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<h1>Four Tasks to Establish a Veteran Employee Resource Group: Steps from The University of North Dakota</h1>

<div id="MainImg" style="margin-bottom:20px;margin-top:5px;"><img src="https://images.higheredjobs.com/images/articles/article_3719_1.jpg" alt="Group meeting in a conference room." class="" style="" /><div class="ArticleCaption">Christina Morillo/Pexels</div></div>

<div id="article-byline">by Monika Sziron</div>

<div id="article-content"><strong>Thursday, November 16, 2023</strong> -
<p>Have you considered organizing a veteran employee resource group (VERG) on your campus but aren't sure where to start? If so, here's your opportunity to learn from the University of North Dakota (UND) and how they have got theirs in motion.</p>

 <h2 class="c1">The First Task: Compile Your List</h2>
 <p>To begin, you need a list of military-affiliated faculty and staff on your campus. And the reality is that a comprehensive list of all military-affiliated faculty and staff can be hard to compile. Angie Carpenter, director of Special Student Populations, and Andrew Frelich, assistant director of Veteran & Military Services at UND share that they initially thought of sending a mass survey to all campus faculty and staff. The survey would ask individuals to identify their military-affiliated status and if they were interested in joining the VERG.</p>

 <p>However, as more groups on UND's campus became interested in finding their affinity groups of faculty and staff, a campus-wide affinity group policy and process was beginning to be discussed. Yet, Carpenter knew that the need to identify military-affiliated faculty and staff was needed this fall semester, so she worked with Frelich to reach out to military-affiliated campus partners already identified. From there, she began to grow their list with the intention being to jump on board with the campus affinity group process when it gets off the ground. So, keep in mind, you may need to consult your own campus leadership to identify if you have an affinity group policy.</p>

 <p>The two have found that their list of military-affiliated staff and faculty continues to grow organically and more personably via casual conversations and military events. Carpenter mentions, "The more I talk about starting the group to my colleagues, the more people are identifying as military-affiliated. I've worked with some of these people for years and didn't know they were veterans." Frelich mentions that casual events bring in a lot of people from differing departments. A campus staff member who works in facilities attended a military-affiliated picnic and identified as a veteran. Neither Carpenter or Frelich knew this before the picnic and added the individual to the list.</p>

 <p>Remember, there may be employees who have no military-affiliation and still want to be a part of the VERG.</p>

 <h2 class="c1">The Second Task: Identify the Goals of Your Veteran Employee Resource Group</h2>
 <p>The VERG on your campus can be designed to support whatever initiatives your community needs, and this will vary by campus. UND has identified that they need their VERG to work on bettering the onboarding of their military-affiliated students and creating campus-wide orientations, increasing visibility of military-affiliated faculty and staff via a directory, and identifying what 'military-friendly' means on their campus. To establish your own VERG goals, consider where your campus can improve and listen to the issues students, faculty, and staff are facing to implement meaningful change and growth.</p>

 <p>Another item to keep in mind, while a VERG implies 'veteran' status, these days, there may be more military-affiliated students on your campus than student veterans. As more veterans transfer their GI Bill® benefits to their children and spouses, Frelich states that it still comes down to supporting the veteran. The veteran may not be on your campus, but "If a veteran transfers their GI Bill® benefits, you are still serving the veteran, that's what the veteran wants," says Frelich.</p>

 <h2 class="c1">The Third Task: Identify the Tone of the Group</h2>
 <p>How formal or informal will your VERG be? Does every VERG member need to be at every meeting? Does every VERG member need to play an organizational or leadership role? Carpenter and Frelich mention that they want their VERG to be as inclusive as possible and that means offering a variety of ways to be a part of the group. Carpenter shares that their VERG will offer employees the ability to be passive members and just consume the information or content that comes from the group, or employees can choose to be active members and take on leadership roles and programming roles.</p>

 <h2 class="c1">The Fourth Task: Don't Give Up</h2>
 <p>The thought of navigating a new process at your institution may be enough to slow or halt your progress of developing a VERG. But Carpenter shares that, "We're not hitting a lot of 'nos.' It's a lot more 'Let's do this.'"</p>

 <p>It is important to keep the momentum going by continuing to reach out to colleagues and just going about the process a little bit more organically. And, for UND, that has actually led to more personable connections and effective networking opportunities. Some of the staff and faculty they have connected with may not have felt compelled to respond to the emailed survey in the first place.</p>

 <p>Good things take time. With their list growing, Carpenter shares, "Things are in motion, and I hope within the next year we will have the group established and off the ground."</p>

 <p>How have you implemented a VERG? And if you did you run into any roadblocks, how did you overcome them?</p>

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<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://www.HigherEdMilitary.com">HigherEdMilitary</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://www.higheredmilitary.com/news/articleDisplay.cfm?ID=3719">original article</a>.</p>
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