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Serving those who have served: the role of university career services in student veteran degree completion

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Serving those who have served: the role of university career services in student veteran degree completion

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Content Running head: STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION

SERVING THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED:
THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY CAREER SERVICES IN
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION

by

Brian Imson Guerrero

______________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

December 2015

Copyright 2015 Brian I. Guerrero
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 2

Acknowledgements
There are many acknowledgements to make so I will begin by recognizing UCLA’s
Division of Student Affairs, who supported me in my decision to obtain a doctorate while
working full-time. Writing this dissertation and focusing on coursework would not have been
possible without the support of amazing colleagues and mentors, especially Trudy Steinfeld,
Andrew Ceperley, Hazal Raja, and Kathy Sims. Thank you for pushing me and allowing me to
learn from you.
There are so many people to thank for being good company throughout this journey.
First, I must thank my dissertation chair and advisor, Tracy Tambascia, for always believing in
me and for pushing me to think differently about my ideas. Your energy and belief in me made
all of this possible. I look forward to continuing our relationship as colleagues. Second, I could
not have asked for a more generous committee that includes Drs. Helena Seli and Manny
Contomanolis. Dr. Seli, thank you for helping me identify my interests early on during the
program and for offering your perspective when I needed it most. Dr. Contomanolis, thank you
for welcoming me into the field of college career services and for the many contributions you
have given to our profession.
Outside of my formal committee, I have had the pleasure of working with so many
scholar practitioners throughout various points of this journey – many helped me work through
ideas and interpretations of my research along the way. I would like to thank Dana McCusker,
Jennifer Craig, Sinar Lomeli, Heidi Parragil, Max King Cap, and Jason Hale. Thank you for
your helpful feedback on my Chapters 1 and 2. I also want to thank the many people who
supported my research efforts, from helping me to recruit participants to just being interested in
and affirming of what I was doing. Thank you: Monroe Gorden, Jr., David Rourke, Wendy
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 3

Tobias, Christine Mata, Emily Ives, Shannon Holmes, Faiza Hamisi, Krisztina Kecskei, Kristy
Sherrer, Chris Howell, Christina Ruiz, Tim Mar, Karen Ravago, Lin Young, Hannah Bateman,
Ashlii Patterson, Kevin Kawakami, Sylvester Royal, Annie Maxfield, Albert E. Aubin, Christy
Q, Lauren Payne, Craig Schmidt, Paula Lee, Diana Gruverman, Ray Reyes, Chris Stipeck, Mary
Snowden, Seth Eichenholtz, Dominick Berkery, Maritza Martinez, Kimi Yu, as well as Drs.
Moses Davis, Suzanne Seplow, Marc Wais, Nancy Morrison, John Taborn, Jane E. Pizzolato and
Robert Teranishi. Most of all, I want to thank my fellow peers in the graduate program: Sharon
Chia Claros, Nancy Le, Dana McCusker, Yolanda Jauregui, Nina Kang, and Kaitlin Goodwillie.
Finding you my first year at USC was a gift. No matter how busy life got, your support and
brainpower helped me through some of the darkest points of this dissertation journey. Thank
you for keeping me laughing and for telling me that we all can accomplish this together.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my family, the Imson, Johnston & Guerrero
families as well as Raul, Zig, Chris, Vero, Patty, Frank and Baby. I’ve strived to make you
proud and you’ve reminded me of this goal every step of the way. This dissertation is dedicated
to all of you, especially the next generation of Guerrero scholars, Isaiah, Elijah, Ezekiel, and
Isabella. Until the day you write your own dissertations, you can have this to share with one
another. And to the love of my life, Marc: You inspire me. This dissertation is as much yours as
it is mine. Thank you for putting up with me during this process and for showing me nothing but
patience and understanding. Here’s to the next step in our life adventure.

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures and Tables............................................................................................................... 7
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY ........................................................................ 9
Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................... 11
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................. 12
Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 14
Significance of this Study ......................................................................................................... 15
Limitations and Delimitations ................................................................................................... 17
Definitions and Key Concepts .................................................................................................. 18
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 20
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ................................................................ 21
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 21
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................. 22
Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 23
A Brief History: Veterans in US Higher Education.................................................................. 23
History and Structure of Career Centers at Four-Year Institutions .......................................... 31
Self-Authorship ......................................................................................................................... 36
Three Dimensions of Self-Authorship ...................................................................................... 38
Student Engagement ................................................................................................................. 44
The College Completion Agenda.............................................................................................. 49
Significance of the Literature .................................................................................................... 53
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 54
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 5

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 56
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 56
Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 56
Research Method ...................................................................................................................... 57
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 64
Trustworthiness ......................................................................................................................... 68
Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 70
Research Bias ............................................................................................................................ 71
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 72
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS .................................................................................................... 73
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 73
Participants ................................................................................................................................ 73
Findings..................................................................................................................................... 76
RQ1: How do college student veterans utilize career services on university campuses? ......... 76
RQ2: How do career services missions, programs and services promote student veteran self-
authorship and movement toward degree completion? ............................................................ 85
RQ3: How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree completion
goals? ........................................................................................................................................ 96
Summary ................................................................................................................................. 102
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .......................................................... 104
Summary ................................................................................................................................. 104
Review of Findings ................................................................................................................. 105
Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 108
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 6

Recommendations for Practice ............................................................................................... 111
Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................................. 115
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 116
References ................................................................................................................................... 117
Appendix A: Interview Protocol for Student Veterans…………………………………………125
Appendix B: Interview Protocol for Staff………………………………………………………127
Appendix C: Information Sheet………………………………………………………………...129
Appendix D: Posted Announcement (Text Only)……………………………………....………132
Appendix E: Online Pre-Survey Questionnaire………………………....……………………...133
Appendix F: Sample Email Solicitation……………………………………………………..…134
Appendix G: Posted Flyer………………………………………………………………………135
Appendix H: Documents Reviewed…………………………………………………………….136
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 7

List of Figures and Tables
Figure 1: Visual representation of The Model for Student Veteran Support ................................ 27
Figure 2: Visual representation of Self-Authorship ...................................................................... 41
Table 1: MRU Student Veteran/Participant Information .............................................................. 74
Table 2: MRU Staff Participant Information ................................................................................ 75

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 8

Abstract
This case study identifies ways in which student veterans at a large, research extensive, public
university utilize career services toward their degree completion. To date, empirical research on
student veteran persistence through college has been scarce. In order to explore student veteran
degree completion, interviews with 11 student veterans and six career services/veteran affairs
staff and document reviews were conducted focusing on three research questions: (a) How do
student veterans utilize career services on university campuses? (b) How do career services
missions, programs and services promote student veteran self-authorship and movement toward
degree completion? and (c) How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their
degree completion goals? Overall, participants’ utilization of Career Center services was
minimal, yet they still accessed career services through various on and off campus entities that
offered such support. Additionally, participants said their interactions with career services as
episodic, only accessing Career Center services when engaging the job or graduate and
professional school process. Findings suggest that student veterans develop self-authoring
capacity before enrolling in college, given their military and life experiences (e.g., age, familial
responsibilities) before attending college. Student veterans view themselves differently from
their traditionally aged peers; therefore, veterans see Career Center services as disconnected
from their experience since programs are perceived to align more with traditional college
students and their developmental needs. Findings suggest that student veterans understand the
role of career services, but not in relation to degree completion.

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 9

CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
It is the beginning of the spring semester for Karen, a 31-year-old student veteran at
Oceanview State University (OSU). As a third year business student, Karen is looking to enter
into Professor Stage’s International Business Strategy and Integration class, an upper division
required course she had attempted to take approximately a year ago before she was
unexpectedly deployed abroad. Currently, she is negotiating a seat in the course with Professor
Stage, who seems to be reluctant due to impacted student enrollment. If this professor does not
allow Karen to re-enter, she will continue to be out of academic program sequencing for another
year, delaying degree completion. Karen is frustrated that the campus does not support any
accommodation where she may expeditiously finish coursework but remains hopeful after
meeting with a career counselor who helped refine her initial post graduation plans. Based on
her military training, Karen is self-directed, goal oriented and is motivated by the future
employment prospects discussed through career services; she hopes to work for an international
financial software company, utilizing skills she learned in her major such as analytical problem
solving, quantitative communication and research. What exacerbates Karen’s frustration is the
limited ways in which OSU responds to her needs and the needs of the few student veteran peers
she knows at OSU. For example, she knows about significant delays in the timeliness in which
veterans receive their GI Bill benefits. In her case, the campus bureaucracy impacts her ability
to access funds for fees, pay for expenses, and as articulated above, the accommodation of
student veterans based on their unique needs.
Though Karen’s story is fictitious, incidents like this are not uncommon for student
veterans. Challenges with transitioning from secondary education to university life are not
uncommon for most college students, but this same transition for veterans can be significantly
more complex. In order to promote the success of student veterans in higher education,
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 10

campuses need to consider how to best engage this specific population’s participation while
integrating practices that support their autonomy and knowledge construction. At its core,
institutions of higher education strive to build supportive environments, focused programs or
academic partnerships that afford all students the opportunity to complete their degree. Despite
the long history of student veteran presence on American college campuses, the lack of research
surrounding institutional programs or services aiding their college transition and subsequent
degree completion is problematic (American Council on Education, 2009a).
In June 2008, one of the most noteworthy acts supporting modern post-secondary
education of veterans was passed. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also
known as the new GI Bill, offered nearly two million service members, who served in the Iraq
and Afghanistan conflicts, support for educational expenses. Since the new GI Bill lifted many
financial barriers for attending college, it provided college bound veterans greater access to
higher education. Although enrolling in higher education is symbolic of reentry into civilian life,
a significant number of veterans express two major factors that play a role in their decision to
matriculate. These reasons are to enhance their employment prospects and to expand their
knowledge and acquisition of skills that enhance their personal and professional development
(American Council on Education, 2009b). Veterans are not only a tremendous asset to higher
education, they have unique life experiences and distinct qualities that set them apart from other
student populations (Hassan, Jackson, Lindsay, McCabe & Sanders, 2010). College campuses
have a responsibility to create targeted services that reinforce the factors which help veterans
complete a college degree. What remains unknown is what these services look like and how
campuses are systemically engaging veterans cognitively by the promotion of self-authorship.
Self-authorship, an epistemological developmental framework, describes an individual’s capacity
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 11

to make meaning of knowledge while developing internal authority over one’s decisions that is
free from external influences (Abes, Jones & McEwen, 2007). Given that one of the primary
reasons that veterans enter into college is to enhance employment prospects, career centers are in
a prime position to support student veterans’ successful college completion.
College completion is of great importance to the Obama administration. By 2020, the
President has set an objective: The US will once again have the highest percentage of students
completing a college degree across the globe (Department of Education, 2011). To strengthen
this objective, the Department of Education (DOE) has set out specific measures that will help us
monitor the countries progress toward the administration’s goal. Specifically, the US college
graduation rate will need to increase by 55%, which means that eight million college students
will need to have earned an associates or bachelors degree by 2020 (Department of Education,
2011). Though the US still has much ground to cover in order to accomplish the agenda, one
specific population that has the potential to impact the national completion agenda are veterans.
Statement of the Problem
Today, there are approximately two million student veterans participating in higher
education (American Council on Education, 2008). On average, veterans use only 17 out of the
36 months of their Post-9/11 educational benefits (DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011), which suggests that
these students may not be completing their degrees in traditional four-year institutions. This
attrition in veteran participation in higher education has implications for university
administrators and the students they serve. Based on the new GI Bill, it is likely that veterans
will be enrolling in higher education in greater numbers; however institutions may not be
delivering services to student veterans that take into account their distinct needs, which may
result in higher attrition. While some institutions may be responsive in serving veterans,
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 12

empirical research of these services and how they support veteran persistence is scarce. To date,
there are few studies that pursue this question: How do student veterans utilize career services
toward their persistence through college? This lack of understanding may be causing veterans
barriers such as negative social integration and unwelcoming campus climates which result in
departure from the university. Traditional institutional services for veteran transition often focus
on physical disabilities or mental health. This customary approach is problematic since student
veteran needs vary and not all student veterans experience combat. What has not been
extensively examined is how student veterans co-construct knowledge in relationship to others
nor have any studies demonstrated how service units, such as college career centers, promote
student veteran movement toward college completion.
Overall, there has been little to no examination regarding the intersectionality of veteran
career aspirations, their movement toward degree completion and employment. Though
governmental entities, such as the Department of Veteran Affairs, have vocational rehabilitation
assistance for veterans, what is not known is how four-year institutions build student veteran
capacity to persist, explore career options, and ultimately complete their degree/s. Though
student service departments, such as career centers, typically play a role in helping students
identify and shape student career goals (Brown, 2004), empirical research demonstrating the
impact of career services, particularly regarding overall veteran degree completion is limited.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to identify the ways in which student veterans at a large,
public, research extensive, four-year university move toward successful degree completion.
Additionally, the study will investigate ways in which college career centers promote student
veteran self-authorship and subsequent movement toward degree completion. Using an in-depth
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 13

case study analysis, I investigate student veterans’ experiences, specifically through their
participation in campus programs and the extent to which they engage key staff (e.g., career
services/veteran affairs) in their learning. Further examination of student veteran persistence is
explored through the concepts of self-authorship. Self-authorship, an epistemological
developmental framework, articulates an individual’s ability to make meaning of knowledge.
The progression of self-authoring helps adult learners, such as student veterans, coordinate their
understanding of information in relation to who they are individually and in relation to others.
This concept is important to understand through career services, since such programs are
designed to help student veterans with self-authorship progression, which is another important
outcome of higher education in addition to degree completion (Baxter Magolda, 2001). For
instance, career counselors can ask student veterans to reflect upon their unique experiences
(e.g., military experience) and how, in concert with their degree, it may help them become more
competitive for future opportunities. Self-authorship was selected over other theories since this
framework captures development of students before and during college (Pizzolato, 2007).
This study’s primary focus is applied research and its emphasis is rooted in practitioner
evaluation of student veteran persistence. As stated at the beginning of this chapter, it is
important to understand overall themes that lead to student veteran persistence. Persistence is
commonly defined by continued enrollment and satisfactory completion of coursework in
college from year to year (Tinto, 2012). Although persistence itself is important, it is also a
fairly large and vague concept with many factors contributing to successful completion (Allen,
1992; Furr & Elling, 2002; Solorzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000). Career centers have largely been
ignored when considering institutional factors promoting persistence, and this represents a gap in
the literature. As student veterans enter into higher education, the role of career enhancement as
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 14

expressed by student veterans is significant; representing a key reason why it makes sense that
this study focus on the role of career centers for this population. Since the number of student
veterans entering four-year institutions continue to increase over time (American Council on
Education, 2009b), it is essential to understand how this significant and re-emerging student
population needs to be supported.
Given this population is at a high risk for unsuccessful university transition (DiRamio,
Ackerman, & Mitchell, 2008; Ruman & Hamrick, 2009), more attention must be paid to how
student services, and specifically career centers, can support this underserved population.
Therefore, rather than investigating factors that contribute to student veteran attrition, this study
seeks to understand how career centers at four-year institutions accommodate the needs of
student veterans.
Research Questions
The aim of the study is to understand student veteran degree completion and the extent to
which university career centers influence their degree completion. The following research
questions guide the inquiry in this applied research study:
Main Research Question:
1. How do student veterans utilize career services on university campuses?
Sub-Research Questions:
A. How do career services missions, programs and services promote student veteran self-
authorship and movement toward degree completion?
B. How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree completion
goals?
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 15

Significance of this Study
The success of student veterans in higher education is not just a national priority, but is
vital for the livelihood of our country. As one of the fastest growing populations in higher
education, studying student veteran self-authorship and overall persistence is important. At the
end of both Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, institutions of higher education (and arguably the
nation) witnessed increase support in the futures of the women and men who choose to serve
their country. There are no published studies utilizing the concepts of self-authorship through
career services for this population. This particular study will make an impact to the existing
literature on veterans with a primary focus on higher education. While it is important to
acknowledge empirical research that studies psychological or physical wellness of student
veterans, this study provides a basis for examining their persistence through a cognitive and
interpersonal development approach. Examining veteran persistence through concepts of self-
authorship is not only important within the context of higher education, but is foundational in
understanding how student veterans develop and change.
Institutional ecology and the ability to meet the contemporary needs of distinct student
populations are critical in all facets of education. This study seeks to contribute to the
understanding of student veteran experiences in higher education at a highly selective, research
extensive four-year institution that is part of a larger state higher education system. More
importantly, the study allows important stakeholders in higher education to improve the
institutional environment so that all college students, including veterans, can be successful. The
information and insight provided by the study unveils how interactions with career services
increase student veteran persistence. While there are many interpretations on what veteran
persistence may look like, this study defines persistence as movement toward degree completion.
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 16

As of 2013, there has been no empirical research on Post-911/GI Bill veteran degree completion
rates (Vacchi & Berger, 2014). According to the US Census Bureau (2008), veterans between
the ages of 25-34 complete degree programs at a rate of 70% lower than nonstudent veterans.
This data illustrates a significant persistence gap about the current state of student veteran degree
completion in higher education. The study also underscores how persistence and engagement
activities provided by career services play a vital role in degree completion of veterans. Having
the knowledge gained from this study will be essential for many university stakeholders, but
especially senior-level administrators and career services professionals at four-year institutions
who strive to ensure positive educational outcomes of student veterans. Overall, the knowledge
gained from the study advances our knowledge of student veteran college persistence and
directly benefits this population in the area of student support services. As more student veterans
enroll in college, this study contributes knowledge and recommendations to academic and
student service departments as well as researchers whose collective goal is to support the success
of this key student population.
Beyond providing recommendations in regard to student veteran persistence, this study is
significant since there is no research surrounding the concept of self-authorship for student
veterans, especially at four-year, research extensive, public institutions. As an unexamined area
of study, the development of student veteran self-authorship has not been largely explored
through the role or efforts of career centers. Through this exploration, there may be implications
for the concept of self-authorship that takes into consideration this population. For instance,
many veterans are socialized to follow authority within the military yet they also have to act
autonomously without much direction in specific situations. How might this context and
experience relate to how we think about the concept of self-authorship? While there have been
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 17

studies that give some examples of how to interpret potential self-authorship emerging themes,
there are few if any that detail the formation of a research design for this specific student
population.
Limitations and Delimitations
The primary limitation is the extent to which this qualitative research is generalizable, as
case studies are limited to only one unique situation that is being studied within a specific
context. As such, the goal of this case study is to find generalizability as a product of comparing
findings to theories or concepts (Yin, 2009) such as self-authorship. This study is generalizable
only to the theory and concepts of self-authorship and not to all institutions in higher education
that serve veterans.
A second limitation of this case study is the data collection methods chosen. While I
could have included focus groups since they are effective in gaining large amounts of data at one
time, they may not be as effective since responses are not autonomous and may threaten or
promote influenced responses (Steward & Shamdasani, 1990). In addition to limiting the
amount of data collected in any single interview, the focus group also has the potential of having
dominant participants who could control discussions (Steward & Shamdasani, 1990). Therefore,
the data is dependent mostly on individual interviews, along with document review. Criticism
related to data collection methods can be minimized with thoughtful planning in research that is
reviewed by peers and the dissertation committee. Lastly, the scope of the research is
intentionally for four-year public institutions and is not meant to inform trade, for profit, online
or two year institutions.
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 18

Definitions and Key Concepts
This section defines terms and key concepts that are utilized in this study:
 Active Duty: Active duty military service includes full-time service, other than active
duty for training. Active duty also applies to a person who is a cadet attending one of the
five US Military Service Academies. This also applies to service in the military Reserves
or National Guard only if the person has been called up for active duty, mobilized or
deployed (US Census Bureau, 2012).
 Campus Climate: The norms, values, and customs of the campus environment. Campus
climate involves interactions students have with peers, staff and faculty (Reid &
Radhakrishnan, 2003).
 Career Center: A university department whose central mission is to develop and provide
comprehensive resources, programs and advising on career development, internships,
employment, and graduate school. When capitalized in this study, refers to MRU’s
Career Center.
 Career Services: Programs or services intended to meet students’ vocational development
needs, generally through four core areas such as career counseling, instructional session
or workshops, job and internship opportunities and networking sessions with alumni
and/or other professionals. Services are constructed with the intention of helping
students find career-related opportunities during or after graduation (Schaub, 2012).
 College Completion Agenda: A call to increase the proportion of the America’s young
adults – those ages 25 to 35 – who hold a two- or four-year college degree to 55 percent
by 2025 (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2013).
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 19

 Highly Selective Institution: A college or university that admits the top 10% of high
school graduates and has a minimum admission grade point average of 3.0 and above.
This is in contrast to moderately selective institutions which traditionally admit students
with minimum grade point averages of 2.0 and above and who are within the top 33% of
their high school’s graduating class.
 Military Service Members: Refers to active-duty service members, reservists and
members of the National Guard (US Census Bureau, 2012).
 Persistence: Continued enrollment and satisfactory course completion in college from
year to year, culminating in the completion of a bachelor’s degree (Tinto, 2012).
 Post-9/11 GI Bill - Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008: The new GI Bill that
applies to individuals who served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001, and
offers education benefits worth an average of $80,000. Covers other institutional fees
such as costs toward tuition and books, and living expenses (US Department of Veterans
Affairs, 2008).
 Self-Authorship: An epistemological development framework, describing an individual’s
internal capacity to make meaning of knowledge. Occurs when a person can construct
knowledge in a contextual manner, forming an internal identity that is separate from
external influences (Abes, Jones, & McEwen, 2007; Baxter Magolda, 2008; Pizzolato,
Nguyen, Johnston, & Wang, 2012).
 Student Engagement: Student participation in educationally purposeful programs and
activities that lead to student achievement. This includes the amount of effort and time
students put into academic activities and co-curricular activities (Kuh et al, 2005).
 Veteran/s: Women and men who have served, but are not currently on active duty in the
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 20

US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or a Merchant Marine (US
Census Bureau, 2012).
Conclusion
Chapter 1 addresses the extent to which institutions of higher education deliver unique
services to student veterans. The introduction to the study also underscores how career services
may play a role in student veteran knowledge construction, their overall persistence and
subsequent degree completion. Chapter 2 will review important literature, including foci on the
history of veterans in the US and their Post 9/11 enrollment in higher education and transition
issues they face on both a campus and employment level. Subsequently, an illustration regarding
the history and structure of career services at four-year institutions will be identified, unveiling
their roles on college campuses and the extent to which they assist students in regard to career
development or job search methodology. Then the concept, phases and dimensions of self-
authorship will be discussed in relation to the learning partnerships model, a framework that
promotes self-authorship. The following section will discuss the construct of student
engagement and its foundation within the college student development literature. Lastly,
Chapter 2 will connect these concepts to the national agenda on college completion with an
emphasis on student veterans.

