by Arnaldo Rodgers
At the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, Hinton, the president of the Carolina Veterans Organization, advocated for a full-time, paid position to serve as a director of military and veteran affairs on campus.
âEvery minority group on campus has their own section and their own support staff, where veterans do not,â said Jacob Hinton, a senior and army veteran.
Hinton presented at the boardâs meeting via video, discussing his experience as a veteran and transfer student at UNC.
âWhen I transferred here, I found myself lost,â he said in the video. âThere wasnât a lot of connection with other veterans; there wasnât a lot of connection with faculty or staff members that were familiar with veterans either.â
Hinton said the advisers he worked with after transferring to UNC in 2013 werenât familiar with the restrictions and loopholes of the GI Bill.
âThereâs a few veterans I know who have failed out of Carolina because they donât have resources,â he said. âResources such asacademic advising or counseling specific to combat operations.â
Hinton praised the efforts of Assistant Dean of Students Brian Papajcik to develop programs for veterans and help them better connect with other veterans on campus.
âBrian Papajcik works alone, and itâs only part of his job to work with veterans,â he said. âCurrently, all the efforts for veteran recognition and awareness fall on either Brian Papajcik or students.â
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jim Campbell also presented at Thursdayâs meeting and echoed Hintonâs call for improvement.
âHis recommendations were spot on,â Campbell said. The need has risen for veterans to be served on campus, Hinton said, and with it comes a need for more personnel specifically devoted to serving veteran students.
âOne solution would be a full-time position,â Provost Jim Dean said. âWhat weâre focused on is how to meet those needs, how to make sure that weâre giving veterans everything that what we can.â
Dean said while the University is actively looking at the possibility of a full-time position for veteran affairs, multiple part-time positions and specified faculty advisers are also being considered as potential solutions.
âThe key thing is to have the hours and people devoted to it, not necessarily that itâs contained in one person,â he said.
Dean said the programs currently in place for veteran students are just the beginning, and the University is expecting to announce more programs in the coming year.
âWe have made a sincere effort to understand your world,â Dean said. âWhile Iâm proud of what weâve done, I think we have a long way to go.â
Powell has been working with Hinton to draft a rough plan to get veterans involved on campus, a plan that includes a full-time, paid position.
âWeâre strained for resources in a lot of different places,â Powell said. âAnd this is definitely one of them.â
Powell said veteran students face issues particularly with financial aid and feeling welcome on campus â high priority issues for Powell.
âThere are a number of things that we can really do better,â he said.
âI think everybodyâs going to be supportive of that if we can find a way to make it work financially, and Iâm confident we will.â
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