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98–695 2016

A REVIEW OF VA’S VETSUCCESS ON CAMPUS 

PROGRAM 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC 

OPPORTUNITY 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015 

Serial No. 114–40 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 


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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman 

DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida, Vice-Chairman 

DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee 

DAN BENISHEK, Michigan 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio 

JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana 

RALPH ABRAHAM, Louisiana 

LEE ZELDIN, New York 

RYAN COSTELLO, Pennsylvania 

AMATA RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

MIKE BOST, Illinois 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida, Ranking 

Minority Member 

MARK TAKANO, California 

JULIA BROWNLEY, California 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

RAUL RUIZ, California 

ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire 

BETO O’ROURKE, Texas 

KATHLEEN RICE, New York 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

JON TOWERS, Staff Director 

DON PHILLIPS, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 

BRAD WENSTRUP, Ohio, Chairman 

LEE ZELDIN, New York 

AMATA RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

RYAN COSTELLO, Pennsylvania 

MIKE BOST, Illinois 

MARK TAKANO, California, Ranking 

Member 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

KATHLEEN RICE, New York 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to 

prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting 

between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process 

is further refined. 


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C O N T E N T S 

Thursday, October 22, 2015 

Page 

A Review of VA’s VetSuccess on Campus Program .............................................. 1 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Brad Wenstrup, Chairman ...................................................................................... 1 

Mark Takano, Ranking Member ............................................................................ 2 

WITNESSES 

Mr. Terence Harrison, Manager, Veterans Programs and Services, University 

of Cincinnati ......................................................................................................... 3 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 17 

Dr. Lawrence A. Braue, LTC (USA, Ret.), Director, Office of Veterans Services, University of South Florida ........................................................................ 5 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 18 

Mr. William Hubbard, Vice President of Government Affairs, Student Veterans of America .................................................................................................. 7 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 20 

Mr. Ryan Kaufman, Nebraska Veteran Team Leader, Iraq and Afghanistan 

Veterans of America, Lieutenant Colonel (U.S. Army, Ret.) ............................ 8 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 28 

Mr. Jack Kammerer, Director, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment 

Service, VBA, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ......................................... 10 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 34 


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A REVIEW OF VA’S VETSUCCESS ON CAMPUS 

PROGRAM 

Thursday, October 22, 2015 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, Washington, D.C. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:00 p.m. in Room 

334, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Brad Wenstrup [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Wenstrup, Takano, and Bost. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF BRAD WENSTRUP 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Well, good afternoon, everyone. I want to welcome you all to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity’s hearing today entitled, ‘‘A Review of VA’s VetSuccess On Campus Program.’’ 

The VetSuccess On Campus Program is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Vocational Rehabilitation and 

Employment Program. VetSuccess On Campus began as a pilot 

program in 2009 at the University of South Florida, who is with 

us today, and has since expanded to 94 campuses across the country. 

The program is in place to provide veterans, service members 

and their dependents with assistance and counseling as they are 

utilizing their GI Bill or attending school through Voc Rehab. 

VSOC is an additional resource for veterans and service members 

as they transition from active duty to student life, and further assists them as they work towards meaningful employment following 

their military careers. 

Each school with a VSOC program has a Voc Rehab counselor in 

place to assist the students attending that school. While I do believe it is important that our student veterans have qualified individuals assisting them throughout their college careers, I have said 

before that I do have some concerns with these master’s-level counselors being at each VSOC location. 

As we discussed earlier this year at our Oversight hearing on 

Voc Rehab, VR&E counselors are still experiencing high caseloads, 

yet more counselors aren’t being requested by this administration 

to alleviate these weighing numbers. 

A master’s-level counselor may not be necessary at every VSOC 

location, but could be utilized elsewhere to bring down some of the 

caseloads. This doesn’t mean that VA shouldn’t have a representative at these schools, I am just not sure if the current counselors 


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are the best options. I hope that our witnesses here today are able 

to touch on these concerns and how we can potentially utilize the 

VSOC counselors to also assist in VR&E caseloads nationally. 

I do look forward to discussing the VSOC program’s success and 

outcome measurements at its current university locations. Just as 

is the case with Voc Rehab, it is hard to fully grasp and track the 

outcomes of veterans who utilize the VetSuccess On Campus program. However, since the program was started by VA as a pilot 

program and is not something that is in statute, I think it is important for the program’s future that we take a thorough look at outcomes and how our student veterans are benefitting from the program that is provided while they are attending school. Having 

these discussions is important if we decide to make VSOC permanent for future generations of veterans. 

I am pleased today that in addition to our other witnesses, we 

have two schools, that have VSOC programs on their campuses. 

With us is the University of South Florida, which as I mentioned 

is where VSOC was first piloted in 2009, and we have the University of Cincinnati, who also have a thriving program for their student veterans. It is important that we hear their perspectives of 

this program and the impact the presence of this program has on 

their campuses, as well as their interactions with VA. I believe this 

is also an opportunity to understand their best practices, and how 

they share those practices with other schools and student veterans 

nationwide. 

Although I do have concerns, as I have already mentioned, with 

the utilization at all 94 locations of master’s-level Voc Rehab counselors, I do believe that this program can be an immense resource 

for our veterans and their families as they transition from military 

life to, not only civilian life, but to the life of a college student. It 

is not always an easy path to maneuver and I believe that this 

hearing is an important opportunity for the subcommittee and our 

witnesses to focus on enriching and expanding this resource even 

more. 

With that, I recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. Takano, for his 

remarks. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MEMBER MARK TAKANO 

Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I appreciate the opportunity for the subcommittee to take a close look at the 

VetSuccess On Campus program today. 

As you know, the VSOC program provides an on-campus resource for veterans, service members, and qualified dependents to 

receive support for any issue or concern that might interfere with 

a student’s goal of persisting through to graduation. Obstacles 

could include VA benefit issues, questions about where to go for 

mental health counseling, concerns about financial or legal issues, 

or job market information. 

We know from many studies that successful transition from active duty to civilian life requires significant planning and support 

from the military and the VA. Transitioning from active duty to 

campus life can be even more daunting, especially for first-generation college students. Add the burdens of injury or PTS, and it is 


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not hard to imagine why graduation levels are not as high as we 

would like them to be for veterans using their GI Bill benefits. 

Now, this is where the VSOC counselor comes in, however. They 

are easily accessible on campus, so problems are resolved as quickly and as easily as possible. I am hoping VA will provide us with 

concrete data on VSOC outcomes today. I want to hear evidence 

that the program provides clear, quantifiable benefits to student 

veterans, data that will increase the likelihood that we can expand 

this successful program. 

I also know that the VSOs support this program and were instrumental in creating it. If they have recommendations for how the 

VSOC program can be improved now that has existed for almost 

six years, I want to hear what they have to say. 