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 21

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
The purpose of this study is to understand and identify the contributing factors that lead
to student veterans’ persistence in higher education, with specific attention to the potential role
of career centers. On a college campus, academic and student services departments strive to
develop programs and services that promote successful completion and are inclusive of all
college students. In order to be responsive to all students, institutions develop career centers
that provide services with two primary goals in mind: (a) students will obtain necessary
resources to reflect upon career interests and engage activities that deepen their knowledge of
myriad career fields (b) students will acquire competitive jobs or admittance to select graduate
programs, acting as a direct pathway to a rewarding professional life. These goals have
significant implications for student veterans, especially since their successful reentry into civilian
life may include accessing education and experiential learning (e.g., full-time jobs, internships,
fellowships, research positions) opportunities. These opportunities positively impact veterans
and their ability to fully participate in our global society. In sum, it is imperative to better
understand this student population, the unique ways they navigate higher education and how our
services help enhance or detract from their college experience. Until we have a greater
understanding of student veteran development, it is difficult to create tailored programs and
services to move veterans toward degree attainment and fulfilling careers.
In this chapter, the researcher addresses individual (e.g., veteran experiences),
institutional (e.g., career center structures), and developmental (e.g., self-authorship) factors that
affect student veterans. First, the literature review discusses past and current ties between
veterans and higher education, including strengths and challenges they bring and their experience
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 22

on college campuses. The chapter also discusses the various roles of university career centers.
This includes an explanation of their structure and missions while illustrating the extent to which
their sponsored programs meet the needs of all college students. Next, a review of the literature
addresses studies and models of self-authorship, including how the promotion of this concept has
been leveraged to develop learning partnerships (Baxter Magolda, 2004b) with students. Lastly,
the chapter concludes with the significance of the literature, its relationship to each other and
how these central topics inform the study.
Purpose of the Study
This study’s primary focus is applied research. The purpose of this dissertation is to
explore the role of college career services in student veteran persistence. As stated at the
beginning of this chapter one, it is important to understand overall themes that lead to student
veteran persistence. Although persistence itself is important, it is also a fairly large and nebulous
concept with many factors contributing to successful completion (Allen, 1992; Furr & Elling,
2002; Solorzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000, Tinto, 2012). This study narrows the scope of persistence
factors, specifically examining student veteran degree completion through efforts delivered by
university career centers at four-year public institutions. Again, career services are largely
ignored when considering institutional factors promoting persistence, and this represents a gap in
the literature. Since the number of student veterans entering four-year institutions continue to
increase over time (American Council on Education, 2009b), it is essential to understand how
this significant and re-emerging student population needs to be supported.
Given this population is at a high risk for unsuccessful university transition (DiRamio,
Ackerman, & Mitchell, 2008; Ruman & Hamrick, 2009), more attention must be paid to how
student services, specifically career centers, can support this underserved population. Rather
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 23

than examining factors that have led to student veteran departure from college, this study seeks
to understand the role of career services at four-year institutions and it accommodates the unique
needs of student veterans. Additionally, the study investigates ways in which college career
centers promote student veteran self-authorship and subsequent degree completion.
Research Questions
The aim of the study is to understand student veteran degree completion and the extent to
which university career centers influence their degree completion. The following research
questions will guide the inquiry in this applied research study:
Main Research Question:
1. How do student veterans utilize career services on university campuses?
Sub-Research Questions:
A. How do career services missions, programs and services promote student veteran self-
authorship and movement toward degree completion?
B. How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree completion
goals?
A Brief History: Veterans in US Higher Education
Since the mid to late 1800s, institutions of higher education have supported military
efforts and service members (Elliott, Gonzalez, & Larsen, 2011; O’Herrin, 2011; Ruman &
Hamrick, 2009). The bond between higher education and the military crystalized with the
passage of the Morrill Act in 1862, which initiated the launch of military training programs at
land-grant institutions (Neiberg, 2000). Before World War I, higher education played a role in
training soldiers, an initiative that stemmed from the National Defense Act (NDA) of 1916.
NDA also helped shape three major classifications of general service in the military that still
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 24

stands today (Ruman & Hamrock, 2009). These three service categories include being on active
duty, organized reserves and the National Guard. The NDA produced additional programs that
still exist on college campuses such as Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, otherwise known as
ROTC (Ruman & Hamrock, 2009).
In order to accommodate the increasing needs of discharged World War II service
members, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, commonly referred to as the GI Bill, was passed
to provide economic benefits to veterans and increase their participation in higher education
(O’Herrin, 2011). The bill significantly increased educational benefits for over 7.8 million
veterans (McKenna, 2009) and changed the face of postsecondary education. According to
Olson (1974), the impact of the GI Bill included changes to existing campus programs and
policies that resulted in increased college enrollment, accelerated degree programs and academic
credit transfers for military training and experience. These institutional changes included the
growth of university personnel, such as college placement officers whose primary role was to
help veterans be more prepared for employment. Succeeding the original bill was the
introduction of the 1985 Montgomery GI Bill, which incorporated other service members (e.g.,
National Guard and reserve members) and factors (e.g., length of service or part-time military
personnel) that may impact access to educational benefits before, during or after military service
(Asch, Fair, & Kilburn, 2000). The most recent modification of the GI Bill passed in August
2009. Referred to as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008
enhanced benefits for service members, influencing the increased presence of veterans on college
campuses today (O’Herrin, 2011). A benefit of this most recent bill includes a housing or book
stipend and funding that covers total costs of tuition and student fees (National Center for
Education Statistics, 2009).
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 25

Post 9/11: Veteran Undergraduate Demographics and Military Enrollment Patterns
During the 2012-13 academic year, institutions enrolled approximately 844,500 military
service members and veterans at the undergraduate level (National Center for Education
Statistics, 2014). However, the distribution of veteran enrollment differs by institution type and
demographics. In comparison to private institutions, veterans show higher enrollment at two and
four-year public institutions, each registering 307,700 and 265,300 students respectively
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). Considered nontraditional students (O’Herrin,
2009), military service members tend to be older than traditionally aged students in college
(American Council on Education, 2009b). The American Council on Education (2009b)
reported that the highest percentage of veteran undergraduate students on college campuses are
between the ages of 24 to 29. While a majority of the total veteran population in the US is non-
White, the bulk of veterans enrolled in colleges and universities are White (American Council on
Education, 2009b). Specifically, racial/ethnic percentage distribution based on undergraduate
enrollment shows that Black, Hispanic and Asian American veterans represent 18.3, 12.8, and
3.2 percent of all military undergraduates, respectively, in comparison to Whites at 60 percent
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2009). Other, as a racial/ethnic category, represents
5.7 percent of the undergraduate veteran population enrolled in higher education. This
racial/ethnic enrollment data exposes a gap in participation by minority veteran groups and
suggests that campuses are not enrolling student veterans of color effectively.
Post 9/11 enrollment patterns are a product of two wars: The 2001 War in Afghanistan,
known as Operation Enduring Freedom and the 2003 War in Iraq, referred to as Operation Iraqi
Freedom (American Council on Education, 2009b; DiRamio et al., 2008; Elliott et al., 2011).
Although reasons for military enlistment vary from service member to service member, common
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 26

responses include seeking purpose, mitigating family problems (Zinger & Cohen, 2010) and love
for this country based on home soil attacks of 9/11 (DiRamio et al., 2008). DiRamio et al.
(2008) suggest that financial reasons, educational benefits and family tradition of military service
might also play a role in deciding to enlist for military service.
Student Veteran Experience
Historically, researchers found that student veterans had transitioned well or better than
nonveterans did in the classroom and in completing their degrees (Frederiksen & Schrader, 1950;
Olson, 1974). Updated research that provides a contemporary understanding of student veteran
persistence or completion is missing. As such, considering student veteran experiences in higher
education overall may be an important factor in their persistence and successful completion.
Student veteran experiences can be influenced by tailoring programs or services that meet their
unique needs (Vacchi & Berger, 2014). Such programs likely impact campus climate for student
veterans. Campus climate and diverse learning environments play a significant role in the
collegiate experience of all students (Hurtado, Alvarez, Guillermo-Wann Cuellar & Arellano,
2012), including veterans, although this specific population’s climate perceptions has not been
thoroughly investigated (Vacchi & Berger, 2014). Climate likely impacts veterans’ ability to
experience successful transitions (e.g., shift from military service to university life), given varied
structures and services in place that specifically aim to enhance student veteran climate (Vacchi
& Berger, 2014).
To positively influence student veteran experiences in higher education, Vacchi and
Berger (2014) propose a theoretical model for student veterans that focuses on individual student
experiences. Their model, comprised of four cornerstones, applies veteran focused propositions
that support direct pathways toward successful degree completion. The Model for Student
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 27

Veteran Support (Vacchi & Berger, 2014) primarily focuses on the outcome of degree attainment
and builds upon the work of college impact models such as undergraduate student attrition (Bean
& Metzner, 1985) and undergraduate socialization (Weidman, 1989). The four cornerstones of
the Model for Student Veteran Support encourage colleges and universities to develop: (a)
services that are unique to veteran needs; (b) programs that assist veterans through obstacles and
transition; (c) opportunities to increase frequency of interaction with faculty; and, (d) peer
focused advising/mentorship and campus support (Vacchi & Berger, 2014). Through these four
cornerstones, student veterans will be better supported toward their successful degree
completion. Additionally, assessing student veteran experiences through these four cornerstones
gives practitioners more concrete methods in understanding how institutions of higher education
may be impacting the student veteran experience.
Figure 1. Visual representation of The Model for Student Veteran Support

This model is innovative because it includes a focus on university or practitioner
accountability, rather than perpetuating and normalizing popular veteran deficits (e.g., mental
health or disability) and stereotypes (e.g., all post-combat veterans have PTSD) that influence
Services
Unique
COLLEGE
STUDENT
VETERAN
Transition Support
Orientation
Veteran Planning Course
Support
Peer /Buddy
External Campus
Academic Interactions
In and Out
of Classroom

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 28

persistence and subsequent degree completion. Offering a theoretical framework in which to
examine college student life, particularly through an organizational perspective, allows us to
further understand the potential role of student services (e.g., veteran offices or career services)
in a variety of college outcomes.
Campus and Employment Transition
There is no standard, nationwide approach to ease the transition of student veterans to
university life (Elliott et al., 2011). Even though it is important to recognize that some campuses
have programs or services dedicated to the needs of student veterans (American Council on
Education, 2012; American Council on Education, 2010; Moon & Schma, 2011), not all colleges
and universities provide assistance related to social acculturation, isolation, or other challenges
associated with transitioning from military to campus life. The change in environment may
impact how student veterans receive or follow directions. For example, military service
members receive orders from one commanding officer in the military, whereas they might
receive nuanced guidance, interpreted in various ways, by several departments in college. Some
researchers have investigated the experiences of students who shift from military service to the
ecosystem of higher education (Holloway, 2009; Ostovary & Dapprich, 2011). Although
focused mainly on veterans with disabilities, their findings underscore the importance of creating
spaces that support the reentry or transition needs of veterans to a workplace environment.
Burnett and Segoria (2009) name this transition strategy “collaborative work,” which calls on
college campuses to take deliberate actions to minimize silos in college support services. Simply
stated, student services, academic departments and community-based organizations need to work
together to meet the needs of military students transitioning into college.
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 29

Another common transition issue student veterans experience before entering into college
is that of employment. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of
1994’s (USERRA) mission are to exclude all forms of discrimination in employment based on a
person’s prior military service (Department of Labor, 2012). While the focus of USERRA is
meant to help veterans understand legal issues or bias they face through the hiring process, there
are limited resources to seeking employment. For example, the US Department of Veteran
Affairs coordinates VETSUCCESS, an online website that assists former or current military
service members in creating federal, job-friendly resumes, translating military skills to a format
accepted within the civilian world, and finding jobs via a job posting site. Even though there is
an explicit vocational rehabilitation and employment service phone number that may help
veterans with comprehensive career services, there are no formal veteran services or trainings
that focus on career exploration, professional development or effective job search techniques.
Just like any population in higher education, student veterans need to be afforded
opportunities that will allow for them to develop and grow to their fullest potential in college.
Branker (2009) highlighted the importance of creating student engagement opportunities, calling
on institutions of higher education to organize in ways that increase veteran participation on
campuses. Closely aligned with Kuh’s (2007) tenants of student engagement, Branker
recommended that university practitioners elicit student veteran participation by accommodating
their unique and varied learning styles. In order to best support this goal, faculty, staff and
administrators in higher education need to raise their awareness of service member experiences
and needs (Rumann & Hamrick, 2009) while simultaneously establishing deliberate campus
partnerships and networks that create supportive environments that facilitate positive veteran
transition.
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 30

Attributes of veterans vary, but in general, they bring many positive characteristics to
institutions of higher education based on their military service. Veterans have broad and unique
experiences (Hassan et al., 2010) that are not often recognized widely on university campuses.
Most veterans have skills that include teamwork, perseverance and positive work ethic (Hassan
et al., 2010). Additionally, they have distinct strengths that set them apart from other student
populations. These strengths may include an ability to travel to or navigate foreign countries,
form professional relationships with global governmental agencies, work with people from
different socioeconomic backgrounds as well as understand non-US cultures (Hassan et al.,
2010). Although extant literature acknowledges that student veterans come to universities with
positive qualities, it is unclear how military service influences them developmentally, either
before they enter or while they attend college.
After they enter university life, veterans are faced with barriers based on their military
status. For example, post 9/11 service members may have had extended tours and were often
deployed at higher frequencies when compared to veterans of the past (American Council on
Education, 2009b; Zinger & Cohen, 2010). This intermittent nature of service may impact their
ability to complete their degrees since receiving military orders may be unpredictable based on
timing (receipt of orders mid semester/quarter) or length of service. Being called to serve while
already enrolled in college influences their ability to participate in campus activities and may
have negative implications for academic coursework sequence (Moon & Schma, 2011). Another
challenge for veterans is a lack of transparency about transfer credit for military experience and
training (American Council on Education, 2010). Some campuses may not have designated
credit evaluators (Moon & Schma, 2011) or articulated formal policies that consider veteran
experience as part of the admissions or credit assessment process. A third barrier that may
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 31

uniquely inhibit student veteran success on college campuses is the lack of strong advising
surrounding GI Bill education benefits. This may be particularly challenging when GI Bill
benefits, which are often delayed (e.g., financial disbursement), may inhibit the student’s ability
to pay for tuition. With tuition fee deferment options (American Council on Education, 2010;
Moon & Schma, 2011) many students are able to avoid financial hardship and related stress
associated with school expenses.
History and Structure of Career Centers at Four-Year Institutions
College career services grew exponentially in the 1940s and 1950s as a result of the GI
Bill (Schaub, 2012). During that timeframe, the emphasis was to place large numbers of college
students into employment opportunities after degree completion. While that emphasis was to
deliver the college educated to employers who had open jobs, the 1960s through the 1980s
brought about a career center service delivery model that went from job placement to self-
discovery (Schaub, 2012). The self-discovery model allowed for students to consider how their
personal interests, values and skills might translate into opportunities that cultivated professional
or personal growth; this redirection in philosophy moved career centers’ missions from that of
job placement to education (Schaub, 2012). In the 1990s and 2000s, career centers positioned
themselves as experts in creating events or media (e.g., social media platforms) for employers to
connect with focused student talent (Casella, 1990; Dey & Real, 2010). This meant that career
services were the primary coordinator of events or programs that increased the in-person
interaction between employers and qualified student candidates. With even more recent
advancements in technology, the contemporary university career center at four-year institutions
assumes many roles to various stakeholders. Venable (2010) underscored the importance of
integrating synchronous technologies into programs (e.g., virtual rooms/career fairs), which will
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 32

help position career services as mutually beneficial to today’s students and employing
organizations. The comprehensive and wide variety of services delivered to college students is
done in collaboration with faculty, campus departments, student organizations and in
communities near the university.
According to Schaub (2012), the structure of college career services are often “classified
along a continuum ranging from centralized to decentralized based on the academic programs or
occupational sectors of interest served by the career center” (p. 204, emphasis in original).
Institutions which offer one primary career service office/center that serves every academic
program and all students are said to be centralized. Depending on student demographics,
partnerships, and priorities, the structure of career services offices may differ from campus to
campus. Campuses that offer separate career services offices for specific academic programs or
for certain career fields are described as being decentralized. The National Association of
Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2010-2011 Career Services Benchmark Survey found that 87%
of colleges surveyed have primarily centralized offices (NACE, 2011). NACE (2011) also found
that 64% of career services offices reported to a Division of Student Affairs while 24% report to
academic affairs. Although the structures of these offices likely vary, Schaub (2012) described
career center staffing structures as generally having a director, one or more associate or assistant
directors, career counselors, employer relations specialists, experiential education coordinators
and career information specialists. These structures relate to the function of career centers in
preparing and placing students into careers.
Role of Career Centers
Historically, there has been variability in the job market and employability of college
graduates (Hammond, 2001; Lee & Johnston, 2001; Peng, 2001; Schaub 2012). In the 1970s,
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 33

college graduates entered a poor job market (Hecker, 1992), forcing a significant number of
college students to accept jobs for which they were overqualified. These same challenges exist
for students in higher education today, as Lee and Johnston (2001) described the job market as
having changed significantly due to economic uncertainty and external forces such as
globalization and downsizing due to advancements in technology. Job seekers can no longer
afford to have the same perspective on approaching a career as one may have had three decades
ago. Lee and Johnston (2001) discovered that people no longer stay with the same company, or
even continue along the same career path, throughout their working lives and that the emphasis
of a job seeker should be self-management and continuous skill development. Extant literature
exposes implications for the career-futures of college graduates and the extent to which they
utilize their degree to secure employment and continually develop their career-related or life
planning skills. To nurture these skills, universities at four-year institutions established career
services offices, whose primary role is to provide targeted programs and resources intended to
help students explore the connections between academic coursework, career choices, and degree
attainment.
Career Development and Job Search Preparation
On university campuses, students rely on career centers to help them make more
informed career choices (Brown, 2004). Informed career decision-making is usually
accomplished by providing resources related to company or industry information and holding
discussions surrounding job search topics, such as searching for internships, preparing resumes
and cover letters, interviewing or the evaluation and assessment of a job offer (Brown, 2004). In
a review of empirical literature on student career decision-making, Krieshok (2001) concluded
that students who do not utilize career center services may not have the capacity to be self-
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 34

