificate or Diploma: Certificate of Competency
Program Title: Successful Veterans in College
Item 1. Program Goals and Objectives
The goal of this Certificate of Competency is to provide veterans with the tools to successfully transition to college
and a new career. Veterans have unique needs from their time in service and skills they have developed during
their military career. The focus of this certificate is on easing the transition into civilian life in order to increase
persistance and success for veterans in their education and new career.
On completion of the certificate, student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate strategies to allow them to pursue and persist in academic pathways from the military to a new
career.
Item 2. Catalog Description
This noncredit Certificate of Competency prepares veterans to successfully transition to college life. This sequence
of courses enables students to honor their life experiences and convert their military training into lifelong success
skills. It will give students the opportunity to explore possible careers based on personal, military and vocational
skills, discover veteran-specific support services available on and off campus, and develop necessary skills to
nurture personal and professional development. This certificate provides an entry point for veterans to begin their
education and increase their employment options.
Item 3. Program Requirements
Requirements
Required Core
Dept Name/#
GUID 275
GUID 276
Name
Boots to Books
Roadmap to Resiliency
Hours
36
36
Required Core Hours: 72
Total Hours: 72
Proposed Sequence: Courses can be taken concurrently and in any order.
Item 4. Master Planning
The mission of College of the Redwoods is to be a learning center where lives are transformed. Veterans in
particular are an important demographic at the college who require access to support services and transitional
assistance in order to persist at college and build a new career. Like other nontraditional student populations,
veteran students tend to be older (85% of veteran students are over the age of 24), have families to support (47%),
and juggle employment and school (Million Records Project). Unlike their nontraditional peers, however, student
veterans are unique in that they may delay their enrollment or interrupt their progress in higher education due to
military obligations, and may have service-connected disabilities.
This certificate ties together two courses that meet the mission of the Veterans Resource Center: To support and
facilitate academic success for veterans and dependents attending College of the Redwoods through advising,
mentorship, transitional assistance, and coordination of veteran-specific resources. The college enrolls
approximately 350 veterans and their dependents each semester (about 10% of the student population).
Humboldt county has 11,000 veterans, comparable to Los Angeles, and has the 6th largest population per county
in California. Significantly, it has the highest population of veterans for a rural county. This sequence of courses can
provide an entry point to education for veterans in the college's service area in a way that is supportive and
intellectually stimulating.
This certificate also addresses two important values of the college.
Narrative for New or Substantial Change to New Noncredit Certificate
College of the Redwoods
1. Student Success: We put students first, ensuring that student learning and advancement are pivotal in all that
we do. This certificate promotes student success by allowing veterans to evaluate their vocational and military
skills and explore educational options before they begin their studies with the civilian student population. Time
spent evaluating skills beforehand is valuable for this demographic who are used to working in a structured and
often dangerous environment. The networking component of both courses is an important mitigation strategy for
an at-risk, significantly non-traditional population. There will also be multiple opportunities to identify and reduce
barriers to student educational success as students compete this certificate before beginning a sequence of
courses for credit.
2. Access: We value all members of our community and strive to create a diverse, nurturing, honest and open
environment. This certificate bridges the gap for military veterans and dependents who represent a small but
significant percentage of the general student population, and where we may not have previously understood their
unique needs. In this way, it will increase student equity and retention of an under-represented demographic.
Most importantly, this certificate promotes access to veteran-specific support services and provides veterans with
effective coping strategies during a critical time, the transition from military to civilian life. According to "Student
Veterans: A National Survey Exploring Psychological Symptoms and Suicide Risk," almost 35% of the sample
experienced “severe anxiety,” 24% experienced “severe depression,” and almost 46% experienced significant
symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Of particular concern, there were significant numbers of participants
thinking about suicide (46%), with 20% having a plan, 10.4% thinking about suicide “often or very often,” 7.7%
making an attempt, and 3.8% believing that suicide is either “likely” or “very likely.” It is critical that the college
meets the emotional needs of veteran students in a nurturing way, so that students can be supported in achieving
long-term success.
By combining these two course into a certificate, it encourages student veterans to take both courses to prepare
for their college experience. Significantly, at College of the Redwoods, we capture the veterans who may struggle
to cope with the pressure of a 4 year school such as Humboldt State University. Approximately 10-15 students per
semester register at College of the Redwoods due to feeling unsupported or uncomfortable in the bigger school
environment. Therefore, it is critical that we provide a pathway that supports students and builds confidence to
allow them to develop and persist in their educational paths and chosen careers.
Works Cited:
Cate, C.A. (2014). Million Records Project: Research from Student
Veterans of America. Student Veterans of America, Washington, DC
Rudd, David et al (2011). "Student Veterans: A National Survey Exploring Psychological Symptoms and Suicide Risk"
Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Vol: 42, No.5, 354-360.
Narrative for New or Substantial Change to New Noncredit Certificate