Supporting Veterans Enrolled at Rutgers

April 1, 2009

Members of the Rutgers Community:

Throughout America's history, Rutgers has been the alma mater of many brave women and men in uniform who have served our nation with honor.

As the new GI Bill takes effect later this year, colleges and universities will welcome a growing number of active military and student veterans who have returned from service in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They—and those who will be coming home in the months and years ahead—have earned our respect, admiration, and support as they begin a new phase of their lives. We at Rutgers are committed to ensuring that their transition is as smooth and successful as possible.

Last fall I established a university committee on veterans' services, led by Vice President for Student Affairs Gregory Blimling, and with representation from all three campuses, to study the challenges that student veterans face and to recommend steps to meet those needs. The committee's report, issued earlier this year, contains thoughtful recommendations which we are in the process of implementing. Each campus now has a coordinator of veterans' services: Mary Beth Daisey, Associate Chancellor for Student Life, in Camden; Susan Schurman, Dean of the University College Community, in New Brunswick; and Gerald Massenburg, Assistant Chancellor for Student Life, in Newark. The campus coordinators will work with the universitywide standing committee that I have formed to ensure that we keep these ideas and services moving forward. These recommendations build on efforts already under way, including a mentoring program to support student veterans through one-on-one attention from knowledgeable members of the Rutgers community.

In addition, I am pleased to announce that, by a vote of the faculty and with the approval of the interim dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, Michael Palis, Rutgers–Camden has elected to seek membership in the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC). The SOC is a 1,700-member consortium of colleges and universities dedicated to helping military students and their families obtain college degrees by making it easier to transfer credits between member institutions. Rutgers–Camden's action—and our anticipated acceptance into the consortium—will provide veterans and those still active in the military an important immediate gateway to Rutgers. We will be asking our faculties in Newark and New Brunswick to consider membership in the SOC.

More work awaits as Rutgers improves its services to veterans. A website is under development that will point veterans toward available assistance at Rutgers. The standing committee will soon hold its inaugural meeting, and we continue to implement the recommendations I mentioned earlier. I am confident that all faculty, staff, and students will help in making Rutgers a model of excellence in supporting our nation's veterans.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey