Crowder offers help for veterans

Alyssa Beck
Reporter

The Neosho Crowder campus has upgraded the services provided for their veteran students and dependents as well as spouses of veterans. Employees now go more in depth with helping students.

In June, the previous employee retired, causing Crowder to take a second look at the service provided and decide on providing more specialized help for the students. The program is currently being run by Amanda Sanchez, and her work study, Amanda (last name and major). Crowder is hoping to expand its services to other sites in the near future.

The veteran services department allows for two work studies. Yet, there is a limited amount of office space, causing them to only be able to have one work study at the moment. The staff is hoping to get this problem fixed soon, to better help Veteran students and families.

The two employees work on signing up for benefits, reading and understanding VA papers, and bringing awareness of military culture to Crowder. “Signing up for benefits and Veteran Affair papers can be difficult to understand and also intimidating, so we like to be able to sit down with the students and talk them through it,” said Sanchez.

The Department of Veteran Affairs funds the benefits given to eligible students. They also pay for Crowder’s Veteran’s Affairs (VA) work studies. In addition, the department helps put money back into Crowder by enrolling veteran students who buy books from the bookstore.

Depending on the eligibility of the student, they are offered many benefits and programs. Some include the Montgomery GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation Programs, Veterans Educational Assistance Program, benefits under the post-9/11 GI Bill, the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship, and Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program. There are a number of requirements needed in order to obtain these benefits. Go to the Crowder website for more information.

The Crowder College Veteran Services is located in Farber Hall in the Neosho Campus in the Student Affairs office, by the bookstore. Anyone who thinks they may be eligible for benefits should ask for Amanda Sanchez and set up an appointment. You can contact her by e-mail at amandasanchez@crowder.edu or call at (417) 455-5434 Monday through Friday, 7:30a.m.-4:30p.m.