It is time to review the schedule for the placement of your session in the AAACE Agenda. This is the final draft of the Schedule. When you look up your name, use the detail listing to check what days/times you asked to be placed. This is a huge program and we can accommodate necessary changes in day and time now, but may not be able to do so after September 1, 2013 except in emergencies. Please carefully check your placement and send any requests to Ginger Phillips, AAACE Conference Planner with AAACE Session Change Request in the subject line. We will respond to your email, but it may take us up to a week to do so. Thanks for your help in "fine tuning" this agenda!
Dropping Out and Re-enlisting: The Reasons Behind Student Veterans not Graduating
Type of Presentation
Shared
Session Abstract
This session will discuss the reasons why student veterans are choosing to re-enlist in the service rather than complete their college degree and present solutions for increasing retention.
Target Audience
Faculty, administrators, and counselors in higher education and trainers, administrators, and counselors involved in military and student veteran education.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to identify obstacles student veterans new to higher education face including enrollment, connecting with classmates, understanding coursework expectations, and obtaining financial aid at large, public universities. Participants will be able to demonstrate why student veterans return to service after a reintegration attempt and describe why each barrier related to higher education is unnecessary. A literature review, firsthand accounts, and examples will be used to facilitate a discussion about methods for increasing retention rates of student veterans, particularly in their first year of transition into higher education.
Session Description
Student veterans comprise an increasing presence in higher education with the conclusion of multiple wars since 2001. After two or more years of service, veterans decide to return to school, feel disconnected from society, and reconnect with their military unit. They re-enter a world they already decided to transfer out of because there is no place else to turn. Higher education continue to fail this selfless-serving and lost population. Student veterans have not been provided adequate preparation for their transition into college, while administrators and faculty struggle to connect with the population, understand their challenges, and increase retention. Without addressing the need for effective transition services, student veterans will suffer prolonged and enhanced reintegration obstacles.
Efforts are made to try to schedule sessions on the day preferred by the Primary Presenter, though this cannot be guaranteed. Please check your preference.
Thursday November 7
Primary Presenter
Michael Kirchner, Military & Veteran Resource Center - UW Milwaukee
Work Title
Director