YSU adds Office of Veterans Affairs

By Harold Gwin

A new GI Bill will pay all of their tuition, and YSU will waive enrollment fees.

YOUNGSTOWN — Military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan interested in attending college will find a new office at Youngstown State University ready to help.

The university has created an Office of Veterans Affairs designed to help veterans with the transition from the military to college life.

The office, on the third floor of Tod Hall, will provide assistance with admissions, financial aid, registration, academic advising and tutoring.

It was created in response to the new federal GI Bill for post-Sept. 11, 2001, veterans ,which will fund the full cost of tuition at YSU for those veterans eligible for the benefits. That bill takes effect in August.

“Youngstown State University recognizes their services,” said Jim Olive, who will serve as coordinator for the program. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War and earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the university in 1973. He has taught at YSU since 1992.

The university will waive its $30 application fee and $75 orientation fee for all veterans, and, with enrollment for a second term, veterans will get priority registration, Olive said.

David C. Sweet, YSU president, said the university opened its Veterans Plaza 12 years ago and has annual Veterans Day ceremonies there. That led the university to think about how to better serve returning veterans which, in turn, led to the creation of a nine-member Veterans Advisory Council chaired by Vernon Haynes, himself a veteran and a YSU professor and chairman of the psychology department.

The goal is to ensure that YSU is a veteran-friendly campus, Sweet said.

“The new GI Bill is a tremendous opportunity for veterans who have served since 9/11 to seek their college degrees,” Haynes said.

“We want to do everything we can to make these veterans feel welcome at YSU, to help them transition to life at the university and to ensure that they are successful as they move into this new chapter of their lives,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that the number of veterans enrolling in college will increase by 20 percent over the next two years as a result of the new bill.

YSU doesn’t keep track of all veterans on campus, only those who are already taking advantage of the current GI Bill, Olive said.

There are only 185 in that category, but the actual number of veterans enrolled is probably significantly higher, he said.

A 20 percent growth in their numbers is reasonable, he said, pointing out that YSU has engaged with local Army recruiters in offering post-enlistment enrollment to people joining the military. They can sign an intent to enroll when they enlist, and the university will keep in touch with them during their military time, he said.

gwin@vindy.com