Student Veterans of America

MISSION

• Provide military veterans with the resources, support, and advocacy needed to succeed in higher education and after graduation.
• Create a national network of student veteran organizations on college and university campuses to provide critical peer-to-peer support at the local level.
• Change the landscape of higher education to be more supportive of the thousands of student veterans utilizing the GI Bill and other VA educational benefits.

GOALS

• Provide student veterans with the highest-quality programs and services to assist in their pursuit of a market-valued degree or certificate.
• Continue to grow and support the largest network of student veteran organizations, known as SVA chapters, in the country.
• Defend the GI Bill by empowering student veterans to graduate.
• Collect data regarding student veteran outcomes in order to make informed decisions regarding programs and policies.
• Partner with credible organizations to reduce the duplication of services and to also maximize our collective impact.

LEADERSHIP Executive Director, former Chapter President at UNLV: Michael Dakduk

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Assistant Director of Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs: Rodrigo Garcia

INITIATIVES

• National Leadership Institute and Local Leadership Summits: Train student veteran leaders to create business plans for their chapters (conducted in partnership with Purdue University’s Military Family Research Institute).
• Chapter Grants: Fund campus initiatives led by student veterans.
• Corporate Mentorships: Student veterans are paired with mentors via a partnership with American Corporate Partners.
• Internship Support Program: Provides stipends to student veterans that work as unpaid interns.
• The Presidential Volunteer Service Award: Recognizes the hard-work and dedication of chapter members that volunteer countless hours in support of their fellow veterans.
• Completing the Mission: A research project conducted in partnership with the Pat Tillman Foundation and Operation College Promise to identify student veteran outcomes on a sample of colleges and universities across the country.
• Got Your 6 Campaign: SVA and our partner organizations are collecting commitments from 500 schools that pledge to offer veteran-specific programs and policies by June 2014.

CONTACT