Plymouth Voices: Office of Military Services

Jacob Downey

He/Him

Editor-in-Chief

11/15/22

Since 1944, the GI bill has offered greater opportunities for military veterans and their families to pursue higher education. Over the summer, Plymouth State opened its Office of Military Services to “provide academic support, develop and promote community campuswide, and increase access to academic, financial, and personal resources for all active-duty, veteran, and military dependent students”. 

“We found out last spring, Marlin and I, that there was not a singular person on campus for military students to turn to when they had really anything in their lives going on, whether it is personal issues that they’re facing, or an academic issue” recalled Jacqui Nelson, the Interim Coordinator of Military Services, “we spent the summer looking at the issues that Veterans might have. We kind of expanded it to look at military students outside of just the labor of veterans, including those that are like military dependents, and examining the different ways that you could help them”.

One of the office’s primary duties is to provide academic support to military students. This can include aiding military students to find classes where they will be stationed or directing them to asynchronous classes here at Plym. This support allows military students to pick up right where they left off before being deployed and continue their education throughout their military career.

Nelson seeks not only to provide military students with administrative support but to build bonds between military students, stating, “We have a marine right now who’s in an Adventure Ed. who is setting up a group ropes course, for military students, he’s hoping to also do hikes, and canoe trips so that military students understand each other’s life experiences better than anybody else, whether you are first year in the guard or you’re completely retired out of the military system, you have life experiences and we want to sort of foster that relationship”.

The Office of Military Services administers Green Zone training, equipping PSU professors to provide a safe space for military students. Green Zones can be identified by a sticker placed on or around the doors of professors who have undergone the training. Professors who have undergone training include:

Nelson takes a proactive approach to fulfilling the needs of military students remarking that her office exists under the hope that military students will face no difficulties in their time at Plymouth, but that should anything come up a solution is an e-mail away. For more information, Green Zone training, or if you’re a military student in need of someone to talk to, reach out to Jacqui Nelson at jenelson@plymouth.edu, or stop by the office in HUB (037) T/Th/F: 8-4 or M/W by appointment. For updates on events and to test your mettle with weekly military trivia, check out @plymouthstatemilitary on Instagram.