Community College of Vermont recently announce the receipt of an $81,000 grant to expand support services for veterans. The grant will extend CCV’s dedicated staffing for veterans services and provide state-of-the-art training programs to help CCV faculty and staff better support student veterans through the completion of their programs. The grant was made by David Stiller through his fund at the Vermont Community Foundation and builds upon the successful initiatives that began three years ago.
Enhanced services for military veterans at CCV began in 2011 with grants from the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation and Bari and Peter Dreissigacker, through their funds at the Vermont Community Foundation. Their support enabled CCV to ramp up veteran-specific services to support soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who faced high rates of unemployment here at home. The support allowed for CCV’s first full-time Veterans Resource Advisor, serving the entire state but housed in Franklin County, to provide expert support for student veterans as they navigate the complexities of their military benefits and the challenges involved in transitioning to civilian life as college students. Their on-going support continues to help CCV serve several hundred military connected students each year.
The new funding provides for a second Veterans Resource Advisor to serve military-connected students attending CCV in the southern part of the state. The funding also provides specialized computer-simulation training programs for college personnel and expansion of programming geared specifically to help veterans finish college.
For information about supporting services for military veterans at CCV, contact Susan Henry, Executive Dean, Community College of Vermont, 1 Abenaki Way, Winooski, VT,susan.henry@ccv.edu.
CCV enrolls more undergraduate military-connected students—nearly 400 per semester—than any other college in Vermont. Enhanced veterans services at CCV provide invaluable support to those who have served the nation and make the achievement of their educational and career goals a reality.
