Council on Military Education in Texas and the South COMETS

1
Council on Military Education in Texas and the
South COMETS
An Army of Students Is Americas Best Defense

• Colonel William V. Hill IIICommander, US Army
  Garrison
• Fort Hood, TX

2
Agenda

• Background
• Recruiting and Retention
• Distance Education and Innovative
• Use of Technologies
• Collaborative Considerations
• Challenge to You

3
Introduction

• The Best
• The Brightest
• The Most Innovative
• The collective business of educating our service
  members

The 1 reason Soldiers join the Army is for the
education benefits The 1 reason Soldiers leave
the Army is for the education benefits
4
Army Operations Tempo

• Nearly 243,000 Soldiers serving in over 120
  overseas countries.
• Approximately 126,000 Soldiers currently in Iraq
  (OIF) and Afghanistan (OEF).
• Over 255,000 (52) of currently serving Active
  Duty Soldiers are combat veterans.
• Many Soldiers have served multiple OEF/OIF
  deployments.
• Since 9/11, our Nation has mobilized more than
  264,000 Reserve and National Guard Soldiers, with
  205,000 of them having served in Iraq or
  Afghanistan.

Woods, Oct 07
5
The Fort Hood Community
THE WORLDS PREMIER INSTALLATION

• 53, 831 Soldiers
• 17,183 On-post family members
• 36,206 Off-post family members
• 5,107 Civilian employees
• 6,822 Service contractor employees
• 2,098 Volunteers each month
• 224,966 Retirees/Family Members/Survivors
• 330K Total population served

52 motor pools - 7.2 miles of combat power
9 on post schools 770 teachers 17,419 students
on/off post
DIRECT YEARLY MONETARY IMPACT
6.016-billion Dec 07
6
The Fort Hood Soldier
MALE 85 FEMALE 15
93 HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
54 ARE MARRIED 4 TO ANOTHER SOLDIER
56 CAUCASIAN 24 AFRICAN AMERICAN 13
HISPANIC 1 NATIVE AMERICAN 3 ASIAN/PACIFIC
ISLANDER 3 OTHER
52 OF SGT AND BELOW HAVE DEPENDENTS
7
FORT HOOD CIVILIAN ARMY CORPS
4,236 Civilian Employees
54 Caucasian 30 African American 10 Hispanic
or Latino 1 American Indian/Alaska Native 3
Asian 1 Other
Average Age 46
1 Doctorate Degree 5 Masters Degree 13
Bachelors Degree 10 Associate Degree 33 Some
College (but no degree) 96 Have HS
diploma or higher
59 GS Employees 17 Wage Employees 3 Demo
Employees 17 NSPS Employees 881 NAF Employees
(not included in figures)
8
What We Do

• Educating Americas Service Members Anytime,
  Anyplace

9
Soldier Education in COMETS Region FY07

• Tuition Assistance funded enrollments at the Army
• Installations from the COMETS region.
• (Forts Hood, Bliss, Sam Houston, Polk, Sill and
  WSMR)
• 11,192 Soldiers
• 27,999 post-secondary courses
• This investment in our people came at an active
  duty TA cost of 6.1M
• Yes, the Army does take care of its own

GoArmyEd Data Warehouse Report, FY07
10
High School Graduation Forecast Fort Hood Schools
KISD
CCISD
Note Annual Turnover Rate _at_ SHS approx 1/3 to
1/2 of students 2007 Data Enrolled
800/- students (Beginning)
Dis-enrolled 800/- students (End)
as of March 2008
Dept of Education Snapshots
11
Academic Trends in America

• Annually, approximately
• 88 percent of high school seniors plan to attend
  college (Kirst, 2006)
• 69 percent of high school graduates actually do
  pursue post-secondary education within two years
  of graduating (US Dept of Ed)
• 32 percent of high school graduates fully meet
  the academic requirements for enrollment in a
  4-year university (Green, 2003)
• Then What?
• 33 percent will complete their bachelors degree
  in 4 years
• 33 percent will drop out of college and never
  return
• 33 percent will STOP out of school, but will
  return to the classroom at a later point in life

Dept of Education Snapshots
12
Academic Trends in America

• 3 of every 10 High School graduates are
  academically prepared and qualified for
  university coursework
• 3 of every 10 Americans aged 17-24 meet the
  standards for military service (Kreisher, 2008)
• The Army is competing for these quality
  recruits/students
• Annually, approximately 22 of our new recruits
  come to the Army with college credit on their
  resume
• Are these the college dropouts or the college
  stopouts?

