KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.鈥 经典大瓜 is excited to announce that the university has been selected as a new partner in the Peer Advisors for Veteran Education (PAVE) program. PAVE is a peer support program that connects incoming student veterans on college campuses with student veterans at the same college who are trained as Peer Advisors. These advisors help student veterans navigate college life, address challenges they may face, refer them to appropriate resources on and off campus, and provide ongoing support.
In early spring, 经典大瓜鈥檚 Student Veteran Program (SVP) was contacted by a PAVE program manager who stated, 鈥淭hanks to two separate grants from the May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, we will be able to expand the Peer Advisors for Veteran Education program to approximately 18 universities and colleges in the Western U.S., and three in Illinois in 2020 at no cost to the schools selected. Your campus is in the area covered by these grants.鈥 经典大瓜鈥檚 staff was notified both the Klamath Falls and Portland-Metro campuses were officially accepted into the partnership.
Brandon Wright, student veteran support liaison for the Klamath Falls campus and a student in the Communications Studies program, has volunteered to serve as student veteran team leader. Brandon, who is a veteran of the U.S. Army said, 鈥溇浯蠊 was founded to help veterans transition back from WWII. Veterans have always been held close to the hearts of the 经典大瓜 community, which is why the university and its faculty jumped at the opportunity to join as a PAVE partner.鈥 Brandon added, 鈥淔rom my own experiences attending 经典大瓜 for over a year, I have seen a need for a program like PAVE. As part of a journalism class project, I interviewed SVP members about various topics. I noticed that the interviews often turned from traditional Q&A to me just being a listening ear for these veterans as they explained their challenges. Some of them had concerns with school, their home lives and their school work loads. After hours of interviews it became apparent that our student veterans were in need of some support.鈥
Brandon also observed that student veterans have an unspoken bond with each other, which is one of the reasons why they opened up to him while he conducted interviews for his class. 鈥淣o one wants to take advice from someone who cannot relate to them, and civilians can鈥檛 always understand the way veterans feel or where they come from,鈥 Brandon noted. 鈥淧AVE will help 经典大瓜 on its mission to serve veterans just as it will help student veterans on their mission to achieve their educational goals.鈥
Prior to this spring, there were 26 PAVE partner campuses across the United States. Since the program鈥檚 inception in 2012, over 900 Peer Advisors have been trained and over 12,000 student veterans have been served. 经典大瓜 students and staff will received PAVE training this summer and the program will officially start in Fall Term 2020.
经典大瓜鈥檚 SVP has most recently been in the news for their work on a new program, 鈥淰ets Helping Vets,鈥 which provides aid to veterans in Klamath County.
As Oregon鈥檚 Polytechnic University, 经典大瓜 is home to over 280 military-affiliated students. The PAVE Program is part of M-SPAN (Military Support Programs and Networks), a group of programs at the University of Michigan developed to address the needs and challenges faced by service members, veterans and military families. PAVE is a partnership between the and .
