Fall 2013
Committee:
Equity and Diversity Committee
Whereas; The state of California has the highest number of homeless veterans in the country with a staggering estimated 50,000 living on the streets without knowledge of higher education resources. These resources are not all in one central location and Veteran students usually have to spend more time tracking down these resources when they do in fact find them;
Whereas; Veterans make up 26% of the state’s homeless population. Furthermore, the state estimates that 62% of homeless veterans have been diagnosed with both substance abuse issues and mental health problems. There are plenty of online resources for veterans, but these resources are sporadic throughout the state;
Whereas; Many non-veteran students are unaware of the struggles that their veteran student colleagues have to deal with daily and are unaware of the challenges they face with regard to being in a class room setting and dealing with returning to society;
Resolved; that the Student Senate for California Community Colleges invest time and skill into a more unified and comprehensive online “Out Reach” initiative to help students without a military background, to help them understand how to help support Veteran students returning from the battlefield to the class room through a more centralized online resource platform;
Resolved; that the Student Senate for California Community College create a new “Online Resource Web Page” for Veteran students to have a comprehensive and centralized location to gain access to veteran resources in tandem with the work of the “Veteran’s Caucus” and local Associated Student Organizations state wide; and
Resolved; that this new online resource be comprised of online tutorials for non-veteran students to gain a better understanding veterans returning to college, an online forum for veterans to voice their concerns and to receive support from other community college veterans, links from every veteran organization in California, links to any forms veteran student may need with regard to financial aid or other state and federal programs, links to mental health sites and resources, and updated news regarding veteran issues.
Whereas; Veterans make up 26% of the state’s homeless population. Furthermore, the state estimates that 62% of homeless veterans have been diagnosed with both substance abuse issues and mental health problems. There are plenty of online resources for veterans, but these resources are sporadic throughout the state;
Whereas; Many non-veteran students are unaware of the struggles that their veteran student colleagues have to deal with daily and are unaware of the challenges they face with regard to being in a class room setting and dealing with returning to society;
Resolved; that the Student Senate for California Community Colleges invest time and skill into a more unified and comprehensive online “Out Reach” initiative to help students without a military background, to help them understand how to help support Veteran students returning from the battlefield to the class room through a more centralized online resource platform;
Resolved; that the Student Senate for California Community College create a new “Online Resource Web Page” for Veteran students to have a comprehensive and centralized location to gain access to veteran resources in tandem with the work of the “Veteran’s Caucus” and local Associated Student Organizations state wide; and
Resolved; that this new online resource be comprised of online tutorials for non-veteran students to gain a better understanding veterans returning to college, an online forum for veterans to voice their concerns and to receive support from other community college veterans, links from every veteran organization in California, links to any forms veteran student may need with regard to financial aid or other state and federal programs, links to mental health sites and resources, and updated news regarding veteran issues.