I thank the witnesses for being here today, and I look forward 

to the opportunity to hear your views and ask questions. 

Thank you, Chairman Wenstrup, and I yield back. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Well, I thank the ranking member. 

And I now invite our first and only panel to the table. I do want 

to thank our witnesses for understanding that we had to combine 

panels today due to scheduling issues, but I appreciate you being 

here and I view your testimony as very important. 

I want to welcome back my friend Mr. Terence Harrison, who is 

the Manager for Veterans Programs and Services at the University 

of Cincinnati. I also want to welcome Dr. Lawrence A. Braue, who 

is the Director for the Office of Veterans Services at the University 

of Florida; Mr. Will Hubbard, Vice President of Government Affairs 

for Student Veterans of America; Mr. Ryan Kaufman, who is the 

Nebraska Veteran Team Leader for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; and Mr. Jack Kammerer, the Director of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services at VA. 

All of your complete written statements will be made part of the 

hearing record and each of you will be recognized for five minutes 

for your oral statement. 

So let’s begin with you, Mr. Harrison. You are now recognized for 

five minutes. 

STATEMENT OF TERENCE HARRISON 

Mr. HARRISON. Thank you. I would like to thank you, Chairman 

Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, and members of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for inviting me to participate 

in today’s hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 

VetSuccess On Campus program. 

Once again, my name is Terence Harrison, I am the Manager of 

Veterans Programs and Services at the University of Cincinnati. 

The University of Cincinnati, or UC, is a public research university enrolling more than 44,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 2014. Our campus is made up of students from all 50 

states and over a hundred countries from around the world. 

Recognized as a military-friendly school, UC is both a leader and 

champion in military and veteran-related issues. Currently, UC enrolls about 2,392 military-affiliated students, including active duty 

military, members of the National Guard or Reserves, and veterans 

and family members. Of this, 1,016 students are using GI Bill benefits. With the anticipated draw-down of active-duty personnel, the 


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University of Cincinnati has positioned itself to accommodate these 

students. The UC adheres closely to the VA’s principles of excellence in providing a high-quality educational experience tailored to 

the unique needs of our veteran students. 

The University of Cincinnati continues to hold a positive view of 

the VetSuccess On Campus or VSOC program. UC is home to one 

of three VSOC programs in the State of Ohio, with the other two 

being Ohio State and Cleveland State Universities. The VSOC program aims to assist veterans and service members, as well as their 

dependents, as they transition from active duty to post-secondary 

education. 

Through the VSOC program, a VA Vocational Rehab counselor is 

assigned to UC to support veterans and assist with any problems 

that may arise that may interfere with the education of a student 

veteran. At UC, student veterans regularly reach out to VSOC for 

assistance on a range of matters, including expediting and resolving issues of VA educational benefits, looking up pending VA payments and when they can expect to receive them, explaining VA 

payments clearly, assisting in applying for education, healthcare 

and other VA benefits, questions about their remaining benefits, 

and understanding and resolving VA debt. 

VSOC is a valuable resource for our student veterans and 

assures that they will receive expedient service from the VA while 

they attend UC. Our VSOC counselor has been with the VA for 

over nine years and has been helpful in establishing a successful 

VSOC program at UC. 

The UC’s partnership with VSOC began in September of 2013. 

At UC, VSOC is housed within the same room or building as the 

Veterans Programs Services Office to meet the needs of student 

veterans and to provide a cross-functional team approach to resolving challenges that our veterans face. Housing the VSOC office and 

our VSOC counselor on campus allows UC to coordinate with the 

VA. 

VSOC conducts additional outreach activities, including employment workshops focusing on translating military schools into a civilian resume, recognizing post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury symptoms, new student orientation, town hall 

meetings, job fair, and health fairs in collaboration with VA Medical Centers. 

In addition, the VSOC University is—of Cincinnati is also a Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership or a VITAL location. 

VSOC and VITAL together have developed a streamlined approach 

to assisting veterans with VA Medical Center needs. This approach 

provides UC’s veterans with expedited VA Medical Center service 

coordination at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. 

In order to best meet the needs and improve the services for our 

student veterans, we believe that it is important to expand the 

VSOC to additional schools. For smaller schools that do not have 

a VSOC, we suggest that VSOC work with a number of schools in 

a geographical area. For example, in Southwest Ohio, one counselor 

could oversee Xavier University, Cincinnati State Technical and 

Community College, and Mount St. Joseph University. The caseload of these counselors could be comparable to the caseload at 


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larger schools and give the student veterans at these institutions 

the support that they need. 

As for improved coordination between universities and the VA, 

we have found that housing our VSOC counselor on campus has allowed UC and the VA to easily collaborate, which is beneficial to 

our student veterans. 

In closing, I’d like to thank you again for allowing me to discuss 

the VSOC program and to share the great work that the University 

of Cincinnati is doing to accommodate our student veterans. I look 

forward to working with you as you expand services for student 

veterans and again offer the University of Cincinnati as an example to inform policy and to guide schools in shaping their programs. 

And I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF TERENCE HARRISON APPEARS IN

THE APPENDIX] 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Thank you, Mr. Harrison. 

Colonel Braue, you’re now recognized for five minutes. 

STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE A. BRAUE, LTC (USA, RET.) 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. Thank you, Chairman Wenstrup, 

Ranking Member Takano. On behalf of the University of South 

Florida, thank you for holding today’s hearing and allowing us to 

share our experience with the VetSuccess On Campus program and 

its impact that it makes on our campus every day. 

By way of background, the University of South Florida is a highimpact global research university dedicated to student success. It 

is the eighth-largest university in the U.S. and serves over 48,000 

students. In addition, over 2,000 veterans and their families are 

enrolled as students at USF. USF was ranked by Military Times 

‘‘Best for Vets’’ Magazine as the fifth-best college for veterans. 

Under the leadership of President Judy Genshaft, the University of 

South Florida has become a national leader in serving student veterans. 

In 2009, the University of South Florida became the first institution of higher learning to participate in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ VetSuccess On Campus program. Ms. Janine Frederick is our current VSOC counselor and has served in this role 

since June of 2010. 

Ms. Frederick quickly became an integral part of the Office of 

Veterans Services’ team and an effective liaison between USF and 

the VA. Ms. Frederick is an amazing counselor and has made the 

program a complete success on our campus. 

Having the VSOC counselor available to veterans on a daily 

basis has vastly improved the university’s ability to meet the needs 

of our students. In addition, it has greatly increased the confidence 

that our student veterans have in the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Through the VetSuccess On Campus, our counselor has developed an extremely effective outreach program that dramatically increased the awareness of VA programs and benefits available to 

student veterans. This calendar year, Ms. Frederick has helped 

over 300 veterans individually and reached over 750 students 

through various campus outreach events. She is frequently called 

upon to advocate for veterans with faculty members who do not unVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:08 Nov 15, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\98-695.TXT PAT

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derstand the challenges our disabled veterans face in the classroom. 

