SUNY to offer internships to veterans who are students at 20 campuses
State University of New York Chancellor John King announces a internship program for SUNY student veterans on Monday at Farmingdale State College. Credit: Howard Simmons
The State University of New York will offer paid internships to student veterans at 20 campuses — including schools on Long Island — in an effort to promote enrollment among current and former members of the military.
The announcement of the Veterans Enrollment and Support Internship Program was made Monday by SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. who met with student veterans at Farmingdale State College, which has the highest percentage of student veterans of any SUNY campus.
Farmingdale will participate in the program along with Stony Brook University, Suffolk Community College and Empire State College which is mostly online but has a Selden campus.
"We'd love to attract more veterans to the SUNY system," King said. "We are not serving as many veterans as some other large state systems. We want to close that gap and make sure that veterans — especially New Yorkers who are veterans — know there's a place for them."
Funding for the initiative will support internships for SUNY student veterans at the campuses with the strongest veterans’ programs.
Farmingdale State enrolls nearly 10,000 students overall and has 229 veterans using military benefits, including 10 dependents and 30 National Guard members and reservists.
The college has a full-time adviser dedicated to serving veterans with enrollment and other college-related matters. There is a lounge space on campus just for student veterans and several of them said the website was easy to navigate to find information specific to their situation.
Some suggestions from student veterans who met with King on Monday included having tutors available specifically for veterans, offering more information on the GI Bill to veterans and their parents, and promoting interaction between veterans and other student clubs on campus.
Under the program announced Monday, approximately 20 student veterans will complete an internship in the admissions office or the enrollment management office focused on increasing veterans’ enrollment and ensuring enrolled veterans are connected to additional support on campus, state officials said.
Student veterans need support on campus from advisers who can help them navigate how to match their service benefits and background with their academic needs.
"If you have veterans going to your campus or you want to recruit veterans to come to your campus — you definitely need a good support system," said Mary Merante, 29, who served in the Army and is president of Farmingdale's Student Veterans of America Club.
"It's another world that we're coming out of and we're going into another world," said Merante, of Ronkonkoma. "It's so nice to have that support system here."
SUNY educates about 3,000 veterans each year. Veterans, military personnel and military-connected family members can apply to up to seven SUNY campuses for free, saving up to $350, throughout the year.
"Our goal with this new initiative is to have veteran students be able to earn some money [and] to work with their classmates to help them navigate the process of coming to SUNY and succeeding at SUNY," King said.
Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.
