Transitioning from Military to College
Jacksonville University can assist you in making a successful transition from the
military to college and to life after college. Beyond providing a quality education,
we also offer a lot of resources on campus to help you make that transition smoothly.
One of our greatest assets is our VMRC Director Mike Mitchell, who acts as an advocate for military and veteran students on campus. He will work with you to ensure your unique needs are met by coordinating with various services such as academic advising, tutoring, counseling, disability accommodations, veterans programs, benefits information and assistance services. Mike can be contacted at (904) 256-7638 or mmitche26@ju.edu.
You can read about some local and state resources, or about some of our other on-campus resources here. If you have questions or concerns and aren't sure whom to contact, this listing can point you in the right direction.
Orientation
Jacksonville University provides a military student orientation session each semester (fall and spring). We strongly encourage our new military students to attend to learn about campus services and support. For more information, contact Mike Mitchell at (904) 256-7638 or mmitche26@ju.edu. Videos from previous orientations are provided below.
Basic Orientation
JU Student Panel
Faculty Panel
Career Management
Counseling Center and Accommodations
Peer to Peer Program and Financial Services
Need a transcript?
If you need an accessible transcript of one of the videos on this page, please contact us.
Request a transcript for one of these videos
Additional Resources
Some of the other resources and services we use include:
- US Department of Veterans Affairs
- GI Bill site
- GI Bill Comparison Tool
- Veterans’ Administration Career Scope Assessment Portal: CareerScope takes career and educational planning to a new level. The proven career assessment and reporting system from the Vocational Research Institute (VRI) is a powerful, yet easy-to-use program. With over 50 years of experience developing world-class assessment programs, VRI has designed a self-administered system that measures both aptitude and interest through valid and reliable assessment tasks.
- Joint Services Transcript: You should request a Joint Service Transcript (JST) to assist Jacksonville University is assessing your military service for college credit. JST is an academically accepted document approved by the American Council on Education (ACE) to validate a service member's military occupational experience and training along with the corresponding ACE college credit recommendations. It provides a description of military schooling and work history in civilian language. It serves as a counseling tool for academic and career counselors in advising service members and veterans. It serves as an aid in preparing resumes and explaining Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, National Guard and Navy work experience to civilian employers. It also saves time and money by awarding academic credits, which means less tuition to pay and less time spent in the classroom.
- Transition Assistance Online: The largest source of transition assistance information, jobs and tools for today's separating military. On this career site for military veterans, service members can find the resources needed to transition from their much appreciated military service, to the perfect civilian career. Military hiring employers and advertisers can post job ads, search resumes and advertise directly to military candidates.
- The National Resource Directory (NRD): provides access to services and resources at the national, state and local levels that support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration. Visitors can find information on a variety of topics including benefits & compensation, education & training, employment, family & caregiver support, health, homeless assistance, housing, transportation & travel and other services & resources.
- The Verification of Military Experience and Training (VMET): Sponsored by the Department of Defense to provide eligible service members a VMET document (DD Form 2586) on demand. The VMET data is a portion of a member's career history, which comes from a large database built over the years with data received from the four service's official personnel and training systems. This VMET occupational and training history data is matched to time-appropriate narrative descriptions to generate the VMET document.
- The Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP): Created to assist Army personnel transitioning from military service to civilian careers. The majority of Army personnel retiring and/or leaving the military use this site. Companies can list their job opportunities on the ACAP website.
- The Key to Career Success campaign: Connects veterans and transitioning service members with high quality career planning, training and job search resources available at local One-Stop Career Centers. It provides resources to match military experience to civilian occupations, find a job, get credentials, certifications and licenses, assistance in writing a resume and other assistance. There are multiple Career Centers in Northeast Florida.
- The Department of Labor sponsors this website that provides a wide range of information of interest to veterans; including e-VETS Advisor, Veterans’ Preference Advisor, Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) Advisor and many other resources for the veteran.
- This Department of Labor site provides a crosswalk search that compares military jobs to civilian careers and then look through a wealth of data – wages, employment outlook, required skills – on those careers.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides an Occupational Outlook Handbook for hundreds of different types of jobs, such as teacher, lawyer, and nurse. This document tells you the training and education needed, earnings, expected job prospects, what workers do on the job, and working conditions In addition, the Handbook gives you job search tips, links to information about the job market in each State, and more. You can also view frequently asked questions about the Handbook.
- Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR): ESGR, a Department of Defense office, was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve Component Service members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee's military commitment.
- Department of Veterans' Affairs Specially Adapted Housing Program: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers the Specially Adapted Housing program, designed to help severely disabled Veterans and Servicemembers purchase or construct an adapted home, or modify an existing home to accommodate a disability. Two grant programs exist: the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant and the Special Housing Adaptation (SHA) grant. Each Veteran’s housing/living needs are as unique as their physical disabilities. The Specially Adapted Housing program provides hands-on, personalized, customized service to severely disabled Veterans seeking home adaptations.
- Veterans Career Transition Program: The Veterans Career Transition Program, operated by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, is delivered at no cost to post-9/11 veterans, their spouses, and spouses of active duty military. Paid for in entirety by a grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co, VCTP offers solutions to the above challenges, as well as connections to specific education and training programs, business/industry coalitions focused on veteran employment and information about national and state-level opportunities and benefits for veterans and their families. The Professional Skills Track and the Tech Track are offered through an advisor-led group admitted quarterly, and the Independent Study Track is available for start at any time.
- GIJobs.com Education Resources for Veterans: GI Jobs provides extensive resources and articles to assist with your transition to college.
- Military Veterans Need a College Success Plan: Dr. Stephen Jones provides an outline on the need for a College Success Plan.
- The U.S. Service member's Guide to Academic Programs and Aids
- Veterans Resources: Online Colleges Database
- USAA Guide to Assist in Transitioning to Civilian Life: USAA provides Separation Assessment Tool helps give you a clearer picture of your financial standing and the Separation Checklist can guide you through important steps involving your job change, moving plans, personal finances, and education opportunities.
- Military.com provides resources to assist with military members’ transition
- Education and Job Opportunities: Provides information on educational and job opportunities for military veterans. News, advice and resources to help you get a degree, search for a job or start your own business – from vet success stories to the most comprehensive military job fair calendar on the web.
- Networking Sites:
- Translate Military Skills to Civilian Occupations: Takes your military skills and assists in finding equivalent civilian occupations, exploring education opportunities to extend your skills, learning from veterans with your specialty, applying for jobs that match your skills, identifying civilian terminology for your resume, and identifying the hot career options for your specialty.
- Career Assessments: