Student Veterans and Service Members in Higher Education

This work is an essential addition to the libraries of higher education practitioners and researchers. This comprehensive book provides practical tips based on empirical research to support student veterans' academic achievement. It is what has been missing from the literature of student veterans, providing a window into the conflict between military and academic cultures, the cognitive and identity development of student veterans, and models to enhance student veteran academic success. --Andrew Sonn, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, The George Washington University Arminio, Grabosky, and Lang skillfully analyze the often jarring experiences for enrolled military veterans and service members. Highlighting cultural dissonances and the need for skillful translations, competencies, and cultural fluencies, this book provides a range of exemplary theory-to-practice models and strategies for educators. Through their focus on serving veterans and service members, the authors also identify strategies for developing the kinds of inclusive, multicultural campuses in which all students can thrive. -- Florence A. Hamrick, Professor of Education, Rutgers University Arminio, Grabosky, and Lang (2015) provide a comprehensive overview of student veterans and service members from interviews and analyses of higher education institutions. This book speaks from history and experience of the U.S. military to present outreach opportunities for the modern reader. The best audience for this book would be higher education administrators and counselors because it primarily discusses the challenges of transitioning to student life in higher education. More importantly, the authors consider the life of the students beyond school, what the students have seen, the makeup of the military world, and how it sheds light on this one. --Christina Geuther, Kansas State University Arminio, Grabosky, and Lang provide compelling coverage of a segment of students on US institutions of higher education: student veterans and military service members (SVSM).The coverage in the volume is reflective of the multiple perspectives of the author team, as researcher, practitioner, and student veteran. Reflective of these three perspectives, the volume includes empirical evidence, stemming from their multi-site case study of cultural conflict experienced by SVSM during their transition to the military and then to higher education; it illuminates best practices and calls for practitioner advocacy for SVSM students as they navigate campus barriers; and this volume draws heavily on SVSM voices (from their data) to narrate the cultural conflicts during transition experiences. --Susan V. Iverson, Kent State University