UW-Green Bay Chancellor Gary L. Miller released the following message via e-mail to students and employees on Friday, April 1, 2016:
UW Green Bay’s continuous commitment to assist our veteran students with the transition from military service to the classroom has helped our campus attain the designation of Military Friendly for several years. A big part of this transition is educating our faculty, staff and students about veteran issues. In the past we have provided this training as part of the Inclusive Excellence program and new faculty training.
Veterans face numerous challenges in the transition to civilian life. Veterans are almost 3 times as likely to commit suicide as civilians, and suicide rates among veterans that don’t enroll themselves in the Veteran Health Administration have increased by 60 percent over the last 4 years. We cannot truly empathize unless we are veterans ourselves, but we can strive to understand the unique value that veterans bring to UW-Green Bay and the community, bring awareness to support services available to veterans, and continue to work to destigmatize the need for help.
UW System recently began the UW VETS certification, which is a designation given to veteran friendly campuses within UW System. One factor in the UW VETS certification process is faculty, staff and student training programs. To assist campuses with the certification process, UW System has recently adopted an online training program, Kognito: Veterans Awareness Training, aimed at teaching faculty, staff and students how to identify signs of distress, approach a student they are worried about, and refer them to services available on campus and within the community if needed. I encourage all faculty and staff to complete the Kognito training online. This training is available for students and can be used as a valuable tool within the classroom.
To take the course, follow the instructions below:
- Go to: https://uws.kognito.com/
- Create a New Account
- Follow the on-screen instructions
- Choose your course and click “LAUNCH”
- Training takes 20-30 minutes; if needed, you can stop the training and return to complete it later
If you would like to be more involved with veteran students on campus, visit the “At Ease” Veterans and Service Members Student Lounge located in MAC Hall 124.
If you have questions, contact Veterans Services Coordinators, Elaina Koltz (koltze@uwgb.edu) or Jamee Haslam (haslamj@uwgb.edu) at 920-465-2075.
Gary L. Miller
Chancellor