Community Impact reports that at the Lone Star College System’s Board of Trustee’s meeting this month, LSC Montgomery signed on to an interlocal agreement with the University of Michigan to test a new Peer Advising for Veterans’ Education Program, PAVE.
It’s a web-based platform supplied by the University of Michigan for training peer advisors which includes a management console for each participating campus to provide a match for student veterans and peer advisors.
Director of advising and counseling at LSC-Montgomery, Matthew Samford, along with the campus staff, see the program as valuable for their students. He commented in an email that there was potential benefit for students who are veterans via implementing strong peer connections from their enrollment in the college into the future.
He said over 250 students this semester are receiving veteran benefits.
Connecting veteran students with peer mentors with similar experiences is part of the PAVE program.
According to the University of Michigan study: “Peer support programs can help by providing an established community of other student veterans who can normalize transition experiences, offer social support, reduce stigma associated with help-seeking, and connect to useful services on and off campus.”
LSC-Montgomery President Rebecca Riley said the first group of mentors will start training this semester. The tentative start for the PAVE program is this summer.
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