directed and that individuals who take advantage of comprehensive career services have a better
ability to narrow down options, have a broader perspective on job search strategies and remain
open to various career destinations. Krieshok (2001) underscored that comprehensive career
services is not just a stand-alone process. He found that career interventions from a career center
allow students to gain much more sophisticated methods in making connections to employment
opportunities in non-traditional ways and broadens their adaptability in exploring multiple or
alternative careers. Lee and Johnston (2001) described this skill as planned uncertainty, where
career centers teach job seekers how to incorporate flexible thinking and openness to new
experiences in non-linear ways. With this approach, career centers can often teach students how
to “create, recognize, and take advantage of chance events and turn them into opportunities” (Lee
& Johnston, 2001, p. 182).
Other studies (e.g., Grier-Reed & Ganuza, 2012; Wendlandt & Rochlen, 2009) go beyond
narrowing options or adaptability and call upon college career counselors to realize how their
work assists students’ career or professional self-efficacy. Supported by a career development
stage model, the literature outlines how self-efficacy can be supported, specifically by “(a)
providing students with accurate information regarding employment during anticipation, (b)
ensuring that students develop the skills for successful [workplace] adjustment, and (c)
supporting students in coping with the process of change to aid movement toward achievement”
(Wendlandt & Rochlen, 2009, p. 159). Grier-Reed and Ganuza (2012) highlight the importance
of career centers on a college campus and how their efforts help aid “career decision self-
efficacy to academic persistence and the social and institutional integration of underprepared
college students” (p. 467). Connecting students to people, ideas, resources and opportunities are
major guiding principles of college career centers. These studies reveal a shift in career self-
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 35

efficacy, highlighting how career focused services positively impact student self confidence in
constructing their own career goals and engaging the job search process.
Accountability to All Students
Outside of preparing students for the realities of the job market, Hammond (2001) argued
that today’s career centers are facing an increased amount of pressure from institutional
administration to not only facilitate a student’s journey from confusion to career self-
enlightenment, but to secure all students with gainful employment. While important, career
centers usually address this problem by ensuring that all students have a baseline of career
knowledge (Brown, 2004) in order to compete for a host of experiential learning opportunities
available to them.
In the last two decades, pressure on university career centers has shifted. With emerging
populations in mind, career strategies, programs and services are being examined, tailored or
expanded based on the escalating number of nontraditional student populations (e.g., veterans)
on college campuses (Luzzo, 1999). Although some career interventions may be similar across
all students, nontraditional students have distinct differences (Luzzo, 1999) in their approach to
career development. These differences might include attributes such as career maturity,
confidence or self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997). More pragmatically, nontraditional students may
also have additional priorities outside of school (e.g., familial, financial or current employment
situation). Current literature (e.g., Luzzo, 1999; Wendlandt & Rochlen, 2009) calls upon career
services practitioners to assess strategies and to reflect on how, if at all, conventional models of
career development are applicable to nontraditional students. As these specialized populations
continue to increase on our campuses, career centers need to examine current service delivery
models, especially when addressing nontraditional students’ transition from degree completion to
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 36

work (Wendlandt & Rochlen, 2009). When assessing career services and programs, it will be
important to identify how career centers can provide multifaceted services so that the standards,
missions and organizational design of career services sponsored programs meet the needs and
expectations of all college students, especially those who have not been traditionally served by
institutions of higher education, or may have unique experiences that need to be considered
during the career education process.
Self-Authorship
One idea that may influence the design of career services for unique populations, such as
veterans, is the concept of self-authorship. Self-authorship has gained increasing attention within
the literature on college student development over recent years. Self-authorship, an
epistemological development framework, describes an individual’s internal capacity to make
meaning of knowledge. The process of self-authoring helps adult learners coordinate their
comprehension of information in relation to who they are individually and in relationship to
others (Baxter Magolda, 2008; Pizzolato, Nguyen, Johnston, & Wang, 2012). According to
Abes, Jones, and McEwen (2007), self-authorship occurs “through an ability to construct
knowledge in a contextual world, an ability to construct an internal identity separate from
external influences, and an ability to engage in relationships without losing one’s internal
identity” (p.5). Self-authorship emerged 20 years ago, building upon Robert Kegan’s (1994)
foundational ideas around self-evolution as an indispensable progression for which adults
negotiate internal/external expectations, especially expectations from those considered
“authorities,” whether from home, school or at work (Baxter Magolda, 2008). The goal would
be for one’s self to become the authority and thus individuals become self-authoring when they
form a coherent, authentic, and mature sense of identity (Baxter Magolda, 2008). Students in
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 37

college make progress toward self-authorship when they experience unique developmental
activities that are a result of mismatched internal/external expectations (Baxter Magolda, 2003,
2008). For example, a career counselor can challenge students during an advising appointment,
encouraging them to develop several career options that may deviate from their original
expectations. Given the complexity and variation of internal/external expectations felt by college
students, it is important to position learners in spaces that help them view themselves as central
to their knowledge construction (Baxter Magolda, 2003).
Self-authorship is also grounded in the work of Piaget and Perry (Baxter Magolda, 2004a,
2009). These landmark cognitive development scholars provided a construct in which to
understand adult meaning making and how knowledge construction develops over time. As
various experiences are accumulated, the ability to make meaning becomes increasingly
complex. Self-authorship as a more holistic framework of development considers not only
cognitive-structural development, but also the extent to which this meaning making intersects as
a connection to or separation from one’s self-negotiated identity and relationships.
A range of epistemological examinations (Pizzolato, 2007) conceive self-authorship as
critical to college student development, suggesting that student self-authoring enhances
individual commitments surrounding three basic principles, including: (a) an ability to develop
an internal belief system; (b) an aptitude to situate problems and perspectives in a variety of
contexts (Pizzolato, 2007); and, (c) a recognition that students, as individual learners, build
knowledge individually but incorporate mutual knowledge construction through mutually
beneficial relationships (Pizzolato et al., 2012).

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 38

Self-Authorship and Career Choices
Principles of self-authorship development have been explored across various contexts,
including decision-making and employment settings (Baxter Magolda, 2003, 2004b). These
studies discuss how students incorporate career decisions based upon learning that takes place at
work. While career experiences and employment settings can play a positive role in advancing
self-authorship, history demonstrates unpredictability in the job market for college graduates
over time. Lee and Johnston (2001) noted that uncertainty and a tough economy may influence
student perceptions and impact their approach toward a job search. With these perceptions,
students may narrow their focus on solely obtaining a job rather than opportunities for their own
development. The changing economy may be limiting the opportunities for self-authorship
development within career contexts. Although the job market may be irregular, students need to
increase their exposure to relevant career experiences (even before they enter the workforce) that
will help situate them in spaces that enhance, challenge or perhaps refine how they make
meaning of internal/external expectations related to their careers.
Three Dimensions of Self-Authorship
The theoretical foundations typically describing self-authorship include three core
dimensions of student development (Baxter Magolda, 2003, 2008; Pizzolato, 2003, 2007): (a)
epistemological or cognitive development, which include the variety of sources from which we
build knowledge; (b) intrapersonal or identity development, which includes the ability to create
internal commitments that solidify definition of self; and (c) interpersonal considerations that
relate to how one participates in relationships. While Baxter Magolda (2001) found that self-
authorship typically is not reached until after students leave college, movement toward self-
authorship is significantly valued in higher education (Baxter Magolda, 2003) because college
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 39

typically acts as a vehicle that transforms student identity and enhances their critical thinking
skills (Baxter Magolda, 2008). Generally, college helps refine student identity because it may be
the first time where students begin to deconstruct preexisting values, beliefs, relationships or
knowledge (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton & Renn, 2010). College, as a new ecological
environment, becomes a space where students begin to think critically about external authorities
and perhaps begin to question past pedagogy that influenced their decision making (Baxter
Magolda, 2008). This space is often referred as the crossroads (Baxter Magolda, 2001) between
following external formulas and self-authorship. The process of questioning external authorities
or ideology and defining one’s personal commitments to themselves or others creates dissonance
(Pizzolato, 2007), suggesting that self-authorship happens only when or if a student is placed in
challenging or unfamiliar spaces where previous knowledge is tested. Since college is a space
where students are encouraged to question existing knowledge and challenge popular ideology,
student veterans may find themselves in an environment where previous learning, expectations
or paradigms of thought are confronted (DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011). In some cases, it may be the
first time a student veteran moves away from dualistic thinking, (Amy, 2010) allowing
themselves to receive information from multiple agents who are not necessarily authority figures
(e.g., peers) (Hall, 2008).
Three Phases of Self-Authorship Development
While the above description of self-authorship outlines the general trajectory (i.e.,
following external formulas, crossroads, self-authorship) through which students move across the
three dimensions (i.e., epistemological, intrapersonal, interpersonal), Baxter Magolda (2008)
elaborated on what constitutes self-authorship, including three elements, which I refer to here as
phases. Occurring after the crossroads, these phases are: (a) trusting the internal voice; (b)
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 40

building an internal foundation; and (c) securing internal commitments. The first phase describes
experiences where students begin to know themselves more deeply. Typically, it is driven by the
belief that students have an ability to craft or create their experiences and that these experiences
are not simply something that happen by chance. This initial phase might be best described as
having a level of control over situations, whereby students begin to feel like they are able to trust
their internal decisions to face obstacles or experiences by leaning on their internal voice.
Building an internal foundation, the second phase of self-authorship, describes a meaning
making structure where one aligns their internal identity with physical structures in their external
environment (Baxter Magolda, 2008). Students may experience this when they begin to shape
their external setting in a way that best fits their own desires or interests. The last phase of self-
authorship, securing internal commitments, emerges when one has a heightened sense of self,
drawing upon a more powerful internal core (Baxter Magolda, 2008) that cannot be shaken based
on external uncertainties. With a developed sense of internal commitments, one becomes an
authority of their own personal convictions, solidifying independence from external personal
realities.

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 41

Figure 2. Visual representation of Self-Authorship

External Formulas Crossroads
Becoming Author of
One's Life
Internal Foundation
How do I know?
Cognitive development
Family and peers serve
as authority
Recognition that there
are multiple
perspectives;
expanding own views
Recognition of one's
own reality and sees
choices as rooted in
one's own principles
Knowledge and
decisions are based on
situation and can be
nuanced depending on
context.
Who am I?
Intrapersonal
Identity is determined
by family
Understands that there
are choices that
influence either
positive or negative
experiences
Advocates for oneself
and integrates choices
based on an informed
identity
Comfortable making
decisions or displaying
behavior based on one's
identity; not intimidated
by differences in
identity
What relationships do I
want with others?
Interpersonal
Avoidance based on
discomfort; approaches
relationships from a
very dichotomous
perspective
Change in
environment which
brings in new social
circles and multiple
perspectives
Ability to renegotiate
relationships
Lives in an
interdependent way
while maintaining self
values within various
contexts or
environments

Models Using Self-Authorship
Several scholars have utilized self-authorship’s dimensions and phases to reframe
foundational research/models in higher education. In examining the Model of Multiple
Dimensions of Identity (MMDI) (Jones & McEwen, 2000), Abes et al., (2007) and Jones (2009)
reconceptualized the model by incorporating self-authorship as it relates to intersecting domains
of development. They explored lifespan development, which had examined young adults
working towards self-authorship and the extent to which the MMDI becomes interconnected
with the complexity of meaning making. According to these scholars, multiple identity
dimensions do not operate in isolation and what advances self-authorship formation is social
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 42

context (interpersonal), specifically how a student may experience their life (e.g., sociocultural
conditions, family), and is dependent upon how they make meaning (e.g., how developed their
meaning making filter is) of these contexts. They argued that “little research has been conducted
exploring self-authorship in the context of how students make meaning of their socially
constructed identities, such as race and sexuality” (p. 5). No published research has explored a
relationship between self-authorship and intersectionality of social identities” (Abes et al., 2007,
p.5). Utilizing a narrative inquiry methodology and purposeful sampling, Abes et al. (2007)
reconceptualized the MMDI to incorporate meaning-making capacity. This added a
contemporary connection to the existing literature on self-authorship dimensions (cognitive,
intrapersonal, interpersonal), noting that student social identities such as race or sexual
orientation impact how they come to perceive their personal social identities. This holistic
representation (Abes et al., 2007) redesigns the MMDI in that it integrates identity development
with the cognitive and interpersonal dimensions (self-authorship) of college students.
Although the reconceptualized MMDI applied self-authorship to an existing model, the
developmental model of intercultural maturity used self-authorship as a foundational structure to
build and understand intercultural maturity (King & Baxter Magolda, 2005; Quaye & Baxter
Magolda, 2007). This multidimensional framework describes intercultural maturity as an
educational goal that strives to produce intercultural competent citizens who have the capacity to
consciously modify behaviors or beliefs into contextual cultural worldviews, perspectives or
frames. In order to demonstrate this skill, students must be exposed to and acquire complex
understanding of cultural differences, specifically through cognitive, intrapersonal and
interpersonal experiences (King & Baxter Magolda, 2005). Drawing upon self-authorship and
research on student intercultural competency, King and Baxter Magolda (2005) utilized
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 43

participant interviews to illustrate various developmental levels of intercultural maturity, arguing
that students who move toward holistic development demonstrate a deeper awareness of self,
understanding for others and intercultural efficacy. Thus, self-authorship, or the ability to
develop one’s internal voice, commitment or attitudes, is essential when navigating complex
racial understanding (Quaye & Baxter Magolda, 2007) and/or intercultural maturity.
Learning Partnership Model for Veterans
In introducing a framework for promoting student self-authorship, Baxter Magolda (2004b)
presented the learning partnerships model (LPM), which leads with three assumptions and three
principles that work in tandem to advance a student’s ability to self-author. The three
assumptions, which are intended to challenge student knowledge construction, include: (a)
knowledge is complex and socially built; (b) the student is central to building his or her own
knowledge; and, (c) authority and knowledge proficiency is shared in partnership among peers.
From these assumptions, the LPM promotes three principles to help support students’
developmental journeys. These principles include: (a) validating students as knowers; (b)
positioning learning into students’ experiences; and (c) defining their learning as collaborative
meaning making. Pizzolato (2008) utilized the three principles of Baxter Magolda’s LPM to
remind higher education professionals about the values in which college ecology can develop or
enhance student self-authoring abilities. Student affairs practitioners, and career advisors in
particular, can incorporate the LPM principles to give students the self-assurance needed to build
their own professional goals and courage to participate in the job search process. In applying
such principles of the LPM, career center professionals would: (a) validate student veterans as
knowers (who come to college already knowing what the “real world” is like); (b) position
student veteran learning into experiences (including incorporating their military experience); and
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 44

(c) define student veteran learning as collaborative meaning making (by mutually translating
knowledge gained from military experiences to future career goals). These learning partnerships
will assist student veterans on their self-authorship development, no matter where they may be in
their journeys.
Student Engagement
For more than two decades, institutions of higher education have faced continuous
pressure from external constituents such as federal/state legislators, families, and prospective
students who question whether the costs associated with a college degree are worth the financial
investment (Carini, Kuh, & Klein, 2006; Schroeder & Kuh, 2003). Cost/benefit analysis is often
hampered because of the difficulty in calculating the outcomes of college. One way of measuring
positive educational outcomes for college students has focused on student engagement as a
predictor of student learning (Carini et al., 2006; Hu, Kuh, & Li, 2008; Kinzie, Gonyea, Shoup,
& Kuh, 2008). Student engagement stems from Chickering and Gamsons’s (1987) work on
high-quality teaching and learning settings, which serve as the foundation for this prominent
construct within the college student development literature (Kinzie et al., 2008; Kuh, 2009).
Dimensions of student engagement include two major characteristics, that being the ways in
which students participate in effective educational practices and the extent to which institutions
organize activities that promote undergraduate student learning (Koljatic & Kuh, 2001).
Student engagement has been examined through predicting various student outcomes
such as academic performance (Carini et al., 2006) and persistence (Kinzie et al., 2008). That
said, the concept of student engagement has primarily focused on fostering students’ intellectual
and personal development (Hu et al., 2008; Koljatic & Kuh, 2001; Laird, Shoup, Kuh, &
Schwarz, 2008). These engagement outcomes serve as key features of higher education and
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 45

become increasingly important when discussing the worth and quality of higher education.
Without this conceptual framework, there would not be common indicators or shared language
regarding college student engagement (Schroeder & Kuh, 2003). Meaning, the absence of a
framework leaves college administrators with no deliberate way or measure for improving
student engagement outcomes. Additionally, these outcomes allow consumers of higher
education to assess institutional performance against measures that are grounded in empirical
research. Ultimately, student engagement indicators build a strong connection between
dimensions of student achievement and positive academic performance (Carini et al., 2006; Kuh,
2009).
Participation as Link to Positive Educational Outcomes
At a deeper level, how students demonstrate effective participation in college has
typically been measured by student time and effort and the relationship to various desired
learning outcomes (Kuh, 2009). In their study on the impact of academic discipline and learning
approaches, Laird et al. (2008) found that time invested toward one’s learning increases
performance in areas such as knowledge retention, integration and application. Their findings
also suggest student energy is not the sole predictor of these outcomes. Faculty who promoted
high level thinking, or the encouragement of analyzing or synthesizing data more deeply, were
much more impactful on desired student learning than pedagogy that depended on student
memorization (Laird et al., 2008). This distinction is what some authors argue is the nuance
between student involvement (student energy) and student engagement (onus on institutional
practices to capture students’ energy) (Wolf-Wendel, Ward, & Kinzie, 2009).
While some students benefit from what might be viewed as effective educational
practices, other scholars (Bensimon, 2007; Harper & Quaye, 2008) caution colleges and
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 46

universities to reflect on conventional findings of student engagement, specifically when
supporting historically underserved student populations. They underscore the factors that may
prohibit these student populations from taking full advantage of learning opportunities (Kinzie et
al., 2008). For example, “first-generation students and transfer students were less likely than
other students to participate in a learning community, a research project with a faculty member,
study abroad, or a culminating senior experience” (Kinzie et al., 2008, p. 24). Given the value of
student participation in effective educational practices, administrators in higher education should
consider how to position educational experiences so that every student, including student
veterans or those from historically marginalized communities, may get involved in high-impact
activities (e.g., career focused internships, or participation in learning communities).
Student Engagement Applicability to Higher Education
To influence learning opportunities for students, one key component of student
engagement is the manner in which a campus chooses to structure itself, its resources and course
curriculum (Kuh, 2009). In order to demonstrate the institution’s ability to induce or influence
student engagement through campus ecology, universities use inventories that are intended to
quantify student engagement outcomes or progression of their respective campus. Effective
student educational outcomes are commonly monitored through the National Survey on Student
Engagement (NSSE) (Whitt, Kinzie, Schu, & Kuh, 2008; Kinzie & Kuh, 2004), a comprehensive
framework that studies “properties and conditions for student success that are present at an
institution” (Whitt et al., 2008, p. 10). While the survey focuses on specific educational practices
related to learning settings at an institution, it is important to understand the connection between
educational practices and how they impact learning.
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NSSE’s framework is observed through student engagement indicators: (a) level of
academic challenge; (b) active and collaborative learning; (c) student-faculty interaction; (d)
supportive campus environment; and, (e) enriching educational experiences. While many
campuses use all five NSSE indicators to demonstrate strong educational practices (Whitt et al.,
2008) other studies have shown gains by applying specific aspects of student engagement, which
produce desirable student learning outcomes. In a quantitative student engagement study
focused on active/collaborative learning and student-faculty interaction, Koljatic and Kuh (2001)
found that students showed positive cognitive gains when faculty encouraged educational
practices that enhanced active learning (told to reflect about practical applications of curriculum)
or increased faculty contact (asked to make an appointment with faculty to gain feedback on
academic performance). Although there have been some critiques of inventories such as NSSE
(Olivas, 2011), the acceptance of this student engagement instrument is widespread and
continues to be utilized in myriad ways, including campus accreditation processes, program
reviews, pedagogy, and effective practices in undergraduate education (Kuh, 2009).
Even though Kuh (2009) cites a large amount of literature produced around the student
engagement construct, he also recognizes that dominant research in student engagement is
missing the experiences of historically underserved populations in higher education (Hu & Kuh,
2002). This critical recognition exposes future implications for student engagement and opens
the door to re-examine the concept for emerging student populations entering college such as
veterans. As the landscape of college student demographics changes over time, it is the
responsibility of campuses to organize and create activities that increase participation and
engagement of all students. Moreover, it is advantageous to examine different learning settings
that may play a role in student engagement, achievement and persistence (Hu & Kuh, 2002;
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 48

Kinzie et al., 2008; Kuh, 2009).
Participation in Employment as Engagement
According to NSSE’s 2008 report, close to half of all first-year students who participated
in NSSE reported having a paid, part-time position. In comparison, 75% of seniors attending
four-year colleges reported having to work for pay. While students who work on campus
generally recounted more benefits in terms of their academic achievement, all students, whether
employed part-time or full-time, are more engaged when compared to students who are not
employed (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Employment offers another learning setting, and may
have a part in advancing student engagement. Pike, Kuh and McKinley (2009) found that
students who were employed described having higher participation in activities that boost
active/collaborative learning. Additionally, they found that students who participated in on-
campus, paid positions were likely to be even more engaged as they may have more frequent
interaction with faculty.
Although employment may be seen as generally beneficial to most students, Kuh (2009)
points out several factors where employment may play either a negative or arbitrary role in
student engagement. Students who work more than 20 hours per week, particularly those who
have work assignments off-campus, may not have the same opportunities to participate fully in
school commitments. Even though explicit negative effects have not been found within the
employment student engagement literature, the impact may vary and be similar to other findings
(e.g., Hu et al., 2008; Hu & Kuh, 2002) which suggest that outcomes of participation in work
may be conditional, with some students benefitting more than others.
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 49

