Somewhere on a military base, a National Guard member is coming off a drill weekend, then heading straight to a civilian job on Monday morning. They spent the weekend completed an intensive PME course on tactical leadership. They have a certificate that proves it. And at most private universities in the county, none of that training counts toward anything they're offering.
This doesn't have to be true. There is a woefully underutilized (and misunderstood) working model that translates PME on a Joint Services Transcript into accredited digital badges. Stack the right badges, add two credit-bearing courses, and a service member walks away with a university undergraduate certificate. The infrastructure exists. The advising process exists (it's not complicated). The tuition assistance pathway exists, bringing the out-of-pocket cost to zero for eligible members.
This is truly an easy system to implement, but it's frustrating and sad to watch private universities refuse to adapt this model. Scaling it into something broader, something that serves military students simply because it's the right thing to do, should be enough. Unfortunately, it's not for universities with dough leadership that talks a lot about being a better place for those who serve, but goes only so far as the TA and GI Bill money. Anything beyond that would require actual leadership and commitment to those who serve.
No comments:
Post a Comment