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WIU Home > Student Success > Veterans

Military Friendly Credentialing Program

Western Illinois University is committed to providing the best possible experiences for its military service students. Given that less than 10% of the US population has served in the military, there are often aspects of service that civilians do not understand. Research conducted with WIU military service students suggests that faculty, staff, and administrators may not be aware of the challenges our military service students are negotiating on campus. Faculty, staff, and administrators may be creating unnecessary and unintended challenges for military service students through policies and pedagogical practices without ever realizing it.

For this reason, the Veterans Resource Center Liaisons, a group of WIU faculty, staff, and administrators have worked with the Veterans Resource Center, Veterans Club, Military Science Department, the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research (CITR) and the WIU Military Task Force to create a voluntary Military Friendly Credentialing Program (MFCP) for WIU employees.

The MFCP is modeled on the Green Zone trainings utilized on many campuses, but we have customized it based on the unique needs identified by our own military services students. It is important to note that no employee is required to participate, and there is no monetary or other compensation for participation. There is also no penalty for choosing to not participate. Those who earn military friendly credentials will be listed on a Veteran Resource Center website where the length of time they’ve been credentialed will be recognized.

The goals of the credentialing program are:

• to facilitate spaces for military services students to share their experiences;
• to educate WIU employees about research, resources, and best practices for working with military service students; and,
• to assist the Veteran Resource Center in making WIU as military friendly as it can be.

Unlike one-time trainings that are often impactful in the moment, but sometimes forgotten, the MFCP is based on research demonstrating that the most effective programs for facilitating welcoming environments for military service students require ongoing trainings that integrate students, faculty, staff, and administrators. To be credentialed as military friendly through this program, WIU employees will need to attend two military friendly training programs a semester.

The programs are open to all WIU employees. They are announced as they are developed so that we can address any issues that emerge through the semester. If you have any questions about the credentialing program or the sessions below, please contact Jeremy Robinett, Associate Professor, at jl-robinett@wiu.edu

Additional programs are being developed, but we wanted to share the already planned opportunities with you.

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Thank you for all you have done and continue to do to support our military service students. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

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