In the fall of 2013, Ms. Frederick initiated a highly successful 

vet-to-vet tutoring program where academically successful VA work 

study veterans would provide one-to-one tutoring for other student 

veterans. Since this program started in the fall of 2013, over 165 

students have received individualized tutoring services at no cost 

to the veteran. 

The VetSuccess On Campus program has not been without challenges for the University of South Florida. It’s important that I 

clarify that I can only speak for the University of South Florida 

and what we have experienced. 

The VetSuccess On Campus program is influenced by two separate offices with the Vocational Rehabilitation Education arm of 

the VA. Oftentimes those two offices provide our VSOC counselor 

with competing or conflicting guidance. Because the regional office 

has a very limited understanding of VSOC and is not involved in 

the day-to-day operation of the program, it makes it very difficult 

for them to provide effective supervision for the VSOC counselor. 

Over time, the VetSuccess On Campus program’s purpose and 

goals have changed without some collaborative effort with the university. For example, recently the VR&E office assigned a Chapter 

31 caseload of 50 to our VSOC counselor. This is approximately one 

third of a Chapter 31 caseload for a full-time VR&E counselor. This 

is a significant change which alters the way the VSOC functions 

on our campus. This change is also inconsistent with the memorandum of understanding between USF and the VA, which creates 

hardship for the VSOC counselor and the school. This effectively 

reduces her ability to have a positive impact on the academic and 

lifelong success of the total veteran population on campus. 

In order to maximize the effectiveness of our partnership, the 

university should be a part of the program development and decision-making process. I believe with a few structural and leadership 

modifications this program could greatly enhance retention and 

graduation rates for students using the post-9/11 GI Bill. 

My recommendations would be to simplify the reporting structure for the VetSuccess On Campus program by creating one office 

that would oversee the program and the VSOC counselors, and ensure that the VSOC counselors do not receive direction and guidance from multiple sources, establish and maintain consistent, 

meaningful dialogue between the VA and the university, ensuring 

that the university has a voice in the program development and decision-making process. 

I also believe it is critical that the VA include colleges and universities in the plan to develop success metrics for graduation and 

retention of veterans using the GI Bill. 

Again, I want to thank the committee for allowing the University 

of South Florida to share our experiences with the VetSuccess On 

Campus program. It is an honor and a privilege to have this amazing program on our campus. I hope that we can build upon the successes of the program and make the adjustments necessary to 

make the program even stronger for our future student veterans. 

Thank you very much. 


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[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE A. BRAUE APPEARS IN

THE APPENDIX] 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Why, thank you, Dr. Braue. 

Mr. Hubbard, welcome back. You are now recognized for five 

minutes. 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM HUBBARD 

Mr. HUBBARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, and members of 

the subcommittee, thank you for inviting Student Veterans of 

America to submit our testimony on the Department of Veterans 

Affairs’ VetSuccess On Campus program. With over 1200 chapters 

across the country, we are pleased to share the perspective of those 

most directly impacted by the subject with this committee. 

Established in 2008, SVA has grown to become a force and voice 

for the interests of veterans in higher education. With this opportunity to address the VSOC program, we will discuss the program’s 

success, areas for improvement, and the related issue of post-9/11 

GI Bill processing challenges that we saw this fall. 

For student veterans at 94 campuses across the country, they 

have the benefit of a VetSuccess On Campus program. The VSOC 

program entails the campus having a VSOC counselor or full-time 

VA detailee right on campus. We are highly supportive of this program’s intent, which we believe to be quite complementary with 

our own mission. 

When serving over 30 student veterans from 12 schools that participate in the VSOC program, the response was overwhelmingly 

positive. More than 85 percent of stakeholders, including SVA 

chapter presidents, chapter members and chapter advisers rate 

VSOC as a seven out of ten or higher on a one-to-ten scale. Additionally, three out of five respondents say they rate their program 

as a nine or a ten. 

One student veteran shared, ‘‘We have a VSOC counselor from 

the VA come to the school twice a month so vets can start a new 

claim or ask questions concerning a claim. This helps immensely, 

as the VA hospital is a 35-minute drive from school and keeps our 

vets on campus. Vets can ask our counselor any type of question 

concerning their benefits. They also have a Voc Rehab counselor for 

a few of the vets on campus. We are incredibly lucky to have this 

program on campus.’’ 

In addition to the general support provided by the VSOC counselors, student veterans noted the ability of counselors to quickly 

correct both process certification and as a major benefit on their 

campus. They often appreciate the connection counselors make 

with the school administration as well. 

We believe the VSOC program is highly beneficial to student veterans and would like to see it expanded, as resources allow. 

While the feedback we received was almost uniformly positive, in 

fact, when asked what they would change many student veterans 

replied, ‘‘Nothing,’’ we have identified several opportunities for improvement of the program. 

The three most common improvements included awareness of the 

program, expanding to more campuses, and increasing additional 

personnel support for the program. We believe it would also be 


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worth considering the criteria of a VSOC campus, as a school with 

800 or more veterans is likely to have reasonable resources at this 

time. Schools with fewer than 800 veterans or greater may have a 

higher return on investment. To keep costs down, as my colleague 

pointed out earlier, grouping demographically close IHLs would be 

something worth thinking about. 

Turning to GI Bill processing issues, this fall semester highlighted several challenges that directly impacted student veterans. 

In early September, significant delays in the processing of GI Bill 

benefits became an obvious concern. Ultimately, the core challenges 

of VA’s reliance on overtime hours for full-time employees during 

the peak periods of fall and spring enrollment continue to be an 

issue. 

Under a unique solution with the National Student Clearinghouse, VA and taxpayers incur no additional costs since the schools 

selected send the data through NSC, paying for the cost of the 

service, while VA benefits from the streamlined data submissions 

and research capabilities in conjunction with ed. data are resulting, 

this all with the added benefit of real-time measurement of completions and program efficacy, and we’re happy to discuss that concept 

in further detail. 

We thank the committee for this opportunity to testify on these 

important issues and look forward to questions as they come up. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF WILLIAM HUBBARD APPEARS IN

THE APPENDIX] 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Why, thank you, Mr. Hubbard. 

Mr. Kaufman, you are now recognized for five minutes. 

STATEMENT OF RYAN KAUFMAN 

Mr. KAUFMAN. Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano 

and distinguished members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the 

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and our more than 

425,000 members and supporters, we would like to extend our gratitude for the opportunity to share our views on VA’s VetSuccess On 

Campus program. 

I served in the United States Army from 2000 to 2003. I was deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat Team in October of 2001 to 

Kuwait and Afghanistan as a signal support system specialist. 

