American higher education continues to evolve as new generations of students attend campuses throughout the United States. The driving force behind a lot of the evolution on American campuses is the expectations of the new generation of students. The new expectations include access to robust support services, degree programs that match their career goals, and increased reliability on their families to be successful. If you were to ask current staff and faculty members about these new expectations, they may grumble the most about how reliant students are on their families. The debate over whether the reliance on family support is positive or negative for students in the long run is happening on your campus right now.

A Key Partnership: Military Families

Serving in the military or growing up in a military family brings with it unique challenges and stress that should not be faced alone. Military families (spouses, children, extended family members) have always played a crucial role in the success of service members. Military families are used to stepping in to provide support, encouragement, and wisdom during stressful times. Pursuing higher education is different than going on a deployment or working revolving shifts in the military, but going to college does present opportunities for prolonged stress. What strategies can military-connected students use to be successful in college? One strategy that does not get enough attention is leveraging the well-developed support skills of military families.

Military families are a key partnership that needs to be cultivated to ensure the success of your military-connected students. Service members are taught to lean on their units for professional support and family and friends for social/personal support. If universities want to affect positive educational outcomes (i.e., retention and graduation rates), investing in family engagement is a logical first step. Military-connected students will first look to their family members for support and guidance when faced with a challenging situation during college. It is important to understand which family members your military-connected student will turn to based on their connection to the military.

Military Family Relationships of Active-Duty and Student Veterans

Active-duty service members and student veterans tend to be older and will rely more heavily on spouses and community members for support and encouragement. These students have usually transitioned into being independent adults that are not reliant on their parents for support. Often, when you first meet an active-duty service member or student veteran, they will be accompanied by their spouse as they try to figure out how to get into college and use their educational benefits to pay for college. Don't be surprised if the spouse asks a lot of questions during this first encounter, as many spouses are used to taking charge and handling family business. If the active-duty service member or student veteran has ties to the community, they may also bring up conversations they have had with local veteran service officers or organizations.

Military Family Relationships of National Guard and Reservists

National Guard and Reservists can be both traditional-aged students or fully independent adults depending on how far they are into their military careers. These students can present a challenge to support because you need to figure out what entity is supporting them and who they go to for guidance. National Guard and Reservists can lean heavily on their units, parents, or spouses for support and guidance. After you meet them initially, you should be able to decipher which entities they listen to for help, and don't be surprised if it is a combination of all the above sources. You may also have to chat with your local National Guard and Reserves units separately to ensure that the correct information is being shared widely within your state.

Military Family Relationships of Military Dependents

Military dependents/children tend to be your traditional-aged students who rely heavily on their parents or extended family members for support and guidance. They will come by your office during recruiting events, often very early in the process, with their parents to start asking questions about using their education benefits and other support services for them on campus. These initial conversations can take place one to two years before they plan to start at your college or university. Don't be surprised if their parents or extended family want specific answers right away so they can plan accordingly for the start of their student's educational journey in the future. Often, there is just as much or more anxiety for the parents or extended family members as there is for the students as they pursue post-secondary education.

Leveraging Military Family Support for College Success

There are times when staff, faculty, and administrators will view parents and family members as a hurdle in the educational process. Most parents and family members become a hurdle when they feel like they are cut out of that process or not valued. It is important to start shifting that view and consider engaging parents and family members as a vital opportunity to support the college success of military-connected students. These students are already relying on the support and guidance of trusted advisors; it is a business imperative to leverage the position these advisors hold. The following are three simple strategies to ensure college success for your military-connected students:

Strategy #1: Engage Military Families Early

Engaging military families early in the recruitment process is critical to developing the relationships needed to weather times of stress and the unknown. Many campuses run events like Preview Days and Admitted Student Days, as part of their regular recruitment and engagement strategies for both traditional and transfer students. Engaging military-connected families at these junctures is crucial to the development of mutually beneficial relationships geared towards supporting military-connected student success. If your military-affiliated office does not participate in those types of events currently, you are missing a golden opportunity. Reach out to your admissions office and volunteer to participate so you can start the process of building solid family relationships before the student starts at your college or university.

Strategy #2: Build Trust with Military Families

Building trust with your military families takes time, but if you do it correctly, it can pay major dividends throughout the military-connected student's time on campus. The most important thing you can do in the family relationship-building process is to develop and maintain trust. Without established trust, these relationships will be difficult to build and maintain while the student is attending your college or university. Trust is not built only by being knowledgeable and available to answer questions; it is also built by admitting when you do not have the answers, when you make mistakes with education benefits, or when you need to improve how your office supports military-connected students. Being vulnerable in these areas shows the family members that you care about their students and can help rebuild lost trust in these important relationships.

Strategy #3: Communicate Consistently with Military Families

Communicating consistently with military families (not just during Military Family or Military Child Appreciation Months) over time leads to more trusted relationships and less ambiguity while on campus. Families and students are given a lot of different information from the time they apply to the time they attend classes. Often, families and students face information overload, and they are expected to retain that information and act upon it in the distant future. By communicating consistently with military families and students, you can take some of that burden off their shoulders and provide the information to them when it is a priority. The communication has to be consistent and timely, and with some planning up front you can schedule the communication reminders based off the academic calendar and schedule of events throughout the year.

Article Topics

Military Focused Events Military Friendly Institutions Research on Student Veterans Serving Military in HigherEd Veterans Academic Success Women Veterans

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