Saddleback College Veterans Education and Transition Services

The goal of the Saddleback College Veterans Education and Transition Services (VETS) Program is to support veterans, active military and military families from application to graduation. Saddleback serves over 1,000 student veterans each semester. As the VETS Program becomes better known throughout the community, the veterans population is increasing and the services that Saddleback offers are becoming more comprehensive and interactive.

The Saddleback VETS Program uses a variety of in-house services, local partnerships, and student mentors to provide students veteran with the educational and personal tools they need to be successful in and out of the classroom. With donations raised by the Saddleback College Foundation and Associated Student Government grants, the VETS Program provides all of these services at little cost to the college.

One of the offerings that makes the Saddleback VETS Program unique is the way we utilize veterans in peer-to-peer support and mentorship. The best mentor to a new student is one who has gone through the same experiences who can share their tools for success. Mentors are available to all veterans students and disabled veterans are often paired. In addition to volunteering their time on a one-on-one basis, veteran students have also taken the initiative to form several groups, including Female Veterans Unity Group and support for Veterans Club.

With the guidance of these student veterans, the faculty, staff, and administrators offer several services: counseling (academic, personal, and career); VETS Academy, a learning community for new student veterans with math, English, and introduction to college courses; and disabled veterans counseling. The Program also works closely with college’s Veterans Office to assist veterans and eligible dependents with the filing of required documents for educational benefits. This office provides veterans with easy access to information about the very complex GI Bill. There are three full-time and four part-time workers, all veterans, available from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, making it convenient for those who may have impacted schedules.

Within the past couple years, the office has seen a doubling of student veterans seeking educational benefits. With all these services under one roof, the VETS Program is able to sponsor several events throughout the year, which aid the students in their transition, academic success, and ultimately transfer and/or employment. The VETS Program recognizes that it cannot meet all the needs of the growing student veteran population alone nor is it a goal to duplicate the exceptional existing services that exist in the community, so it has forged partnerships with several local groups that can provide specialized services at low or no cost.

The South OC Vet Center offers counseling therapy, which is vital in dealing with the transition from combat to the classroom and with mental health issues, including combat stress, post traumatic stress disorder and depression. An AMVETS (American Veterans) Service Officer Program provides disability claim advising and VA assistance along with the Laguna Hills VA Health Clinic. American Legion members volunteer in our VETS Center and assist veterans about their rights and available benefits.

Though we have a robust Career Center on campus, the needs of our students can also be met in the community. The Program also works with an Employment Development Department (EDD) veterans representative and the CalVet Job Corps to place students in part-time jobs and develop soft skills for future employment while attending school and to help them start their career following graduation. These partnerships make it possible for veterans to access everything they need to be successful. While there are dozens of success stories, the impact that the VETS Program and the Saddleback community makes on these students is evident in one student who graduated in May 2011.

Alex Lopez is a veteran, a Saddleback alumnus, and current UC Berkeley student. Alex credits the faculty and staff at Saddleback for helping him get into UC Berkeley. He graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in psychology and a 3.74 GPA, but it wasn't always easy for the Navy veteran, who overcame substance abuse and a post traumatic stress disorder resulting from his time in the military. For him, the support and services offered by the college's VETS Program was immeasurable in helping him transition from military to civilian life. Alex told us, "In my opinion, Saddleback College has a wealth of support to ensure all students have the tools they need to succeed and graduate. The support Saddleback offers to the student veterans is unmatched by any other community college."

Alex received four scholarships at Saddleback's annual scholarship ceremony that will help him pay for his tuition at Berkeley, where he is majoring in development studies, which focuses on the social, political, economical, and environmental conditions of Third World economies. Alex returned the favor by establishing a new Saddleback scholarship for student veterans entitled the "Robert Sickles Scholarship," named after a young veteran who was lost. Alex is what Saddleback and our VETS Program is all about. These students have served our country and now it is time we return the favor by providing them with all the available tools to become successful and happy.