2014-2015 Review of Accomplishments
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e College participated in a meeting hosted by the Department of Defense (DoD)
that presented information on a new online college advisement tool. is tool, called
the Degree Program Management Tool, will be the newest item in the suite of services
that reside on the Go Army ed website. is tool has been designed to streamline the
College search and advisement process for active duty soldiers and reservists. Suffolk
will take the necessary steps to: (1) review and update our profile on the Go Army
ed site, and (2) upload the data requested by the DoD to the new Degree Program
Management Tool. our presence and participation in this new site will help
demonstrate our continued commitment to providing exceptional service to our
students that are veterans. it will also make the College and its academic programs
highly visible to active military members looking to further their education.
e College’s office of Media Services produced a series of veterans videos
entitled, “
Transitions: Veterans on Campus.
” e series has seven parts and
features content that is both informational and educational. You can access
the video series from the College’s home page by clicking on the “view
SCCC videos” link.
Suffolk student fabrizio Bustos, a U.S. Army Combat veteran and Purple
Heart recipient, addressed veterans, community leaders and corporate
partners at the United way's earth Day graduation in April. He joined
fellow veterans to celebrate the graduating class of vetsBuild, a partnership
program with United way of Long island that helps veterans find
employment opportunities in the green construction industry in areas
such as energy efficiency, renewables, weatherization, HvAC and
energy-Star construction and home restoration.
A search to fill the new position of College Director of veterans Affairs
was completed with the selection of Shannon o’Neill. Ms. o’Neill was
formerly in charge of veterans Affairs at St. Joseph’s College. i was
pleased to accept the recommendation to include student veterans in
the search process.
e College has once again been cited as a “Military friendly”
institution, reflecting our commitment to providing the best possible
services to student veterans and active military members.
i am very proud to report that we received a major gift from the island
outreach foundation in recognition of our efforts to support veterans.
our selection was based upon our commitment to establishing a
veterans resource Center that would serve as a single point of contact
and support for veterans across the College, as well as our willingness
to create a new College Director of veterans Affairs position.
Suffolk alumnus Charles Taylor ’11 returned to the Ammerman Campus in March,
as part of the Soldiers Project of Long island, a free confidential therapy program for
post- 9/11 veterans and their loved ones. Charles spoke about his personal experience
as a student veteran at Suffolk, his military background as a paratrooper, and the
difficulties that student veterans face as they transition from service member to
college student. Charles welcomed the opportunity to engage with our faculty and
staff, shared his expertise on how to address the unique needs of student veterans in
the classroom and agreed to serve as an ongoing resource for the College.
