(Transition Music)

Carlos Martinez (01:56):

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening and welcome back to another Work like a Laker podcast. I'm Carlos Martinez and with me we have.

 

Megan Riksen (02:05):

Megan Riksen.

 

Carlos Martinez (02:06):

You know, we've got two guests today. The first guest is our assistant Dean of students at Grand Valley, Steven Lipnicki. And along with Steven we have Cameron Zbikowski is that correct? That's right. Alright. Camera's Zbikowski is a GVSU student who formerly served eight years in the United States Navy and is the current president of student veterans of America or for America?

 

Cameron Zbikowski (2:28):

Of America

 

 

Carlos Martinez (2:29):

of America. Welcome guys. How are you?

 

Cameron Zbikowski (2:34):

Great, thank you.

 

Steven Lipnicki (2:35):

Thank you for having us.

 

Carlos Martinez (2:37):

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, today we wanted you to just talk about military connected students as a whole. So, it might be you've got maybe a parent or a close family member. It might've, it might be that you're a veteran or that you're currently serving yourself in some capacity and just talk about resources, challenges, and just kind of have an honest and open conversation about what that looks like. So just to kind of get us started, Steven, do you want, do you have an idea on, kind of what the landscape looks like at Grand Valley number of veterans, maybe some of their majors or just anything in general that might be helpful to set the stage for us?

 

Megan Riksen (03:10):

And Steven, I'm even going to interrupt you. Before we do that, would you tell us a little bit about your role at Grand Valley first, just to give a little context about how you know all this stuff?

 

Carlos Martinez (3:20):

I’m failing already.

 

Megan Riksen (3:23):

No, you are not failing Carlos.

 

Steven Lipnicki (3:26):

We have great hosts with us today. So, my name is Steven Lipnicki, my formal role is assistant Dean of Students. Since about 2009, I have worked with Veterans Initiatives on campus, which evolved into the creation of the veteran’s network. A few years ago, we created a student veterans’ organization that grew to affiliate with student veterans of America nationally. So, we have a local chapter at Grand Valley State University.

We then affiliated a year or two after that with peer advisors for the Veteran’s Education Program out of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor health system. And then the most recent affiliation was with veterans Upward Bound. Grand Valley state university has a program through Trio Federal Department of Education funds it, and it's really to help veterans through the, in the immediate process of transitioning into higher education. So, we have students at Grand Valley, who are not actually matriculating students at Grand Valley, but are actually in the veterans Upward Bound program, and preparing to be successful at Grand Valley College. So, in terms of numbers we’ve seen a bit of fluxation in 2009, and I don’t have that number in front of me, but it was somewhere about 225 or so, and we weren’t tracking very well at that point.

We put a number of things in place to were we now get much more accurate numbers, more reliable numbers, and we’ve now actually started to see in the last two years a decline in that number. So now, since 2009, through 16-17 we saw an increase. It was related to a lot more veterans serving in all the Mideast activities, and coming off of those duties. And so now, we are at 338, what we call Military Connected, these are not the dependents. These are people who wore uniforms and boots at some point, some may still be doing that.

A year ago, we were at 439, about a hundred person decrease in the veteran population just this past year. But, we are also seeing some things that are encouraging in terms of the engagement of the veterans on campus. So, of those veterans about a 125 are female, and then we have 397 dependence, with spouses or children, who are at Grand Valley. Many of them using benefits through the GI Bill ®.  And then in terms of majors, the top that we see, although we find veterans in almost every college program but Biomedical Sciences, Criminal Justice, Education, Exercise Science, Nursing, Computer Science, Finance and Engineering, are the top ones I believe.

 

Megan Riksen (6:29):  

So, Cameron, can you jump in and, tell us a little bit about yourself? And, were you kind of fall in that, your major, that sort of thing?

