With veterans leaving the military in increasing numbers, colleges and universities are experiencing a surge in veteran enrollment unseen since the end of World War II. Studies have revealed that many veterans who arrive on our nation’s campuses do not receive sufficient support and often feel isolated and overwhelmed. Many veterans face a difficult transition to civilian life, ranging from readjustment challenges to recovery from physical and mental injuries.
Last year, UGA Student Affairs responded to this pressing need by envisioning, resourcing and opening the university’s new Student Veterans Resource Center (SVRC), including an administrative office and a comfortable student lounge. Working out of a small office, a director and a graduate assistant collaborated across the campus and in the local community to establish, improve, and/or increase services to our student veterans.
In its first year, the SVRC has become the central point of contact for wayfinding and entry into a wide array of services provided by the university. The SVRC also offers wide-ranging support and advocacy for student veterans and a convenient respite for our student veterans to gather throughout the day.
Administrative Initiatives
The SVRC director immediately began to forge formal relationships with administrative departments campus wide in order to bring focus to the unique needs of student veterans and to streamline processes and procedures as they apply to student veterans. Successful initiatives include:
 Updated (with the Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions Office) the admissions application form to allow better identification of incoming veterans
 Partnered with academic advisors across the university to develop strategies to mitigate the risk of student veterans exhausting their VA benefits before degree completion
 Initiated the establishment of faculty and staff liaisons from each of the university’s 17 schools and colleges
 Created a specialized track during transfer student orientation for incoming student veterans
 Partnered with the Department of Student Affairs Assessment to begin development of measures of merit and establishment of benchmarks for student veteran success
 Raised nearly $100,000 in donations and promised pledges in cooperation with the Office of
Development
 Identified perceived gaps in service and explored best practices in higher education to fill them
Student-focused Program Development
Programming designed to forge a support network across campus and tailored to specific student veteran needs was identified as an immediate priority. SVRC launched numerous initiatives, including:

 Partnered with the University Health Center and with faculty/staff across campus to develop a new mentor program for transitioning student veterans; more than 30 faculty/staff immediately volunteered
 Established a campus-wide awareness program titled Got Your Six that sought to teach faculty and staff about the demographics, lifestyles, challenges and opportunities of the student veteran population; the program is now incorporated into two formal certificate programs, a Certificate in Academic Advising for advisors and a Diversity and Inclusion
Certificate offered to all faculty and staff by the Office of Institutional Diversity
 Partnered with the UGA Career Center, Terry College of Business and Franklin College of
Arts and Sciences to create an impactful Career Readiness Series for student veterans; six workshops are scheduled in 2014
 Worked closely with the Student Veterans Association’s (SVA) UGA chapter to forge a more integrated campus presence and to sponsor recreational programing for student veterans
 Distributed honor cords to graduating veterans; cords were symbolically distributed by visiting dignitary James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence; Jere W. Morehead, UGA
President; and Pamela S. Whitten, UGA Provost
 Provided support to individual student veterans, advocating for them and connecting them to emerging partners in admissions, registration, financial aid, academic advisement, tutoring, housing, student affairs, career services, health care, recreation services, mental health, disability services and a variety community groups
External Partnerships
Recognizing that student veterans have pressing issues that extend beyond the campus but ultimately impact their academic success, SVRC worked to form external partnerships to benefit the student veteran population, including:
 Partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a VA-funded work study program within the SVRC, including the establishment of a help desk and the hiring of five student veterans
 Opened lines of communication with multiple community groups and military-friendly organizations, which translated into timely internships, jobs and tailored support
Promotions and Marketing
SVRC undertook a number of communications efforts to promote the center’s opening to a range of constituents as well as to build awareness of its services across the university community:
 Developed marketing strategies, materials and outreach efforts to better connect veterans to one another and to the university’s expansive network of services
 Partnered with UGA Athletics to promote student veterans at the November 2013 Military
Appreciation Football Game; displayed images of our student veterans throughout the game
 Promoted a grand opening ceremony and open house to the university and local communities

Testimonial
James Davis, U.S. Navy, a junior information systems management major and president of the
Student Veterans Association for 2014-2015, has been vocal about the SVRC’s positive impact on his assimilation to UGA.
“The Student Veterans Resource Center has helped me a lot this year,” he says. “Not only did it enable me to be a more effective leader with the Student Veterans Association through direct feedback and suggestions, it has also helped me connect to faculty, staff and facilities that directly impact our student veterans. The Career Readiness Workshops were invaluable. Because of the workshop and the networking of the SVRC to national companies, I was able to secure an internship this summer.”
Summary
Since April 2013, the SVRC has moved swiftly to leverage a range of collaborative partnerships focused on establishing, improving and/or increasing access to critical services for UGA’s student veterans. As a result, incoming student veterans can now anticipate a smoother transition to the university and greater access to services that offer the promise of enhanced performance, integration, retention, graduation and, ultimately, placement.
The SVRC has fully committed itself to help UGA become a welcoming and responsive institution where no student veteran is left feeling isolated or unsupported.