Of all the counties in New York State, Suffolk County has the single largest population of returning veterans,” says Tom Ronayne, Director of Suffolk County’s Veterans Services Agency. In fact, New York State has the fifth largest population of veterans in the United States, with a total of 1.1 million. Of this population, more than 150,000 live on Long Island, with approximately 70 percent living right here in Suffolk County.
Suffolk County Community College is welcoming back military veterans with valuable educational programs, services and events designed to help this population easily and efficiently assimilate into an academic environment.
This past November, Suffolk honored veterans and student veterans with a series of commemorations and ceremonies on each of the College’s three campuses. Events culminated with a ceremony at Veterans Plaza on the Ammerman Campus that featured a military color guard, vocal performances by student veterans, a challenge coin presentation and a speech by the first Ammerman Campus Student Veteran Association (SVA) President, Oscar Salgado, who attended Suffolk and then transferred to Stony Brook University where he is studying at the School of Social Welfare.
Mr. Salgado served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army prior to attending Suffolk. He recalled the SVA at Suffolk as a way for veterans to get together, share stories and decompress. “It grew into a peer mentoring organization and later evolved into an organization that advocates for veterans,” he said.
In his speech, Mr. Salgado addressed the loneliness that veterans feel when they leave the structure and brotherhood of the military and find themselves in a new environment. He addressed the veterans in the audience, saying, “Never forget where you came from, never forget the fallen and above all never forget to be proud for being a vet.”
A Smart Fit for Returning Vets
“Suffolk is a natural fit for our returning military,” says Dr. Thomas Tyson, College Coordinator of Veterans Affairs. According to research conducted by the American Council on Education, a majority of returning military undergraduates expressed a preference for attending two-year postsecondary institutions.
“For me, Suffolk was a great place to start,” says Mr. Salgado. “The small classes and personal attention made it very manageable. The professors understood my needs. I wasn’t just a number. I went on to Stony Brook with complete confidence.”
Suffolk facilitates a successful transition to the college environment in many ways, including:
Credit for Military Service: Suffolk recognizes the training achieved through military service, including MOS codes, service school courses and/or Dantes and CLEP exams.
Student Life: With almost 27,000 students and affordable tuition, Suffolk offers a wide range of clubs and organizations. In fact, there are chapters of the SVA on each campus, a Stars and Stripes Lounge that offers personal, professional and academic resources, and a veterans blog.
Academic Advisement: Students can explore and evaluate which programs of study will best fit their life plans, and receive assistance to understand transfer options.
Career and Transfer Services: Campus-based Offices of Career Services offer help through counseling, cooperative education, internships, job fairs and more.
Disability Services: Suffolk provides special services, auxiliary aids, and reasonable program modifications to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to all of the College’s programs and services.
Workforce Training: In addition to academic programs, Suffolk provides immediate training to veterans who are seeking to move quickly into the job market. Students are able to receive national credentials and work-ready skills in areas including advanced welding, machining, quality control, blueprint reading and more.
For more about Veterans Services at Suffolk, simply call 631-451-4111 or visit www.sunysuffolk.edu/Enroll.
- Mary M. Feder