gibill

https://www.iusb.edu/veteran/

I know, reviewing a website. That sounds about as exciting as reading one of those political pamphlets that arrive in the mail during the election cycle but Indiana University of South Bend does have a useful website for student veterans, though it fall short in some regards.

The website is compact and the layout is easy to navigate. The How to Get Started section is incredibly in that it provides a step by step guide that is useful for new students and those that have been in school for awhile. Then there are several more sections that provide useful definitions of benefits, information about the Student Veteran’s Organization and updated events for veterans.

The Helpful Links and News section falls short in many parts, not the least being there is no news posted on the page at all. There is a link to militarytimes.com but that site doesn’t always provide the best news for veterans. Also, there are no links to local veteran resources, such as the local VA clinic or area veteran organizations.

The biggest missed opportunity is that the site does not provide a section for non-veterans. The veteran population is small and widely misunderstood both by fellow students and professors so there should be a section provided for them to better understand the veterans that attend the university.

From my personal experience the university has always been supportive of veterans and when I had to leave for a year to go on deployment, both the university and my professors went out of their way to help me, which I cannot say for a friend of mine who attended a different university which had an Office of Veteran services that actively disliked veterans and didn’t have a problem telling them so. Indian University of South Bend, both its professors and administrators, have a tradition of being good to veterans so I hope recent changes do not endanger that tradition.

 

-Public Intel