 

Cameron Zbikowski (6:33):  

Sure, as I said before my name is Cameron Zbikowski, I served 8 years in the Navy, mainly State side. I’ve been stationed at Everette, went to the Navy prep School in Newport, Rhode Island, then did a 9-month tour boots on ground with the Marines in Iraq. And then, ah, followed up with duty in Miami and finished in Key West. From there, I moved back to Michigan and attend at Grand Valley.

I currently, the ah, new president for the Student Life Views of America Group, and so, um, one of my major goals is to make sure that we are acting as a liaison for the student veterans on campus. Trying to identify their needs and portray those needs through the University so the University is able to meet them.

 

 

 

Carlos Martinez (7: 37):  

I think that’s a great resource. Now along with that, what are some other essential resources that they have here on campus that maybe specifically geared or targeted toward veterans? Some of the needs or challenges that they might face on campus?  

 

Steven Lipnicki (7:54):  

Yeah, so I want to clarify something that is important to know, almost all of the services that we have worked on and built, have really focused on Military Connected students. Not really done all we can do with dependence, and that, we are aware of that. I’m going to be talking about programs and services that are primarily targeting, as I said the actual military members.

So, the first thing is, for Veteran services, students who are coming to use the GI Bill ®, we have 5 people in the records office who are each trained to certify the GI Bill ®. They work specifically with everybody and every type of benefit with the exception of the one called Vocational Rehabilitation or VocRehab. I’ll tell you about that one in a minute.     

And then beyond the Records Office handling the GI Bill ® certifications, and that's the way that veterans can be sure that their tuition is paid by the University. They get a housing allowance and some additional funding for equipment and things like that all through the GI Bill ®.

And they've earned that. And in some cases, they've actually paid for it. So, depending on which type of GI Bill ® you used, there was a time when you had to buy it in order to have that benefit. So yes, so things have, things have gotten better but they're not perfect. And then the other way that veterans will often pay for their education has to do with Tuition Assistance from the National Guard perhaps, called Link Step or through Federal Tuition Assistance. And those are all handled out of our Student Accounts Office.

Cheryl Lillibridge does an amazing job with processing all of that, and she also handles vocational rehabilitation. So, she's picking up that last grouping of, of students. So what Grand Valley did in 2009 is we had a conversation about an influx of veterans because there was the new post 911 GI Bill ® and we knew people would want to take advantage of it.

So strategically we had a meeting to discuss how are we going to accommodate those, those students, how are we going to train people? And so, we did a number of things, but the first thing we did is we created a network and it's still in place and it's our, it's our sort of answer to a no wrong door approach. So, whether you contact Admissions or Financial Aid or Counseling or Career Center, Disability Support Services. If a veteran wants to speak to someone who's identified as their POC, that can go to the Veteran’s Network Website, POC is point of contact for our listeners out there.

And so, they can look, they can find a point of contact and they can connect directly with that individual. So that individual isn't the only person that can help them, but they've got somebody sort of identified.

And that's pretty common in the military. So, we tried to sort of follow up on what people are already familiar with from their, from their military experience. There’re about 15 different departments that are part of that network. We also meet twice a semester. So, we talk about what kinds of issues are going on, any new updates, any legal updates, any particular issues we're hearing about from students.

So, it's a way that we take care of informing one another. We're also responsible for setting up communications to reach out to veterans. So, I receive email lists and I can send information on behalf of the veteran’s network to all of our student veterans.

We don't abuse it. We're careful not to send it out too often because when we send it, we want people to read it. The other thing we do is our own social media. So, we're primarily based in Facebook or on our website. There are some other opportunities and maybe eventually we'll get there. We have a Peer Advisors Program for, it's called Peer Advisors for Veterans Education, which is our pave program.

Because we don't have a formal orientation program for military connected students. Our pave program sort of becomes that onboarding process where each new veteran who's attending is assigned to an current student. And that current student does the outreach to them and they're trained through the University of Michigan's Program. And there's also a data collection case management piece that we use. I call it case management. These are not cases, these are just, it's basically documenting that we're hacked having those contacts, so we know people are doing what they need to be doing and reaching the veterans.