The College Completion Agenda
In 2008, the College Board’s Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher
Education published a report entitled, Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American
Future. This report noted recent trends in higher education, including significant drops in US
college degree attainment. The report also claimed that the proportion of adults with
postsecondary credentials in the US was not keeping pace with growth in other industrialized
nations (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2010). According to Carnevale, Smith, and
Strohl (2010), by 2018 the US is projected to be short of approximately three million college-
educated workers. The shortage is based upon workforce projections and the demands for
skilled workers who have obtained a college degree (Carnevale et al, as cited in Humphreys,
2012).
As defined in the commission’s report, the goal of US college completion is to reach 55
percent of adults age 25 to 34 by 2025. According to US Census data from 2011, 43.1 percent of
Americans in this same age range hold a two or four-year college degree (US Census Data 2011
as cited in College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2013). While not federally mandated,
the college completion agenda is a national agenda; many prominent organizations and
foundations have come together, along with the US Department of Education (DOE), to raise
awareness of the need for a better-educated population and to find ways to increase college
completion (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2013). The educational landscape has
dramatically changed since the College Board commission first convened in 2008. These
changes were a direct result of external factors such as our nation entering an economic recession
in 2008. During this period, unemployment and home foreclosures increased while budgets for
federal and state governments declined (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2010). The
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 50

impact of these external factors has played a role in college affordability, creating financial
barriers for prospective or current students who would otherwise want to access and participate
in higher education.
Government Interest in College Completion
Considering the national goal on a more local level, the participation and contributions of
each state may play a substantial role in strengthening the larger American higher education
system and supporting the completion agenda. Individual states may have to make changes to
meet these goals. To date, nineteen states have set degree attainment goals (Department of
Education, 2011). Both national and state goals may positively influence the long-term
economic strength of the US. It is projected that jobs requiring at least an associate degree or
higher will double in the upcoming years (The White House, 2009a). In satisfying this need,
President Obama places his focus on the impact and effectiveness of the community college
system, for which the states have accountability. For Americans to be able to compete with
workers from other nations, the president is calling for every American to promise at least one
year to career training or higher education in order to reach the goal of adding an additional 5
million community college graduates by the year 2020 (The White House, 2009a).
Completion Agenda: Numbers and Rankings
In 2010, the US produced 257,772 more degrees than in 2008 (College Board Advocacy
and Policy Center, 2013). While data may demonstrate improvement in degree attainment,
college graduation rates are increasing slowly, if at all. For instance, the national three-year
graduation rate for students in two-year colleges was 29.9 percent in 2010, up just slightly from
the previous year (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2013). In parallel, the average
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 51

national six-year graduation rate for students seeking bachelor’s degrees in four-year institutions
was 58.8 percent in 2010, just one-half a percent point above the previous year.
Though these percentages may not show significant growth, other reports on college
completion provide a more positive story (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2013).
First, degree attainment rates may be higher based on advancements in student tracking,
particularly when examining transfer students who start at one campus and transfer/complete at
another. Secondly, there is an optimistic trend in the number of associate degrees awarded
annually. As shown from 2010 to 2011, the number of associate degrees awarded in the US was
approximately 100,000 (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2013).
Relevance to Veteran Degree Attainment
Despite these advances, the US still has much ground to cover to align the many aspects
of our education system toward increased postsecondary attainment, particularly for groups
historically underrepresented in higher education. One group that has the potential to influence
the national completion agenda given their increasing rates of postsecondary enrollment are
student veterans. National data on student veteran degree completion has been difficult to find
since no federal department has been held accountable in collecting or analyzing this data (Cate,
2013). The DOE collects data on students from almost every university in the US, but data on
veteran completion may be more difficult to obtain since some campuses have the methods to
track student veterans but choose not to (Cate, 2013). Although no national database is
dedicated solely to this effort, there are two sources that help bring veteran degree completion
outcomes to light -- the National Survey of Veterans (NSV) (Westat, 2010) and the American
Community Survey (ACS) (US Census Bureau, 2012). From 2007 to 2011, the results of ACS
showed similar findings reported from a 2010 NSV report (Westat, 2010). Out the approximate
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 52

61.3 percent reporting their highest educational attainment as some college or higher, 35.5
percent reported having an associate’s degree while 25.8 percent reported having obtained a
bachelor’s degree or higher. These outcomes provide some insight into student veteran degree
completion. Taken together, data from the 2010 NSV and ACS suggest that student veterans’
post secondary completion rates may be on par with the completion agenda goal, with over half
of veterans completing their training or some college classes. While important, this finding is
limited in that it does not incorporate the definition of college completion (i.e., certificate,
associate or bachelor degree attainment).
Based on inconsistent definitions of veteran degree completion, there is room for
improvement when it comes to collecting data to be able to better understand student veteran
completion rates in the US. In January of 2013, a movement toward improving data collection
and analysis of student veteran college completion was announced. This movement was
launched by a new collaboration between the US Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA), the
National Student Clearinghouse and a leading advocacy group for student veterans (Fain, 2013;
Sander, 2013). Under this new partnership, the US DVA provides the National Student
Clearinghouse with information of the approximately 2 million veterans who are beneficiaries of
the Post 9/11 GI Bill and Montgomery GI Bill (Fain, 2013). The clearinghouse will then
compare the number of eligible veterans with its own data to determine degree completion of
student veterans in higher education. What is left unanswered is how colleges report this data to
the clearinghouse and if every college is using the same system to identify student veterans.
Despite the potential of this new partnership for understanding completion rates of student
veterans, any findings will still be limited in contemplating the personal and institution-specific
factors contributing to student veteran persistence. While the college completion data on student
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 53

veterans are very limited (Fain, 2013), it will be important to understand different factors that
lead veterans toward successful college completion, like participation in university career center
sponsored programs and services.
Significance of the Literature
Though literature demonstrates a historical tie between military service members and
higher education (Neiberg, 2000), current reports suggest that universities are not creating
supportive environments for which student veterans may succeed. From a more practical
viewpoint, not meeting the contemporary needs of student veterans seems ironic as departments,
such as career centers, grew as a result of the GI Bill and increased student veteran enrollment
(Schaub, 2012). University student veterans may accept their nontraditional status (O’Herrin,
2009) on college campuses today; however, they may be struck to know that at one point, they
were once a traditional population in higher education (McKenna, 2009). Another practical gap
apparent in the literature is the lack of attention given to college career services and the role
these services may play in advancing the professional futures of veterans. These students not
only strive to be engaged but require services that elicit connections between classroom learning,
degree completion, and gainful employment. Arguably, the most important pragmatic
perspective discussed in the literature is a weakened university life program for veterans.
Without explicit support systems and institutionalized cross departmental collaboration,
universities decrease veteran participation and unintentionally create barriers toward their degree
completion.
In regard to scholarly contribution, the study is needed because there are connections
between career services and its capacity for promoting self-authorship. For example, there are
no studies that specifically examine student veteran learning partnerships with career services
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 54

(e.g., exercises that challenge knowledge construction) and how mutual knowledge might
advance their career development authority. This authority will likely help move student
veterans toward degree completion. Another reason why the literature may have scholarly
impact is the implicit links between positive attributes of veterans (e.g., intercultural maturity,
global exposure) (Hassan et al., 2010) and key dimensions of student self-authorship (various
experiences to build knowledge, interpersonal considerations) (Baxter Magolda, 2003, 2008;
Pizzolato, 2003, 2007). Lastly, it is important to consider how student veteran interactions with
career services play a role in their ability to self-author.
Conclusion
The review of literature has underscored issues that influence student veteran college
persistence. Once they depart from military service and enter into college classrooms, student
veterans face several barriers related to transition, particularly when their varied life experiences
may affect their ability to successfully integrate into mainstream campus culture. Likewise, their
unique experience, typically based on their military training or experience, may impact where
they situate themselves across traditional student development theories (e.g., self-authorship).
Adjusting to university life may already be difficult, but when it comes to student veterans, the
literature emphasizes that universities must create and organize spaces that support student
veterans. One substantial space that has yet to be explored is college career centers and the role
they may have in student veteran degree completion.
Examining this subject through the lens of self-authorship will permit readers to
understand how, or in what ways, student veterans’ movement toward college graduation may be
happening through efforts of career services. Utilizing self-authorship as a major student
development construct creates clearer outcomes for career services practitioners, who continually
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 55

aim to support all students on campus. Thus, the literature serves as a way to assess current
strategies and reflect on how, if at all, accepted models for career development are in fact
applicable to student veterans. In chapter three, the researcher discusses the methodology and
analysis that is used to investigate career center services and factors that may lead student
veterans toward successful degree completion.
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 56

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to better understand the contributing factors that led to
student veterans’ persistence in higher education, with specific attention to the potential role of
university career centers. This chapter illustrates the research design for the study and describes
the study site, the population and sample, data collection and subsequent analysis procedures.
The methods and analysis for the study were developed from a constructivist perspective. This
perspective elicits meaning based on an individual’s knowledge of reality (Patton, 2002).
Additionally, the constructivist perspective allowed me as the researcher to study the stories
constructed by participants while acknowledging that each individual story is distinctive and
valid (Patton, 2002). These built realities are critical since they have influence on the
participant’s lives (Patton, 2002), including how they grow and persist in college. Patton (2002)
underscores that by using the constructivist approach, there is no correct or true reality, which
has significant methodological implications. The chapter focuses on data collection methods and
analytical procedures that will reveal how student veterans at an institution with specialized
programs and services utilize Career Services toward their successful degree completion.
Research Questions
By investigating a postsecondary institution that has made great strides in establishing
veteran services and programs, this study sought to understand how this population of students
described career services as playing a role in their degree attainment. The main research
question that guided this study is: How do student veterans utilize Career Services offices on
university campuses for their degree completion? Two additional research questions that
supported the main question included: (a) How do Career Services missions, programs and
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 57

services promote student veteran self-authorship and movement toward degree completion? And
(b) How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree completion
goals?
Research Method
This study used a case study design. Yin (2009) describes this method as an empirical
inquiry that examines modern phenomenon in depth and within a real-life context. This method
is especially useful when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly
apparent (Yin, 2009). More specifically, this study used an exploratory, single-case study that
comprehensively articulated the current context at a four-year veteran friendly institution in order
to fully understand student veteran persistence and associated development at this institution.
Since veteran persistence and development through higher education is a relatively new idea, a
case study design was most appropriate for studying the occurrence (Yin, 2009).
The institution was the focus of the case study with a series of layered cases within the
institution (Patton, 2002) including veterans, as well as veteran affairs and career center staff.
By concentrating on one specific institution, the study explored the phenomenon of veteran
persistence and development through the experiences of the veterans within the setting.
Understanding their experiences gave voice to veterans and college administrators while
providing a deep investigation of the ways people make sense of career services and the role it
may play in veteran persistence and development. The research design also explained how the
data were collected and used to illustrate the overarching phenomenon of veteran persistence and
subsequent degree completion.
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Site Selection
Conducting a single-site case study could potentially be a mistake if the site does not
precisely reflect the phenomenon under study (Yin, 2009). For this reason, careful site selection
was necessary. Rather than focusing on institutional type, site selection was based on veteran
enrollment and the comprehensive nature of student services delivered to veterans. Mountaintop
Research University (MRU; a pseudonym) was the site chosen for this study. Officially
designated as a veteran friendly campus by US Veterans Magazine, MRU is a large, four-year,
public institution that is part of a larger state system. Established in the early 1900s, MRU was
founded as a southern branch campus of a larger statewide university system. By the mid-1920s,
the school became a four-year public research university, comprised of five colleges, seven
professional schools and four professional health science schools. Located on the West coast,
MRU enrolls more than 43,000 students and grants bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
MRU’s mission is to provide quality education that responds to 21
st
century economic and social
problems. By providing a high standard of excellence in research and teaching, MRU’s mission
stands on three distinct pillars that include advancing education, research and service.
In fall of 2008, MRU opened a Veterans Affairs office and is viewed as having excellent
services for veterans within the statewide university system. Some examples of exemplar
services include a veteran’s orientation that incorporates key academic, mental health and
student services components as well as a newly launched veteran’s initiative that seeks to
increase education and appreciation for the advantages and skills veterans bring into civilian life.
The office now serves over 400 veterans, active-duty military, reservists and military
dependents. While an officially recognized Veterans Affairs office was established in 2008,
MRU has had an ongoing relationship with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dating
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 59

back nearly 70 years. The relationship is uniquely tied to MRU’s patient care across various
medical disciplines and a signature program that provides reconstructive surgery to active and
retired US military personnel who were injured or disfigured during combat. On multiple
occasions, MRU was selected as a top military-friendly school, most recently recognized in the
2014 Guide to Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities published by Military Advancement
Education. These characteristics made Mountaintop Research University an ideal case as it met
the enrollment requirements and quality student services for veterans. Again, the breadth of
student veteran services given to this distinct population makes MRU an ideal site for the study.
Research Design and Data Collection
In this study, I utilized a qualitative research design. This design allowed me to explore
individual experiences and gain in depth knowledge of participant perspective (Merriam, 1998).
Rather than focusing on testing an existing theory, a qualitative research design generates
concepts or hypotheses through fieldwork such as interviews or observations (Merriam, 1998,
2009; Patton, 2002). When the main objective of a study is to obtain deeper knowledge of a
particular phenomenon, a case study is most suitable (Yin, 2003, 2009). Yin (2009) argues that a
case study is an all-inclusive research method that covers the reasoning behind the design, the
approaches to data collection and the techniques in data analysis. Each of these methods is
further described throughout this section.
It was important to use a theoretical framework to guide the progression and execution of
the single-site case study in order to increase validity of the study (Yin, 2009). Therefore, one
theory served as the underlying framework to guide the research questions, data collection
methods and data analysis procedures. That theory was the concept of self-authorship (Baxter
Magolda & King, 2007). Although self-authorship was the underlying theory, this study did not
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 60

seek to test hypotheses based on the theory, nor was it about self-authorship itself. As described
in the literature review, self-authorship was a compelling theory to capture student veteran
experiences before and during college.
In terms of data collection, the case study included semi-structured interviews with both
student veterans and career services staff, as well as document reviews. These methods were
selected because they provided the data to answer the main and sub research questions.
Interviews were conducted with student veterans, as well as veteran affairs and career center
staff. Interviews ranged between 60-120 minutes. The duration of time allowed for flexibility
and sufficient time to finish the interview protocol. Semi-structured interview protocols were
used in one-on-one interviews with both student veterans and staff. This semi-structured format
allowed for the consistency across interviews while enabling me to further probe throughout the
interview process (Merriam, 2009). Based on the constructivist perspective, this interview
approach was critical since each person’s perspective was taken as unique and contributed to
their understanding of themselves and their persistence through college. All interviews were
conducted on campus in a quiet office space. All interviews were audio recorded for
transcription purposes.
Interviews. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were facilitated with veterans, as well
as veteran affairs and career center staff. Semi-structured interviews allowed me to obtain
descriptions of veteran experiences with the intent to interpret the significance of a specific
phenomenon (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). When done in thoughtful manner, semi-structured
interviews can unpack the meaning of participant experiences that can provide a systematic
description for the phenomenon under study (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). In this study,
interviews became useful since participants provided historical information regarding the
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phenomenon, reflection on their persistence in college and descriptions about services that
enhanced their movement toward degree attainment (Creswell, 2009). Overall, the goal of in-
depth interviews with participants was to understand the role of career services in student veteran
development and subsequent degree completion. Therefore, interview questions were structured
around these topics and included a series of probing or follow-up questions that encouraged
participants to provide further details, to elaborate on specific subjects and to clarify their
answers. The interview protocols are available in Appendix A (student veterans) and B (staff).
Document review. Documents were reviewed and incorporated as data to find
consistencies or inconsistencies in participant responses. As suggested by Stringer (2007), the
use of document and record review can help researchers check or verify claims made by
participants. Yin (2009) reinforces this idea within case study designs as it can help provide
historical context, confirm researcher hypothesis or advance new themes not yet explored
(Merriam, 2009). If inconsistencies existed between data collected through interviews with
student veterans or staff, I investigated that further for clarification. For the study, I reviewed
mission statements and values through MRU’s Career Center webpage. Additionally, I looked at
veteran related student service webpages to understand how veterans are encouraged to
participate or engage veteran programming. The MRU website also gave me access to the
campus newspaper online. These documents provided historical context of student veteran
services that became valuable for the analysis. Participants, specifically career services and
veteran affairs staff, were asked to provide additional documents that illustrated programs and
services geared toward student veterans.
The blend of data from interviews with both student veterans and staff, and document
review helped me understand the phenomenon of MRU’s student veteran development and
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persistence, and the extent to which the campus organized specialized programs that resulted in
the promotion of student veteran degree completion. This triangulation of data sources increased
the validity of the study (Merriam, 2009; Patton, 2002).
Sample. In all cases, a purposeful sampling approach was used in order to achieve
variation. There are a diverse sample of administrators, staff and student veterans on campus.
Purposeful sampling was chosen to ensure data-rich cases that yielded deeper understanding and
insight to veteran persistence, development and subsequent degree completion (Patton, 2002).
The goal was to have variations in student veteran experiences and perspective in order to verify
or clarify convergent or divergent themes in collected data. Before the interview, data, such as
major or year in school was collected through a pre-survey completed by student veterans and
university staff participants. Student veteran interviews included participants across various
demographics, such as military branch served, gender, age and discipline of study. Staff
interviews included those who work at MRU’s Veteran Affairs or Career Services offices.
In order to orient participants to the study and to maintain their confidentiality, I gave
participants an information sheet that elaborated on informed consent, confidentiality as well as
the purpose of the research. I explained how participants were recruited and provided an
overview of the variation within the sample below. The information sheet is available in
Appendix C.
Student veterans. The goal was to identify and recruit 10 to 15 veterans to conduct
interviews for the study. The objective was to understand veteran persistence with specific
attention to the potential role of career services so it made sense to include student veterans who
are currently enrolled at Mountaintop Research University as opposed to alumni. Emphasis was
placed on recruiting junior or senior level students since they not only have more experience on
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campus, but may likely have interactions with career services, veteran affairs staff or their
associated academic programs. Diversity, particularly by major, was also important as some
disciplines may have a more direct career pathway than others. Career goals or specific
industries of interest may affect student veteran perceptions of career services and their
subsequent ability to compete for jobs after degree completion.
Since the attention of this study was geared toward degree completion of student veterans
through the potential efforts of career services, I worked with the veteran affairs and career
services offices so that they sent out solicitation emails with a link to the pre-survey. I also
utilized my professional network and professional contacts within the MRU Career Services
office to secure student veterans who have used services. Messages were sent to several campus
student veteran organizations. Students who participated in interviews were offered $10 cash for
their participation.
Career services staff. Career services professionals play a key role in professional
development and outcomes expected of students after acquiring a college degree (Contomanolis
& Steinfeld, 2013). As such, career counselors and specialists within MRU’s Career Services
offices (central and MBA) were recruited into the study. Individual interviews were conducted
to capture rich data. I contacted two individuals with whom I have a prior professional
relationship. The two agreed to participate and helped me identify additional administrators who
were asked to participate. Four career services staff members who have worked at the university
for two or more years participated in individual interviews. Having four career services staff
participants is appropriate since there are only six general career counselors and one employer
specialist who facilitate outreach to student veterans at MRU’s Career Services offices. Career
services staff were interviewed because they are acclimated to the culture of the campus and
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have a deeper understanding of veteran career services sponsored programs and potential
documents and records for review. Staff members serving the institution less than two years
were not incorporated in the study since their knowledge of institutional culture and
understanding of or exposure to veterans at MRU was likely limited.
Veteran affairs staff. I interviewed two veteran affairs staff at MRU. Since I did not
have any pre-existing relationships with veteran affairs staff, I recruited them through snowball
sampling, whereby participants identify other potential participants (Merriam, 2009). In order to
begin the process, I emailed one potential participant, requesting an interview either in person,
through visual video conferencing (Skype or Google Hangout) or by telephone. Of the two
veteran affairs personnel at MRU, I contacted all two of them to explain the purpose of study and
to interview each staff member.
Data Analysis
Audio recordings of all interviews were transcribed and verified to prepare for data
analysis. After transcriptions and verifications were finished, I printed them out to begin open
coding of the interviews, first by student veteran participants, then by staff participants.
Documents collected for document and record review were also captured as pdf files and printed
out. Although some methodologists (e.g., Creswell, 2009) have recommended the use of
software programs, such as HyperRESEARCH, for organizing case study data, I ultimately
found that the hand-coding worked best for me initially before creating matrices in word and
excel. That said, even Yin (2009) has stated that while HyperRESEARCH can be a key tool in
qualitative analysis, I would be accountable for the overall analysis as the researcher. Protecting
the data involved storing and making back-up copies of information (e.g., field notes, audio
recordings), storing hard copies in locked files and digital copies on hardware that was password
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protected (Patton, 2002).
Coding
Using a qualitative research approach to coding allowed me to develop insights, patterns
and potential hypotheses for further analysis throughout the data collection phase (Patton, 2002).
For instance, initial exploratory observations were recorded in field notes, and I used these to
draft major concepts for further inquiry. The data interpretation process incorporated open
coding for both sets of interview data (students and staff). This allowed me to sort through
information in order to pinpoint large concepts (Stinger, 2007). During this process, I remained
very open to various interpretations of the data while seeking out a potential system that helped
tease out possible themes (Stringer, 2007). After categories were developed during open coding,
I followed Corbin and Strauss’s (2008) suggestion on axial coding, which helped connect ideas
and key subjects to one another. Subsequently, I compared open codes and axial codes to a pre-
existing set of codes that were identified from the concepts of self-authorship (Baxter Magolda,
2008). This coding structure gave me an ability to understand MRU’s veteran experiences more
deeply, along with the formal practices that led to veteran persistence and the potential ways in
which career services increased veteran movement toward degree attainment.
These methods allowed me to interpret the data from a constructivist perspective,
escalated the reliability of the study, and helped me be open to new or emerging ideas. By using
both inductive and deductive interpretation, I considered various explanations that existed within
the data in order to fully understand the phenomenon under study toward answering the research
questions. Throughout the process, I also memoed or wrote field notes. This gave me the liberty
of reflecting on code choices, unanswered questions or conceptual schemas (Saldana, 2009).
Through the process, I developed a codebook, with each of the codes having associated labels,
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definitions of major concepts and a description of when a particular concept occurred (Boyatzis,
1998). Lastly, axial coding was used in the further establishment of themes that captured the
most codes across participants and to confirm findings within the documents (Boyatzis, 1998).
Analysis
The research questions were understood more deeply once the codebook was developed.
Matrices were used to view numerous codes and themes (Miles & Hubermann, 1994). The
matrices included different color-codes and highlights of exemplary quotes from participants.
When compared in this particular visual format, I drew valid conclusions toward answering the
research questions (Miles & Hubermann, 1994). The matrices were used to structure codes to
demonstrate how they worked with one another or to highlight specific developments that
happened within emergent themes.
A comparative analysis was the best way to advance theories and assumptions that had
come from data analysis and collection (Miles & Hubermannn, 1994). Upon analyzing each
participant individually, I began to make cross comparisons across different participants. This
happened in two different ways and included: (a) veteran participants versus staff participants,
and (b) career services staff versus veteran affairs staff. The comparison of group cases allowed
me to highlight commonalities and disparities, especially when understanding why utilization of
career services was (or was not) taking place, and when self-authorship promotion occurred.
From the analysis procedures described, multiple codes were collapsed into broader categories
and then connected by major themes. These major themes included self-authorship, career
services utilization, and degree completion. These themes are presented in Chapter Five.