Upon my return, the proper procedures and resources were not in 

place to catch the post-traumatic stress that I was dealing with. At 

19 years old, I came home and I was afraid of the dark. I couldn’t 

sleep and I had a hard time eating. If a task was not mission-critical, I could not find the motivation within myself to complete the 

task. 

Two months after I returned home, I caused an accident, almost 

killing myself and a friend. I was charged with driving under the 

influence. Everyone, including myself, just thought I had a problem 

with alcohol, but then I tested positive for marijuana. I had left the 

Army no choice, I was discharged with a general under honorable 

conditions. 

Six months after my discharge, I was homeless. A year prior, I 

was part of the world’s greatest machine, the United States Army, 

but by December of 2003 I found myself walking into a homeless 

shelter, unable to feed or house myself. I couldn’t comprehend how 


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this had happened. Shortly thereafter, I was granted a couch in a 

friend’s basement. I wish I had straightened my life out then, but 

this would not be my last experience with homelessness. 

In September of 2004, I enrolled in college for the first time. My 

discharge had left me without the GI Bill, so I took out Stafford 

Loans like the rest of the civilian population. I would repeat the 

homeless cycle and enroll in college two more times, only to fail out 

each time in the first semester. 

By 2011, I found permanent sobriety and, after four years of documented VA therapy and appeal after appeal, I was granted a service-connected disability in October of 2012. With school constantly 

on my mind, I immediately applied for the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program. I was interviewed, approved, and 

enrolled in another college. Jennifer Singer was the VA social 

worker who interviewed me for the vocational rehabilitation program and then was assigned to my case. The interview was tough, 

she asked some very personal questions. Ms. Singer advised me 

that she was investing in me, she was going to spend around 

$100,000 on my education with her time and my education cost, as 

well as my supply cost. 

Ms. Singer understood my background. I came from a single-parent household, my parents did not attend college, my father barely 

graduated high school, and my mother, my primary caregiver, 

never made over $30,000 a year in her lifetime. In a place without 

mass transit, we did not own a vehicle until I was 15 years old. 

But because of the VetSuccess program, my children, both under 

the age of two, will understand the importance of an education, not 

because I said so, but because I did so. 

I am currently an organizational communication major at Doane 

College in Grand Island, Nebraska. In the community college I attended, I was part of the honors society. We all know the statistics 

of children whose parents did not attend or graduate college, the 

challenges they face multiply immensely. But because of 

VetSuccess, not only will the barriers to my success be broken 

down, but also my children’s, and they haven’t even enrolled in a 

learning system yet. 

Ms. Singer was also concerned about my mental health, my sobriety and my living situation. Her job was not merely to just make 

sure I attended and passed classes, she would hold me accountable, 

and I would give her my full effort during my Vocational Rehabilitation assignment. 

Since late January of 2013, I have accumulated over 60 credit 

hours, transferred from a community college to a four-year school, 

and have kept a 3.75 cumulative GPA. After my bachelor’s degree 

program, I will move on to a master’s degree program. The master’s degree will be in management, with an emphasis on leadership. Few chronically homeless individuals in this country get master’s degrees and even fewer get doctorates, but that’s where I am 

headed. Without the VetSuccess program, this would not be possible. 

My counselor, Jennifer Singer, is a guardian angel. Ms. Singer 

and I check in with one another each month. I am accountable to 

my VA mental health and physical health appointments. I report 

to her on my sobriety, my coping skills, both positive and negative, 


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my current employment situation, and my family situation. Ms. 

Singer holds me responsible as a student, as an employee, as a father, as a sober member of society, and as a husband. She keeps 

the goals that I set on the forefront of my mind. Is it hard work? 

Hell yes, it’s hard work. But someone is investing in me, so I owe 

them the effort and the results. She reminds me that I’m an example to other veterans in my community and, believe me, other veterans are watching. I can provide them something that no one else 

in the community can, proof. Proof that the VA works, proof that 

accountability works, and proof that we can turn our lives around 

if we’re willing to work with someone for it. 

I cannot say it enough, without Jennifer Singer and VetSuccess, 

my family and I would not be where we are today. 

I want to thank you for your time and your attention, and I’ll be 

happy to answer any questions you may have. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF RYAN KAUFMAN APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX] 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Thank you very much, Mr. Kaufman. 

Welcome back, Mr. Kammerer. You are now recognized for five 

minutes. 

STATEMENT OF JACK KAMMERER 

Mr. KAMMERER. Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, 

thank you for inviting me to appear before you today to discuss the 

Department of Veterans Affairs’ VetSuccess VSOC program, which 

is administered through the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, VR&E service. 

Since the inception of the post-9/11 GI Bill in 2009 through August of 2015, VA has issued nearly 55 billion to send 1.45 million 

veterans and their qualified dependents to institutions of higher 

education. The VA’s VSOC program helps veteran students and 

their qualified dependents succeed through a coordinated delivery 

of on-campus benefits assistance and counseling by professionally 

experienced and trained VR&E counselors. 

The VSOC program is a collaborative effort between the host institution and the VA, with the purpose of providing a supportive 

on-campus environment whereby veterans may obtain benefits assistance and peer support. Our 79 VSOC counselors at 94 college 

and university partners are able to provide this on-campus access 

to VA services for approximately 78,000 veterans. 

VA’s VSOC program began as a pilot in 2009, in which one 

VR&E counselor was assigned at the University of South Florida 

campus. To date, the program has expanded to include a total of 

79 VSOC counselors providing on-campus services at 94 institutions across the United States. Acting as the primary on-campus 

representative of VA, the VSOC counselor provides outreach and 

support to all veterans on campus. 

To better assist veterans in transitioning from the military to the 

college environment, VSOC counselors offer a broad range of counseling services, including educational, vocational and career, and 

adjustment counseling. They provide vocational testing and career, 

academic and adjustment counseling to resolve any potential problems that may interfere with or disrupt a veteran’s success while 

attending college. 


VACREP0180 with DISTILLER
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VSOC counselors also use all appropriate and necessary resources to ensure that veterans’ needs are met in regards to issues 

or problems that may hamper the successful completion of their 

educational programs. Our counselors also assist veterans with referrals for more intensive health services, including mental, physical or other health treatment through our Veterans Health Administration Medical Centers, community-based out-patient clinics or 

the Vet Centers. VSOC counselors establish and maintain an effective network of other appropriate service providers and stakeholders who are available to assist veterans in need. 

The desired outcome is to provide veterans with enhanced opportunities to achieve success in their academic endeavors, and to prepare for entering the labor market in viable and enduring careers. 

With our team of 79 VSOC counselors at the 94 schools, VR&E continues to provide education and vocational counseling and other onsite services to the available population at those schools of approximately 78,000 veterans on campus. 

The majority of the veterans receiving services visit a VSOC 

counselor in person, with the others communicating with their 

counselor by telephone or by mail. 