And then we also have a Veteran Services Officer that comes to campus. So, this is somebody who can help with disability claims with other questions about the VA, not specific to the GI Bill ®. And it's a former Grand Valley student by the name of David Mueller. And he actually started last Thursday. He replaced somebody else who had been in that role. So, he'll be in Kirkhof Center tomorrow for the first time.

 

Carlos Martinez (13:03): 

And do you want to maybe talk about-

 

Megan Riksen (13:04): 

Yeah, I'd love to hear how you've connected with those services.

 

Cameron Zbikowski (13:08):

So, I'm really quick to reach out on the Vocational Rehab. So what Vocational Rehab is, is it's basically a fund that the VA has set up to assist veterans that have a disability to find gainful employment to finish their degree or their certification in whatever field that will help them get gainfully employed and to kind of finish that education to job spectrum.

It's very beneficial for those that use it because of the fact that not only does it cover the tuition it also covers parking. Your parking pass for the university, a hundred percent of your books. It covers any certification or licensing you need for the job that you're trying to go for. You get reimbursed for that. So, and you still get your housing allowance, which is a huge plus. So, it's almost like a GI Bill ® plus. So, to speak in some regards. The, as far as the student veterans of America is concerned though it's an amazing organization.

I'm very proud to have been taking the helm of the SVA here at GVSU. SVA acts as kind of a camaraderie center for the veterans on campus. So, what, in addition to acting as a liaison for the veterans’ students, we also try to have activities, camaraderie building activities. Whether it be a tailgate at the football games that's veterans specific, Bowling, Secret Santa, get together or just getting together and swapping stories.

Megan Riksen (15:19):

So, just things that are pure, like fun, social necessarily connected to your academics or things like that. Sure.

Cameron Zbikowski (15:26):

So that's another key aspect of it. We also provide, in addition to pave, kind of a veteran to veteran peer support system. So, if that student doesn't know kind of where to go for something, they have other people that are like them or have similar experiences that they feel comfortable going to. The biggest goals that I have as a President for the organization over the next year is increasing membership on campus.

So, trying to get as many veterans involved as possible and you don't have to be a veteran to join our organization, we're open to anybody. So, if you support veterans you're more than welcome to join our chapter as well. Also increasing community engagement and outreach. So, getting involved in the community and how have it basically making our presence known so that community can get involved with us.

And engaging the leadership with Grand Valley to try and increase services for the veterans on campus. And that brings me to my next point. President Mantella has been instrumental and has hit the ground running as far as veterans’ services are concerned at Grand Valley.

She and, I'm not sure what the official positions are going to be called, Steven, so you may be able to correct me on this, but within her first several months here, she's already created a new position that will hopefully be getting posted sometime in the near future. But that position will be a one stop resource individual for veterans and the first person they see that kind of assist them navigating a traditional university environment.

Or what are your thoughts?

Steven Lipnicki (17:33):

No, I think, I think that's, this is still developing where we're still figuring out what the specific title will be. But the other nice thing is this will be a hundred percent, you know, a full time one FTE dedicated to this role. And that role will duties. This'll be housed in Allendale and one of the goals would be now to also hire four to five veteran Work Studies. So, the VA has another program where we can actually employ veterans through the Work Study Program. It's separate from Grand Valley's Work Study Program completely. And the veterans are paid directly by the VA. So, it's a, it's a really nice program.

Carlos Martinez (18:21):

Yeah. And you know, having knowledge of all these resources is, it's so important. You know, one of the, I used to, when I used to work in Admissions, one of the things that immediately stood out is that many of our students who are veterans who have served in some capacity also fall into that bucket of nontraditional students.

Meaning that sometimes they're older than that traditional 18 to 21-year-old population. You know, some of them might be married, some of them might have kids and you know just life experiences in general that are different than most of their peers.

