Veterans

鶹ƵUniversity Hosts 2018 New York State Advisory Council on Military Education Annual Conference

Monday, October 8, 2018, By Leah Lazarz

On Sept. 26-28, 鶹ƵUniversity hosted over 20 colleges and universities for the annual convening of the New York State Advisory Council on Military Education (NYS ACME). The yearly meeting brings together institutions, including Binghamton University, Fordham University, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Bonaventure, various SUNY schools and others, together to share best practices, current trends, and new policies as they relate to military education.

man standing in front of people at conference tableThe three-day conference included presentations from 鶹ƵUniversity leaders, including:

  • Ron Novack, executive director, Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (OVMA)
  • Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovations and founder and executive director of the Institute for vVeterans and Military Families (IVMF)
  • Rosalina Maury, director of applied research, IVMF
  • Linda Euto, associate director for research and evaluation, IVMF
  • Jennifer Pluta, director of veteran career services
  • Ben Dotger, Ph.D., associate professor of teaching and leadership, School of Education.

During the meeting, Dan Ryan, director of veteran services at the University at Buffalo and NYS ACME president, announced Novack as the new vice president of NYS ACME with Pluta serving as secretary.

“I am humbled and honored to be chosen as the NYS ACME Vice-President,” said Novack. “This statewide council is critical to ensuring that we create supportive environments for our military-connected student to succeed.”

Ryan delivered the opening remarks and introduced Haynie who delivered the keynote. In his remarks, Haynie discussed the benefits of the forever GI Bill as the most generous thing to our veterans and the importance of supporting veterans pursuing higher education.

“Veteran and military-connected students enhance our campus in many ways,” Haynie said in his address. “These students bring a unique set of life experiences to our University community. Empowering this generation of student veterans through higher education will position them to follow in the footsteps of World War II’s ‘greatest generation.’”

Hosting the ACME council meeting aligns with 鶹ƵUniversity’s commitment to veterans, military service members and their families in order to remain the “best place for veterans.” The objective is supported by a series of strategic initiatives, including the creation of the OVMA, IVMF, expanded capabilities of the Office of Veteran Success and construction of the National Veterans Resource Center, a first-of-its-kind multi-use facility dedicated to advancing academic research, programming and community-connected innovation serving the social, economic and wellness concerns of the nation’s veterans and families.