Green Zone Training

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Green Zone Training

At Reinhardt University, we recognize and value our student veterans not only for their service to our country, but also the leadership, life experience, and maturity they bring to the education environment on campus in and out of the classroom. Faculty, staff, and fellow students play an essential role in helping student veterans transition to life at Reinhardt. We invite you to attend Green Zone Training, to learn about the student veteran experience and how you can best support this population.

Mission: Green Zone Training provides faculty, staff, and students with an understanding of the military experience of student veterans as they transition from the military to campus life.

After Green Zone Training, participants will:

  • Understand who our student veterans are
  • Understand the military experience
  • Learn about the veteran experience in higher education
  • Learn what you can do to support student veterans
  • Familiarize yourself with on-campus and off-campus veteran resources

Green Zone training is for faculty, staff, and students who wish to learn more about the military affiliated student experience. The goals are to train members of the Reinhardt community to know more about the issues and concerns faced by military-affiliated students and to identify individuals who are available to assist this population. Upon completion, participants will be able to lend a sympathetic ear and help the student-veteran identify and connect with the appropriate resources. Participants who complete the training will receive a sign to display in their office.

Green Zone... What is it?

  • An initiative to support student veterans by designating locations recognized as “safe places."
  • Identifies faculty and staff at who are knowledgeable about issues faced by student veterans and resources available to assist them.
  • Participants are identified by a Green Zone emblem located outside their office door and, for faculty, on the course syllabus.
  • A way to support and give back to those who have sacrificed for others.
  • Helps faculty and staff provide supportive services necessary to ensure that veteran students are successful in their academic pursuits, adjust to the campus environment and eventually transition to civilian employment.

Who is a Green Zone volunteer?

Reinhardt staff and faculty who identify themselves as:

  • someone who is aware of the issues and concerns faced by student veterans/service members
  • someone who is available to assist the student
  • someone who has completed the Green Zone training
  • volunteers are NOT expected to be experts who can “solve” the problems. Instead – lend a sympathetic ear
  • be someone who can help the student find the appropriate resources for problem resolution

Additional Training Resources

For those who are seeking additional training related to supporting veterans, you are encouraged to complete two training modules: "Veteran 101: DOD Overview" and "15 things Veterans would like you to know." These trainings are offered through PsychArmor. You will need to create an account. This training should take less than 30 minutes to complete and you can finish it at your own pace.

Please email the Dean of Students (deanofstudents@reinhardt.edu) a copy of your transcript once you have finished the training. Transcripts can be accessed from the “My Learning Tab” where you can print and save the transcript as a pdf file. The website offers more training modules, however, you only need to complete these two modules.

 

  1. 15 Things Veterans Would Like You to Know

This is the cornerstone course for PsychArmor and was created to educate anyone who works with, lives with, or cares for our military Veterans. PsychArmor asked hundreds of Veterans what they wanted civilians, employers, educators, health care providers, and therapists to know about them. These comments were used to create the topics of this course including 5 Questions You Should Always Ask Veterans, 1 Question You Should Never Ask Veterans, and 15 Facts that promote greater understanding of our Veterans.

 

  1. Veteran 101: DOD Overview

This course covers the history of the Department of Defense (DoD) to help civilians understand how our military operates at the Federal level. It includes information about the purpose and history of the DoD and a breakdown of the different branches of military service. Understanding the environment a Veteran served under leads to a better understanding of the Veteran themselves.

The following is another resource that you may wish to familiarize yourself with.

Top 10 Green Zone Tips

  1. Realize veterans are nontraditional students, a special population of financially independent adults often juggling family, work, and studies.
  2. Be aware that not all the veterans in your classroom are male. More women are serving, and are almost as likely as their male counterparts to have experienced firsthand traumas of war.  One in four veteran students are women. (Newbold & Balmer, 2012)
  3. Veterans generally possess discipline, structure, and a strong work ethic. Remember that the military teaches team connection and completion skills.
  4. With some awareness and sensitivity on the instructor’s part, veteran life experiences become assets, adding to the diversity of perspectives represented in classrooms.  These life experiences can help both veterans and nonveterans gain a broader, more nuanced perspective on the world or class subject. (Kreuter, 2012)
  5. A secured classroom can provide veterans with feelings of safety.  Veterans may be sensitive to triggers such as surprises, loud noises, and chaos. Be cautious about images of injury, dismemberment and death, and provide advanced warning before displaying such images. (Newbold & Balmer, 2012)
  6. Veterans view the instructor as the leader of the classroom and typically respect decisiveness. Treat veterans as adults, as this is what they expect. Instructors should have effective classroom management policies in place. (Newbold & Balmer, 2012)
  7. Veterans may be reluctant to talk about their military experiences. Conversely, some may inadvertently dominate class discussions, in which cases boundaries for the nature and quantity of class participation need to be set, preferably in private, without calling the student out in front of the class.  Don’t try to relate to experiences that you don’t share – if you haven’t been in combat, don’t pretend that you understand what it or its aftermath is like. (Kreuter, 2012)
  8. Keep the syllabus (mission) clear with specific tasks and dates.  Be available for assistance and added support or referral.  Veterans may not easily admit when they are struggling. (Grasgreen, 2013)
  9. Understand that not everything in these Top Ten tips applies to every veteran.  They are all unique individuals with unique needs, and we do not want to engage in false assumptions about veterans.
  10. One example of how you can help is to use the resources provided on this page to refer veteran student to services on campus.  It is helpful to confirm that you are referring correctly by making a phone call before sending the student to the referral source.

 

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