And just an organization like, like the SVA is so key to help you connect with similar likeminded people who have had similar experiences. So just adjust to that, that that campus life and a lot of studies are going to show that if you can at least connect to some people, feel like you have a little family within that bigger school, that those students are most more likely to remain in the school but complete their programs.

Steven Lipnicki (19:16):

And you're talking about a population that at times may not feel completely comfortable or may not be completely understood by faculty and other students. So, having that ability to gather in a very safe space with other veterans it's, it's not just a nice thing to do. It's the right thing to do to create that space.

 

Cameron Zbikowski (19:42):

I'm glad you mentioned space, Steven. One of one of the big things that we're trying to accomplish with SVA is relocating or improving the veteran's lounge that Grand Valley has. I believe the Universities working with us currently on, on trying to do that, but kind of the veteran’s lounge serves as an area where kind of the veterans are able to get away from all the questions and be near those other likeminded individuals and kind of relaxing and let their hair down so to speak.

Steven Lipnicki (20:27):

So that's funny cause you say like-minded. I, I don't even know that it's likeminded, because what I find is the, the range of views and opinions and experiences of each person who served in the military can be so different. And you know, just listening to Cameron when he introduced himself and he talked about being in the Navy, wait, did he just say he was in Iraq and with boots on the ground and he did.

So, you really don't know based on the service or the job title or the rank what people did. And that's one of the things that that's challenging. You know, civilians don't always know the right questions to ask to have those conversations. Veterans will, will talk to them, but people need to approach things the right way.

And there are certain things you certainly don't ask a veteran and certainly not when you first meet them, but you can certainly ask them about what branch they were in and you know, what they did and how they enjoyed their military experience.

There things that are safe and open and people would love to discuss. But when we do training for faculty staff, which is something else we do one of the primary points we try to make is that if you know one veteran, then you know, one veteran because each has her or his own story and experience and to try and pigeonhole people as it doesn't work in so many other aspects.

It doesn't work with military folks either.

 

Carlos Martinez (22:03):

Yeah. It's funny you say that. That's one of the reasons before I went, when Cameron first walked in, I just asked, you know, how would you like to be introduced? How would I say, you know, what branch you served in? Because even with things like title, I’ve notices, I've met some veterans who are very specific on, this is my title, this is my rank. And a father said, Oh, you know, I was in the army.

And so now my, my default is I'm going to follow, you know, with whatever their lead, just like in general however someone identifies themselves in any way, I'm going to let them lead and then I'm going to address them in that way.

 

Cameron Zbikowski (22:33):

Petty Officer Second Class. Cameron's [inaudible] Cameron's just fine. It’s a bit of a mouthful, so Cameron’s just fine.

 

Carlos Martinez (22:41):

All right. All right. So since, since we were, we were on the topic of a change that, that the SVA would like to see with the veteran’s lounge in general. Overall based on your conversations with fellow students, what are some of the challenges that, that you have Military Connected students facing on campus right now?

Cameron Zbikowski (23:02):

Sure. So, a lot of it has to do with comfortability because they are, most veterans are not in that 18 to 22-year-old traditional age range. And so, you're noticeably the older person in the class. All the time. The also if, navigating the GI Bill ® can be difficult or the benefits that you're entitled to, it can be difficult.

There are a lot of benefits for veterans, however, they're not always well advertised or they're definitely not easy to navigate. And so, trying to navigate those can be difficult. Grand Valley in particular has a great program for veterans.

However, that being said it, it's confusing for a lot of veterans to navigate because it's, so you've got five people in this office that handle veterans’ stuff, but only certain veterans’ stuff. You have one-person financial aid. So, there you have about 20 points of content that are all spread out over the University that you, when you're first getting here, it's really confusing to know who you need to know to for what you need to get help with. And so, I think that's where this new position is going to come in handy because it's going to help them navigate the resources that Grand Valley has to offer.

 

Megan Riksen (24:37):

What was kind of your entry point into the resources and services?