The Army understands that it must make quality
post-secondary education readily available to
its Soldiers
U.S. Army Recruiting Command
13
Soldier Environment
Hope is Not a Method A Soldier must be highly
motivated, dedicated and organized to overcome
the constraints they face

• 24/7 work schedules and recurring deployments
  often prevent our Soldiers from pursuing
  traditional coursework.
• Family Members holding down the home front may
  not be able to pursue traditional college
  courses.
• In FY07, 76 of TA funded courses taken by
  Soldiers were via distance learning 24 in a
  traditional classroom setting.
• Innovative uses of technology and partnerships
  with academic providers have resulted in a whole
  new way for our Soldiers to pursue their academic
  goals.

14
Distance Education
The BILITIES

• The appeal of Distance Education is multifold,
  and based on
• Flexibility
• Portability
• Availability
• For our Soldiers, the combination of these
  distance education bilities serves to minimize
  the hurdles adult learners face as they pursue
  their academic goals.
• We in the Army are proud of the partnerships that
  have been forged with academia over the years and
  truly appreciate the dedication and flexibility
  the academic communities have provided over these
  many years, especially during times of national
  and international crisis.

• Applicability
• Affordability
• Doability

Distance Learning vs Online Completions
15
A Culture of Learning

• The Army has been an all-volunteer force since
  1974 almost thirty-five years. The
  availability of life-long learning has
  contributed to this success.
• The Army is working to inculcate a culture of
  lifelong learning. This formal culture of
  learning is being established and expanded, with
  the potential to impact upon the career
  development of each and every one of our
  Soldiers.
• We recruit quality, and then mentor and develop
  these individuals into Soldier warriors who
  posses the necessary skills and core values to
  fight and win wars in diverse and unique
  environments.
• Advancement in the Army requires professional and
  personal development. In order to Be All That
  You Can Be, a Soldier must dream and aspire to be
  the best they can be.
• The end result is Soldier possessing pride,
  self-respect and confidence.

16
Challenges to Recruitment and Retention

• Limited Pool of Qualified Applicants
• Grow the Army
• Transformation
• Rebasing, and Realignment
• BRAC

Education plays a role in overcoming these
challenges
17
Recruitment

• The Department of the Defense is the largest,
  most diverse employer in the USA.
• The Army Recruiting Command is on a constant
  mission to replenish the Force.
• In FY07 all services did exceed their active duty
  recruiting goals.
• The DoD Services are in agreement that they are
  facing an extremely challenging recruiting
  environment.

18
Recruiting

• All branches of the DoD are re-looking their
  recruiting programs
• and adding new initiatives to boost their
  recruiting efforts.
• Army - Fell short of goal of 90 of recruits
  having a high school diploma 79 had a diploma.
  The overall quality of Soldiers remains high.
• Navy - Achieved its overall active-component
  mission while exceeding recruit quality standards
  for the 9th consecutive year. 40K bonuses.
• Air Force - Eight consecutive years of meeting
  its goals. Quality of recruits is above DOD
  standards as noted on the ASVAB test scores. Met
  only half of its target for fully qualified
  health care personnel, so they are increasing
  health care scholarships.
• Marines - Recruiting efforts were on track in FY
  07.

Woods, Oct 07
19
Recruiting

• As mentioned earlier, the Army is taking a second
  look at
• previously ineligible recruits.
• Larger percentage of GED holders are being
  enlisted into the Army.
• Lower scores on the ASVAB are being accepted.
• The career progression of these Soldiers is being
  closely monitored, and to date the overall
  performance and quality of these Soldiers has
  proven to be high.

20
Soldier Development

• From recruitment and retention to remediation of
  basic skills to post-secondary education to
  warrior development, the Armys Adult and
  Continuing Education Programs play a critical
  role in sustaining the Army.
• The Army recruits potential, tests and trains
  these individuals to their known and unknown
  strengths, pushing them to new limits.

Defining Moment - Life Altering
21
Taking Care of Our Own

• Educated Soldiers are happier Soldiers, and tend
  to remain as positive assets to the Army.
• Educated Soldiers appreciate the community to
  which they have affiliated and are much more
  likely to commit to a full career with the Army.
  
• Go Army - Stay Army

22
Future Army Footprint

• Restationing existing units and troops will be
  reassigned to existing installations to increase
  efficiency. Tours of duty will be lengthened to
  reduce PCS moves and add stability to home life.
• Grow the Army The Army is projected to increase
  by an additional 74,000 Soldiers by 2013.
• These Soldiers will be based around the world,
  and many will likely be assigned to the COMETS
  region.
• With these Soldiers will come their Families and
  the need to further increase our infrastructure
  and family support services.