In an effort to expand available on-campus services, VSOC counselors are coordinating with host institutions to establish or enhance peer-to-peer veteran mentoring programs to address military-to-college transition issues. At the beginning of each fall and 

spring term, VSOC counselors conduct orientation sessions to assist newly enrolled veterans in acclimating to the college campus 

environment. 

This fall, VA worked in conjunction with partner institutions to 

host back-to-school informational events at ten VSOC sites. These 

events introduced newly enrolled students and educators to the veteran student community, familiarized veterans with their VSOC 

counselors and services, and ultimately will work to cultivate the 

most supportive community for veterans at their institution. 

VA is committed to the VSOC program, and recognizes the demand and the need for this program as veterans take advantage 

of their well-earned GI Bill benefits. VA continues to receive inquiries from institutions that are interested in assigning a VSOC 

counselor. We evaluate interested institutions for potential future 

participation in the VSOC program and we will continue to inform 

the committee of the evolution of the program in the future. 

We continue to assess and improve the VSOC program for our 

most deserving population, those who have decided to commit to 

furthering their educational and vocational goals. As noted, we are 

working to substantially improve and enhance the VSOC program 

to include evaluating additional institutions for possible future participation. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement, and I look forward 

to your questions. 

[THE STATEMENT OF JACK KAMMERER APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX] 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Well, I want to thank the panel, all of you, for 

your testimony and your written statements. And I now yield myself five minutes for questions. 


VACREP0180 with DISTILLER
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Mr. Kaufman, I specifically want to thank you for your service 

and for having the courage to share your incredible story. It’s uplifting and gives us all a lot of hope. 

It’s clear from your testimony that the Voc Rehab program has 

really given you opportunities you need to be successful. So what 

do you believe could be done to improve the program and make 

sure that we have the opportunity to help hundreds, if not thousands of veterans be successful and have stories like yours, hopefully not the first part, but the later part. 

Mr. KAUFMAN. Yes, sir. Thank you for the compliments, Mr. 

Chairman. 

In regards to policy, I would have to defer any policy decisions 

to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s DC policy team, 

but in my experience, the relationship matters. So the relationship 

that I have with my VR&E counselor matters. And I live in rural 

America, and geographical lines get redrawn on a regular basis and 

caseloads get switched. And as a gentleman who struggles with 

trust, putting me on a new caseload, just like with my VHA doctors, throws me for a loop. And now I’m having to remember which 

person to get a hold of, what’s their phone number. Right when I 

memorize somebody’s phone number, it may change to a new individual. But opening in particular the VSOC counselors to many 

more campuses, especially as Mr. Hubbard said from the SVA, to 

campuses that don’t have a lot of resources, would be very beneficial, especially in my area. Because we are making an investment 

in the veteran, we are not making an investment in a particular 

institution, and our job is to make sure that the veteran is successful. 

Does that answer your question, Mr. Chairman. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. It does, it is very helpful, because I think one of 

the things that you touched on is important. You know, as a physician, I always find it important that, yeah, once in a while I may 

be able to pinch hit for somebody in my practice, but that is a relationship between you and the patient that really needs to be sustained. Somebody can cover for you once in a while, but to really 

be successful you need that time and time again and you need that 

bond. 

So that input is very helpful to us and that may be something 

that we need to make sure that we monitor and that we are providing some consistency for some people, because you are at a point 

in your life where a lot of things are very inconsistent. And let’s 

face it, when you are in uniform, things are pretty consistent. So 

that is a big shift when you go from that—you know, I have said 

during my deployment, I hated being away from home, but it was 

a simple life except for the fact that people were shooting at me, 

you know. And from that standpoint, I wore the same clothes every 

day. So that is a transition and you need that type of consistency 

in your life. 

And to that, Mr. Harrison, if I can go to you and maybe you can 

expound on some of that consistency, and the doctor as well, in 

your programs, I would appreciate hearing that component, because that is something that I think we really need to focus on. 

And also maybe touch on the sharing of a counselor between the 

facilities and universities. 


VACREP0180 with DISTILLER
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Mr. HARRISON. Thank you, sir. 

Once thing that we see at the University of Cincinnati, we do 

have a number of colleges within a certain proximity of ours, 

there’s about nine total, and we do have veterans from other 

schools calling our VSOC counselor for assistance, and her caseload 

is so she can’t help them. That is why in my earlier statements I 

did mention that maybe if there was another counselor in the region who could cover those schools, the smaller schools. The total 

number of veterans that they have wouldn’t equal the amount we 

have at the University of Cincinnati; however, that veteran would 

get their needs met. 

When I was at another institution, I would hear the horror stories from veterans trying to get in touch with the Voc Rehab counselor, nobody was picking up the phone. And the office wasn’t that 

far away where the Veterans manager would have to get in his car, 

go to the office, like, hey, you have veterans who have questions, 

they’re making phone calls, but you have to get with them. 

So that is why we believe that the program should expand. It is 

a benefit, that is a selling point we do have at the University of 

Cincinnati, and we try to use that to entice veterans to come to our 

school. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Well, I appreciate that. And, Doctor, if you could 

weigh in. The Ranking Member has obliged me a little more time 

here and I will grant him the same. 

Mr. TAKANO. Today is a little more freewheeling. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. I think we—— 

Mr. TAKANO. We have a chance to lead. Yes, go ahead. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. To really dive in. And I also am curious at what 

you may feel, of course it depends on the number of veterans at 

each institution that we are talking about, but it would be nice if 

we could figure out a good ratio of counselors per veteran or institutions. 

Doctor. 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. Thank you, Chairman. 

We have approximately 1100, 1200 veterans on campus. We have 

a hundred military students, active duty, and probably 150 to 200 

veterans who are no longer using GI Bill, they have run out of benefits. Our VetSuccess On Campus counselor pretty much handles 

just University of South Florida students. I mentioned in my testimony about the caseload, the VR&E caseload that she has now, 

that caseload of 50 now really inhibits her ability to reach a lot of 

the other students on campus. In effect, now she spends one third 

of her time with only less than five percent of the students on campus, because it is a little bit more intensive with, you know, managing a caseload. So that has been a problem in—but as far as the 

consistency, that is something we have been able to keep over the 

course of time she has been there. 

She has been there for five years, same person, everybody on 

campus knows her. She has had an impact in the life of many, 

many veterans, in particular one that was on the verge of going to 

commit suicide when she had a meeting with Janine. Janine was 

able to stop her, walk her over to the VA, get her checked in, and 

today she is still in school. 


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So this program is an extremely valuable program and I really 

think that with some minor tweaks that it could be even better 

than it is today. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. I appreciate that. 

I now recognize Mr. Takano. 

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Braue, am I saying your name correctly? 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO. Are you a public university or a private university? 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. We are a public university. 

