A Faculty Guide to Engaging Veteran & Military-Connected Students in the Classroom

Purpose and Framing

In 2018, nearly 670,000 veterans used VA education and vocational benefits. Many are older than traditional undergraduates, and some are married, have children, or balance full-time jobs alongside full-time study.

At Columbia’s School of General Studies (GS), nearly 400 veterans are enrolled. All undergraduate GS students take Literature Humanities (Lit Hum) and Contemporary Civilization (CC), meaning Core Curriculum lecturers will likely have at least one student-veteran in their class.

This guide, developed by CVTI in collaboration with a team of CU Core Curriculum faculty and staff, aims to help Lit Hum and CC instructors understand the unique experiences, strengths, and challenges student veterans bring to the classroom, offering practical strategies to foster an inclusive environment that supports their academic success and transition from military service.

A Note About this Guide

What follows attempts to prompt discussion and reflection on how to construct inclusive classrooms for Columbia’s student veterans, and how to help facilitate their transition from military service to the higher education classroom.

The goal of this guide, however, is not to prescriptively tell faculty and instructors how to construct and run their class and/or engage with their students. Instead, what follows are suggestions and ideas that hopefully serve as a foundation for new, or as a reinforcement of current teaching practices, as well as to facilitate reflection on their current pedagogy.

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Veteran Narratives & Columbia’s Classrooms

There is no single, universal profile for student veterans. Some are returning from combat overseas, while others have never experienced time on the battlefield. Some are married, have children, and are navigating full-time jobs outside of their academic work. Some student veterans are struggling to find employment since returning home, and they may be experiencing mental and physical health concerns that could negatively impact both their job and academic performance.

Amidst this diversity, however, there exists a shared experience: All student veterans are actively working to transition from military to academic life. Sportman and Thomas (2015) identify three facets of this transition:

  • The transition to civilian life
  • The transition to campus life
  • The transition to classroom learning

 

As instructors of a required course, we play a significant role in adjustment and adaptation of our student veterans.

How, then, can we, as instructors, go about constructing classrooms and learning environments that support and facilitate these moments of transition?

Here, we can draw from one of the Center for Veteran Transition and Integration’s core values: while the responsibility for transitioning belongs to the student veteran, on their own terms and using available resources, the responsibility to integrate with the veteran (their narrative) belongs to the administration, staff, and faculty.

This principle asks us not to expect student veterans to assimilate into a pre-existing academic mold, but instead to adapt our pedagogical practices to their lived realities (as we feel necessary and within our bandwidth). Integrating with the veteran narrative means listening intentionally, acknowledging complexity before drawing conclusions, and valuing each student’s background as a site of knowledge. It requires instructors and faculty to “meet students where they are at.”

For student veterans, whose life trajectories often involve deployments, trauma, leadership, loss, and profound transformation, faculty engagement becomes more than just instruction, it becomes witnessing. And there is so much to learn from veteran and military-connected students' wealth of lived experience. As a slice of diversity and experience across the United States demographic, veterans bring an incredibly rich discourse to the campus and classroom. By participating in this narrative ecology, faculty can build classrooms that serve not just as sites of learning, but as bridges across the transitions student veterans navigate daily.

☞ Questions for Reflection
  • Do I assume students have or have not experienced war or trauma?
  • Am I thinking in monolithic frames (e.g., trauma vs. strength, hero vs. broken)?

  • Do I make assumptions about what a veteran “is” or “should be”?

     

     

Constructing a Classroom of Belonging for Veteran and Military-Connected Students

In discussing the differences between military training and academic life, Roost and Roost (2014) note how the former comes with a strong sense of structure, immediate and oftentimes tangible results from mission-driven tasks, and a high sense of personal and communal responsibility.  In contrast, academic work can, at times, feel ambiguous and/or lacking in immediate purpose or clear outcomes.