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Data Analysis Procedure
All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Subsequently, each transcript was reviewed
multiple times, which allowed me to orient myself with interviews as I began to develop a
potential coding scheme. From that, patterns, themes, and codes were developed by analyzing
the interview transcripts. Constant comparative analyses was an appropriate approach to code-
building (Boyatzis, 1998) since self-authorship of student veterans has not been studied and
preexisting codes did not exist. Reviewing individual transcripts, I constantly compared
emerging themes across transcripts, noting important participant statements that exemplified
each of the themes. The themes were then used to examine and understand how students made
meaning of their experience at MRU and the role that career services may have played in their
movement toward degree completion (Patton, 2002). As discussed in chapter three, I consulted a
fellow EdD dissertation student for peer debriefing. In several instances, this colleague helped
me toward new interpretations of data through debriefing and memoing. I also kept a researcher
journal, which allowed me to be more aware of my biases.
In another phase of data analysis, I compared codes and themes across various
participants (e.g., student veteran versus staff participants and career services versus veteran
affairs staff) to better understand nuances or dissonance within the data. Public documents,
websites and social media platforms were also reviewed to gain a better understanding of how
MRU presents itself as a veteran friendly institution. In order to maintain the site’s
confidentiality, direct references are not given for the documents I analyzed. A generic list of the
documents I examined can be found in Appendix H. As addressed in chapter three, the
combination of student veteran and staff interviews as well as document review allowed for
triangulation of the data, increasing the validity of the study (Merriam, 2009; Patton, 2002).
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 68

Trustworthiness
Case studies must be credible and trustworthy so that other researchers can evaluate the
accuracy of the procedures used (Yin, 2009) and be confident in the outcomes (Merriam, 2009).
A deliberate and thoughtful research design that uses accepted principles in the research
community, therefore, was important (Merriam, 2009). There were four tests of quality in case
study research. These include internal validity/credibility, construct validity, external
validity/transferability as well as reliability/dependability (Yin, 2009). Each of the four tests was
applied in multiple ways during the study.
Internal Validity/Credibility
To ensure that internal validity/credibility was accomplished, I defined specific themes or
concepts that were intended to be studied and measured (Yin, 2009). The most traditional way to
increase internal validity/credibility was to use multiple sources of evidence (Yin, 2009). The
multiple sources of data used for this study were interviews with both student veterans and staff,
as well as document review. Document review was crosschecked with interview data in order to
increase validity (Merriam, 2009). Data collected from student veterans were used to examine
data collected from career or veteran affairs staff.
Additionally, I used peer debriefing to increase validity/credibility (Merriam, 2009).
Fellow graduate students reviewed the data and findings, giving constructive feedback about the
work. Through the process, I disclosed biases to peers and took steps to remain unbiased
through the process. A journal was used to understand and reduce researcher bias (Lincoln &
Guba, 1985).

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External Validity/Transferability
External validity will be reached when the findings of a study is generalizable outside the
sample (Yin, 2009). In a case study, I was concerned with analytic generalization where results
can be compared to a particular theory or concept of interest (Yin, 2009). In this study, concepts
of self-authorship were used to increase external validity.
In the study, multiple sources were used to prompt thick descriptions, which provided a
deeper knowledge of themes or behaviors of participants that go beyond what some might see is
superficial findings (Denzin, 1989). As described by Denzin (1989), thick descriptions should
allow a reader to gain a deeper understanding of the culture and setting of where the research
takes place. In the study, I used field notes and documents to develop thick descriptions through
the analysis process.
Reliability/Dependability
In a case study, the goal of reliability is to decrease errors or biases by creating
procedures that a future researcher could follow in hopes of finding the same conclusion for the
exact same case (Yin, 2009). Case study investigators should have a standard procedure and
document their process so that others can review it or follow it as desired (Yin, 2009). The case
study protocol for the study incorporated semi-structured and open-ended interview questions for
student veterans, career services staff as well as veteran affairs staff. Although the questions
were similar across the three stakeholders, there were also specific questions for each group
(staff versus student veterans).
To strengthen reliability, I created a case study database that included audio files and
written transcripts of interviews, notes and all documents given to me by participants. Patton
(2002) underscores the significance of field notes in qualitative research and argues that they
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should be descriptive. Meaning, each field note incorporated details important to the data
source, including the date and location and any reactions or feelings from me as the researcher.
Limitations
There were several limitations presented by a case study design that are common to the
general limitations of qualitative research. First, the generalizability of qualitative research
findings is one of the more common concerns that other investigators have of case studies
(Merriam, 1998; Yin 2009). Case studies are limited to only one unique situation that is being
studied within a specific context. As such, the goal of this case study was to find generalizability
as a product of comparing findings to existing theories or concepts (Yin, 2009) such as self-
authorship. This study was generalizable only to the theories and concepts of self-authorship. It
is not generalizable to all institutions of higher education that serve veterans.
Another limitation of this case study is the data collection methods that are chosen.
Depending mostly on individual interviews is limiting as the addition of focus groups may have
added additional layers for analysis and triangulation purposes. However, focus groups may not
be as effective since responses are not independent and may run the risk of promotion biased
responses, and there may be dominant voices who could monopolize the conversation (Steward
& Shamdasani, 1990). For these reasons, I chose not to include focus groups but to focus
attention on the individual interviews. Criticism related to data collection methods can be
minimized with thoughtful planning in research that was reviewed by peers and the dissertation
committee.
Beyond the structure of the research being done in this study, the most essential
limitation is the lack of research on self-authorship for student veterans, especially at four-year
public institutions. While there have been studies that give some examples of how to interpret
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potential self-authorship emerging themes, there are few if any that detail the formation of a
research design for this specific student population.
Research Bias
To increase the credibility of qualitative research, Merriam (2009) suggests that
researchers recognize and examine their personal assumptions or biases. There are two main
identities that I continually reflected upon throughout the process of the study. These include
being the son of a military veteran with over 20 years of service in the Department of Defense, as
well as my status as an administrator in career services at a large, public, four-year institution.
As the son of a veteran, I have a level of investment in the Department of Defense as I have my
own perception of the role that the military plays in the lives of veterans and their families. In
my youth, I was exposed to military life and spent a significant amount of time growing up in a
large urban military town. My upbringing was influenced by a military service member, which I
believe impacted me socially, academically and to some degree professionally. While I
recognize that influence in my life, I did not have challenges remaining neutral through the study
because I developed a more sophisticated and critical understanding of veteran experiences
beyond behavioral feelings.
I also believe it is important to address my identity as a practitioner in career services.
My professional life plays a significant role in the way I approach research, which included the
way I analyzed data or report findings. As someone who feels passionate about positive
outcomes for all students, it was important for me to recognize my role as a researcher and to
articulate the most accurate story on behalf of student veterans at public four-year institutions.
Merriam (2009) proposes how critical research empowers and brings about transformative
change. Ultimately, the goal was to remain impartial throughout the study, and to highlight all
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stories, whether they do or do not advance movement of student veteran degree completion.
To remain impartial, I continually reflected on these two identities through taking
thorough field notes throughout the data collection process. Memos allowed me to explore any
potential biases whereby I could share these thoughts with peers who have no prior experience
with institutions that serve veterans. Ethical standards were used in the design of this study,
following the rules and regulations as outlined by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the
University of Southern California (USC) and MRU.
Conclusion
In this chapter, I outlined the methodological approach for this case study. The chapter
illustrated a road map regarding sample selection, data collection, its associated analysis and
limitations. Interview protocols and data triangulation were addressed. Using the constructivist
perspective, this chapter focused on methods that helped reveal how participants at a veteran
friendly campus utilize Career Center services toward degree attainment. In chapter four, the
analysis and findings of the collected data are presented.

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CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
Introduction
The goal of this study was to examine the ways in which student veterans at MRU move
toward successful degree completion and how career services helps with that movement, if at all.
After an overview of the sample and addressing the procedure of data analysis, I present the
findings in this chapter based on the research questions, including: (a) how student veterans
utilize career services at MRU; (b) how career services’ missions, programs and services
promote student veteran self-authorship toward degree completion; and, (c) how MRU student
veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree completion goals.
Participants
The participants for this study included MRU student veterans (n=11) and staff in both
veterans affairs as well as career services offices (n=6). As addressed in chapter three, student
veteran participants were recruited via email and snowball sampling. Race, gender as well as
age were not intended to be a specific area of focus within the study but are important to
illustrate. Participants self-identified their race, gender and age in the pre-survey. Demographic,
military service and student profile information were also collected through the pre-survey and
verified in person during the interviews. While the study placed an emphasis on recruiting
undergraduate juniors and seniors, four of the eleven participants were graduate students,
including master’s (1) and PhD (3) students. Recruitment emails were sent to student affairs
departments such as the continuing student support office, as well as graduate student services.
Though the original focus was on undergraduates, no participants, including graduate students,
were excluded from participating once interest was expressed. White students were the most
represented (4), followed by Latina/o (3), Asian (2), Black (1), and Middle Eastern (1). A range
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of military branches were represented in the sample. Student veterans who had served in the
Army (5) were most represented, followed by Marine Corp (4), Navy (1), and Air Force (1). All
participants were 25 years of age or older, with the average age being 32. Student participants
(in order of interview) are included in Table 1, along with military branch served, race (self-
defined), gender, age, year in school, and major or academic discipline of study. Though gender
was not a focal point of the study, it is important to note that there was only one female
participant.
Table 1: MRU Student Veteran/Participant Information
Pseudonym Branch Race Gender Age Profile Information
Bob Army Black M 51 Junior/Political Science
Mike Army Latino M 32 PhD/Education
Mark Navy White M 29 Junior/Geography
John Marine Latino M 31 Master’s/Public Health
Steve Army Asian M 27 Senior/Geography
Brian Marine Middle
Eastern
M 26 Senior/Biology
Wes Army White M 42 PhD/Public Policy
Adam Army White M 31 PhD/Political Science
Tim Marine Asian M 28 Senior/Biochemistry
Amanda Air Force Latina F 25 Senior/Political Science
Shock Marine White M 30 Senior/Geography

Staff participants included four career services staff and two veteran affairs staff. As
discussed in chapter three, staff participants were recruited through two primary methods, email
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recruitment and snowball sampling. Of the four career services staff, two of them primarily
serve undergraduates while the other two serve graduate students (both MBA and non-MBA).
One career services staff has an area of focus as an employer specialist while the other three
spend most of their time doing direct service (career counseling) with students. In terms of
veteran affairs staff, one staff member serves as a program director for MRU, acting as a central
point of contact for any student veteran and referring them to various offices across MRU who
serve on a veteran student service committee known as the MRU’s veteran resource team. All
staff members interviewed are currently or have served on the MRU’s campus wide veteran
resource team. All staff participants have served MRU’s campus three or more years. Staff
participants are included in Table 2, along with their gender, years of service to MRU and
associated office.
Table 2: MRU Staff Participant Information
Pseudonym Gender Years of Service Associated Office
Stacy F 3 Career Services
Kathy F 3 Career Services
Elva F 3 Veteran Affairs
Claire F 15 Veteran Affairs
Josh M 10 Career Services
Steph F 11 Career Services, MBA