Mr. TAKANO. And what is your total student enrollment? 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. Total student enrollment is 48,000, a 

little over 48,000. 

Mr. TAKANO. So 48,000. How many counselors do you have available, I mean, generally the number of counselors available to the 

general student population? 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. We have one VSOC counselor on 

campus. 

Mr. TAKANO. One VSOC, but let’s just talk about counseling in 

general, not counseling that is available to veterans. I want the 

committee to understand the plight of community colleges and public universities in terms of the availability of counselors generally, 

and the general challenge of retention to students who come to 

public universities. 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. Well, we have a VA counselor, just 

the one. We have other counseling services on the campus that are 

open to all students. They are not heavily utilized by our student 

veterans because they just are not experienced with the issues that 

student veterans face and our veterans won’t go to them. 

Mr. TAKANO. I understand that, but what I am trying to get at 

is this: I come from the California community colleges and we have 

a tremendous shortage of counselors generally. So one of the strategies has been to require every student to take a counseling class, 

they get a one unit credit for that class, so that the issues that a 

counselor would deal with can be dealt with, quote-unquote, ‘‘more 

efficiently.’’ Community colleges have a general issue with retention. And so what I am trying to get at is a general counselor shortage. I come from a public school setting where in a 4,000 person 

a freshman class, you might have two counselors. So basically you 

have a 500-to-1 counseling burden. So I am just trying to say, I 

don’t believe that the counseling function in higher education, public higher education, is much better, probably even more difficult 

in terms of the amount of time that a counselor is able to spend 

with a regular student. 

Now, I am just trying to go through this background in order to 

shine a little clearer light on what the challenges are when we deal 

with a veteran who has a much more complex set of issues. So we 

already have a challenge in terms of retention in the general student population, now we are talking about how we address veterans who carry a lot of other issues with them. 

What is the VSOC counselor caseload? About 50, you say? 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. Yes, sir. 

Mr. TAKANO. So is that generally the case, Mr. Kammerer, that 

the VSOC counselors also have a VR&E kind of function? 


VACREP0180 with DISTILLER
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Mr. KAMMERER. That’s a good question, sir. Thank you for asking. Of the 79 counselors, I look at a regular spreadsheet of their 

caseload. We currently don’t have a policy that says VSOC counselors cannot do a regular caseload. As Dr. Braue pointed out, we 

run the gamut from zero up to what I might call a full caseload. 

When I testified to the committee in July, I said our average caseload was about 139 per counselor. So for FY 2015, I think that was 

accurate. So Dr. Braue’s math was about right in my head when 

he said if his counselor, his VSOC counselor had 50 cases, that was 

about one third of the average caseload. 

We are looking at a policy to limit the caseload of traditional 

cases, Mr. Takano. The challenge we have is many of the veterans 

on campus are Chapter 31 clients, or some of them, and we need 

to serve those veterans on campus with Chapter 31 services with 

a traditional range of support that our counselors provide. 

I use the example in Los Angeles of the VSOC counselor, as you 

know, that serves three—we have a cluster of three institutions in 

Los Angeles. The challenge, as you know, in Los Angeles is the regional office is on the other side of town from those institutions. So 

if we didn’t serve those veterans on campus with the VSOC counselor where they are Chapter 31, we would either have to have 

counselors come from across town from the RO to the campuses or 

we would have to ask the veteran to come to the RO, which is not 

a good idea in Los Angeles traffic. So in many cases, I spoke to a 

counselor this week who was visiting for other purposes, who is a 

VSOC counselor, and she carried a caseload of 62 cases and she 

was comfortable with that in her current situation. 

So it is a balancing equation, Mr. Takano, in terms of serving the 

veterans. 

Mr. TAKANO. Let me get to Mr. Kaufman. 

Mr. Kaufman, I also want to express how moved I was by your 

testimony and thank you for your courage, thank you for your service to our country, thank you for continuing to serve our country 

by being so open about your life and your struggles, and for being 

a success. That is going to be such—you already are a hero, you 

will be a bigger hero to show—no, seriously. I mean, I have veterans in my community dealing with a number of issues and to see 

somebody get through that is going to be an enormous inspiration 

to them. 

Now, tell me about, you talked about your relationship with the 

VR&E, because you are getting your education through your VR&E 

benefits, not through post-9/11, which we know VR&E is a much 

more generous program, if you can qualify for it. You initially went 

through taking out loans, you didn’t really know about your educational benefits. Was it the VSOC counselor that kind of got you 

straightened out, is that what happened? 

Mr. KAUFMAN. So first of all, Mr. Takano, thank you for again 

the compliments. It was actually, it would have been a Mr. Harrison or a Dr. Braue that pulled me to the side and advised me of 

VR&E, and then a year later we got a VITAL counselor. What the 

VITAL counselor can provide is VA benefit access sooner, almost 

immediate, rather than me attempting to contact my VR&E counselor, especially in September and in January when she may have 

150 veterans trying to reach her. This VITAL counselor, if I am 


VACREP0180 with DISTILLER
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having benefit issues, back payment issues or overpayment issues, 

he has the ability to contact the VBA on my behalf and then relay 

any news from the VBA. 

Mr. TAKANO. Well, your story and your challenges are giving me 

a window into understanding what happens and how veterans become homeless and how they go through initial missteps. 

I am concerned about the caseload of VR&E of 50 people to that 

one VSOC person. I mean, you have a huge student veteran population and I can imagine the counselor just totally being challenged 

because, it is a lot of work. You hear Mr. Kaufman’s story and you 

see how much time and energy it takes for that trusted person to 

do their job, that is just—50 people, I am not saying that all of 

them, you know, will be as intense as Mr. Kaufman, but I can 

imagine that a lot of them are. So I can’t imagine that we don’t 

have a presence on campuses, that is my thing, that we don’t, you 

know—go ahead, Mr. Braue, will you respond? 

Lieutenant Colonel BRAUE. Thank you, sir. I completely agree, 

having this VetSuccess On Campus counselor is essential, it is absolutely essential. The caseload, the Chapter 31 caseload that she 

has does take away from her ability to meet the needs of other people who might need her services and a Chapter 31 case, it can be 

intensive. Having her on campus, it makes her more accessible 

than most VR&E counselors who only come to campus once in a 

while. So her being on campus, her caseload, the members, the people that she is managing can walk in two or three times a week 

to see her, which then exacerbates the problem of her not being 

able to reach other people. So she is really spending more time on 

the Chapter 31s than she would if she were not a VR&E—if she 

was a VR&E somewhere else. So that becomes an issue too. 

But having her on campus, even with a smaller caseload, I think 

we could agree that, you know, there is a limit that she could have. 

However, 50 does seem to be a little excessive from what we have 

been able to observe over the past several months. 

Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, thank you. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. First of all, let me thank all of you today. I think 

in a short time we really learned a lot and we got a lot of good information. 

