Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) units have operated on college campuses all over the United States (U.S.) since the 20^th Century. These units afford interested college students the opportunity to experience formal military training, service, team building, and leadership development. Once students complete their academic degree and ROTC training, they can commission as an officer in the military. The Air Force, Army, and Navy currently operate branch sponsored ROTC units on over 1,000 college campuses in the U.S. The Marine Corps offers college students the opportunity to train and commission as future Marine Corps officers in collaboration with Navy ROTC units. The Coast Guard offers a unique opportunity to commission as an officer through the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI).

History

Army ROTC units have educated and commissioned future army officers for over 100 years. The structure of Army ROTC units as we currently know them began with the passage of the National Defense Act of 1916. International events linked to World War I necessitated the education and training of large numbers of officers through these units. ROTC graduates made a positive impact on the Army and ROTC's role as the preferred commissioning source for the Army was solidified with the passage of the ROTC Vitalization Act of 1964. Army ROTC units started offering scholarships and monthly stipends to qualified cadets to make military service more appealing. Cadet command was established in 1986 to serve as the centralized command in charge of college ROTC units, four regional headquarters, and high school Junior ROTC units.

Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP)

According to data from the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, there was 820,829 undergraduate military learners in the 2019-20 academic year. Within that undergraduate military learner population in the 2019-20 academic year, 50,767 students were Reserve or National Guard students. Those Reserve and National Guard students were more traditional-aged, diverse, likely to pursue a bachelor's degree, and likely to attend a public four-year college than active duty or veteran students. The Army has a unique program to attract these Reserve and National Guard students into future leadership opportunities through their ROTC units. The Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) allows enlisted soldiers in the Army Reserves or National Guard to serve in their units and attend college as a cadet. SMP cadets enjoy additional financial incentives, formal officer training, and are non-deployable while on SMP status.

The SMP program provides a direct commissioning pathway for eligible enlisted soldiers in the Army Reserves or National Guard to eventually serve as officers after graduation. The amount of Reserve and National Guard students in college is likely to be higher in the 2024-25 academic year. The need to support SMP cadets at public four-year colleges has increased as Reserve and National Guard members are more likely to pursue a bachelor's degree at a public four-year college. This should not be surprising as many Reserve and National Guard units surround our public four-year colleges across the U.S. To better support SMP cadets at these colleges, it is helpful to understand the struggles that could be faced by SMP cadets.

Barriers to Connecting on Campus

A recent study by Buckley and colleagues examined how ROTC affiliation impacted cadets' views of campus climate and sense of belonging. Participants in this study identified several barriers to their views on campus climate and sense of belonging. First, cadets experienced discrimination on campus when wearing their uniforms due to disapproval by some of military presence on college campuses. Second, cadets experienced tension between their multiple identities and how they could best connect with campus. Lastly, cadets experienced misunderstanding from campus partners on what their ROTC responsibilities entailed.

Strategies to Overcome Barriers

Retention of current students has become more important on our campuses as colleges have become more and more dependent on tuition revenue. Implementing strategies to support retention efforts are important for all students, but even more so for unique groups of students like SMP cadets. The following are support strategies designed to support your SMP cadets:

1. Strategic Integration

Often ROTC units operate on the outskirts of campus, much of their activities throughout the academic year are completed away from the main part of campus. The average student on campus will have little knowledge of what ROTC is and could have misconceptions about their purpose on campus. That provides an opportunity for SMP cadets to educate campus about its purpose and ease concerns of some who are uneasy about a military presence on campus. SMP cadets can take part in student government activities, participate in student clubs and organizations, or work on campus in support roles such as resident assistants (RA). Each of these provides an opportunity for SMP cadets to talk with other students about the purpose of ROTC and alleviate any misconceptions held by other students.

2. Strategic Partnerships

One of the most unique features of a SMP cadet is that they are one part cadet and one part service member. Whereas other cadets are responsible for their academics and ROTC obligations, SMP cadets are responsible for that and military obligations to their local units. Those military obligations, and education benefits gained through them, provide an opportunity to develop a main strategic partnership. Most campuses have an office that is responsible for administering military or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) education benefits. Developing a strategic relationship between your campus ROTC unit and that office will serve two purposes. First, it will provide access to higher education professionals who understand how to interact and engage with students who have multiple identities. There are other offices on campus that work with students with multiple identities, but those do not specialize in working with students who share a military or veteran identity. Second, it will provide another part of campus that the SMP cadets can connect with and help improve their sense of belonging.

3. Strategic Communication

Due to the disconnected nature of ROTC, campus partners are often unaware of the responsibilities or time commitments of SMP cadets. This provides SMP cadets an opportunity to educate the campus community about their responsibilities to both ROTC and their military units. The development of cadet interviews and feature stories for the university's web site and social media platforms would help to alleviate those misunderstandings. Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members would get the opportunity to hear first-hand from SMP cadets about what is expected of them, how they manage their time commitments, and why ROTC is important to their future success. These interviews and stories would help campus partners to understand the personal dedication and commitment of SMP cadets on their campus.

Article Topics

Military Educational Benefits Military Friendly Institutions Research on Student Veterans Serving Military in HigherEd Veterans Academic Success Women Veterans Workplace Inclusion

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