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Findings
RQ1: How do college student veterans utilize career services on university campuses?
The data showed that a majority of student veterans had not used career services,
describing their usage as little (2) to none (7). The remaining (2) participants described having
utilized Career Center services, providing a comprehensive overview of their experience and
how they used it for their unique needs. Taken at face value, it would seem that the answer to
this research question is that most student veterans did not utilize career services. However,
further analysis revealed three themes that help to answer this research question, which included:
(a) conceptualizing career services; (b) utilizing career services; and, (c) factors influencing
utilization.
Conceptualizing Career Services. Only two participants described themselves as being
fully immersed in services provided by MRU’s Career Center, mainly taking advantage of the
center’s career management system (to apply for internships), career counseling, and receiving
assistance with their job search documents (e.g., cover letter, resume). Of the seven participants
who described themselves as never utilizing career services, six of them further explained that
they had been exposed to career development support through non-Career Center provided
services. In sum, although participants generally said they did not utilize career services, it was
because of how they were initially conceptualizing career services as only being those services
offered by MRU’s Career Center. They did obtain access to career services during their time at
MRU, but not through the efforts, programs or services of MRU’s Career Center.
Seven student participants did not perceive the Career Center as playing a central role in
their career development since various entities, across and beyond campus, had helped them
through the career, job search and/or graduate school application process. Career services and
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professional development support were provided to student veterans by other entities on and off
campus such as the Academic Excellence Program (AEP), the Department of Veteran Affairs
(VA) or their respective academic departments. AEP promotes academic achievement through
academic advising, mentorship and scholarships for high-need college going students. Mike’s
experience with AEP exemplifies the essence of this:
They (AEP) helped me think about the career I wanted post college… Not only did they
help me identify what my career aspirations (are), they also helped me strategize in terms
of identifying programs (graduate/professional schools), what’s required to apply to these
programs… It was the AEP office that had at the higher level (knowledge of) the whole
process – they were able to connect me with the right folks on campus.
Adam, another PhD student echoed Mike’s sentiment, but for reasons that are largely due to the
specific type of service he receives from his academic department. Adam distinguished how the
Career Center may not provide services that are specific to his needs because,
I guess my perception is that the Career Center is general… (it) is not going to have the
kind of specialized knowledge that would be needed to get a job… I don’t know if that’s
true or not. That’s my perception.
When asked more about the specific career services he finds valuable from the Political Science
department, Adam expanded upon how the department provided career development workshops,
where he was able to gain access to interesting political scientists in dynamic positions he is
interested in obtaining. Additionally, he mentioned that his academic program facilitated mock
case interviews and practice presentations where students gain feedback on their research and
communication.
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For participants like Mike, John, Brian, Adam, Tim and Shock, it seemed redundant to
seek or access career services from MRU’s Career Center since they felt like they had strong
career services from the VA or various student affairs and or academic departments with which
they interact with more frequently. In most instances, participants described non-Career Center
spaces that provide career services as playing a significant role in their career decision making
process. With that support in place, their career advising needs were fulfilled by departments
that do not have a career development mission, but who provide quality career services as
described by student veterans within this study.
In sum, when asked about utilization, student veterans initially conceptualized career
services as something that was only delivered by the Career Center. For example, Mike said he
had never visited the MRU Career Center until he participated in this study. When student
veterans like Mike were asked why they had not utilized Career Center services, a majority of
the participants felt their career development needs were addressed more holistically within
various on and off campus entities that offered career-related support.
In contrast, staff at MRU’s Career Center staff offered a different perspective about
career services for student veterans. They described having dedicated career counseling and
employer specialist staff that serve as primary liaisons to student veterans. When asked about
providing specialized student veteran career services, Kathy, a MRU career counselor, indicated
intentional outreach facilitated to this population:
We (Career Center) do provide programming directly to the student veteran population. I
attend many veteran related programs and events on campus just to let them know that
we are here…For example, during a career series, we created a program distinctly for the
veteran population called “boots to suits”…we are trying to address the challenges of the
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transition that student veterans face when they transition from service to civilian or
campus life.
For Kathy and other career services staff members, there was a sense of intentionality in the
outreach and work they do in order to ensure that student veterans are aware of their support.
This sense of outreach by staff informed student veteran awareness of career services, which
influenced their utilization as discussed in the next theme below.
Utilizing Career Services. Student veterans conceptualized career services in different
ways, and the data showed patterns of how they utilized such services. Steve and Bob, the two
participants highly involved in MRU’s Career Center services, described their utilization as on-
going or continuous. For instance, Steve described additional utilization after connecting with a
Career Center staff member at a veteran student organization meeting.
After the veterans meeting where we talked about careers after the military, I went to
learn about what people (careers) are doing… A lot of times, I would go to additional
events (recruitment) as sometimes it’s good for networking… Either way, I’m learning.
After that, I used the Career Center for letter of recommendation service. Some of my
professors sent a letter and I sent it out to grad schools.
For Steve, initial exposure to career services resulted in him recognizing the benefits of
utilization and so he continued utilizing multiple services during his time at MRU.
Aside from Steve and Bob, the majority (6) of the participants associated their utilization
of career services as more episodic or transactional in nature. These student veterans only
utilized career services periodically, particularly when they needed some specific transaction to
take place during the job search. When asked about instances when used career services, Wes
felt it was based on his movement in the job search process.
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I am just going to say it (using career services) was always in relation to certain jobs
which I already had identified that I was seeking assistance with. In other words, I had
gone out and found a job and I would consult a career counselor and would be like –
“How can you help me with this goal?” – that was always the context.
Wes described the relationship between the progression in his job search and utilization. He
viewed career services and accessing career counseling as something that was useful only when
applying for a job.
Similar to Wes, John decided to access career services because of a competitive
fellowship he was looking to obtain. He became aware of this opportunity through MRU’s job
posting portal and initially thought he was not competitive. Though he described his experience
with career services as limited, he ended up securing the fellowship after meeting with a career
counselor. John illustrates what transpired when he met with the counselor.
Even though I didn’t have the skills they required, the people right here at career services
(center) helped me articulate certain words into that resume that would help me get that
job… I think career services gives you a good layout based on what they know about
your experience.
When asked further about how else he utilizes career services, John added additional perspective,
articulating the differences between basic services as he has experienced in the past versus what
he required based on having military experience. The distinction, in terms of how he utilizes
career services was evidenced in John’s explanation:
I’m just going to say from my personal experience. It (utilizing career services) comes
and goes… Sometimes I feel that career services doesn’t provide what I need… I don’t
need someone telling me my resume is great… I don’t want a critique, but want to (learn
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how to) articulate (skills)… One thing I don’t know is how to fit my military experience
given that I’ve served in the infantry and those skills are not (as) transferable as others…
Translating that to what I’m doing now is not easy.
Related to timing and transactions, John and other participants did not view career services as
being valuable until they were at a point where they were actively engaged in the job search
process. As shared by other participants, John’s perspective also demonstrates a particular
awareness on the limitations of career services in relation to his experience being a student
veteran, which will be discussed further in answering RQ2 below.
Factors Influencing Career Services Utilization. Although not explicitly part of the
research question, several factors emerged from the data that related to different influences on
student veterans’ utilization. These factors fit broadly into two categories: perceptions of the
value of services, and career readiness. These factors played a role in the student participant’s
decision to seek out career services.
Student veteran utilization of career services was influenced by perceptions of how
visible and valuable career services were. Perceptions depended on their exposure to career
services staff, who increased positive perceptions that career services had something to offer
student veterans. Josh, a counselor within MRU’s Career Center, addressed how he helped
create community for student veterans on campus. It was important for him to feel like he was
going beyond the walls of the physical career center so that this particular student population felt
supported in terms of their career or professional development. Josh recalled how he helped
establish a welcoming environment for student veterans.
We (the Career Center) demonstrated how we created a community (for student veterans)
by reaching out and inviting them in... We made several attempts in partnering with the
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student veterans affairs office who also brought a couple of employers to put on
programs… I saw it was important to reach out and then bring them (student veterans)
back versus just doing everything here (physically at the Career Center).
Josh echoed student veteran sentiments in regards to the importance of being visible to what he
described as an important and growing population at MRU. Just being accessible was not
enough for him. Josh recognized the need to raise student veteran awareness of Career Center
services as an important priority for him. Soon after understanding the importance of exposing
student veterans to career services, Josh initiated discussions among the Career Center staff so
that they could develop targeted programs to meet student veterans’ unique needs.
Although participants who had increased awareness of career services had positive
perceptions of their value, other participants generally had negative perceptions or lacked its
value, particularly for student veterans. Mark mentioned the disconnect from career services
when he stated,
I never utilized career services… I feel as a veteran, I’ve been offered a lot of things like
we can find you job placement, we can get you this sort of benefit that will give you extra
employment while you’re searching for a job or while you’re trying to go to
school…Over the years, I’ve just sort of tuned out a lot of the services…and if I’m going
to need to find something, I’m going to need to make the effort and do it in my own
way...I personally feel like there isn’t an abundance of help out there for veterans and
maybe different people get different returns… I haven’t really taken advantage of them
(career services) for the simple fact that they haven’t struck me as being particularly
useful.
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While Mark had his own perceptions, his experience with career services demonstrates how he
and other student veterans like him viewed the lack of value in the service. When participants
who shared Mark’s perspective were asked to elaborate, all of them felt as if career services were
catered to students who were younger in age or with less life experience when compared to their
own.
Perceptions of the value of career services affected participants’ own readiness to engage
in career development. Brian was among the student veteran participants who felt ready to
engage the job and/or graduate school application process. While he acknowledged never
utilizing career services, he felt like he wanted to create his own individual career path,
leveraging his personal network to obtain career guidance and information. When asked why he
did not utilize career services, he explained his reasoning this way:
I think it (career services) would be useful for someone that does not necessarily know
how to use their degree or how they want to approach life when finishing college… I am
not known to really use the resources (career services) unless I have my back to the wall.
I am that type of person. I like to figure out my own way and I’ll use connections that I
have within… I will ask the family doctors about the whole (med school) process.
Brian was one of seven of participants who felt ready, largely due to the fact that he was self-
directed well before he came to MRU, which will be discussed further in relation to self-
authorship below. He also stated that job searches felt very natural to him since he had lots of
experience with job searches before engaging the medical school application process. Since he
had earlier exposure to the world of work after ending his service to the military and prior to
attending MRU, he had a high level of career readiness, and did not perceive any value in
utilizing career services.
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For other student veteran participants, such as Amanda, being a full time student and
parent created barriers and impacted her career readiness, which influenced her utilization of
career services. Rather than placing sole responsibility on MRU’s Career Center to provide
career development support/outreach, she shared what she believed was fair rationale as to why
she did not utilize career services.
It’s me, myself, not being as proactive as I should be… like looking through careers
(career services), what it has to offer… I don’t know if it’s the fault on the university, or a
fault on myself. I always say ‘If I had more awareness of it, I could plan for things.’… I
could utilize those (Career Center) resources, but when workshops and stuff happen, a lot
of time I feel like I don’t have enough awareness about it. Again, it’s myself not being
proactive at all.
Here, Amanda shared similar sentiments as Adam and Mike, expressing to some degree, positive
perceptions in the potential value of Career Center services. Yet her lack of being proactive
reflected her limited readiness to engage in the job search process. Additionally, these three
individuals discussed a level of personal accountability for becoming career ready, recognizing
that it is not just the responsibility of the Career Center to reach out specifically to student
veterans but also their own obligation to understand the menu of career services available for
them.
This idea of personal responsibility is what Steph, a MBA career counselor, strived for
when she met with student veterans within the school of management at MRU. When reflecting
on her conversations with new and incoming student veterans within the MRU MBA program,
she told students to make themselves more visible to career services staff so that they can
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collectively think about their future well in advance. After asking Steph further about the advice
she gave to student veterans, she stated:
I know that they’re (MBA student veterans) not aware of everything that is out there,
that’s for sure. One of the things that I bring up when I talk to students is to be more
proactive in many ways. (For example), I tell them to contact them (employers or
graduate programs) and find out if there are any special considerations for student
veterans because I know that there are (veteran pipeline employment programs). They
often get surprised when I bring that up…So they’re definitely not aware of their options,
that’s for sure.
Here, Steph, the career services counselor, acknowledged that MRU student veterans had to
make their own commitments to their career development process. While she understood her
role in reaching out to students, particularly those who are new to the school of management, she
also stressed how important it was for student veterans to be engaged in and committed to their
own professional journeys.
RQ2: How do career services missions, programs and services promote student veteran
self-authorship and movement toward degree completion?
To address research question two, I first examined various documents regarding career
services’ mission, programs and services, and then I explored student veteran perspectives
through participant interviews. In examining various documents I found that the mission,
programs and services of career services do allow for the promotion of self-authorship, but such
outcomes are not specifically targeted to student veterans. The data from student veterans
demonstrated the promotion of self-authorship by non-Career Center services (i.e., courses and
other career-related experiences) and a general lack of self-authorship development. This lack
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of development was because student veterans were already at a point in their self-authorship
journeys where they had strong internal commitments to their knowledge construction,
themselves and to others. While the development of self-authorship is a continuous and lifelong
journey, additional development may not have been necessary for these student veterans to meet
the current demands of life at MRU.
Supporting Student Veterans through Mission, Services, and Programs. A review of
MRU’s career services mission statement revealed that its charge is to promote the career
development skills of students and alumni and to provide access to various experiential learning
opportunities (e.g., employment, internships) so that MRU students can explore career options
and goals. Furthermore, the Career Center is committed to the idea that the career development
process is lifelong and that their staff provides a range of programs and services that strive to
enrich the holistic development of students and alumni.
While there was no specific mention of student veterans in their organizational mission,
MRU’s Career Center website has a dedicated section that is tailored for the student veteran
community and employers who may be interested in hiring them. Though the site uses
vernacular that illustrates specific services for student veterans, the actual services provided
articulate the same services given to all students at MRU (e.g., encouraging students to take
advantage of career counseling, attending general career fairs, or taking a career assessments).
There were two distinct areas of this section of MRU’s Career Center website that could be
deemed unique for student veterans. First, student veterans could see themselves reflected by
the inclusion of unique characteristics they may have that are attractive to employers (e.g.,
foreign language fluency, accelerated learning curve). Secondly, there were several resources
related to graduate and professional schools, suggesting certain programs that may have a
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significant commitment to enrolling student veterans. Despite a large volume of Career Center
resources available to all students online and in print (e.g., guides, brochures), and a section of
the website named to target student veterans, there were no specific and unique resources that
were targeted or tailored to the MRU student veteran population.
Although the Career Center documents demonstrated a particular focus on career
development, other campus partners explicitly focused on student veterans, yet did not include
career development. As a partner department that has a primary focus in supporting student
veterans, the MRU Veteran Affairs (MVA) website has various resources that help assist
students as they navigate campus resources. Upon examination of the MVA website, there are
significant services that focus on major services for student veterans, including how to access
VA, health benefits or counseling and psychological services. While these particular services
are important to the student veteran population at MRU, there was limited content dedicated to
career services and the importance of engaging this type of service during their time at MRU.
This limited content actually encouraged student veterans to explore professional development
through MRU’s continuing and professional studies school or to take a one-credit life skills
course that helps these students adjust to what is described as the new environment of academic
or vocational settings. Yet, the MVA website did not include any reference to services provided
by MRU’s Career Center.
It became apparent that across various documents reviewed, including the campus
newspaper and Facebook affiliation groups, MRU strives toward sustaining its veteran friendly
campus status. After reviewing both current and archived posts and online newspaper articles,
the documents provided historical information that helped me gain a deeper understanding of
MRU’s culture, specifically around issues of career development. While many of the articles
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and posts demonstrate MRU’s institutional commitment to student veterans by way of
celebrations or donations (e.g., annual Memorial Day campus celebration or grants to expand
mental health programs for student veterans), posts or online articles dedicated encouraging
student veterans to engage in the career development process were nonexistent. Even though
there were several articles highlighting student veteran success stories around innovation or
entrepreneurship, there was no mention of the pathway these students took in order to be
successful (e.g, if career services was accessed or not).
Though media and the veteran affairs offices website were not central to answering my
sub-research question relative to career services mission and promotion of self-authorship, it is
important to understand the information available to student veterans as they navigate various
campus wide services at a large university such as MRU. While implicit, the mission of MRU’s
Career Center seems to promote self-authorship but not in all three core dimensions (Baxter
Magolda, 2003, 2008; Pizzolato, 2003, 2007).
Programs/Services and Implications on Self-Authorship. As discussed in the literature
review above, self-authorship is an epistemological development framework that describes an
individual’s movement from being externally influenced to developing an internal capacity to
make meaning of knowledge. The process of self-authoring helps adult learners coordinate their
comprehension of information in relation to who they are individually and in relationship to
others (Baxter Magolda, 2008; Pizzolato et al., 2012). Student veterans within this study
demonstrated self-authorship, but the degree to which self-authorship is developed (e.g., ways of
knowing prior to college or during college) varied. Overall, very minimal evidence was found
related to career services’ mission, programs and services influencing student veteran self-
authorship development. Although career services did not provide promotion of self-authorship
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development, there were other non-Career Center experiences that participants discussed in
relation to self-authorship. I outline several of those experiences below, then provide findings
related to why career services may not be promoting self-authorship development among student
veterans. Namely, that student veterans are already in a point of their self-authorship journeys
where signs of additional self-authorship development would not be apparent.
For a number of participants in the study, the promotion of self-authorship was strongly
associated with other-career related services (i.e., non-MRU Career Center services) or
coursework. In several cases, participants spoke with great certainty of their knowledge and the
ability to make meaning of experiences based on context, situation or environment. Amanda
described an event where she discussed her ability to understand multiple perspectives based on
a favorite course she took at MRU:
It was challenging, but I liked it (the course) so much because it made you formulate all
this information and opinions and kind of give your own perspective, which is what I
would like to do in the future in terms of my own career. I felt that it was challenging
because you feel like you know something, and then it’s like you don’t (challenging
preexisting knowledge to build new knowledge), so you relearn.
As this student veteran was exposed to additional knowledge provided by her course, her
testimonial illustrated how she became an authority of her own knowledge construction.
Additionally, she stepped back and recognized that her preconceived knowledge could be
different based on situation and context. The quote also shows her ability to see multiple
perspectives while feeling comfortable in her own opinion, suggesting evidence of internal
commitment in the cognitive dimension of self-authorship.
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Coursework also reaffirmed how higher education may impact a student veteran’s
capacity for self-authorship. Mark discussed this influence of coursework further while he
recalled his ability to better express his own ideas in relation to concepts he was learning in a
class.
I find myself being able to articulate my ideas and relate them to other scholarly ideas
and this is sort of in the more general sense of just stuff in academia. I’m having a better
time being elaborate about theories and stuff and sort of thinking outside the box about
other theories.
In this example, Mark compared his ability to think freely in the classroom versus when he was
in the military. His description of how his ideas build on other scholarly ideas is an indication of
his ability to articulate knowledge much more clearly (cognitive dimension). Courses at MRU
provided student veterans like Amanda and Mark with opportunities to engage in the self-
authoring process (internal commitment and foundation) as opposed to accepting knowledge
based on external authority figures in their lives (e.g., professors, peers or family members).
Outside of courses, some participants described career related experiences – although not
necessarily stemming from MRU’s Career Center – as pivotal opportunities for the promotion of
student veteran self-authorship development. Both John and Mike described having served in
internships that seemed to foster self-authorship development in the intrapersonal or
interpersonal dimensions. In Mike’s case, he compared the great depth of his experience in an
internship in Chile versus the limited impact of an internship he had in the United States. In his
case, we see high levels of internal commitment to self.
Internships (here in the US) are quite different. They are very focused on early life or the
early aged student… even in Chile… that was actually more of a challenging internship
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now that I think about it. I was in charge of teaching a class every time and came up with
the discussion topics…If anything they (my colleagues) looked up to me given that I was
a US military veteran. They looked up to that. I mean every single one of my colleagues
there that I worked with valued my worldview. They valued that a lot because they
didn’t get that experience and so that was pretty neat.
During his internship Mike became more comfortable displaying his sense of self based on his
strong student veteran identity, signaling self-authorship development in the intrapersonal
dimension. He understood colleagues’ differences in opinion within his internship abroad but
was respected and seen as a role model. This type of experience acknowledged his personal
authority and resembled the principles of Baxter Magolda and King’s (2004) Learning
Partnership Model, which has been shown to support self-authorship development. It is clear
from Mike’s point of view on US internships, which he felt were tailored to younger students,
that they were not a good match for his level of experience or engagement. Yet he was only
able to recognize this lack of fit after experiences the internship in Chile. In Mike’s reflection,
these US-based internships did not support him as an authority on self, relationships, or
knowledge construction.
John’s career-related experience was a bit nuanced from Mike’s since his internship,
specifically for a government agency in the US, really challenged him to think about how to
engage various stakeholders (e.g., supervisor, council members, community members)
differently. After he described the political structures he had to navigate internal of the agency
and beyond, I asked him to further explain how this career-related experience developed his
ability to relate to others. He stated:
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There are these outcomes I want to get to but you got to jump around all these barriers…
Being (in) a big department, there are all these barriers and that’s how it challenged me
but also (improved) my (communication) skills as well. They (internship site) expect a
lot… since there are a lot of hoops, I have to learn how to speak to my supervisor, those
who approve our IRB paperwork or individual community members that I’m working
with… so there are challenges.
Signaling progression in the interpersonal dimension of self-authorship, John figured out how to
sustain and nurture important relationships and not only satisfy his own interests based on his
work but also satisfy the expectations of his supervisor as well as interests of council or
community members for which his work impacted. His reflection on how to balance these
external expectations showed his ability to negotiate relationships and meet various stakeholder
goals based on environment (work versus council meeting) or context (community needs versus
individual needs). Of note, these examples may not necessarily be direct services provided by
the Career Center yet are distinctly career-related experiences that have implications on the
promotion of student veteran self-authorship development.
Lack of Evidence Signaling Additional Signs of Self-Authorship Development.
Throughout the interviews with student veterans, it became clear that this particular student
population demonstrates the abilities to self-author prior to their MRU experience. Through
particular behaviors (e.g., self-regulation) to having solidified plans (internally defined goals),
participants’ lived experiences (e.g., with military service) may have activated their self-
authorship development well before they entered into university life. For example, Mark had
such a strong commitment to his values and knowledge that he had no reservations challenging
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the authority of a professor within one of his classes. When I asked him for an example where
he felt like he challenged his professor’s preexisting knowledge, he shared:
[My professor] recently went on this narrative about Chile in the 1970s, or what was
known as the economic miracle of Chile and the Nilo Road transformation… His narrative
was very anti. It sort of went against the president that had been in power before who is
this populous Marxist figure and rather than be like ‘Oh I didn’t see it that way before,’ I
went up to him after class and kind of threw question after question and tried to get him to
waffle or get him to sort of concede to the way I see it because I see it very differently.
When asked how comfortable he felt approaching the professor about a contrasting point of
view, Mark attributed his confidence in challenging an authority figure because of his age. He
also described himself as being unlike traditionally aged students who, based on his observation,
take in information and do not stop to critically analyze whether or not the information is in fact
true. In his own words, he expressed some differences between him and younger peers he
worked with in a student leadership organization.
These (student peers) are mostly younger people. I am certainly the oldest person in the
student organization. They’re like 19, 20, 21… I get the feeling that a lot of these kids
have elite backgrounds… They will say obtuse insensitive things… the overall takeaway
from this is that some of these kids have very little life experience and it shows… I just
have to remember that a lot of people that are my peers at school (have) academic
knowledge that doesn’t match what they’ve experienced in life.
Similar to Mark’s comments, Bob, Adam, and Amanda, among others, all spoke about their
level of maturity and how they viewed their pre-MRU experience as transformative when
compared to students who may not have the same experience. While participants mostly
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attributed difference to age, student veterans felt their real life experience, particularly when
interacting with peers, benefited them because they had confidence to negotiate relationships
and high levels of comfort in having differences of opinions with peers.
This sense of having prior life experiences being influential in how student veterans
approached college could be seen in examples shared by Steve. Steve felt well situated when he
first attended class at MRU. Steve’s positive attitude and mentality seemed to serve him well
when he enrolled in a lower division course where he was given group work with other students
who did not have the same type of approach. Steve distinguished his work ethic in comparison
to his peers.
I approached it in a way that it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew from the first assignment
the grading would be difficult. I adjusted. I said I’m going to try to get a fairly decent
grade. If I want it then I’m going to have to really put in the hours…. I think their (peers
in group project) motivation was very different from mine… They just saw the class as
something to do real easily.
For Steve and others whose story was very similar in terms of approach, figuring out how to be
a successful student occurred before enrolling at MRU. Steve’s conviction was that he had to be
committed to college wholeheartedly and that in order to do well, he had to utilize the same
mental strength and discipline he had learned while in the military. This sense of internal
commitment demonstrated Steve’s development of self-authorship, and this development
seemed activated before attending MRU.
Similarly, Brian felt comfortable setting priorities and standards in order to obtain a goal,
yet this comfort level seemed established well before he attended MRU. When he discussed his
approach toward medical school, Brian demonstrated his capacity for self-authorship. While
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Brian recognized the external expectations given to him as an applicant for medical school, he
had already begun to construct self-defined goals and developed appropriate plans for
maintaining his own identity without getting caught in what he views as typical within the
culture of pre-medical students at MRU.
I feel like it’s a classic example. Everyone stresses about their grades for medical school.
It doesn’t mean I am stressing about my grades, but at the end of the day, your grades
don’t determine who you are and how successful you are going to be. It’s about character
and your life experience… That was probably instilled in me throughout growing up, but
especially in the military… That’s why I try to be a well-rounded person as far as why I
tried to apply for medical school. My grades are not going to be as competitive, but I do
home that my life experience and everything I’ve been involved in will give me the one-
up compared to these people who just have this school life.
Brian’s internalized definitions of self and how he was going to obtain his future goals were
clearly shaped by his ability to be comfortable with who he is (intrapersonal dimension) and to
live his life in a manner that is free of external expectations. While he could appreciate the
various ways that others wanted to approach the medical school application process, he had the
ability to measure his success based on an already strong internal foundation that was instilled
during his time serving in the military.
Student participants did not generally describe career services’ missions, programs or
services as helping them think differently about what they know (cognitively), themselves
(intrapersonal), or themselves in relation to others (interpersonal). This lack of description was
not necessarily the fault of career services but might signify the extent to which student veterans
already demonstrate the capacity for self-authorship prior to their college experience, whether in
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class or within career-related experiences. All participants (11) stated that neither veteran affairs
nor career services staff members challenged them to think differently about career choices.
Subsequently, they found it impossible to recall any experiences where staff from either of the
two departments challenged their preexisting knowledge. However, some participants, those
who might be deemed less advanced in terms of self-authorship development, found themselves
attributing their growth to other administrators or university officials such as AEP staff, teaching
assistants, professors or academic advisors. Though participants did not express a strong
connection among the dimensions of self-authorship and staff of the veteran affairs or career
services offices, it seemed like career-related experiences (internships), courses (curriculum) and
previous life experiences (military, age, or upbringing) may play a role in student veteran self-
authorship, which could contribute to their movement toward degree completion.
RQ3: How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree
completion goals?
In regard to the last research question, I sought to understand how student veterans
describe career services as helping them in their degree completion goals. With the exception of
one participant in this study, student veterans did not point to career services as assisting them in
their degree completion. While most participants did not describe career services as playing any
role in degree completion goals, two major themes related to completion emerged in their
discussions. These themes included: (a) motivators influencing student veteran degree
completion; and, (b) recognition of degree completion for future careers. Although the findings
described below were generated from student veterans, it is unclear the extent to which they are
unique to student veterans as this was not a comparative study (i.e., I did not interview non-
student veterans in order to make comparisons).
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Motivators for Degree Completion. Since most participants did not think of career
services as supporting their degree completion goals, it is critical not only to understand
rationale, but specific motivating factors that move them toward degree completion. By and
large, participants did not see services related to career support (e.g., career counseling, resume
critiques or mock interviews) as moving them toward degree completion but would usually
follow up by explaining what motivated them to finish. For example, Tim discussed how he
views his obtainment of a degree in relation to competing for opportunities (e.g., internships).
I guess that’s (obtaining his degree) one of the things I’ve been worried about, like
academic inflation of what is employable… I feel like I have to be more accredited in
order to give myself a competitive edge. I really don’t know how real it is. It’s just how a
lot of students feel.
Tim’s concern regarding academic inflation and being competitive for jobs was a big influence
on his movement toward getting his bachelor’s degree. Eight participants (Tim, Mike, Mark,
Adam, Amanda, Bob, Steve and Brian) all brought up the concept of being more competitive for
job opportunities and the extent to which such opportunities would give them access to a better
life (e.g., upward social mobility). For student veterans as non-traditional students, this sense of
competition may be heightened if they do not see how their previous military experiences may
actually give them an advantage in the job search process.
A second motivating factor that moved participants toward degree completion goals was
the idea of financial stability for selves and family. Mark, Mike, John, Tim, Amanda and Shock
all spoke about how their degrees would eventually give them financial independence and would
allow for them to provide for themselves and their loved ones, that include spouses and children.
While discussing the idea of financial stability for him and his wife, Mark recalled:
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I don’t want to be in that position again (financially unstable) and it would be really nice
to make some money. It would be really nice to have access to an income of higher than
$12 an hour which is the most I’ve made since getting out of the Navy. That was a huge
shock actually with the income disparity between being in the Navy and getting out of the
Navy… It (degree completion) has to do with access to higher income or more income
down the road… I just want to do something important… In order to do that, you need to
know things and so that is what college is doing for me.
Mark, among other participants, identified this motivating factor as important because many of
them already had salaried positions within the military prior to them transitioning into being full-
time students at MRU. Since student veterans experienced financial stability in the past, the
departure from having a salary to relying upon other forms of fiscal support (e.g., GI Bill,
spouses, part-time jobs) became a salient concern of theirs. In their opinion, pursuit of degree
and movement toward completion was a direct pathway to financial independence for them and
loved ones.
Familial considerations also became a motivating factor influencing student veteran
degree completion goals. While Shock acknowledged that his 10 years of service as a Marine
was significant for his own development, he knew the value in obtaining a degree was beyond
his own self-interest. Here, he described the main motivating factor as to why he wanted to
complete his degree.
I’m also one of the first people in my family, definitely the first person in my immediate
family to have gone to college and subsequently graduated if I can make it through this
semester. That’s important to me too (because) I’ve got a younger sister and I want to set
a really good example for (her). That’s important to me.
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Here, Shock’s pursuit of a college degree is fueled by his concern to provide for his family.
Family, as a motivating factor toward degree completion, was referenced by several individuals,
including Mark, Brian, Adam, and Amanda.
While largely detached from career services, motivating factors such as family, financial
stability and being competitive for career opportunities seemed to be the most prevalent
motivators for student veterans as they moved toward completing their respective degrees.
These motivators intersect with student veterans being non-traditionally aged students, who are
often comparing themselves to their traditionally-aged peers, yet also have the additional
responsibilities to family that the typical 18-22 year old may not have.
Recognition of Degree Completion for Future Careers. Although all participants
referenced one of the three motivating factors that led them toward completing their degrees, it
appeared that more than half of the participants in this study found their degree as a requirement
of their targeted employment destination or industry. Meaning, the degree they were working
toward was a necessity for their future employment. Although much of the findings in this
section could apply to any student, they are still worth noting given the lack of literature in this
area specifically for student veterans. For individuals like John, Mark, Steve, Brian, Wes, Adam
and Tim, they all recognized their degrees as being a minimum qualification for their fields. In
the case of Adam and Mark, being a college professor and obtaining one’s PhD was the driving
force behind their wanting to finish their degrees. Adam explained his thoughts on how to obtain
a position as a university professor.
(In order) to get an assistant-professorship tenure-track position, which is the gold
standard that everybody strives for, at least in my field or in this program, you need to
have a PhD. It’s very rare (to obtain an assistant professor position), especially at a
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research university, so completing the PhD is a prerequisite for that…To get the job I
want, you really need a PhD.
Similar to Adam, Mark wanted to teach and perceived getting his PhD as critical to his future
career goal. Both of these individuals understood that their first step in accessing these types of
opportunities was to meet the qualifications of being professor or facilitating research at a
university. That was only possible by obtaining their degree.
For those targeting careers in the health professions, participants already understood the
role of degree completion in order to access such employment opportunities. As noted earlier,
John (public health), Brian (pre-medicine) and Tim (pharmacy) had very directed foci in their
post-graduation plans. John’s testimonial revealed how he and others like him learned about the
importance of his degree in relation to future career opportunities. In discussing how he
reviewed job postings, John shared:
The job market is becoming more competitive. Therefore, one screening criteria is the
degree… I think it (having a master’s in public health) does make a difference and that
goes with the searching criteria (for employers). Some (employers) of them are private
but a lot of them are public institutions, governmental jobs… So if you don’t have those
degrees, they’re not even going to look at you.
John’s experience aligned similarly with Tim and Brian. All three of them already knew that
their future career path would not be attainable if they did not have the credentials, in this case
the degree, as required by their profession. Brian was very frank when he spoke about his
understanding of his degree in relation to his future of wanting to become a physician.
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 101