Mr. Hubbard, I appreciate your input too with the changes that 

you recommend. 

And I hope, Mr. Kammerer, that you got as much out of this 

today as I think we did, and that benefits all of us. 

So I look forward to continuing to work with everyone here today 

to ensure that we reach our goals and take care of our veterans, 

who deserve no less than our great attention. 

So, finally, I ask unanimous consent that all members have five 

legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any 

extraneous material in the record of today’s hearing. 

[No response.] 

Hearing no objection, so ordered. 

And if there’s nothing further, this hearing is adjourned. Thank 

you 

[Whereupon, at 2:48 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 


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APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENT TERENCE HARRISON

Good afternoon. I’d like to thank Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, 

and Members of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for inviting me to participate in today’s hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ VetSuccess on 

Campus Program. 

My name is Terence Harrison and I am the Manager for Veterans Programs and 

Services at the University of Cincinnati. The University of Cincinnati, or ‘‘UC,’’ is 

a public research university, enrolling more than 44,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 2014. Our campus is made up of students from all 50 states and 

from 100 countries around the world. Recognized as a Military Friendly School, UC 

is both a leader and champion in military and veteran related issues. Currently, UC 

enrolls about 2,392 military-affiliated students, including active duty military, members of the National Guard and the Reserves, veterans, and family members. Of this 

total, 1,016 students are using GI Bill benefits. With the anticipated draw-down of 

active duty personnel, the University of Cincinnati is energetically positioning itself 

to accommodate these students. UC adheres closely to the VA’s principles of excellence in providing a high-quality educational experience tailored to the unique needs 

of veteran students. 

The University of Cincinnati continues to hold a positive view of the VetSuccess 

on Campus, or ‘‘VSOC’’ Program. UC is home to one of the three VSOC programs 

in the state of Ohio—with others located at The Ohio State University and Cleveland State University. The VSOC program aims to assist veterans and 

servicemembers, as well as their dependents, as they transition from active duty to 

postsecondary education. Through the VSOC program, a VA Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor is assigned to UC to support student veterans and assist with any 

problems that arise that may interfere with the education of a student veteran. 

At UC, student veterans regularly reach out to VSOC for assistance on a range 

of matters, including: expediting and resolving issues with VA education benefits; 

looking up pending VA payments and when they can expect to receive them; explaining VA payments clearly; assisting in applying for education, healthcare, and 

other VA benefits; questions about their remaining benefits; and understanding and 

resolving VA debt. 

VSOC is a valuable resource for our student veterans, and ensures that they receive expedient service from the VA while they attend UC. Our VSOC counselor has 

been with the VA for over nine years and has been helpful in establishing a successful VSOC program at UC. 

The University of Cincinnati’s partnership with the VSOC Program began in September 2013. At UC, the VSOC office is housed within the same building as the Veterans Programs and Services Office to conveniently meet the needs of student veterans and to provide a cross-functional team approach to resolving challenges that 

our veterans face. Housing the VSOC office and our VSOC Counselor on campus 

also allows UC to coordinate with the VA. 

UC annually enrolls an average of 1,200 student veterans, active duty military, 

and beneficiaries using VA education benefits. Throughout the year, VSOC contacts 

all of these students several times to offer VA support. VSOC allocates time each 

semester to meet with student veterans at the University, including at both of UC’s 

regional campuses. In addition to these meetings, VSOC also participates in numerous outreach events throughout the academic year, including Student Resource 

Fairs and awareness training sessions for advisors, faculty, and staff. 

VSOC conducts additional outreach activities, including employment workshops 

focusing on translating military skills into a civilian resume, recognizing post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury symptoms, new student orientation, town hall meetings, job fairs, and health fairs in collaboration with VA Medical 

Centers. 

VSOC also works with other groups on campus and within the community to collaboratively support the needs of UC’s student veterans, including the Ohio beta 

chapter of Omega Delta Sigma, a co-ed, veteran-only fraternity; the Tristate Veterans Community Alliance; the VFW Ohio; and AMVETS, among others. 

In addition to VSOC, the University of Cincinnati is also a Veterans Integration 

to Academic Leadership, or ‘‘VITAL,’’ Location. VSOC and VITAL together have developed a streamlined approach in assisting veterans with VA Medical Center 

needs. This approach provides UC’s veterans with expedited VA Medical Center 

service coordination at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. 

In order to best meet the needs and improve services for our student veterans, 

we believe it is important to expand the VSOC program to additional schools. For 


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smaller schools that do not have a VSOC, we suggest the VSOC work with a number of schools in a geographical area. For example, in Ohio, one counselor could 

oversee Xavier University, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, and 

Mount St. Joseph University. The case load of these counselors could be comparable 

to the caseload at larger schools and give the student veterans at these institutions 

the support they need. 

As for improved coordination between universities and the VA, we have found 

that housing our VSOC counselor on campus has allowed UC and the VA to easily 

collaborate, which is beneficial to our student veterans. 

In closing, I want to thank you for allowing me to discuss the VSOC program and 

to share the great work that the University of Cincinnati is doing to accommodate 

veteran students. I look forward to working with you as you expand services for veteran students and again offer the University of Cincinnati as an example to inform 

policy and to guide schools in shaping their programs. 

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. 

Terence Harrison 

f 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. LAWRENCE A. BRAUE

Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, on behalf of the University of 

South Florida, thank you for holding today’s hearing and allowing us to share our 

experience with the VetSuccess on Campus Program (VSOC) and the impact it 

makes on our campus every day. By way of background, the University of South 

Florida (USF) is a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. It is the 8th largest university in the U.S. and serves over 48,000 students. 

In addition, over 2,000 veterans and their families are enrolled as students at USF. 

USF was ranked by Military Times Best for Vets magazine as the 5th best college 

for veterans. Under the leadership of President Judy Genshaft, the University of 

South Florida has become a national leader in serving student veterans. 

In June, 2009, The University of South Florida became the first institution of 

higher learning to participate in the Department of Veterans Affairs VetSuccess on 

Campus program. Ms. Jeanine Frederick is our current VSOC Counselor and has 

served in this role since June, 2010 Ms. Frederick quickly became an integral member of the Office of Veterans Services team and an effective liaison between USF 

and the VA. Ms. Frederick is an amazing Counselor and has made this program a 

complete success on our campus. 

Program Successes 

Having the VSOC Counselor available to veterans on a daily basis has vastly improved the university’s ability to meet the needs of our students. In addition, it has 

greatly increased the confidence of our student veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Through the VetSuccess on Campus Program, our Counselor developed an extremely effective outreach program that dramatically increased the awareness of VA 

programs and benefits available to student veterans. This calendar year, Ms. Frederick has helped over 300 veterans individually and reached over 750 students 

through campus outreach events. She is frequently called upon to advocate for veterans with faculty members who do not understand the challenges our disabled veterans face in the classroom. 

