MSU Student Veterans Resource Center Helps Military Veterans and Their Families Achieve Academic and Personal Success

<p>Patrick Forystek is the coordinator of the <a href="http://veterans.msu.edu/">Student Veterans Resource Center</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/dremreumucu">Emre Umucu</a> is an assistant professor in the Office of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education. And Matthew Ritt is an undergraduate student at MSU. He's studying building construction management. </p><p>“Veterans come back to school with a lot of things that make them a little bit different than your traditional students,” says Forystek. “They typically are more likely to have families, have a service-connected disability, be a little bit older, and live off campus. They're a lot like other non-traditional students but just have their own special twist on it. The center helps connect veterans to the resources they need. MSU already provides a lot of the resources that they might need, like the <a href="https://studentparents.msu.edu/">Student Parent Resource Center</a> and <a href="https://www.rcpd.msu.edu/">Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities</a>. We just help connect them to those resources.”</p><p>“I was sitting in class one day and a student who had worked at the center suggested I check it out,” says Ritt. “I had no idea it existed. I stopped by there and I could get snacks there, and I could do my printing there. If I had questions about any opportunities on campus or anything going on campus or any help I needed, I could ask Patrick or anyone else that was there.”</p><p>“I'm doing a lot of research on understanding how to improve college adjustment, wellbeing, life satisfaction, and academic achievement in student veterans and veterans with disabilities,” adds Umucu. “I reached out to Patrick to see if we could collaborate and do some meaningful research to help MSU student veterans improve their academic achievement.” </p><p>And what are you learning in your research so far that's helping you?</p><p>“If you look at student veterans with or without d