All I know is that there is a need for doctors. At that point, my degree definitely will give
me the opportunity. If I decided not to go through the medicine route, I don’t think a
biology degree would give me any type of job, to be honest.
Student veterans like Brian recognize the necessity of a degree for their future career goals.
Overall, student veterans described career goals and employment requirements as potential
motivators toward their degree completion, but these were largely detached from the concept of
career services or services provided by MRU’s Career Center.
This detachment is interesting considering how MRU staff members discussed their role
in student veteran degree completion. Of the career services staff members interviewed (4), all
expressed an insignificant connection in providing services that move student veterans toward
degree completion. For instance, Stacy did not view MRU’s Career Center services as
intentionally impacting student’s ability to obtain a degree. In discussing her thoughts she
shared, “Our programs are not for course credit. The workshops and the (educational)
opportunities that we offer are a supplement to (degree completion), or perhaps (enhance) the
area of study.” As an employer specialist within MRU’s Career Center, she identified
connections between degree completion and recruitment programming (e.g., engineering career
fairs) that she described as weak.
Both staff persons Kathy and Josh shared the same sentiment as their colleague, but
described it differently. Both career counselors seemed to think that the topic of graduation and
obtaining a degree had come up sparingly because both felt that MRU student veterans already
feel confident as they perceive degree completion as inevitable. To capture the essence of this
idea, Josh explained how he has observed student veterans during his advising sessions. He
shared that a student veteran would say something like this:
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This degree is something that I need to complete because I’ve done this work before (e.g.,
through military training). I’ve already networked out there… I’ve got to hit this
milestone (degree completion) to put this in my backpack to get moving… It’s not really
an issue of if I can or cannot get the degree, it’s a matter of gaining it because it’s
necessary (in terms of accessing employment or graduate school).
Josh’s recollection is interesting in that it seems to align with student veteran participants who
did not indicate Career Center services as playing a significant role in their degree completion
goals.
Summary
The section above illustrates the perceptions and experiences of eleven student veterans
and six staff at Mountaintop Research University. The themes are important in helping to
understand the role of career services in student veteran degree completion at a four-year,
research extensive, public university. Overall, the participants did not express much utilization
of MRU’s Career Center, but to some degree did utilize career services through various on or off
campus entities that offered such support. The participants also provided very limited examples
demonstrating self-authorship development during their time at MRU, which was largely
influenced by their pre-college experiences, which seemed to have already activated their self-
authorship journeys. A majority of participants noted being an authority of their knowledge
construction, and demonstrated a strong internal commitment to who they were and what
relationships they wanted to form with others. Finally, student veterans in this study did not
point to career services as playing a role in their degree completion. Participants saw their
interactions with career services as episodic and transactional, only accessing it when engaging
the job or graduate and professional school process. The findings that emerged suggest that
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 103

student veterans understand the role of career services, but not in relation to degree completion.
The next chapter will discuss the findings as they apply to the research literature and provide
recommendations for future research and practice.
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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Summary
Since 2008, the new GI Bill has offered nearly two million veterans support in their
pursuit of higher education. As the number of veterans attending college increases, it is critical
for institutions to be intentional in the way they create targeted support for this growing student
population. Given the importance of President Obama’s 2020 college completion agenda
(College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2014; The White House, 2009a), student veterans
have an impact on such an agenda and may increase graduation rates throughout the US. While
some campuses have been responsive in the manner in which they serve veterans, empirical
research regarding college support services for this population is limited. Traditional student
veteran services have a focus on student veterans with psychological or physical disabilities
(Holloway, 2009; Ostovary & Dapprich, 2011). To date, no research has explicitly focused on
student veteran utilization of career services and how it influences movement toward degree
completion.
The study was intended to identify ways in which a public, four-year research university
helped student veterans move toward successful degree completion through the efforts of Career
Center services. In this case study, eleven student veterans were interviewed about their
experiences at MRU and their interactions with Career Center staff and associated programs.
Interviews with six staff (veteran affairs and career services) members as well as document
review supplemented the analysis. Student participants’ experiences were explored through the
concept of self-authorship, an epistemological developmental framework demonstrated to
influence positive outcomes for college students and college graduates (Baxter Magolda, 2001;
Pizzolato, 2003).
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As noted in chapter one, the main focus of the study is rooted in a practitioner’s
evaluation of the potential for career services to positively impact student veteran persistence.
Since career centers have largely been overlooked as a potential institutional factor promoting
student veteran persistence, paying close attention to the role of career center services for this
growing and re-emerging student population helps to fill a gap in both literature and practice.
Instead of examining reasons for student attrition, which has been done in the past (e.g., Bean &
Metzner, 1985; Tinto, 2012), the study sought to understand how a particular four-year
institution met student veterans’ career development needs and promoted successful degree
completion. Since many different departments serve student veterans, this study also explored
the way in which other departments (e.g., VA, AEP or individual academic departments)
provided career support for student veterans.
Three questions guided the inquiry in this applied research study. The research aimed to
answer the following main research question:
1. How do student veterans utilize career services on university campuses?
And two sub-questions:
A. How do career services missions, programs and services promote student veteran self-
authorship and movement toward degree completion?
B. How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree completion
goals?
Review of Findings
Participant Use of Career Services
This section discusses the findings from the study and how the themes outlined in chapter
four respond to the research questions. Question one explored utilization of career services. The
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majority of student veterans expressed not having utilized the office, describing usage as little to
none. However, this lack of utilization was due to participant conceptualizing career services as
solely offered through their university Career Center. Student veterans did utilize services for
their career development, but mostly through other programs or departments (e.g., academic
departments, the Department of Veteran Affairs or the Academic Excellence Program). Those
who did utilize Career Center services were influenced by student veteran exposure to Career
Center staff. Meaning, student veterans only optimized utilization of Career Center offerings
after having interactions with Career Center staff through outreach activities. Even then, most
utilization of Career Center services existed as transactional and episodic in nature, where
student veterans accessed career services only when they needed guidance through a specific
process within the job search.
Though not specifically addressing the first research question, influences impacting
career services utilization included whether or not a student veteran viewed the service as
valuable, particularly for student veterans who tend to be older and view themselves as already
having real world experience. Student veterans who did not find the service valuable were less
likely to utilize career services and vice versa. Another major influence impacting utilization
was student veteran career readiness, yet this influence varied by participant. Some participants
did not feel the need to utilize career services given their confidence in engaging the job and/or
graduate and professional school application process. Meaning, they felt career ready and
utilization of career services was unnecessary. However, other participants felt they were not
ready enough, and therefore a complete lack of career readiness also resulted in non-utilization
of career services. It seems as though having some level of readiness allowed participants in the
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middle of the career readiness spectrum to understand the value of career services and seek out
services for utilization.
Self Authorship
In terms of self-authorship promotion and movement toward degree completion, the
study found that the mission, programs and services of career services do include the potential
for promoting student development along this epistemological trajectory, particularly in the
intrapersonal dimension. However, such promotion was not focused on nor specific to the
student veteran population. Furthermore, among the participants, the limited student veteran
self-authorship development observed during college came from non-Career Center services
such as courses taken or career-related experiences (e.g., internships). Though these experiences
helped some student veterans increase their internal commitments to who they were
intrapersonally or in relation to others, the degree to which they demonstrated the concepts of
self-authorship varied.
Career services were not found to provide significant promotion of self-authorship
development, but this was largely due to student veteran pre-college experiences where
additional development in college was not clearly identified by most participants. In this case,
self-authorship development was likely promoted during their pre-college experiences with the
military and so additional development during their time at MRU did not seem necessary to meet
the demands of university life. These student veterans already viewed themselves as being able
to self-author, meaning they saw themselves as an authority on how they knew, who they were,
and what relationships they wanted (Baxter Magolda, 2008). Although this study was not
focused on assessing where each student veteran was in terms of self-authorship development,
such findings that student veterans are already demonstrating signs of self-authorship during
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college relate to the literature suggesting that students who are at higher risk (i.e., less privileged)
tend to develop sooner to meet the demands of even getting into college (Pizzolato, 2003).
Student veterans, being non-traditionally aged and having experienced the “real world” before
entering college likely found themselves having to develop the internal capacity construct
knowledge in order to navigate the college-going process on their nontraditional paths.
Career Services and Degree Completion
In relation to student veteran degree completion, student veteran participants did not
describe career services as being influential for their degree completion. This theme aligned
with Career Center staff perceptions as they also did not view their roles as contributing to
student veteran degree completion. Though not central to answering this sub-research question,
student veterans described two factors that were helping them move toward degree completion.
They described motivations that assisted them in completing their degrees, including being
competitive for jobs, securing financial stability and familial considerations. Also, student
veterans recognized that their degree was a requirement, particularly for some student veterans
that felt there was a direct pathway from their degree to their ultimate career destination (e.g.,
biology in relation to the health professions). Although these two factors may not be unique to
student veterans (e.g., all students tend to describe these as influential), they are grounded in
veterans’ perspectives and are noted here. In sum, student veterans did not identify career
services as playing a role in their movement toward or obtainment of a degree.
Discussion
This study found that student veterans were able to access career support through various
on and off campus entities outside of MRU’s Career Center. In order to meet the career
development needs of a significant amount of students, it is not a surprise that various
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 109

departments, who serve particular student populations or specific disciplines of study, need to
develop unique services that support student persistence. As outlined in the literature, student
services should be uniquely tailored to serving student veterans (Vacchi & Berger, 2014).
Student Veterans and Connection to Career Services
The study also found that exposure to career services was initially introduced to student
veterans as one of various services provided by academic or student affairs areas outside of
MRU’s Career Center. Meaning, student veterans utilized career services where career
development programming was one part of a holistic student service meeting their
comprehensive needs(e.g., tutoring support, academic advising, mentorship with faculty,
graduate/professional school advice). While the Career Center was seen as one area that served
the career development needs of the larger student population at MRU, most student veterans did
not feel connected to Center services because they did not explicitly meet the comprehensive
needs of student veterans (Hassan et al., 2010; Rumann & Hamrick, 2009; Vacchi & Berger,
2014). This resulted in student veterans perceiving Career Center services as not being tailored
to their individual experiences and that such comprehensive services could be met elsewhere on
the MRU campus.
Student Veterans and Value of Career Services
Student veterans in this study were generally older in comparison to the general MRU
population and had come with various life experiences (e.g., military service) before attending
college. These characteristics partially inform why student veterans are at a high risk for
unsuccessful university transition (DiRamio et al., 2008; Ruman & Hamrick, 2009). Yet, from
this study, such characteristics likely impacted their perception on the value of Career Center
services at MRU since many referenced the potential to use such services if they felt they were
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 110

much more specific to their needs and where they were in their professional life. Given that the
primary programming and services delivered by the MRU Career Center are open to all class
levels across all disciplines of study, most student veterans did not feel like the services were
targeted to them. In order to increase utilization of career services for student veterans, it will be
important for career centers, particularly at large, public, four-year institutions, to customize
services that enhance student veteran career development. Such customization will be discussed
in the recommendations below.
Student Veteran Degree Completion and Role of Career Services
Exploring the role of career services in MRU student veteran degree completion was one
of the most significant concepts examined throughout the study. As such, it was critical to
understand the connection between student veteran participation in career services and the extent
to which any participation influenced movement in obtaining one’s degree. Though student
veterans at MRU understand the role of career services, they do not see it as directly assisting
them in their degree completion goal. Aligning with student veteran perceptions were those of
MRU’s career services staff. As is understood in the literature (Brown, 2004), these staff
members viewed their role in career services as assisting students with their job search or
graduate and professional school process. Degree completion was not a specific charge or
dimension of the student experience for which they felt accountable. There was an assumption
being made on behalf of both student veterans and staff members that degree completion would
be a given. This assumption was likely influenced by the particular site for this study as MRU’s
selective admissions tends to influence higher rates of completion when compared to other, less
selective types of institutions.
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Recommendations for Practice
Findings from this study may be used to inform student affairs practitioners and
administrators, particularly at campuses that serve or anticipate serving more college student
veterans. Findings from the study may also offer utility to policy makers focused on
accomplishing the College Completion Agenda’s goal to increase the number of college
graduates to 55% by 2020 (College Board Advocacy and Policy Center, 2013). As a growing
student population in higher education, student veterans can positively influence the national
completion agenda. Having a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to their
successful degree completion will not only enhance practitioner knowledge but will help our
country find ways to increase student veteran persistence and contribute to the country’s degree
attainment goals. As such, this section discusses implications of practice derived from
participants in this research study.
Recommendation 1: To increase student veteran utilization of Career Center services,
career services staff must recognize that targeted outreach initiatives have positive impact.
Findings from this research study indicate that outreach events, defined here as engagements
outside of Career Center facilities, increase student veteran usage of such services. In many
cases, student veterans who understood the value of Career Center services did so by attending
an engagement event where career services professionals physically came to them (e.g.,
orientation or student veteran organization meeting). Investing time and resources through
outreach not only increases the likelihood of utilization in Career Center services but may also
demystify perceptions that career services should only be accessed during times of need (e.g.,
activated only for specific job search need). The periodic and transactional nature of the
utilization among student veterans in this study seems to miss the opportunity for prolonged
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engagement and developing relationships between students and staff. Such positive outcomes
demonstrated by the use of the Learning Partnerships Model (Baxter Magolda, 2004) only seem
to occur when an ongoing and mutually rewarding relationship has been established. Increased
outreach can lead to increased utilization and then stronger relationships.
Recommendation 2: To increase student veteran utilization of Career Center services,
career services staff must partner more closely with academic affairs. On every college
campus, there are opportunities to collaborate further to enhance student services and
persistence. Findings in this study indicate that student veterans at this public, four-year research
extensive campus, identify with their academic discipline, academic advisor as well as faculty
mentors more so when compared to career center professionals. In order to support the larger
professional development goals of student veterans, career services professionals should consider
how their service delivery model aligns with various academic partners, specifically AEP and
faculty. Such models should take into consideration specific and unique needs of nontraditional
students (Wendlandt & Rochlen, 2009), specifically veterans and their engagement with career
development programs and services. The establishment of such focused partnerships (e.g.,
student veteran career course) can only materialize when faculty, staff and administrators of
institutions are conscious about the varied options that student veterans seek post-degree. As
such, career services professionals must become greater advocates for academic partnership
programs so that student veterans have higher levels of career engagement, specifically with
Career Center services.
Recommendation 3: Career Centers must promote programs and services that are
perceived as valuable by college student veterans. University career centers are charged with
supporting all students. While serving students from all backgrounds is important, college
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 113