 

Cameron Zbikowski (24:41):

Yeah. So, I came on board. So, I transferred here Summer of 2016, and a lot of my classes transferred in because I had previous college credits, so I transferred in without having to do a lot of the gen EDS. But I was here for about a semester and a half and then went on a two-year exchange to Australia. So, my, my situation's a little bit unique.

However, because I worked for the Records Office and I worked with those people that handle VA certification, it helped me to kind of get a grasp over who I needed to talk to and, and how to navigate it. However, that being said, a lot of students don't have that luxury. The Grand Valley Study Abroad Programs, not to toot Padnos International Centers horn too much,

 

Megan Riksen (25:46):

Oh, you can do that, we like to Padnos International Center.

 

Cameron Zbikowski (25: 48)

But, but they, their Study Abroad programs excellent. And the GI Bill ® is compatible with a lot of their programs, so I wasn't aware of that.

 

Carlos Martinez (25:58):

That's good to know.

 

Cameron Zbikowski (25:59):

So, with most partner Universities, as long as they're VA approved for the most part you can use your GI Bill ® because you're paying Grand Valley's tuition and it's built through Grand Valley. So, you're not having to pay really extra as far as the tuition in certain. So, it's, it's really nice because it lets you get that Study Abroad experience and it's a resume builder for when you get off at not off active duty, but off of after you graduate. Yep.

 

Steven Lipnicki (26:33):

There are some other funding options and Dr. Elizabeth Lambert works with a number of fellowship programs including the Gilman scholarship. Grand Valley last year had sent more veterans overseas with Gilman scholarships than any other institution. So,

Cameron Zbikowski (26:54):

In the entire Country. Yes.

Steven Lipnicki (27:09):

So, their, their work is terrific there as well.

I think it's another one of those that, yes, it is in a really quick to, to kind of go over the Gilman. So, the Gilman is for Pell grant eligible students. You don't necessarily have to be a veteran. However, being a veteran there's, it doesn't hurt. I didn't know, but that way it definitely gives you a leg up on the application there for those Dependents that are listening. There's a new Gilman scholarship called that Gilman McCain scholarship that's specifically for military dependences. For those on Active Duty or Active Reserve Guard, if I'm not mistaken. And both that and the regular Benjamin Gilman Scholarship are worth up to $5,000 towards your Study Abroad. And even with regular students and not necessarily veterans, Grand Valley is still I think we're one of the top ranking in the Midwest and also one of the top ranking in the entire Country for overall and recipients also.

 

Megan Riksen (28:14):

That’s incredible

Steven Lipnicki (28:15):

It's true. Sorry for that. I don't do this that often. I'm not like the professionals in the room. So, the other thing that I would maybe want to talk about is what we see is there's a transition that takes place for people leaving the military and a whole different culture into entering higher education.

And so, there are a number of issues that veterans have to navigate. Whether it's financial, so people might presume because you hear about the GI Bill ® that everything is great and people are coming to school with no worries. It's really easy and it's often not the case. While it's a great program, a lot of veterans will arrive on campus and already have families. They may have part- or full-time jobs and have to scale back on that in order to complete their education.

The GI Bill ® has a 36-month window for use. So, you have to finish your degree within that 36-month period. It can be stretched out, but it's 36 months of benefits over a period of, I believe it's 10 years,

 

 

Cameron Zbikowski (29:27):

I believe 10 to 15 maybe.

 

Steven Lipnicki (29:29)

Okay. So, but just to give you an idea, so there are some of those kinds of issues. There are adjustment issues. The military culture is so different than the culture of a campus. There's having to try and get people to understand what you've experienced without necessarily wanting to tell them what you've experienced.

But for them to not necessarily make assumptions again about you sitting in the class because you're older, which happens to veterans as well as non-veterans who work in undergraduate programs specifically. So family and marital adjustments, stereotyping by faculty and or students, dealing with some of the issues that you were taught.