23
Future Army Footprint

• Projected total Soldier population in Texas by
• The year 2013 106,000.

• Grow the Army Soldier Growth by Installation
• Fort Bliss Grows by 9,227 Soldiers
• Fort Hood Grows by 3,273 Soldiers
• Fort Sam Houston Grows by 60 Soldiers

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Installation Populations Planned Endstate FY13
Germany
31,054
32,559
65,895
Italy
Ft Lewis
4,632
4,632
3,035
33,173
35,051
21,832
11,692
11,858
10,754
Ft Drum
Aberdeen Proving Grounds
Ft Leonard Wood
18,794
20,273
12,352
26,672
27,633
23,857
Ft Myer
2,503
2,792
2,323
Ft Knox
Ft Leavenworth
1,002
1,057
1,053
5,343
5,617
5,134
Ft Story
12,477
13,023
17,044
Ft Carson
Ft Eustis
23,656
28,533
15,119
Ft Campbell
9,390
9,595
9,212
Ft Riley
Ft Lee
30,504
31,252
25,282
Ft Irwin
17,279
17,458
9,816
19,601
20,916
11,402
Ft Bragg
5,793
5,433
5,543
13,156
13,348
12,328
Ft Sill
WSMR
Ft Benning
2,359
6,340
2,277
22,308
23,077
20,036
Ft Gordon
41,628
41,673
28,866
Ft Sam Houston
16,535
16,595
14,966
Korea
Ft Hood
Ft Polk
Ft Stewart/HAAF
Ft Bliss
11,262
12,545
10,325
16,048
16,283
30,018
24,471
28,470
20,512
30,342
39,569
13,742
46,359
49,632
43,774
6,800
7,029
4,778
Ft Wainright
Ft Richardson
6,700
7,892
3,747
Army Military Civilian Pop
Schofield BK
Subject to Separate NEPA Action
18,541
18,866
14,030
BRAC Endstrength
Growth Endstrength
Starting point FY03
25
Installations with Significant BRAC Gains

Kansas Fort Riley 2,415 McConnell AFB 664
Ohio Wright Patterson AFB 501
Rhode Island Naval Station Newport 719
New Jersey McGuire AFB 678
Colorado Fort Carson 4,178
Maryland Nat Naval Med Ctr Bethesda 1,418 Fort
Meade 682
Nevada Nellis AFB 1,029
California Naval Station San Diego 1,084
Virginia Fort Lee 6,139 Fort Belvoir
4,162 Langley AFB 554 Naval Station Norfolk
504
Oklahoma Fort Sill 3,445
North Carolina Fort Bragg 3,425
South Carolina Shaw AFB 765
Texas Fort Bliss 11,354 Fort Hood 9,062 Fort
Sam Houston 8,044
Georgia Fort Benning 9,274 Moody AFB 1,211
Florida Eglin AFB 2,201 NAS Jacksonville 1,940
Arkansas Little Rock AFB 2,576
States in red have installations with an
anticipated active duty gain of 500 or more.
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The Collective Mission

• What can we do as a collective group of military
  and post-secondary educators?

• Ensure Quality
• Enhance our partnerships
• Pursue innovative and cost-effective provision
  of
• quality education
• Develop more efficient ways to support our
  Soldiers
• and their Families

DELIVERABLES?
27
ACME Accomplishment
In-State College Tuition Rate Initiative

• Eligibility in state of legal residence
• Eligibility in state of assignment
• Continuity of in state eligibility once
  established

• Green Meets all three goals.
• Yellow Meets the first two desired outcomes,
• but is missing the third.
• Red Meets none or only one of the desired
• outcomes.

28
Considerations

• Continue to make more traditional college courses
  available on all our military installations.
• Develop more Remedial skills course options
  preparing our population to pursue and succeed in
  the post-secondary environment.
• Many of our Soldiers and Family Members wish to
  pursue degrees/certification/licensure in the
  health sciences. Work toward establishing these
  full programs on-post and/or online.