In the Fall of 2013, Ms. Frederick initiated a highly successful Vet-to-Vet Tutoring Program where academically successful VA Work Study veterans would provide 

one-on-one tutoring for other student veterans. Since this program started in the 

Fall of 2013, over 165 students have received individualized tutoring services at no 

cost to the veteran. 

Program Challenges 

The VetSuccess on Campus program has not been without its challenges for the 

University of South Florida. It is important that I clarify that I can only speak for 

the University of South Florida and what we have experienced. The VetSuccess on 

Campus program is influenced by two separate offices within the Vocational Rehabilitation and Education arm of the VA. Often times, those two offices provide our 

VSOC Counselor with competing or conflicting guidance. Because the Regional Office has very limited understanding of VSOC and is not involved in the day to day 

operation of the program, it makes it very difficult for them to provide effective supervision for the VSOC Counselor. 

Over time, the VetSuccess on Campus program’s purpose and goals changed without a collaborative effort with university. 


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For example: Recently, the VR&E Regional Office assigned a Chapter 31 caseload 

of 50 to our VSOC Counselor. This is approximately 1/3 of the Chapter 31 caseload 

for a full-time VR&E Counselor. This is a significant change which alters the way 

VSOC functions on our campus. This change is also inconsistent with the Memorandum of Understanding between USF and the VA which creates a hardship for 

the VSOC Counselor and the school. This effectively reduces her ability to have a 

positive impact on the academic and lifelong success of the total veteran population. 

In order to maximize the effectiveness of our partnership, the university should 

be part of the program development and decision making process. 

I believe with a few structural and leadership modifications, this program could 

greatly enhance retention and graduation rates for student veterans using the Post 

9/11 GI Bill. 

My recommendations are to: 

1. Simplify the reporting structure for the VetSuccess on Campus Program by 

creating one office to manage the program and the VSOC Counselors and ensure that VSOC Counselors do not receive direction and guidance from multiple 

sources. 

2. Establish and maintain consistent, meaningful dialog between the VA and 

the university ensuring that the university has a voice in program development 

and the decision making process. 

3. I also believe it is critical that the VA include colleges and universities in 

the plan to develop success metrics for graduation and retention of veterans 

using the GI Bill. 

Again, I want to thank the committee for allowing the University of South Florida 

to share our experience with the VetSuccess on Campus Program. It is an honor 

and a privilege to have this amazing program on our campus. I hope we can build 

upon the successes of the program and make the adjustments necessary to make 

the program even stronger for our future student veterans. 

Thank you. 


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PREPARED STATEMENT OF JACK KAMMERER

Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today to discuss the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) VetSuccess on Campus (VSOC) program. The 

VSOC program is administered through our Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Service. 

Since inception of the Post-9/11 GI Bill in 2009 through August 2015, VA has issued nearly $55 billion to send 1.45 million Veterans and their qualified dependents to institutions of higher education (institutions) under the program. VA’s VSOC 

program helps Veteran students and their qualified dependents succeed and thrive 

through a coordinated delivery on-campus of benefits assistance and counseling by 

professionally experienced and trained VR&E counselors. The VSOC program is a 

collaborative effort between the host institution and VA with the purpose of providing a supportive, on-campus environment whereby Veterans may obtain benefits 

assistance and peer support. With our 79 VSOC counselors at 94 college and university partners, we are able to provide on-campus access to our services to approximately 78,000 Veterans. 

VSOC Program Overview 

VA’s VSOC program began in 2009 as a pilot project in which one VR&E counselor was assigned to the University of South Florida campus. VA realized the success of the pilot, and by the end of 2012, the VSOC program grew to include 27 

full-time VR&E counselors who served over 9,600 students spanning 32 campuses 

in 16 states. In late 2012, invitation letters were sent to colleges and universities 

nationwide to solicit their interest in participating in the next VSOC expansion. To 

date, the program has expanded to include a total of 79 VSOC counselors providing 

on-campus services at 94 colleges and universities throughout the United States. 

Acting as the primary ‘‘on-campus’’ representative on behalf of VA, the VSOC 

counselor provides outreach and support to all Veterans on campus. To better assist 

Veterans in transitioning from the military to the college environment, VSOC counselors offer a broad range of counseling services, including educational, vocational/ 

career, and adjustment counseling. They provide vocational testing and career/academic and adjustment counseling to resolve any potential problems that may interfere with or disrupt a Veteran’s success while attending college. VSOC counselors 

also use all appropriate and necessary resources on campus, in the community, and 

within VA to ensure that Veterans’ needs are met in regards to issues or problems 

that may hamper the successful completion of their educational programs. VSOC 

counselors also assist Veterans with referrals for more intensive health services, including mental, physical, or other health treatment, through our Veterans Health 

Administration medical centers, community-based outpatient clinics, or Vet Centers. 

VSOC counselors establish and maintain an effective network of other appropriate 

service providers and stakeholders who are available to assist Veterans in need. The 

desired outcome is to provide Veterans with enhanced opportunities to achieve success in their academic endeavors and to prepare for entering the labor market in 

viable and enduring careers. 

VSOC Update 

With its team of 79 VSOC counselors at 94 partner institutions across the country, VR&E continues to provide educational and vocational counseling and other onsite services to an available population of approximately 78,000 Veterans on campus. The majority of Veterans receiving services visited a VSOC counselor in-person, 

with the others communicating with their counselor by telephone or email. In an 

effort to expand available on-campus services, VSOC counselors are coordinating 

with host institutions to establish or enhance peer-to-peer Veteran mentoring programs to address military-to-college transition issues. At the beginning of each fall 

and spring term, VSOC counselors conduct orientation sessions to assist newly enrolled Veterans in acclimating to the college campus environment. This fall, VA is 

working in conjunction with partnering institutions to host ‘‘Back to School’’ informational events at 10 selected VSOC sites. These events will introduce newly enrolled students and educators to the Veteran student community, familiarize Veterans with their VSOC counselors and the services they can provide, and ultimately 

work to cultivate the most supportive community for Veterans at each institution. 

VA is committed to the VSOC program and recognizes the demand and need for 

this program as Veterans take advantage of their well-earned GI Bill benefits. VA 

continues to receive inquiries from institutions that are interested in assigning a 

VSOC counselor to their institution. VA evaluates interested institutions for potential future participation in the VSOC program, and we will continue to inform the 

Committee of the evolution of the program in the future. 


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Conclusion 

VA continues to assess and improve the VSOC program for a most deserving population of men and women who have decided to commit to furthering their educational and vocational goals. Through the updates noted, VA is substantially improving and materially enhancing the VSOC program, to include evaluating additional institutions for possible future participation. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer questions from you or any of the other members of the Subcommittee. 

Æ 


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