student veterans have distinctive experiences (Hassan et al., 2010) that are important for career
services professionals to acknowledge (e.g., age, family, military and previous work experience).
Most notably, student veterans in this study did not see career services as tailored to their
experience, and in many cases, it is difficult to decipher whether or not their perceptions of such
undervalue relates to their student veteran identity or not. However, the findings suggest that
student veterans see themselves as a unique and distinct population, so their identity as student
veterans needs to be acknowledged. Regardless, career services professionals need to raise their
awareness of such perception and incorporate varied techniques in their interactions with student
veterans so that this non-traditional student population begins to see it as a contemporary support
service for them. For example, career centers could develop tailored resume workshops that
teach student veterans how to translate their military experience in a manner that is accessible
and well understood by civilian employers. Additionally, career services would benefit from
gathering specific data on their student veteran populations’ needs in order to establish services
student veterans would find valuable. Some examples of customized services might include
specific website content connecting student veterans (through veteran affairs website) to Career
Center services or focused career guides and resources that can work on concert during career
advising. These examples are not only important in remaining relevant to student veterans but
reinforces career centers’ commitments to various student populations with unique experiences.
Additional Implications
Although not specific recommendations, the findings from this study offer additional
implications for practice. While the findings suggest that career services do not play a key role
in student veteran degree completion, the question remains about whether they should play a
role. Student veterans saw their degree completion as necessary in terms of being competitive
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 114

for job opportunities or as being a prerequisite to gain access to particular careers. Degree
completion and career readiness seem to be two interconnected outcomes for student veterans,
and thus, degree completion could potentially fall under the scope of Career Center services such
as career readiness. As student veterans find themselves needing a degree to compete with peers
for future job opportunities, Career Center professionals could help them recognize how valuable
their previous military experiences could be for career competitiveness. By doing so, Career
Centers could collaborate with partners whose services are tailored toward student veteran
degree completion efforts (e.g., VA, AEP). However, it was beyond the scope of the study to
suggest what collaborations would look like specifically, especially since both Career Center
staff and student veterans did not see career services as playing a significant role in degree
completion.
While career services professionals may not see themselves as integral to student veteran degree
completion, they have the opportunity to create interactions that promote student veteran self-
authorship. If Career Center staff position themselves as learning partners for student veteran
self-authorship development, they may help veterans understand how their previous military
experience can be leveraged to enhance their career competitiveness. In applying the principles
of the learning partnerships model (Baxter Magolda, 2004; Pizzolato, 2008), Career Center
professionals would: (a) validate student veterans as knowers (who come to college already
knowing what the “real world” is like); (b) position student veteran learning into experiences
(including incorporating their military experience); and (c) define student veteran learning as
collaborative meaning making (by mutually translating knowledge gained from military
experiences to future career goals). These learning partnerships will assist student veterans on
their self-authorship development, no matter where they may be in their journeys.
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Recommendations for Future Research
This study aimed to examine the ways in which student veterans at MRU move toward
successful degree completion and how career services helps with that movement by promoting
their self-authorship development. In light of the limited empirical research on this specific
topic, the study is significant because it contributes to the research literature on student veterans
that is not focused primarily on physical disabilities or mental health services. This study:
(1) Explored the experiences of student veterans and their engagement with college
career services in the context of a large, four-year, research extensive university.
(2) Considers the role of career services missions, programs and services in relation to
self-authorship and movement toward degree completion.
(3) Explores how student veterans describe career services as helping them in their
degree completion goals.
Future research should continue to explore the factors that influence student veteran persistence.
Specifically, how might this same study unfold at a smaller, less selective campus such as
community colleges or non-research focused universities? The majority of student veterans
enroll at institutions that do not share a similar profile to MRU (American Council on Education
(2009b), and thus, future research that includes student veterans at different types of institutions
may highlight how career services may actually support degree completion on campuses where
retention is a bigger issue. Due to having only one female student veteran participate in the
study, the findings do not accurately capture potential gender differences among student
veterans. Future research should also explore the extent to which female student veteran
perceptions differ. While this study was not intended to be a comparative study, subsequent
research on this topic should incorporate student veterans and non-student veterans.
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Incorporating non-student veterans into a study such as this may enhance findings and assist
future researchers in understanding how student veteran identity impacts responses, if at all.
This type of comparative study would be particularly helpful in understanding the development
of self-authorship among student veterans as non-traditional students. Moreover, future research
could explore further how self-authorship continues to develop among student veterans, since it
is a lifelong journey.
Conclusions
Despite the limitations of this study, the findings related to career services utilization among
student veterans are important. Theoretically, the research is significant because it starts to
analyze what the development process of self-authorship looks like for college student veterans.
Similar to other studies that have demonstrated that high risk students show signs of self-
authorship development earlier than others (e.g., Pizzolato, 2003), student veterans seem to be
developing before college. Pragmatically, the findings illustrate that it is important for student
affairs administrators and leaders within higher education to do more than just create services for
all students, but to tailor such services for student veterans (DiRamio, Ackerman & Mitchell,
2008; Ruman & Hamrick, 2009). The narratives of these student veterans here imply that the
most impactful relationships are ones where students are frequently engaged in and feel are
valuable to their individual needs. By recognizing this, colleges can begin to design intentional
programs and services that create student veteran success on their respective campuses, creating
environments that afford them every opportunity to meet their goals, both on-campus and
beyond.

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APPENDICES
Appendix A: Interview Protocol for Student Veterans
Introduction
Thank you for participating in this interview. Your time is very valuable and I appreciate having
a chance to talk with you about your college experience at MRU. I am particularly interested in
your knowledge and your perspectives about the student veteran experience. I am going to ask
you several questions. When possible, please provide me with specific examples and any
background information that you think might be helpful for me to better understand your replies.
I want to assure you that everything you stay will remain confidential and is only being used for
research purposes. If for any reason you need to stop this interview or state something that
should remain off the record, please ask me to stop the recorder. Again, your participation is
completely voluntary and you may stop the interview at any time. Do you have any questions
before we begin?

1. To start, would you mind choosing a pseudonym that you indicated on your participant
information form, your year in school, age, and major?

Interview Questions

Relationship Building Questions
1. What motivated you to apply to MRU?
a. Probes: completion rates, job placement rates, special programs, diversity of
student population, location, students
2. What motivated you to enlist in the military?
a. Probes: legacy, love of country, benefits, lessons learned
3. Discuss what it’s like to be a student veteran at MRU. How did the reality compare with
your expectations?

Student Veteran Career Services Utilization Questions
4. How do students, particularly veterans utilize career services?
5. Why do you utilize career services?
6. You mention [bring in previous statement to help transition – e.g., you went to the Career
Center or your goal is to get a good job]. Can you describe how you first became aware
of college career services? And what about the Veterans Affairs office on campus?
7. Have you utilized college career services or taken advantage of a specialized program
focusing on a particular employment sector?
a. Probes: What was the nature of program/service?
b. On an engagement scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being super engaged (e.g., completely
immersed) and 1 being completely disengaged (you were physically there but
mentally somewhere else), how engaged would you say you haven in career
related services?

Mission, Programs, Services and Shared Learning (e.g., Self-Authorship) Questions
8. What motivated you to go to college?
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 126

a. Probes: programs, services, rationale behind chosen major, what factors did you
consider when choosing a major, employment opportunities
9. What types of things have you been involved in during college so far?
a. Probes: Student organizations, jobs/work, internships, study abroad etc.
10. When you reflect on your college experience so far, can you share a time where you felt
challenged by what you were learning? This can be in or outside of the classroom.
a. Probes: coursework, career counseling, relationships, work experience, veteran
experience; how and why did you feel challenged?
11. Can you describe how these career services has helped you think differently?
a. Probes: Intrapersonal (believe/think differently about identity); interpersonal
(relationships); cognitive (knowledge)
12. Over the course of your experience with MRU’s Veteran Affairs/Career Services, were
there changes in the way you made decisions?
13. Tell me about a time where a staff member at MRU challenged you to think differently
about your career choices.
a. Probes: Did it challenge preexisting knowledge?
14. What differences did you notice in or knowledge/beliefs between you and college
administrators (Veteran Affairs/Career Services) guiding you through your career
choices?
a. Probe: Did you find your own perspectives, practices or knowledge/beliefs
challenged or influenced by those delivering career services?

Student Veteran Degree Completion Questions
15. How did these beliefs or thoughts help inform the way you thought about degree
completion and subsequent employment options?
a. Probes: Thoughts or beliefs about career options, industry, transferable skills from
service to campus life to future employment.
16. What are your goals after completing college? Has there been anything on campus that
you think is particularly helpful for you to meet those goals?
17. What career resources have you utilized as way to understand the importance of
completing your college degree?
a. Probe: job postings, career counseling, mentor programs, other vets
18. Has career services taught you about the importance of obtaining a degree?
a. Probes: extent to which career services has impacted your degree completion,
could it help in the future
19. Have veteran focused employment programs helped you focus on what degree you
should obtain?
a. Probes: If so, how?
20. How critical do you think your military experience was to your obtaining your degree? In
comparison to career/veteran services, which (military experience or student services) has
been more critical to your goal of degree completion? Why do you think that is?

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 127

Appendix B: Interview Protocol for Staff
Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. For this study, I am seeking to
understand your experiences serving student veterans at this campus. Overall, I hope to
understand the culture for student veterans at MRU, particularly through the efforts of your
office. As stated in the consent form, the researcher will be recording our interview/focus group
and taking notes. As such, I want to assure you that everything you say will remain confidential
and will not impact your employment status at MRU. If you need to discontinue the interview or
state something that should remain off the record, please feel free to ask me to stop recording.
Again, your participation is completely voluntary and you may stop the interview at any time.
Do you have any questions before we begin?

1. To begin, please choose a pseudonym that you wrote on your participant information
form. Then, tell me your current position, years of service at MRU, your gender and area
of focus in your office.

Interview Questions

Relationship Building Questions
1. What attracted you to work at a campus such as MRU?
a. Probes: culture, special programs, office mission, student demographics

Student Veteran Career Services Utilization Questions
2. If you were asked by central administration, “What is the mission of your organization?”
how would you answer that question?
3. What parts of your mission speaks to you and the students your serve?
4. In what ways do you think career services/veteran affairs at MRU is distinct when
compared to other campuses in the system?
5. How do student veterans utilize your office?
6. In what ways does your office make veterans feel like they are part of the campus
community? Please be specific.

Mission, Programs, Services and Shared Learning (e.g., Self-Authorship) Questions
7. One student population of interest to MRU is student veterans. What are the distinct
services you provide to student veterans at MRU?
a. Probe: Goals of programs, learning outcomes, employment topics
8. On average, how successful have these programs/services been at engaging student
veterans?
a. Probe: How engaged are veterans in such services. What they believe contributes
to this engagement level.
9. In what ways do you reach out to student veterans to increase their participation in your
career programs or specialized employment initiatives?
10. Can you describe conversations you have had with student veterans related to their career
development?
a. Probe: jobs, degree completion, define learning as a partnership with you
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 128

11. Can you describe a time where you believed to have challenged a student veteran’s initial
perspective or belief about their persistence toward degree completion or gainful
employment?
a. Probe: How did your beliefs or thoughts help construct shared knowledge
between the two of you?
12. Please share a situation where you guided a student through an important career decision?
a. Probe: what information did you provide the student?; what questions did you ask
of the student?
13. Tell me about a time where you challenged a student to think differently about their
career choices.
a. Probe: did the student come back for additional guidance?; did their knowledge or
decision change over time?

Student Veteran Degree Completion Questions
14. In what ways do student veteran qualities help or hinder their ability in successfully
completing their college degrees?
15. Can you describe significant programs or services your office has tailored toward student
veterans?
a. Probe: programs that are career focused or programs intended to move students
toward degree completion
16. How have you organized veteran career services or programs with the goal of challenging
their existing perceptions about job or degree attainment?
17. To what extent has your office raised awareness of the importance of a college degree to
student veterans? Do these programs incorporate conversations around how to choose a
major and its relation to employment options?
18. What impact do you think student veteran military experience has on their ability to
finish their college degree?
19. What impact do you think student veteran military experience has on their future career
decisions?

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 129

Appendix C: Information Sheet
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall
3470 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4038

INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

TITLE: STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION

You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Brian Guerrero under the
supervision of Dr. Tracy Tambascia at the University of Southern California. You are eligible to
participate if you are a full-time student veteran at MRU who has served in the Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine; or a MRU staff member in the Veteran
Affairs Office or Career Services Office. You must be aged 18 and up to participate. Research
studies include only people who voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains
information about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to assess and learn more about the contributing factors that lead to
student veterans’ persistence in higher education, with specific attention to the potential role of
university career centers.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT

Student Veterans:
If you agree to participate, you will be asked to fill out an online pre-survey to ensure you are
eligible. If you are selected, you will be asked to participate in a one-on-one interview with the
researcher and/or focus group with other student veterans. Questions will be focused on student
veteran programs and services, paying special attention to services designed to help you
successfully complete college and obtain subsequent employment. You do not have to answer
any questions you don’t want to.

The interview is expected to last 60-120 minutes and will be audio-recorded with your consent.
It will take place either in-person or online, at a location and time of your convenience. If you
don’t want to be recorded, handwritten notes will be taken.

The focus group is expected to last 60-120 minutes and will be audio recorded. It will take place
on campus at a location and time to be announced. If you do not want to be audio recorded, you
cannot participate in the focus group.

Veteran Affairs/Career Services Staff:
STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 130

If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 60-120 minute audio
recorded interview at a location and time of your convenience on campus. Questions will be
focused on student veteran programs and services, paying special attention to services that help
student veterans successfully complete college and obtain subsequent employment. You do not
have to answer any questions you don’t want to; if you don’t want to be taped, handwritten notes
will be taken.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION

Student Veterans:
You will receive $10 cash for your participation in the interview. You will receive free food for
your participation in the focus group. You must complete the entire interview or focus group to
receive compensation, though you don’t have to answer individual questions during the
interview or focus group that make you feel uncomfortable.

Veteran Affairs/Career Services Staff: You will not be compensated for your participation in this
study.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION

Your alternative is to not participate. Your relationship with your employer, university, or
veteran services program will not be affected whether or not you participate in this study.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential.
Your responses will be coded with a false name (pseudonym) and maintained separately. The
audio-tapes will be destroyed once they have been transcribed.

Due to the nature of the focus group, the confidentiality of the group cannot be guaranteed. In
order to maintain confidentiality as much as possible, you are asked not to discuss the content of
the focus group with anyone.

The data will be stored on a password protected computer. Identifiers will be destroyed at the
completion of the study. De-identified data will be retained for at least three years and may be
used in future research studies. If you do not want your data used in future studies, you should
not participate. The results of this study will be shared with MRU, but all findings will be
reported in anonymous/aggregate form such that no individual responses can be identified.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 131

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Principal
Investigator Brian I. Guerrero, M.A. via email at brian.guerrero@usc.edu or faculty sponsor, Dr.
Tracy Tambascia at tpoon@rossier.usc.edu

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or
the research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to
someone independent of the research team, please contact the University Park - IRB, Office of
the Vice Provost for Research Advancement, Credit Union Building, 3720 South Flower Street,
CUB # 301, Los Angeles, CA 90089, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 132

Appendix D: Posted Announcement (Text Only)
Title of Posted Announcement: Calling MRU Student Veterans! Participate in a Study
Regarding your College Experience!

Text for Posted Announcement:
Who? You are eligible to participate in this study if you are a full-time student veteran at MRU
who has served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine.
You must be aged 18 and up to participate.
Where and When? The study will take place in April. Participants will have the option of doing
a one-on-one interview with the researcher (in-person or virtually) and/or an in-person focus
group. Interviews and focus groups are expected to take approximately 20-120 minutes.

Eligible participants will be offered $10 cash for the interview and free food during focus groups.

How do you sign up? Logon to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/xxxxxx to take a very brief
survey before March 7, 2014.

Respondents to the survey will be contacted to set-up a potential interview or focus group.
For more information, call or text Principal Investigator Brian Guerrero at 310-882-9552 or
brian.guerrero@usc.edu

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 133

Appendix E: Online Pre-Survey Questionnaire
1. Are you currently a full-time student at MRU aged 18 and up? [If no, question 14]

2. Are you a veteran who has served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast
Guard, or Merchant Marine? [If no, question 14]

3. Have you taken advantage of services provided by MRU’s Career Services and/or
Veterans Center? [If no, question 14]

4. Would you be willing to participate in a one-on-one interview (accommodated in-person
or virtually) for approximately 60-120 minutes and/or a one in-person focus group
(participants will be compensated with $10 cash for one-on-one interviews and free food
at focus group)? [If no, question 14]

5. Please provide your first name.

6. Please provide your gender.

7. Please provide your ethnicity.

8. Please indicate which military branch you served in:
a. Army
b. Navy
c. Air Force
d. Marine Corps
e. Coast Guard
f. Merchant Marine

9. When were you admitted to MRU? (e.g., Fall 2012)

10. What is your current enrollment status at MRU? (e.g., freshman, sophomore, junior,
senior, other)?

11. Have you taken advantage of services provided by MRU’s Career Services?

12. Have you taken advantage of services provided by MRU’s Veterans Center?

13. Please provide your contact number and MRU email address.
a. When would be the best time to reach you?

14. Thank you for volunteering to participate in this study. You are not eligible for further
participation at this time.

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 134

APPENDIX F: SAMPLE EMAIL SOLICITATION
EMAIL SOLICITATION FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

Veteran Degree Completion

Hello. My name is Brian Guerrero, a doctoral student at the University of Southern California
(USC). The purpose of this email is to inform you about a study I am conducting in regards to
the student veteran experience.

The purpose of this study is to assess and learn more about the contributing factors that lead to
student veterans’ persistence in higher education, with specific attention to the potential role of
career centers.

To participate, you must be a current full-time student veteran at MRU and have served in one of
the six branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and
Merchant Marine. You must be aged 18 and up.

If you agree to participate, you will be asked to fill out an online pre-survey to ensure you are
eligible. If you are selected, you will be asked to participate in a one-on-one interview with the
researcher and/or a focus group with other student veterans.

Approximately 8-10 student veterans will be interviewed for this research study. Your
participation in this study is voluntary.

Please complete the pre-survey by visiting: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y9JSV6V.

If you are selected, the researcher will discuss the process with you more in detail over the
phone, and if applicable, an appointment will be set-up to meet with you for a one-hour face-to-
face interview on campus or online.

If you would like to know more about this study, please contact me at brian.guerrero@usc.edu or
see the attached information sheet.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 135

Appendix G: Posted Flyer
Calling MRU Student Veterans!
Participate in a Study Regarding your College Experience!

Who? You are eligible to participate if you are a full-time student veteran at MRU who has
served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine. You
must be aged 18 and up to participate.

Where and When? Interviews will take place in April.

Participation requires a one-on-one interview (accommodated in-person or virtually) for
approximately 60-120 minutes and one in-person focus group.

****Eligible participants will be offered $10 cash and free food during focus groups***

How do you sign up?
Logon to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/xxxxxx to take a very brief survey before March 7,
2014. Respondents to the survey will be contacted to set-up a potential interview.

For more information, call or text Brian Guerrero at 310-882-9552 or brian.guerrero@usc.edu

STUDENT VETERAN DEGREE COMPLETION 136

Appendix H: Documents Reviewed
1. MRU’s Mission, Values and Vision
2. MRU’s Website
a. Student Services Administration
b. Career Center
c. Veteran Affairs Office
3. MRU’s FaceBook Page
a. Student Services Administration
b. Career Center
c. Veteran Affairs Office
4. MRU Career Services Publications
a. Guides
5. Institutional Fact Sheet
6. Institutional Research
a. Characteristics of Students
7. Campus Newspaper Archives
a. Stories on Student Services for Student Veterans
b. Stories on Veteran Resource Team

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This case study identifies ways in which student veterans at a large, research extensive, public university utilize career services toward their degree completion. To date, empirical research on student veteran persistence through college has been scarce. In order to explore student veteran degree completion, interviews with 11 student veterans and six career services/veteran affairs staff and document reviews were conducted focusing on three research questions: (a) How do student veterans utilize career services on university campuses? (b) How do career services missions, programs and services promote student veteran self-authorship and movement toward degree completion? and (c) How do student veterans describe career services as assisting in their degree completion goals? Overall, participants’ utilization of Career Center services was minimal, yet they still accessed career services through various on and off campus entities that offered such support. Additionally, participants said their interactions with career services as episodic, only accessing Career Center services when engaging the job or graduate and professional school process. Findings suggest that student veterans develop self-authoring capacity before enrolling in college, given their military and life experiences (e.g., age, familial responsibilities) before attending college. Student veterans view themselves differently from their traditionally aged peers

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Asset Metadata

Creator Guerrero, Brian Imson (author)

Core Title Serving those who have served: the role of university career services in student veteran degree completion

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 08/28/2015

Defense Date 07/29/2015

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag career services,college completion,degree completion,OAI-PMH Harvest,self-authorship,student veterans,veterans

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tambascia, Tracy Poon (committee chair), Contomanolis, Manny (committee member), Seli, Helena (committee member)

Creator Email bguerrero@berkeley.edu,brian.guerrero@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-172427

Unique identifier UC11275495

Identifier etd-GuerreroBr-3860.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-172427 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-GuerreroBr-3860.pdf

Dmrecord 172427

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Guerrero, Brian Imson

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA