Ohio University proved its rank with veterans and military personnel Monday, when it was recognized for the third-consecutive year for its “military friendliness.”
Victory Media, a veteran-owned company and publisher of G.I. Jobs magazine, honored about 1,800 of 12,000 schools that are approved for Veteran Affairs tuition funding, according to a press release.
Schools completed surveys answering questions about their services for veterans and students involved in the military to determine a university’s “military friendliness.”
OU’s Athens campus has about 200 veterans enrolled this academic year.
To some veterans, such as Tyler Daniels, a senior studying political science and war and peace studies, the honor makes a difference.
“It is very much the reason I began going here. (It was) a mixture of the campus winning the award (last year), and it coincided with my visit to the campus,” said Daniels, who serves as OU Student Senate’s veteran’s affairs director.
Some university officials, including Melissa Toretch, coordinator of special populations for the University College, placing her in charge of the Military and Veteran Programs, also sees the designation as beneficial to OU’s recruitment.
“It … shows that we are making (an) effort,” Toretch said. “By no means are we perfect … but we are making strides to assist students in that transition from military life to college life.”
Some recent improvements on campus implemented for veterans and military students include creating a learning community, offering free tutoring services and designating a communal space — a lounge in Bromley Hall — for the nontraditional students, many of whom are commuters.
“Everyone has been so helpful, and that is pretty surprising coming from the army,” Daniels said.
Toretch sees the award and improved veteran programs as a step in the right direction, though she said the university can always do more to help its veterans and military students.
“For us, it is an ongoing process,” Toretch said. “We continue to improve on it and … provide different services as we see things are needed.”
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