UNA is working on establishing a military and veterans affairs office and military student organization to support U.S. military students, student veterans and their dependents on campus this year.

Currently, there is one individual in charge of handling military student affairs on campus and the Reserve Officers Training Corps office is not designed or equipped to tailor to these needs, said Lt. Col. Wayne Bergeron, former assistant professor of Military Science.

The new office would assess the specialized contractual and financial military and veteran needs on campus and provide programs and resources tailored to address those issues, he said.

Using a method he called “student advocacy,” one could hand a student the equivalent of an “in-processing” checklist so active-duty students, for example, would know exactly what they need to do and what requirements need to be met for the military, the university and themselves, he said.

In addition, the office would implement programs designed to attract the growing population of veteran students and parents in the community.

Some of the initiatives include a virtual presence online with degree programs such as criminal studies among others made available to military students through eArmyU (an online military resource designed to provide postsecondary distance learning namely to deployed Soldiers), and a new military student organization, said Bergeron.

To date, Bergeron has held two meetings on campus to recruit and organize a peer group in what he said will become the new military student organization.

Bergeron said the program has received support from UNA’s president and funding for the project would be acquired through grants and other outside funding.

He remains optimistic, but the full-scale and overall scope of the project may take longer to realize due to the current financial state of the economy, Bergeron said.

“Everyone I have run into on campus is very supportive. UNA is a military friendly campus the only obstacle is realizing this project and taking it to the next level,” said Bergeron.

For more information about the office or the new UNA Military and Veteran student organization, please contact Bergeron at 256-765-4455 or e-mail [email protected].