The military trains people really, really well on what to do and some of the things they teach you is to be hypervigilant because you may have heard the term your head on a swivel. It's basically, or sleeping with one eye. These are basically terms that talk about being aware even when you're unaware and how you're always gauging what's around you and responding to it.

That doesn't work so well in higher ed, you know, in our, in classrooms too because it keeps you from focusing on what's happening in the classroom. If you're just really paying attention to all these extraneous things, sleep deprivation is a real problem for veterans that a lot of people don't think about. Injuries, physical injuries, muscle injuries, mental stress and invisible injuries for that matter. So these are things we don't necessarily see or think about, but the veterans to some degree are probably coping with some of these things on a daily basis.

Some to the point where they need assistance and others coping. They a lot, they're very resourceful as a group and they're also, and, and they're mission focused. That's so when they get to the University and a degree becomes their mission there's not a lot there’s not a lot they’ll let stand in their way if they can help it.

So, they're willing to take on some of the challenges that they may find. I'm pushed through. But whatever we can do to have in place to assist with that really can make a big difference. And you already heard about the need for the veteran’s lounge. It's that sense of comradery and safeness. And you don't even need to be talking to the people in the room. If you go in there often they're not talking to one another and they're studying, but they're just in a place where they feel it's, it's a good place for them to be.

And the last, what I'm going to mention is that veterans have lost something from their lives in terms of an adrenaline rush and the excitement and a lot of exciting things that happen. So in the military, the way it's been explained to me, you spend a lot of time waiting around,

 

 

Cameron Zbikowski (32:22):

hurry up and wait,

 

Steven Lipnicki (32:23):

And then you spend this other time in this high pressure, high activity stressful situation that you've trained for years and years to be successful at. So, it's turning off that switch when you're sitting in classrooms and studying. And so sometimes, you know, people look for an alternative adrenaline rush. And that's not uncommon for veterans. So, I will leave it at that. Anything you want to add?

 

 

Cameron Zbikowski (32:53):

 I think that's, that's good for me. Did you guys have any more questions for us?

Carlos Martinez (28:36):

Yeah, no, we see this thing, we just let you talk if you want us to talk for five more minutes, we were fine with it. Maybe we could switch gears as we start wrapping it up a bit. Right? So, it's not just about getting your degree, it's also about the goal connected to that degree. Typically, some sort of employment or graduate school. Right. I know I can speak on mine. Some of the, some of the challenges I've seen, some of the veterans I've worked with face would be a trouble translating the military experience to the, to the civilian skill set that's needed. Others that I've seen have been that they're viewed a certain way. Sometimes it's positive, right? That employee might have a high respect.

Federal positions have things like veteran’s preference. But on the flip side, what if their hiring manager has to, you know, political views reviews the military and so they have to try and navigate that. And those are some of the conversations I've had. Whether if you have thoughts on that?

Cameron Zbikowski (33:55):

I would say that that's an accurate statement. A big problem that veterans tend face when they get out of school is sort of looking for when the business, the business just doesn't want to deal with veterans basically attached.

 

Carlos Martinez (34:22):

Because there's a stigma attached.

 

Cameron Zbikowski (34:24):

And when an actual, when an actuality veteran are usually a better hire because they have that leadership training where they can walk in on the job and they know how to manage people

 

 

Megan Riksen (34:38):

Trainable

 

Cameron Zbikowski (34:39):

And they're extremely trainable. The other the other thing I would say with that is that, I think that they, you know, businesses well, one, it's illegal for them to discriminate like that. So also, they should be giving veterans the benefit of the doubt and wanting to hire veterans especially once they've served their country and helped provide the freedoms that they have.

Carlos Martinez (35:21):

Yeah, and there and there are there are companies, the Federal Government for sure, but there are many companies growing lists where they will publicly say, we'll do something like a veteran's preference. Which, while it doesn't mean you're guaranteed a job, it means that they're going to guarantee that they take a little closer look at your application to make sure that you're not overlooked within that pack of, you know, hundreds sometimes it could get to the thousands of applicants for a position.

