Registrar Rodney Parks and Erin Walker presented an excerpt of the work they co-authored regarding the impact of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries on veterans returning to higher education.
Elon University Registrar Rodney Parks and Elon senior Erin Walker, a student research assistant majoring in psychology, presented a visual representation of a section of the upcoming AACRAO publication at the SACRAO conference in Raleigh on Monday, Feb. 17.
The publication “Helping Veterans Succeed: A Handbook for Higher Education Administrators” seeks to increase administrators’ awareness and understanding of student veterans along with providing concepts on how they can help this growing student population succeed. Parks and Walker are two of the co-authors of the upcoming publication. The section they presented was the one they authored, which encompassed the topic of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) and how these disabilities may interfere with veterans attending higher education institutions. It also looks at how administrators can better service these specific groups of student veterans.
PTSD and TBIs are becoming increasingly more common due to the frequent occurrence of IED injuries in the existing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Higher education institutions need to be more aware of these disabilities because of the influx of soldiers returning from active duty that will be utilizing their educational benefits in the coming years. These disabilities can be detrimental to everyday functioning and administrators should prepare to help these students by being knowledgeable, understanding and flexible while interacting with them and aiding them in their pursuit of higher education.
This publication will be released the end of March/early April and will be an advance toward increasing the awareness of administrators who service student veterans wishing to succeed.