The guide below focuses on five areas when constructing a classroom of belonging for veteran and military-connected students:

The objective(s) of a writing assignment that asks for critical engagement with a specific text may feel too vague or abstract to a student who is not accustomed to this method of literary engagement. Without clearly articulated goals and expectations, then, our student-veterans might struggle to navigate this type of assignment.

To demonstrate mindfulness of such a hurdle, and in order to facilitate student-veteran academic success, it may be helpful to consider the following suggestions:

Design the writing assignment with scaffolded instructions
To start

You could ask your students, either in-class or as a short assignment, to first write a short analytical paragraph that closely reads and/or critiques a small passage of text. This kind of focused exercise can help your students practice skills such as: textual analysis, interpretation, and argumentation in manageable, clearly defined ways.

As a next step

You could have your students read and respond to a classmate’s paragraph. This act of peer-review can help students in:

  • clarifying their own understanding of the assignment
  • recognizing effective writing strategies
  • reflecting on their own choices as writers and readers 

Additionally, the process of peer-review can help build a sense of community and support within the classroom, as well as a sense of shared responsibility that emerges from collaborative learning.

Other Practical Applications:

  • Provide students with a detailed grading rubric before the assignment is due.

    A detailed rubric clarifies expectations and reduces ambiguity for student-veterans. In outlining the specific criteria on which their writing will be assessed, you help to demystify what success looks like.

    Alongside this, rubrics help to make the assessment process more transparent—leveling the playing field for students who may not be familiar with unspoken academic conventions.

  • Provide students with an example of an essay that conducts a close reading and critical textual analysis

    A well-written example can help clarify the expectations of the assignment by demonstrating what strong analysis looks like in practice such as:

    • how to select a passage
    • build an argument
    • support claims with textual evidence

 

☞ Questions for Reflection:
  • How do I frame literature that may involve veterans in relation to student experiences?
  • Am I informing students in advance about intense content?
  • Whose stories are missing from the assigned texts?

Classroom discussions may also present another unfamiliar and difficult terrain for student veterans to navigate. Often in military settings communication is direct and hierarchical. Academic discussions, on the other hand, frequently privilege open-ended inquiry, ambiguity, and disagreement as productive forms of engagement. Student veterans may find it difficult to adjust to these changes in norms, especially when discussions lack clear structure or seem to be dominated by abstract theorizing.

To start

 It might be helpful to consider implementing the following suggestions:

  • transparent discussion goals
  • guiding questions
  • models of respectful dialogue
As a next step

There may also be an opportunity to provide your students with low-stakes opportunities to participate, such as small-group work or written reflections. These pedagogical practices can help student-veterans to feel more comfortable participating in discussions and engaging in dialogue with their peers. Ultimately, these low-stakes opportunities provide them with the space and time to think about and reflect on the class material, as well as the contributions of their peers without putting them on the spot. 

☞ Other Practical Applications:
  • collaboratively drafting a community agreement at the start of the semester
  • incorporating reflective pauses throughout discussion, especially after difficult material
  • allowing students to opt-in or opt-out of certain discussions and personal reflection exercises
  • provide syllabus “content flags.”

 

☞ Questions for Reflection:
  • Do I provide multiple ways to participate in sensitive discussions?
  • Do all students feel invited, not pressured, into hard conversations?
  • Am I offering space for students to explore evolving identities in their work?
  • Are veterans and military-connected students invited to reframe the text’s meaning through their experience?

During both in-class discussions and in individual dialogue with our students, it is important to listen without judgement, avoid assumptions about one’s military service, and never require student veterans to share more details than they offer about their service. While some may choose to share about their experiences, such as when reading stories of war and conflict, others may prefer to maintain boundaries regarding that part of their identity.

☞ Practical Applications:

As instructors, we can respect and listen to our students in the following ways:

  • honoring our students’ choices
  • creating space for trust to develop naturally over time
  • explicitly and implicitly articulating that all students belong in our classroom
  • demonstrating a willingness to meet students where they are at

 

☞ Questions for Reflection:
  • Am I practicing deep listening when a student shares?
  • Do I invite students to share how they learn best?
  • Do I model curiosity rather than authority when discussing lived experience?

