'Pathways to military student success'

Themed with finding "innovative pathways to military student success," The American Legion was a fitting participant in the Council of College and Military Educators' (CCME) Professional Development Symposium last week in Anaheim, Calif.

The Legion was among the nearly 1,000 attendees, including representatives from around 500 schools, at the annual event that brings together military and civilian educators, post-secondary institutions, and suppliers of education products and services to discuss best practices in providing education to the military.

Specifically, the Legion was on hand to give its perspective on military licensing and credentialing - an important issue at the symposium because many of the institutions there offer courses to obtain qualifications for licenses or certifications, says CCME President Jeff Cropsey.

"We are very much attuned (to credentialing)," Cropsey said. "We aren’t just a group of schools that do general education or a vanilla associates degree. Many of the things we do are very vocational and technically oriented."

Steve Gonzalez, assistant director of the Legion's Veterans Employment & Education Division, was part of a credentialing panel that featured Lisa Lutz, president of SOLID, LLC, Sue Jackson of Pearson VUE, and Jeffrey Lavender, test examiner from the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command. Gonzalez explained the intricacies of the issue as it relates to educators, including the difficulties that stakeholders face in trying to map civilian certifications with military training, and the challenge of coordinating license requirements between federal and state licensing bodies.

"It's important for the Legion to be in attendance at this event, and it's also telling that the Legion was the only veterans service organization invited to present," Gonzalez said. "The Legion has been at the front of the military credentialing issue since the mid-1990s. Credentialing is an important component of military education. That's why we're here."

Founded 40 years ago, the CCME aims to foster and support educational opportunities for current and former military, Cropsey says. CCME's yearly gathering, the Professional Development Symposium, has evolved from modest roots to include education institutions from all over the nation, as well as representatives from the government and companies that play key roles in educating servicemembers and veterans.

"A lot of the schools here want to learn what exactly military people and veterans are interested in and do what is necessary to fit their needs," Cropsey said.

Cropsey said those are the reasons that the Legion was invited to this year's event.

"The Legion has a long, long history of supporting education for active duty and certainly for veterans," he said. "We think it is long overdue that we get an organization like The American Legion involved in this group. It is consistent with the Legion's message, and supportive of all of our efforts, to have the Legion on board."

Jackson said having the Legion present at the symposium, and as a prominent voice on military credentialing, helps Pearson VUE and other similar companies understand the legislative imperatives and hurdles that confront military credentialing. Pearson VUE, supplies many of the exams that servicemembers and veterans take to receive their professional licenses and certifications.

“We got involved (with credentialing) because servicemembers and their families should receive the honor, support and opportunities they so richly deserve," she said. "With all of the legislation changes, we have worked closely with (the Legion) to understand the changes and relay this information to clients that deliver exams through Pearson VUE to the military community.”

The symposium is an ideal precursor to the Legion's upcoming National Credentialing Summit in Washington, Feb. 17-18. Pearson VUE will help sponsor the event, and will also provide a speaker from its company ranks.

"As always, the Legion is advancing the credentialing issue," Gonzalez said. "Our mission is two prong: We want to spread the word about the importance of military credentialing, and we also are actively collaborating with other stakeholders to identify and overcome any future impediments in credentialing."