PNW recognized as military friendly school
Information in the graph provided by Military Friendly.
PNW was honored with the Military Friendly: Bronze Award for its commitment to creating opportunities for military personnel and received a 2018 Military Friendly School designation from Victory Media.
John Weber, assistant vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, said that every year adjustments are made to the university’s accomodations for veterans.
“It could be something as simple as providing space and opportunity to the veterans, and we’re also looking at peer-to-peer programs. We are looking at additional tutoring services because we are trying to provide the best opportunities we can to the students,” Weber said.
Weber said that roughly 800 out of about 5,000 colleges that exist in the U.S. receive this designation, which amounts to approximately 16 percent of colleges.
The university received the Military Friendly: Bronze Award, meaning that PNW’s programs scored within the top 40 percent of the tenthranked institution in a given category. The categories include academic policies and compliance, admissions and orientation, culture and commitment, financial aid and assistance, graduation and career, and military student support and retention.
Weber said that being a Military Friendly School is a benefit to PNW as a whole because of the diversity and different mindsets that it brings to the campus community.
“We’re bringing in somebody [veterans] who has a different view from a typical 18-year-old student,” Weber said. “We’re bringing in somebody who is 27 for example, and it is great to see that diverse mix at our campus.”
Janice Lazcano • Feb 2, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Purdue has been very military friendly. However, in my opinion,they just got rid of their best resource and asset by getting rid of Akili Shakur, who ran the program on the Hammond campus. She is the reason my son, Joel Soto, a 2x veteran of Afghanistan has thrived there in spite of his PTSD. Akili has gone above and beyond her duties to fight for her students, reach out to her connections and provide resources. She has been their cheerleader and given them advice and a place to gather, vent, peer-to-peer counsel. Times when my son wanted to quit, she encouraged him to continue. When he dropped out for a semester, she stayed in contact and encouraged him to return. These veterans need this kind of support, especially the ones who come home with disabilities of every kind. She will be sorely missed. From what I can see, they will not be getting this type of support in the future.