For military veterans, transitioning to civilian life can be tough. Transitioning from the military to a college campus can be even more daunting.<\/p>\n
At the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½, the Veterans Academic Resource Center (VARC) eases the way for students who have served their country, providing a one-stop-shop of services to help them succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom beginning to end, we work with our veterans to make sure their transition is as smooth as possible during their entire time here,\u201d said VARC program coordinator Joshua \u201cJJ\u201d Johnson.<\/p>\n
For the roughly 1,500 student-veterans who attend Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½, VARC provides everything from career counseling and tutoring to coffee and social activities.<\/p>\n
That support is a key reason Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ has earned a spot on the Military Times<\/em>\u2019 \u201cBest for Vets\u201d college list, and been named a Military Friendly\u00ae School by Victory Media.<\/p>\n \u201cHere at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½, they do a really good job,\u201d said graduate student Mike Arp, a U.S. Air Force veteran. \u201cThey really help student veterans not be a statistic and not fall through the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n It starts before student-veterans set foot in their first class. Veterans start their Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ orientation in the VARC offices on East Plaza Drive by CFE Arena. There, a team led by assistant registrar Bethany Glassbrenner cuts through the red tape by helping fill out Veterans Administration forms to take advantage of GI Bill educational benefits that can cover tuition and housing. Part of her team is made up of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ VA work-study students \u2013 most of whom are veterans themselves.<\/p>\n VARC, which is run by director Dr. Paul Viau, celebrates its sixth anniversary this month. When it opened in 2010, traffic was sparse. Since then, there\u2019s been an increase in both the number of veterans who attend Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ and the number of services the university offers to support them.<\/p>\n Lorine Cisch-Taylor assists with student veterans\u2019 transfer to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½, advocates for disabled veterans and provides career counseling.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first semester I was here, I had about six people physically come into my office the whole semester,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I see about six a day. We have exponentially increased traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n Within Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s student-veteran population for Fall 2016, most have transferred with credits earned from a state college or the military. Some 74 percent are men and 26 percent are women. Eighty percent are undergraduates and 20 percent are graduates. Most \u2013 about 90 percent \u2013 are Florida residents. Nineteen percent attend regional campuses.<\/p>\n The VARC\u2019s Vet 2 Vet Peer Mentoring Program currently has five peer mentors, who are veterans themselves. Much of their time is spent contacting the nearly 1,500 veterans at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ multiple times each semester to make sure they\u2019re on track with their academics and making a smooth transition at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.<\/p>\n When it comes to academics, student-veterans at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ have priority registration status so they can sign up for classes early. At VARC, they can find quiet study rooms, tutoring, supplemental academic advising and more.<\/p>\n Vets can also find camaraderie and support from others who have served. They can hang out in the VARC\u2019s lounge, which features a TV, gaming systems, coffeemaker, microwave and refrigerator.<\/p>\n \u201cWe connect our veterans with advising, transfer student services, counseling, the registrar\u2019s office \u2013 whatever they need,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019re all very passionate about what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For military veterans, transitioning to civilian life can be tough. Transitioning from the military to a college campus can be even more daunting. At the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½, the Veterans Academic Resource Center (VARC) eases the way for students who have served their country, providing a one-stop-shop of services to help them succeed. \u201cFrom beginning to end, we work…","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":74767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,27],"tags":[3168,5055,5056],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-74766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-student-life","tag-military","tag-veterans","tag-veterans-academic-resource-center"],"yoast_head":"\n