By Nicarlyle Hanchard / Jambar Contributor
The Reveille Warrior Awareness Training sessions are offered to staff and faculty at Youngstown State University to better their relationships with student veterans.
The training sessions are offered through the Office of Veterans Affairs and aim to educate faculty and staff in student-veterans’ transition to YSU.
The sessions are conducted by Rick Williams, a retired major of the U.S. Army and the associate director of the Office of Veterans Affairs. The course was designed for faculty members to be aware of the experiences and difficulties veteran students may have and how to properly serve them.
“When we came out with the course originally, we directed it primarily toward faculty and staff, specifically the advisers, because they meet with students every semester. We wanted them to be aware of the experiences of military students and some of the issues they deal with,” Williams said.
The sessions include five focus areas:
Military culture
Transition process for veterans into the university
Challenges veterans face after their service
The GI Bill
The Carl A. Nunziato Veterans Resource Center and what it provides.
Toward the end of the session, there is a panel of student veterans who provide attendees with firsthand insight into the difficulties of coming to college after serving.
Dylan Bigelow, a U.S. Air Force veteran and senior journalism major, was a member of the student panel at the most recent training session. He said the training is important as it provides attendees with knowledge of military culture.
“The warrior awareness training does a great job exposing faculty and staff who may have little understanding of military culture to what veterans go through,” Bigelow said. “Veterans are all unique with our own experiences, but we do possess a shared identity that means a lot to us, and it’s great that the Veterans Resource Center provides the training so people at YSU can understand a bit of who we are.”
Williams said Wells Fargo sponsored the classes before the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, only one in-person session was held, as the university followed the lockdown protocols of the pandemic.
He also said that 135 YSU faculty and staff members have taken the training over the past four years.
“We did it virtually for a year, and then in 2022 we returned to face-to-face classes,” Williams said. “We always encourage people to come back and take the training a second time or promote it to their fellow faculty members who have not had it.”
Though training is tailored to faculty members, Williams said he is fine with executive members of student organizations attending.
“As far as leadership of the various organizations on campus, I’m not opposed to them attending. I’ve never turned anyone away who has signed up for my training,” Williams said.
Six training sessions are held per academic year, three each in the fall and spring semesters. The next training is scheduled for Nov. 20.
Those interested in attending can find more information in the Student Affairs Digest or visit the resource center on Wick Avenue.
