Key components of a successful launch and sustainable STEM2Veterans program are summarized below:

1.Customize Education for Veterans.
Universities and community colleges should develop new associate, bachelors and graduate level degree pathways for veterans in engineering and science. Provide for specialized study at the masters and PhD levels because of the educational attainment and leadership characteristics that many new veterans will bring from their time in military service.

2.Scale to the Need.
The federal funding agencies, including NSF, should support enough institutions so as to a) impact a significant number of veterans and b) provide a diverse and geographically dispersed set of schools for veterans to select from. The workshop members estimated that support for about 100 schools would be sufficient as a basis for starting a program and for determining the benefits that can actually be derived from a program relative to accomplishing the dual objectives of education and career development. Recognizing the number of veterans who return to pursue associate degrees, the 100 schools should include a suitable number of community colleges as well as four-year colleges and universities, and the programs at the community colleges should suitably support both those veterans who will continue on for higher degrees and those who will go on to start their new careers immediately after graduation.

The NSF program should also require that participating educational institutions gain supplemental financial support from their industry partners to further assure that the career development aspects of the program receive sufficient investment. Other federal agencies engaged in engineering and science endeavors should explore modifications to their internship programs that would enable them to increase their ability to partner with educational institutions by providing internship and research opportunities to veterans. As results are derived from the pilot program, NSF should work with the myriad of industry and government stakeholder groups that have interests in the program to appropriately broaden the program to achieve its full potential. This could involve multiple government organizations as well as industry taking on broader responsibilities for various aspects of the program, including increasing the availability of internship and research opportunities available, increasing the number of schools that are supported, and increasing the number of companies involved and their investments in the program.

3. Features:

• Providing year-round, start- to-finish program support for veteran students;
• Supplementing the 36 months of academic support provided through the new GI bill with internship and research activities;
• Encouraging innovative ways to integrate the support services that veterans will need and help the veterans to take advantage of them;
• Cultivating external relationships established for the veterans that are intended to directly impact their career opportunities;
• Celebrating the special attributes of veterans that recognize their unique attributes as a community of interest;
• Institutionalizing the organizational model that is put in place to oversee and direct the integrated program being offered;
• Planning for how to sustain the program after the termination of federal grant support.

4.Transition Points.
The program should be organized to support the educational transition from the military to the civilian environment as seamlessly as possible. For example, the NSF should account for the fact that veterans’ service training experiences are more likely to receive transfer of credit at the associate degree level than at the bachelors degree level, thereby offering an advantage to proposals that envision the integration those educational offerings that start with an associate degree program at a two-year college and permit a relatively seamless integration with a related bachelors degree program.

5.Urgency.
President Obama recently announced the draw down and return of approximately 40,000 troops from Iraq. What will await these heroes and their families will remain to be seen however housing, continuing ED, workforce development and subsequent jobs will become integral components of a seamless transition back to civilian life for these heroes.

6.Outreach.
The NSF should take the lead, working in concert with the educational community, the VA, the DOD, business firms, and government organizations focused
on science and technology, to develop the mechanisms for communicating with veterans regarding this special opportunity. In the period between the initiation of the recommended new program and the actual start of new programs at educational institutions, the NSF should initiate activities to:

• Develop the various communities of interest into becoming program focused stakeholder communities;
• Establish the mechanisms for reaching out to veterans in the most productive ways, using the capabilities and interests of the individual stakeholder communities to maximum advantage;
• Fund the development of standard materials about the new program opportunities that can be used by all stakeholder groups as part of their individual outreach efforts; and
• Define the network of Internet portals and websites that will allow stakeholders to operate as an integrated team, including developing presentation standards for promotional materials presented to veterans.

7. Collect Program Data.
The NSF should define and fund an activity to define and efficiently collect, and assess, the necessary data that is needed for predictions and evaluations of the new program’s potential and actual outcomes.

8. Potential Employers.
National laboratories, companies, and not-for-profit organizations that seek to employ veterans with engineering and science degrees should join in this education effort now. These organizations stand to benefit in the future as the veterans participating in the STEM2Veterans program become available for hire. They should develop partnerships with educational institutions and students to provide the student veterans with some of the needed financial and personnel support. Through mentoring and internships, potential employers should take and active role in educating veterans and supporting their growth and development. The post-9/11 veterans educational benefit can also be a resource for existing employees who wish to return to school for advanced degrees.

Many of today’s service members have an interest in and talent for technical fields. The post-9/11 veterans’ educational benefit will open the door to college for many of these people. Unfortunately, interest and talent do not always translate into careers in engineering and science. Only a small percentage of recent veterans have taken technical jobs. The STEM2Veterans program will help to draw veterans into technical fields of study and enrich their educational experience. The program will also help them to start their new careers in engineering and science. The community of partners that supports veterans’ education can encourage veterans to pursue their interests, work to their potential, enhance their abilities and help them to get started on their new careers. The NSF should take the lead in developing this program and the network of partners to support it, drawing on its experience in developing engineering education programs and working with educational institutions to carry them out.