August 12, 2019 | UHCL Staff
One of the many challenges facing college students who are also military-affiliated is completing their education. Frequent moves make it difficult and frustrating to continue their studies, says Phillip Gore, University of Houston-Clear Lake’s new director of the Capt. Wendell M. Wilson Office of Veteran Services. One of Gore’s primary goals is to identify all military-affiliated students among the student population. Another goal is to ensure they are aware of all the resources available to them to achieve their educational and life goals.
Gore, who was honorably discharged from the Army in 2004 after 10 years, said that he had attended four different universities before finally completing his undergraduate degree from University of Texas at El Paso in 2011. “Moving around so much makes it really hard,” he said. “The other problem is figuring out which school will accept the credits you have. People face this in the military all the time. They get to a level of stability, get close to completing a degree, and then move. It happens to military spouses as well.”
He added that like many of the students on campus, he also has been an active-duty military spouse and parent. “I have done it all,” he said. “I know how difficult it is.”
Resources to help military-affiliated students navigate this and many other problems are available at UH-Clear Lake, Gore said. “Based on the number of students who utilize military benefits, we have over 1,000 military-affiliated or veteran students here. I would like to get away from calling everyone a ‘veteran’ because I think ‘military affiliated’ is a better term and applies better to our student population.”
Gore explained that the term “military affiliated” encompasses veterans as well as those who are active military, National Guard, reservists and military spouses. “We want to get better at identifying everyone who is affiliated with the military. Sometimes, reservists or others don’t use their benefits. We are looking for ways to ensure we are aware of everyone who’s military-affiliated so we can make them aware of the resources we have available,” he said. “If you’re military or a veteran and you don’t self-identify by using your benefits, we don’t know you’re here.”
The Office of Veterans Services ensures every military-affiliated student’s credits are part of their degree plan so that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will cover the costs. “We help certify those classes and send the amount due to the VA, and then when it’s cleared, your tuition is paid. Each student needs to go through this process each semester,” he said.
Gore also said he’s working to create a higher level of awareness in the entire university community so that the unique needs of military-affiliated students can be taken into account. “We are putting highly-trained people into these classrooms and then into the workforce,” he said. “The military is the most diverse organization in the world. If you’ve been in the service, you’ve spent part of your life traveling around the world and you have been highly trained. You’re in college because you are a little bit older and you’re ready to focus. We want to utilize that to our advantage and use all the great things these people bring to class.”
The Office of Veterans Services is inviting service members, veterans and their family members to a “Fall In” event on Aug. 27 from 2-5 p.m. in the Student Services and Classroom Building, room 3.201. “The university’s identity is strongly tied to its military-affiliated students,” Gore said. “We’d like to welcome these students to the campus and let them know how we’re here to help. We are here for military-affiliated or veteran faculty and staff as well. We would like to take this opportunity to meet them and their spouses.”
Gore received his master’s in professional communication and leadership from Armstrong State University, now called Georgia Southern University. He was awarded five medals for his service during his deployment to Bosnia in the 1990s and received a total of 21 medals or ribbons over the course of his career in uniform.
He said that students should know that any issue related to being a military-affiliated student should come through his office. “Let us help you figure it out,” he said. “We don’t want to send students around from office to office, trying to get answers. We can cross the institutional boundaries and work with everyone in other departments. That is why we are here.”
Discover more about Office of Veterans Services online.