And so, while you're actively searching for work that could be at least a little piece of the puzzle that you consider, you know, are they veteran friendly when, when you're navigating that, that job search meet will come talk to us in the Career Center. Right? That's, that's part of our role to help train people translate one set of skill set for one student, it might be how do you translate your student leadership experience in many of your cases? That's how do I translate my military experience?

Because they might not always see how it translates, but you're always going to have that discipline, leadership. You're typically going to have some sort of presentation skills to mixed in depending on what your roles were. And so, part of our role in the Career Center is to kind of talk through that with you as much or as little as you want to share and then try to, try to help you frame your experiences in a way that targets the type of jobs that you're seeking down the line.

Megan Riksen (36:39):

So that can be in a resume, but yeah, that can also just be how are you going to tell your story? Right?

 

Carlos Martinez (36:48):

 That's a big part of interviewing.

 

Megan Riksen (36:49):

Bringing out those components of what is so great about your experiences paired now with this excellent education you're receiving. Boom, we've got a pretty good story to tell there and we want to help you do that.

Cameron Zbikowski (36:57):

And a great resource for those especially in the West Michigan area is the Veteran’s Network is constantly posting information about veteran friendly businesses that are looking for people to come work for them.

 

Steven Lipnicki (37:14):

Yeah, I would just add a couple of things. So, I almost go back to the beginning. So, one of the things that's essential, it's essential for every student. I think it's really important for people coming out of the military and making this big transition to prepare for a post-military career.

Choosing a major is no task that should be taken lightly. And I think myself, I think if I were to ask Cameron, he would probably tell a stories where he's spoken to veterans, maybe he's experienced it himself, where by the time someone realized that they were in a major they didn't really want to work in, in the future it was really not feasible to switch majors or switching majors at that point would mean they would have to pay for school without the GI Bill ® because it would go beyond what the GI Bill ® would cover.

So because of that 36 months of eligibility, it's really important that by the second semester the student have a pretty good idea. And, and I don't mean having a best guess of what they might want to do, but is actually spent time in the Counseling Center working with the Career Counselors or in the Career Center working with your Career Counselors here. I don't know.

I think they're the same people covering both. But those are the folks that can really help people as well as Academic Advisors. So, making those connections early I think are essential to help people sort of get on the right track. And it's true for non-veterans alike.

Megan Riksen (38:48):

Well that's a really good point. The exploration piece, I'm glad you brought that up. It's not just let's get the job once you're a senior, but we know in our work that the earlier you can be putting these plans in place, the more successful you will be because you have the time then to explore and to maybe get connected to an Alum who might also be a veteran. Right. And hear what their experiences.

 

Steven Lipnicki (59:07)

 it's tougher to take an extra year when you might have family members and you've sort of budgeted for getting a degree in that timeframe and now suddenly you don't have it. Where does that leave you?

 

Carlos Martinez (39:20):

Yeah. And in some cases, you may be that student who you've got one year left. So, you know, there's no way you can change your major. You've just got to finish it through to that 36-month constraints. Still come talk to us.

If you've changed their mind about the type of career you wanted, your major is just a foundation, right? It's not going to box in what you can do. And we can try to craft a plan where you can pivot in a different direction away from what you originally thought you could do with that major. That that's another part of what our role is here.

 Cameron Zbikowski (39:49):

So, I was going to say also for those listening if they're already veterans for some reason experiencing financial hardships they can reach out to the SVA chapter here at Grand Valley so that we can direct them to the appropriate resource to help get them through that tough time. For financial assistance. They can email us at S V A so, Sierra Victor alpha [email protected]. Or they can find us on Facebook at Student Veterans of America GVSU chapter.

Megan Riksen (40:29):

Be sure to link out to all of this as well.

 

Carlos Martinez (40:33):

And those have been the notes I've been taken up. Try to remind myself to keep these links in here.

