Nashville State Earns Veterans Support Designation

Nashville State Community College has earned the distinction as a Veterans Education Transition Support (VETS) Certified Campus from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

An institution receiving VETS Campus certification not only prioritizes outreach to veterans, but successfully delivers the services necessary to create a supportive environment where student veterans can prosper while pursuing their education.

Nashville State is among 26 military-friendly institutions throughout Tennessee that have been awarded this distinction.

“Nashville State is intentional in making sure our military veterans, reservists, and those on active duty have the support they need to flourish at the College and beyond,” said Dr. Carol Martin-Osorio, vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. “Beyond direct veteran support, Nashville State provides laptops, food and transit assistance, along with academic advising and peer-to-peer mentoring.”

This past spring, 63 degrees and technical certificates were awarded to 44 Nashville State graduates, who used VA education benefits, such as the GI Bill. This list does not account for graduates who used other earned military-related benefits like Go Army Ed, MyCAA, and Tennessee STRONG.

“From the moment I first reached out to Nashville State until the time I graduated, all of my questions were answered, and I was supported and encouraged to not only succeed but to engage with the College and assume a leadership role,” said 2021 graduate Joe Moore, who earned a Computer Information Technology A.A.S. degree with a concentration in Systems Administration & Management and is a sergeant in the U.S. Army. During his time at Nashville State, Moore served as attorney general of the Student Government Association.

Passed into law in 2014 by the state legislature, the Tennessee Veterans Education Transition Support (VETS) Act establishes a program of recognition for higher education institutions that allocate resources for veterans’ successful transition from military service to college enrollment.

To qualify for the VETS Campus designation, institutions must:

• Conduct an annual campus survey of students who are veterans to identify the views, needs, issues, and suggestions of veterans
• Provide information to faculty and staff about military and veterans’ culture, including combat-related mental or physical disabilities or other challenges
• Administer orientation programs for students who are veterans
• Facilitate mentoring and support programs for students who are veterans
• Develop outreach and communication strategies for military bases located near the campus, for the purpose of assessing veterans’ educational goals and meeting their identified needs
• Create and maintain a process for the assessment of prior learning that grants academic credit to veterans for transferable training and experience attaining through military service
• Provide, on the campus website, information on the availability of prior learning assessments and potential program credit for skills, training, or education obtained during military service.