Just as creating space for dialogue and listening with respect fosters belonging, cultivating a culture of feedback can deepen mutual trust between instructor and students. For many student veterans, offering feedback to an authority figure may feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable, especially in the early stages of transitioning into academic life. Establishing clear, low-stakes opportunities for students to reflect on their learning and share their needs can help normalize feedback as a collaborative practice rather than a critique.

To Start

It may be helpful to consider the following strategies:

  • Integrating reflective exercises (e.g., asking “What’s helping your learning?” and/or “What might enhance your learning?”)
  • Model self-reflection aloud, showing students that teaching is an adaptive practice.

 

☞ Other Practical Applications:
  • Recontextualize canonical texts with a “living documents” lens. (Invite students to write alternative narrative perspectives.)
  • Integrate policies to allow flexible arrangements if veterans or military-connected students are called back to duty.
  • Begin the semester with an instructor and student co-created discussion contract.
  • Use partner check-ins or journaling prompts for mutual understanding.
  • Integrate reflective exercises where students evaluate their own learning.

 

☞ Questions for Reflection:
  • Do I allow flexible arrangements if veterans or military-connected students are called back to duty?
  • How do I respond when a student challenges my perspective?

Supporting student-veterans in the classroom extends beyond individual teaching practices; it also involves connecting to the wider network of resources and opportunities available to them. Instructors who are familiar with veteran support services can act as crucial bridges, helping students navigate institutional structures during their transition into academic life.

To cultivate this kind of support, it may be helpful to ask yourself the following:
  • Do I know Columbia’s veteran support contacts?
  • Am I aware of CVTI’s services?

  • Am I encouraging student participation in veteran and military-connected storytelling and witnessing experiences?

     

☞Practical ways to embed this awareness into your teaching may include:
  • Include links to CVTI and other resources on your syllabus and refer students as needed.
  • Attend at least one CVTI event or training a year to stay current on student needs.
  • Invite students to attend or participate in campus events that center veteran experiences and storytelling.

 

By integrating these practices, instructors not only provide direct resources but also signal to student veterans that their identities and experiences are seen, supported, and valued within the academic community.

Quick Reference Guide

This reference provides a snapshot of key practices for creating an inclusive and supportive classroom for student-veterans. It is designed to help instructors quickly assess where their current teaching approaches fall and identify concrete steps to strengthen writing assignments, discussions, feedback culture, and connections to veteran support services.

Further Reading

Branker, Cheryl. "Deserving design: The new generation of student veterans." Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability 22.1 (2009): 59-66.

Elliott, Marta. "Predicting problems on campus: An analysis of college student veterans." Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 15.1 (2015): 105-126.

Gonzalez, Carlene A., and Marta Elliott. "Faculty attitudes and behaviors towards student veterans." Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability 29.1 (2016): 35-46.

Hodges, Eric. "Teaching veterans studies: Bridging the gap between US civilians and veterans through the college classroom." Journal of Veterans Studies 3.1 (2018).

Kirchner, Michael J., Lia Coryell, and S. M. Yelich Biniecki. "Promising practices for engaging student veterans." Quality Approaches in Higher Education 5.1 (2014): 12-18.

Smith, Daniel B. A Collective Case Study: Exploring Undergraduate Student Veterans' Perceptions of Social and Psychological Support Needs during Transition from Military to Higher Education, Drexel University, United States -- Pennsylvania, 2020.

Sullivan, K., & Yoon, K. “Student Veterans’ Strengths: Exploring Student Veterans’ Perceptions of Their Strengths and How to Harness Them in Higher Education.” The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 68.3 (2020): 164–180.

Sutton, H. “Understand the new generation of student veterans.” The National Teaching & Learning Forum, 31 (2022): 9-10.

Vogus, B. "Reaching and teaching nontraditional students in academic libraries: veterans and first-generation students.” Public Services Quarterly, 19.3 (2023): 208–212.