Military Connected-Resourse Center:

“Opened in April 2012, the Military-Connected Resource Center (MCRC) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha supports student success by serving as a resource center on campus for current and prospective military, veteran, and dependent students. The transition from volunteer service, and for some, continued service in the military, to a college student can be an unfamiliar and challenging experience. Our goal is to empower military-connected students to become aware of and easily access campus and community resources focused on academic success. MCRC assists students by focusing on their wellness while enrolled, supporting and motivating achievement of educational goals through graduation, and providing career services and assistance. Connect with Us! Follow us on Social Media and find current information and events.”

The MCRC has been working in tantum with the OMAVS (Office of Military and Veterans Services) since 1950, and within this work, they aim aid students who are connection in some capacity to the military, and support them as they pursue a collegiate academic career. In a pure sense, they wish to build a path for these student readying themselves for a military career and those finishing a career, to ease the transition of this process in a universtiy setting, and setting them up for success.

The two main staff members are Chase Kratochvil (Director of Federal and Military Relations) and Sara Karnowski (Director of Military & Veterans Services). You can find more information on them here.

Part of how the MCRC supports its military-connected students is being transpart with the policies and practices these students are attached too. The break down the material one would need into three sections (“Students Called to Active Military Service,” “Residency Policies,” “Federal Tuition Assistance Policies”), and within these section, they provides the necessary forms, documentation, and information from the NU system that is necessary. More about this can be found here.

The MCRC also walks these students through the sometimes complicated process of applying and beginning the work towards becoming a college student. They do so by helping them start their collegiate application, set them up with the path needed towards recieving VA benefits, and suppling them with a very helpful listing of resources with MCRC, on-campus,off-campus, and community. They aid in the navigation of major, minor, and further credentials the individual can pursue while at university (see more about this here).

Another major help is the supprt they offer military-connected students is with financal aid; also helping these students with scholarship opportunity specific to those within this community: these being the Rober Swanson Memorial fund, Fiserv, McCallie Associates Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, and WoodmenLife(which you can find more about that here).

Finally, as a way to help more veterns transition into the college system, they utilize a program called the DoD Skillbridge to supply opportunites for  these individuals to pursue careers and work in the speicific fields they enjoy or wish to pursue. This is done in part through interships, hands-on work experience, and building network connections with those in the related fields (see more about this here).