29
Considerations

• Financial Assistance you can help by marketing
  your scholarships and financial aid programs
  toward them.
• Textbooks In many cases, the textbook cost
  exceeds the tuition rate. Anything the school
  can do to reduce textbook costs is appreciated
  textbook scholarships, less frequent edition
  changes, ebooks, etc
• Courses need to be challenging and meaningful to
  the Soldier-student. Our students are combat
  veterans it is important that courses build
  upon our Soldiers experiences.
• Offer and award credit for exotic foreign
  languages which may be required in the
  deployment areas of our Armed Forces Urdu,
  Uzbek, Swahili, Persian, Pashtu, Hindi, Chinese,
  Turkish, Bengali, Thai, Arabic, Kurdish,
  Azerbaijani, Punjabi, etc

30
Considerations

• Ensure your financial aid departments are
  knowledgeable of the DoDs Tuition Assistance
  programs (GoArmyEd for Army) and all aspects of
  Veterans Education Benefits.
• From an academic perspective, get involved with
  and promote improvements/reforms to the
  Montgomery GI Bill.
• Help ensure that our Soldiers have access to
  quality counseling from your academic and
  financial aid advisors.
• Approximately 15 of Soldiers are not completing
  the courses they enroll in. Help ensure that your
  staff and instructors are aware of the Soldiers
  OPTEMPO as well as their academic preparedness.
• Fully award the college credit as recommended by
  the American Council on Education (ACE) for
  military training and experience.

31
Challenge to Grow

• COMETS is doing a great job of bringing our
  regional military educators and institutions of
  higher learning together. I encourage you to
  continue to promote our regional advisory
  council, as well as encourage your peers to
  establish an Advisory Council on Military
  Education in their regions.
• Education is a key commodity to the
  professionalism of all Services. Our military
  students are good customers. Our military
  communities are very captive audiences. Taking
  care of the military and their Family Members in
  all branches of service is a win win proposition
  for all.

32
QUALITY in EDUCATION

• Quality begins with accreditation.
• Regional and National Accrediting Associations
  are responsible for establishing clear
  expectations supportive of a quality academic
  program.
• From the Armys perspective, another primary
  quality issue is that the provider is looking out
  for the Soldier/student. Does the academic
  provider allow enough flexibility in their
  policies to accommodate unexpected surges in
  OPTEMPO? Are the best interests of the student
  part of their business model?
• What will the learning, and ultimately the
  conferred degree mean in the marketplace? Will
  the rapidly earned degree impart upon the student
  the knowledge, skills and abilities required to
  succeed in the civilian sector? Is there value
  added?
• Finding a quality school is person-oriented
  process Army Education Counselors do not simply
  tell the Soldier what to do, they guide the
  Soldier through the process and help the Soldier
  make an educated decision. 

33
QUALITY in EDUCATION

• Cost is not a quality factor, but it can be an
  issue.
• Some colleges advertise that tuition is free if
  a student is in the military, but it isnt
  free. Cost is a factor especially if the
  Soldier has to repay the tuition expense.
• The Soldiers are authorized up to 4500 per
  Fiscal Year. Our Soldiers are encouraged to use
  this funding wisely to ensure that it will be
  available to meet the annual academic needs. A
  250 per SH course allows for only 6 classes per
  year, while a 50 per SH course allows for 30
  classes per year.

34
My Challenges to You

• Continue to be agents of change be flexible be
  adaptive
• As the Army transitions and adapts to the
  challenges of tomorrow, we ask that you too
  continue to strive toward improvements to your
  programs and services.
• Challenge to Military Educators
• Do more for the Family Member.
• Conduct Outreach to assist them on more than a
  space available basis.
• Challenge to College and University
  Representatives
• Continue to provide quality education to the
  military and their families.
• Re-look the Textbook What can you do to make
  textbooks affordable?

Continue to Improve the Quality of The Distance
Learning Experience
35
Parting Words

• There is no military incentive, benefit or
  entitlement that does more to help the long-term
  well-being of our Soldiers and families than
  accessible and affordable educational
  opportunities

The two most important things we send a Soldier
into combat with are a flack jacket and an
education.CSM Ciotola
36
References
Green, Jay P., Foster, Greg Public High School
Graduation and College Readiness Rates in
the United States, New York The Manhattan
Institute, Sep 2003 Kirst, Michael W., Venezia,
Andrea, Improving College Readiness and Success
for All Students A Joint Responsibility
Between K-12 and Post-Secondary Education, The
Secretary of Educations Commission on the
Future of Higher Education, May 2006 Kreisher,
Otto, Armed Services Having Trouble Finding
Qualified Recruits, The Government Executive
Mar 2008 Woods, Gary, OSD, Commission on
Military Education and Training Symposium,
Presentation, Norfolk, VA., Nov 07 U.S.
Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition
of Education 2007 (NCES 2007-064).