Jîortlanb (Observer
I u ly ll. 2 0 1 2
Page 17
School Builds New Veteran Services
PCC responds
to needs with
resource centers
In th e M a r in e C o rp s , Z a c h
S ch o o n o v er served tw o tours o f
A fg h a n istan an d Iraq w here he
helped in the nations' rebuilding
efforts. A t hom e, how ever, he has
contin u ed service to his com m u n ity
by helping to build a respected v et
erans affairs resource cen ter at his
P ortland C om m unity C ollege c a m
p u s.
A s m ore veterans return hom e
and go back to college, the need to
assist them in navigating benefits
and acclim ating to college life is
grow ing. PC C has roughly 1,400
students w ho are m ilitary vets and
that n u m b er is increasing.
In response to the rising nu m
bers, PC C esta b lish e d the R ock
C reek C am pus V eterans R esource
C e n te r, lo c a te d at 17705 N .W .
S pringville R oad, as the first and
only, one-stop resource center that
provides a space dedicated for stu
dent veterans to netw ork and relax.
C urrently, the V eterans Services
O ffice at the S ylvania C am pus, lo
cated at 12000 S.W . 49th A ve. only
has an office to certify student e d u
cational benefits. The C ascade C am
pus on N. K illingsw orth St. has a
sm all area outside o f the library, and
th e S o u th e a s t C e n te r on 8 2 n d
A ve.doesn't yet have an adequate
area to serve vets.
B ut there are plans to create full-
service V eterans R esource C enters
across PC C thanks to input from
students like S choonover and funds
from the college's bond program .
Student
Streetcar
Services
Zach Schoonover, who served two tours o f Afghanistan and Iraq
where he helped in the nations ' rebuilding efforts, is helping build
a veteran’s resource center at Portland Community College
campus.
Schoonover, a R ock C reek resi
dent, said he's a big fan o f colleges
estab lish in g reso u rce centers for
his peers, w hich can m ake a huge
d ifference in the acclim ation p ro
c e ss.
"It's a fantastic place for v eter
ans at R ock C reek to com e in,"
S ch o o n o v er told the H ouse V eter
ans A ffairs C om m ittee back in M ay
at the State C apitol, as part o f a
presentation w ith Financial Aid and
V eteran s S erv ices D irecto r B ert
L ogan. "T hey co m e in, hang out,
get inform ation they need, find out
w here to go to get financial aid on
cam pus, learn how to transfer to
fo u r-y ear u niversities and get in fo r
m ation on oth er V A b enefits.”
“W e've pretty m uch set up a sup
port group in there, and w e’ve started
branching out and doing co m m u
our m ission to encourage m odes o f
transportation other than driving.”
A round 75 percent o f faculty, staff,
and students com m ute to cam pus by
m eans other than one car with one
driver. PSU leaders expect com m ut
ing to cam pus on the Portland Street
car to increase considerably with the
Eastside expansion and the com ple
P SU to provide fr e e use o f P ort tion o f the new PSU /O H SU C ollabo
land Streetcar to faculty, staff, and rative Life Sciences Building on the
stu d en ts
South W aterfront in 2013.
P o rtland State U niversity and
Located in Portland, Oregon, PSU
O H SU have negotiated a faculty, staff has about 30,000 undergraduate and
and student pass program that will graduate students. P S U ’s m otto is
provide unlim ited use o f the Portland “Let K now ledge Serve the C ity,”
Streetcar at no additional cost to cam w here they provide students with
pus m em bers.
opportunities to w ork w ith busi
“W ith the Eastside line opening nesses, schools and organizations
and the elim ination o f the free-rail on real-w orld projects.
zone, we thought it was im portant to
“The Streetcar is not ju st for com
provide free transit access through m uting,” said Zalkow . “O ur em ploy
out the central city,” said Dan Zalkow, ees use it to travel to m eetings and our
executive director o f Finance and A d student residents use it as conve
m inistration at PSU. “It’s also part o f nient travel throughout the city.”
nity service projects that help people
in the county," he continued.
T he last tw o years, PC C has
am ped up the aw areness cam paign
for the needs o f veterans. Students
and staff organized a V eterans A p
preciation W eek in the spring across
the district that included specific
w orkshops fo r veterans, jo b s and
resource fairs, and guest speakers.
O n top o f that, students c o o rd i
n a te d se rv ic e p ro je c ts su ch as
f u n d r a is e r s f o r L a c e y H o u s e
(O regon's first and only privately
funded, full-service hom e for hom e
less v e teran s) and deploym ent care
package drives each term .
"T h ey h av e a v ery e ffe c tiv e
v eteran ’s services program . It's a
m ajor transition m oving from the
m ilitary back into civilian life and
then into school. T he cam araderie
that's available through the resource
cen ter is very im p o rtan t,” said Rep.
B rad W itt, w ho toured the R ock
C reek VRC in M ay.
“T aking that big leap, m aking
that transition ju m p in g into so m e
thing that is unknow n; it's easier to
m ake that leap o r j um p w hen you are
m aking it w ith som ebody else."
R o ck C re e k set the stan d ard
thanks to R odriguez, w ho identified
the need for a staffed V R C after
convening a group o f concerned
faculty four years ago.
"I w anted to ensure that w hen
o ur veterans cam e back from w ar
that they w ere able to have the ser
vices they need provided to them at
the com m unity c o lleg e," R odriguez
said. "It was also a goal o f the fac
ulty w ho w ere really struggling in
the classroom in understanding w ho
the veterans w ere in class."
S c h o o n o v e r is g r a te f u l. H e
earned a bachelor's degree in R eli
gious Studies o f Islam from San
D iego State U niversity in 2000 b e
fore serving a five-year stint abroad.
He w orked from 2005 to 2011 as a
private military contractor until com
ing hom e to enrol 1 at PC C to explore
how to set up a sm all business. In
total. Schoonover was rem oved from
civilian life for m ore than a decade
and d id n ’t know m any people w hen
he returned. He said, the R ock C reek
V RC helped him find his way.
"It is a huge transition com ing
back to school," S ch o o n o v er said.
"The big problem that you face is
dealing w ith a y o u n g er g eneration
w ho doesn't necessarily have the
sam e perspective as you. T he re
source cen ter has provided a good
place for veterans to com e and calm
dow n w hen they've had a difficult
tim e. T he nice thing about having it
on cam pus is that you see those
individuals day in and day out that
are also using the resource center."
For m ore inform ation about PCC's
V eterans Services, call (971) 722-
4502.
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