- Selected SUNY campuses for trainings based on the percentage of student veterans and existence of health and wellness centers on each campus.
- Conducted focus groups to better understand the needs of student veterans on SUNY campuses.
- Collaborated with Student Veterans of America to create a six-hour competency training that addresses the challenges and needs that veterans face when transitioning out of the service and into college student life.
- Delivered the training to 198 college professionals from numerous departments, including health and wellness, student life, finance, and enrollment.
- Received interest from both the City of New York (CUNY) and private college campuses for these trainings, ultimately reaching 62 campuses across New York State, far exceeding its original goal of 15 SUNY campuses.
- Conducted a post-workshop evaluation for 165 participants, as well as a 3-month follow-up evaluation for 158 participants.
- The post-workshop evaluation found that:
- 96% said that they were likely or very likely to take action, individually or as a department, as a result of the training.
- 99% were likely or very likely to share the information they learned with colleagues.
- The follow-up evaluation found that:
- 97% reported an increase in their awareness of the needs of the student veteran population.
- 91% felt more prepared to provide services to military students and veterans.
Beyond tracking the number of participants, SUNY New Paltz Foundation found it challenging to quantify the measurable impact of the trainings. The trainings were held in the spring semester, and it was difficult to determine how many more veterans used services as a result of the training, primarily because campuses are less populated during the summer. Additionally, a lack of baseline measures on how many veterans were previously using health and wellness resources makes it difficult to track any fluctuations in resources accessed by student veterans.
This grant offered lessons for both the Foundation and SUNY New Paltz Foundation about the importance of having a clear evaluation plan for measuring impact, as well as obtaining baseline measures for interventions to appropriately track progress. Additionally, rather than starting in the spring, this intervention could have been initiated in the fall semester to allow project staff to measure outcomes and impact while the majority of students were still on campus. Future projects related to college campuses will include strong consideration for project start and end dates.
Co-Funding and Additional Funds Leveraged: N/A