 

Megan Riksen (40:38):

 Okay, we've got a few more in there. Steven, I feel like we kind of cut you off a little bit. Yeah. What else?

 

Steven Lipnicki (40:43)

Yes, I would. Yes, I do. So, a couple of things that I additionally, we talked a little bit about resumes and the skills translations. There's an online tool called Onet where people can go online themselves and put in their MOS, their Military Occupational Specialty or equivalent, depending on the branch, look up the information and it will give you a good idea of your skills as well as it's really sort of doing that first job that we're talking about.  Now, with the exception of the Air Force Service Members also now received the Joint Services Transcript and the joint services transcript also has that information. So different, different system but gets you similar types of information.

Megan Riksen (41:33):

It's giving you language that's more based for a civilian resume as opposed to a military resume.

 

Steven Lipnicki (41:37):

Exactly. As opposed to a military and some of the credits and some of the experience that you have from the military that is on the joint services transcript will translate over towards your degree at Grand Valley. So, they take that transcript into a child when transferring your classes in.

Yeah. The other thing I would mention is just some community resources cause we're talking about some of the things here. So, when it comes to things like networking opportunities or working with employers directly, I serve on the West Michigan Veterans Coalition. I'm one of the board members.

We have been very active with hosting networking events. I've had a number of Grand Valley veterans attend those events, meet with employers. It's done very informally. It's usually about 5 or 6 employers, 15 to 20 veterans.

We do a meetup and it's basically a great time to either practice your interviewing skills or to just ask questions informally in a safe environment about how you might approach, or the interview process or your or your search in totality. So, it's really nice to have that.

The other thing that's interesting is in West Michigan, because I do work with the employers, we're actually getting the sense now that the employers that are trying to hire veterans are trouble finding the supply for the positions they need.

So, the veterans unemployment rate right now is at historic lows. So, we've been very effective. Companies have stepped up and have been hiring veterans. But now it's a question of making sure that the veterans that we have as they come into the workforce, they're prepared to meet the needs of those employers. So that's another thing.

Last thing I want to mention for those who might be in the Guard or Reserves, there's another organization that I'm personally involved with and I volunteer with Employer Support of the Garden Reserve. The purpose of that organization is to actually work with employers and service members about the rights that those service members have when they have to be deployed or sent off for training. So, Garden is, keep in mind these are people who work, you know, they work pretty much 40 hours a week and then they need time off to do weekend drills once a month.

And then they have some summer training requirement, where they're away for a period of time and employers are required to hold the positions, not just a job but the same role or a similar similarly level role for that individual.

And we serve, we have an on-bud service and we have a number of other things in place that ESG are for either the veteran or the employer if either side is failing to live up to their part of the equation. So, it's a great resource out there. I know a lot of people don't know about it and so I just wanted to take a chance to plug that as well and I'll give you details later for it.

Carlos Martinez (44:35):

Yeah. Website and any, anything either of you want to share Just email us to Link in. This will come out, you know, in a little bit.

 

Megan Riksen (44:40):

January.

 

Carlos Martinez (44:41):

January. There you go. So, it's January right now, so we'll, we'll make sure it's out there. How can you believe it's been 42 minutes already, boy? Yeah. You know, to wrap it up, one thing I'll say is when it comes to all of the, the typical Career Search Advice, Resumes, Networking, applying for jobs, Career Fairs, we do have other episodes in the same podcast. So, if it's your first time listening, just kind of go through the history and you can still get a lot of information on those specific things.

Today's conversation, we're, we're more about the unique things that, that you all may face, but a lot of that other advice will still apply to you and you will just kind of apply it based on your unique circumstances. Any final words from either of you?

 

Steven Lipnicki (45:29):

I thank you so much for the opportunity.

 

Cameron Zbikowski (45:30):

Really appreciate you having us.

 

Carlos Martinez (45:32):

This was awesome. All right folks, so we will see you all next month. Thanks for listening.

 

Megan Riksen (45:35):

Thank you.