Veterans: EWU working towards a place for you

By JOHN McCALLUM

Editor

Faculty and staff at Eastern Washington University are pooling their resources and ideas to create something new for the university – a military service center.

The center would be a one-stop shopping center, as it were, for former military personnel enrolled or wishing to enroll at Eastern, EWU Faculty Organization president and associate professor of philosophy and honors, Dr. Terry MacMullan said.

“We want them to have one place to go to have their questions answered,” he added.

Navigating paperwork, processes and procedures can be a daunting challenge for any student, but MacMullan said there are aspects unique to veterans making their college challenges even more confusing and intimidating. A service center would help steer vets on the right path, as well as making them feel at home at Eastern.

MacMullan came up with the idea about a year and a half ago. He has a personal tie to military service – his dad served in the armed forces, and after being discharged, used the benefits under the G.I. Bill to go to college, earn a degree, and become a pharmaceutical engineer.

MacMullan and other faculty members began floating the idea for a military service center to individuals and groups on campus. In a report to the board of trustees at its February 2009 meeting, MacMullan said they have talked to officials at the Pence Union Building about space for the center, and approached ROTC officials about staffing.

Part of the issue right now is money – no one knows exactly how much would be required to run the center.

“We’ve never sat down with an exact amount,” secretary/supervisor for EWU Student Affairs, Dollie Schmidt, said.

Making funding more difficult is the current economic environment. Most Washington colleges and universities are looking at cuts before investments.

MacMullan said Eastern’s administration is very supportive of the center. Right now what his group needs is to put some resources in place, that way, when they do seek funding, such as through grant writing, they can show something tangible.

“Even though the administration can’t take this under their wing right now, it’s very clear we have their support,” MacMullan said. “We’re trying to get that little bit of something first.”

MacMullan said they hope to set up a link on the university’s website by later this spring or summer that can easily route vets to various departments for information. They are also hoping to have a small office in the PUB before fall quarter – a point of personal contact for vets. Eventually, MacMullan said they want to have office space large enough to provide a place for vets to socialize. It’s a model used by other organizations at Eastern and military service centers at universities like Mississippi State and Toledo.

MacMullan said he has heard reports of a surge in veterans’ enrolling at Eastern soon, thanks to factors such as the economy, which makes finding employment difficult, and college more preferable. That surge could be as high as 800 or more, he added.

According to Lane Anderson, who specializes in veteran’s issues at Eastern’s Records and Registration Department, there are currently 350 students at EWU enrolled and receiving benefits under the G.I. Bill. Anderson said he has seen published reports indicating a rise in veteran’s enrollment at EWU, and while he doesn’t know where they are getting their figures, he does believe there will be an increase.

“There’s going to be a surge,” he said.

While 350 vets are using G.I. Bill benefits currently at EWU, Anderson said there could be over 1,000 veterans who no longer qualify for benefits, or who have exhausted them, at the university. In fact, just figuring out who qualifies for benefits, how much, and under which G.I. Bill, the one pre-Sept. 11, 2001 or the one amended after 9/11, is enough reason to set up the service center.

The center would also help veterans find help for physical and/or mental disability issues, along with registration and advising. It would provide veterans’ families, spouses, and/or dependents with resources too.

“Anybody with a veterans affiliation,” Anderson said. “It’s pretty broad.”

For now, just getting those few initial pieces in place is MacMullan’s focus. For him, veterans support isn’t a conservative or liberal issue. What it boils down to is honoring a sacred trust with those who serve and give of themselves for the betterment of society.

“It’s about saying Eastern has a place for you,” he added.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected]