January 2017

Veterans Academic Resource

Center Staff

Paul Viau

Associate Registrar/VARC Director

Bethany Glassbrenner

Assist. Registrar/Certifying Official

Lena Huntsman

Program Assist./Certifying Official

Lorine Cisch-Taylor

Transfer & Transition/

Career Services

Joshua “JJ” Johnson

Program Coordinator

Lee Young

Office Manager

Connect with other UCF Student Veterans

Join the Student Veterans Association to connect with other

student veterans.

Contact the Chris Lonas President:

Lonas_chris@knights.ucf.edu

The Student Veterans Asso-

ciation is looking for a new

officer position to fill. The

SVA is accepting applicants

for position of Event Coordi-

nator. If interested email

SVA President, Chris Lonas:

Lonas_cris@knights.ucf.edu

Support Student Veterans of America, UCF Chapter

Shirts for sale! Available now!

$15 each order yours today email: SVA.UCF@gmail.com

Or stop by the VARC and see JJ Johnson, VARC Program Coordinator

Happy New Year and Welcome Back

We hope you had a great Winter Break and welcome you back to the start

of the Spring 2017 Semester. As many of you know, spring semester is a

very busy time and the VARC is here to help all military veterans during

this hectic time!

In order to help streamline the process, we want to highlight certain dates

that are important to you which can possibly affect your GI Bill certifica-

tion, school and BAH payments.

Classes Begin—Monday, January 9, 2017

Last day to Drop/Swop Classes—Thursday, January 12, 2017

Last day to Drop & Receive Full Refund—Thursday, January 12, 2017

Last day to Add Classes—Friday, January 13, 2017

Payment Deadline—Friday, January 20, 2017

At the University of Central Florida and the UCF VARC we have plenty of

upcoming events in the month of January to keep you busy. Interested?

Please visit http://events.ucf.edu/upcoming/ to find out more about UCF’s

upcoming events for all students.

VARC - Orientation Revisited

While the VARC is highly committed to helping our student veterans

with GI Bill certifications and transcript evaluations, we want to high-

light other resources that the UCF VARC offers:

Tutoring - The Student Academic Resource Center (SARC) hosts regular

scheduled tutoring sessions at the VARC.

Career Counselor - Lorine Cisch-Taylor is our Career Counselor to help

students find the right major, minor, and career.

Academic Advisor - Lorine Cisch-Taylor and our Peer Mentors can help

you develop and implement your academic plans and goals.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) - The VARC works in col-

laboration with CAPS to ensure all students get the correct resources that

they need.

VARC PEER MENTORS

MICHAEL ARP Air Force

Sport & Exercise Science, Senior Michael.Arp@ucf.edu

BRIAN BARNETT

Marine Corps Sport & Exercise Science, Senior

Brian.Barnett@ucf.edu

MARCO JUSTO Air Force

Aerospace Engineering, Senior Marco.Justo@ucf.edu

TRACY LOVEGOOD

Navy Anthropology, Junior

Tracy.Lovegood@ucf.edu

QUYNH-ANH MARTIN Air Force

Biology, Junior Quynhanh.Martin@ucf.edu

Peer Mentor Phone: 407-823-1186

Congratulations to our newest VARC Peer

Mentor, Brian Barnett! Brian is a Marine

Corps veteran and is currently a senior ob-

taining a BS in Sport & Exercise Science. Ten Things You Should Know About Today's Student Veteran

by Alison Lighthall

The National Education Association published a great article about to-day’s student veterans. It is a very interesting read and highlights what makes student veterans so special. You can find the full article at: http://www.nea.org/home/53407.htm

10. Student veterans are a highly diverse group—as diverse as America itself.

9. Veterans do not see themselves as victims. Ever. 8. They can feel very alone on campus. 7. They are often unaware of their own mild traumatic brain injuries. 6. There are three things you should never say to a student veteran

(but they still hear them every day). “These wars were atrocities and a waste of human life,” “I don’t get why you’re having so much trouble—you volunteered, right?” and worst of all, “Did you kill anyone?”

5. Female veterans suffer deeply, and almost always in silence. 4. They often want to go back to the war zone. 3. Combat trauma is an injury, not a mental illness. 2. To succeed, veterans need your understanding, compassion and

respect. 1. Student veterans are one of America’s greatest untapped human

resources.

University of Central Florida Named Silver Award Recipient by Military Friendly®

School’s Military Initiatives Honored for being

“Better for Veterans”

University of Central Florida has been named a Silver-level Military Friendly® School Award recipient for 2017. Victory Media, originator of the family of Military Friendly® em-ployment, entrepreneurship and education resources for veterans and their families, published its special awards for 2017 Military Friendly® Schools and Employers at https://militaryfriendly.com. For more than a decade, Mili-tary Friendly® ratings have set the standard for companies and colleges demonstrating positive employment and edu-cation outcomes for veterans and their families.

New this year, Military Friendly® Awards showcase the most powerful and effective programs of more than 200 companies and 1,200 post-secondary schools that were designated as “Military Friendly®” in November. Of those designated, 154 employers and 541 schools have been recognized for excellence in different categories, high-lighting not only “Are you Military Friendly®?” but “How Military Friendly® are you?”

“All of our Military Friendly® award recipients set the standard for excellence,” said Daniel Nichols, Chief Prod-uct Officer of Victory Media and head of Military Friendly® development. “They offer exceptional examples of what it means not just to build a program that meets federal re-quirements, but one that serves the military and veteran community from classrooms to careers.”

Thank you to everyone who donated to Toys for Tots!

The UCF VARC 2nd Annual Toys for Tots Drive was a major success.

We had over 200+ new, unwrapped toys donated from our student

military veterans. MSgt Robert McChesney (pictured below) re-

ceived the donated toys for distribution. Thank you for making an-

other Christmas Holiday memorable for all the toy recipients.

VARC Employee Spotlight

Michael has also constantly worked hard to make sure all his student

population has been contacted and made them aware that he is there

to assist with any academic and/or social challenges they may face.

Michael also coordinates the VARC social media and has increased our

presence over 75% on LinkedIn and 45% on Facebook. Starting this

Spring semester, he will also be Editor of the VARC newsletter.

Michael, a Sports and Exercise Science Graduate Student, who will

graduate this Spring semester, plans to work as a Registered Dietitian

upon completing his degree. Michael is also an Air Force Veterans

who worked in transportation and has been stationed around the

globe.

These are just a few reasons why, Michael was selected as VARC Em-

ployee of the Month for December 2016!! During your next visit to

the VARC, please make sure you stop by and congratulate him on this

achievement !

Michael Arp, December 2016 Employee of

the Monday. Michael currently serves as a

VARC Peer Mentor who works with our Grad-

uate Students and Graduating Senior popula-

tions. Since beginning with the VARC in Sep-

tember 2016, Michael has made tremendous

efforts with enhancing the VARC Graduation

Recognition Ceremony.

Program Name and Description Date/Time/Place

VARC MOVIE NIGHTS

Movies shown in the VARC Lobby every other Thurs-day night starting January 26 through April 6. Pop-

corn and Drinks will be provided. Bring the family or just bring yourself. Child friendly movies will be

shown in VARC Study Room 109. Check the VARC Website for movie showing.

EVERY OTHER THURSDAY

STARTING JANUARY 26

VARC LOBBY

5:30 P.M. TO 8:00 P.M.

VARC GAME NIGHTS

VARC will have board games and Nintendo Wii availa-ble for veterans to play every other Wednesday night starting January 18 through April 12. Bring the family or just yourself. Check VARC Website for game dates

EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY

STARTING JANUARY 18

VARC LOBBY

6:00 P.M. TO 9:00 P.M.

VARC RESOURCE FAIR

Local Veteran Service Organization and Businesses to provide information and resources for our veteran

student population. Florida International Real Estate, Orlando VA Medical Center, UCF Victim Services, Or-

lando Vet Center, and many more will be present. Door Prizes and light refreshments will be served.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017

316 STUDENT UNION

11:00 A.M. TO 2:00 P.M.

NOW OPEN! Veteran Food Pantry

Sponsored by SVA

Housed at the VARC

SVA and the VARC are proud to present

the Veteran Food Pantry! Similar to the

Knight’s Pantry located on campus, this Vet-

eran Food pantry will supply students in

need with food items to help them get by. It

has been a major undertaking that we are

happy to present to our students.

The pantry will be open Monday through

Friday during VARC Business Hours. How-

ever, the pantry will also be opening for two

Saturdays each month. Stay tuned to this

newsletter for updates on that.

The pantry is donation based and as such

is limited in what is can provide. With this

in mind we ask that veterans wanting to

utilize this new service only take around

three days worth of food per visit.

If you have any questions please do not

hesitate to contact the VARC Front Desk at

(407) 823-2707.

Employer of the Month

Thank You Lockheed Martin!

Please join me in a Great Big Thank you to Lockheed Martin for their generous contribution to the Paychecks for Patriots Ca-

reer Fair! Many students had the opportunity to “Vet” Work with Lock-

heed Professionals – and a few even participated in inter-views!!

Keep your eyes open for the next Lockheed visit or event on Campus! You never know when they will be here with some-

thing just for YOU!!

For more information on Job Opportunities at Lockheed, please go to:

http://search.lockheedmartinjobs.com/ListJobs/ByState/FL/Country-US/

The UCF VARC wants to congratulate VARC Work Study employee Abigail Ristino on earning her

BS in Criminal Justice and VARC Office Manager Lee Young on earning his MS in Criminal Justice.

Lee will remain with the UCF VARC full time, while Abbi will move forward in future endeavors.

We will miss Abbi and thank her for all that she has done for the VARC!

We had a great turnout and a lot of fun at the Fall 2016 Graduate

Recognition Ceremony. The UCF VARC congratulates all of our

student veterans who graduated this Fall 2016 semester, and

wishes you the best in your career paths. Good luck and thank you

for your service!