Humboldt State’s V.E.T.S. office is listed on the 2013 roster of Military Friendly Schools compiled by Victory Media, a veteran-owned small business that publishes G.I. Jobs magazine and related journals.
The ranking is based on extensive research and data drawn from more than 12,000 U.S. Veterans Administration-approved schools nationwide. It recognizes HSU for “leading practices in the recruitment and retention of students with military experience.”
Humboldt State’s V.E.T.S. support offers services for dependents and active duty service personnel as well as veterans. It provides referrals to Humboldt-area veterans’ organizations and extends ready access to academic advising, course requirements, benefits counseling and work-study options. It also provides job counseling and training, employment searches, agency networking and assistance to the unemployed.
“We provide one-stop shopping that not all campuses offer, and I consider us to be the gateway for veterans to this university,” says Kim Hall, V.E.T.S. director. The office is staffed by vet undergraduate and graduate students, who encourage the camaraderie that returning soldiers say they miss most of all from their service experience.
Responding to the largest influx of college-bound veterans since the Viet Nam war, Humboldt State five years ago expanded services originally begun in the early 1990s. The modernization kicked off in 2007 when the 23-campus CSU system initiated its “Troops to College” program to assist more veterans and active duty soldiers with higher education. The CSU has a campus in every region of the state and close to almost all of California’s military bases.
Veterans and active duty students can use their GI benefits while attending any CSU campus. Likewise, active duty service members can use Department of Defense tuition assistance and other educational benefits at CSU institutions.