UW-Whitewater named military-friendly school

September 17, 2012

For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has been declared a military-friendly school by G.I. Jobs magazine.

Veterans coordinator Janice Nordin cites the entire university's commitment to veterans, "from the chancellor on down," as the main reason UW-Whitewater continues to receive the honor.

UW-Whitewater has a proud reputation for welcoming military students, offering them resources and honoring their service.  Campus policies help students cope with military training requirements and sudden deployments, and Nordin's expertise on education benefits has won state-wide recognition.

Annie Weberpal, a graduate student and member of the Wisconsin National Guard, coordinated a special welcome for veterans attending this year's Warhawks SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration) orientation. The informal session showed the incoming students that they were not alone in a sea of teenagers.

Next spring, Erin Celello, assistant professor of English, will be teaching an all-veterans section of freshman English.

"I went to a great panel discussion at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference last year where a community college instructor had designed something similar in Texas, to great success," Celello said. "I figured, with UW-Whitewater's noted commitment to veterans, that it would be a great fit here, too."

Increased social opportunities also contributed to UW-Whitewater being among the top 15 percent of U.S. schools winning the military-friendly designation, Nordin said. The Veterans and Service Members Organization, which meets in Andersen Library's Veterans Lounge, not only allows veterans to meet and interact with each other, but also encourages them to share their ideas for improving their educational experience.