“NAVIGATING WHITEWATER: Military Education at a Time of Great Change” A Presentation To Carolina’s Council on Military Education 2014 Annual Conference Myrtle Beach, SC by John F. Ebersole, LPD President Excelsior College October 29, 2014

The Changes We Face  Continual “Tweaking” of Tuition Assistance  Downsizing (?)  Finding Veterans  Getting the Services to Support “Quality”

Dealing with Competition  80% of Institutions Online  New Ways to Earn a Degree  “Stack” Credentials  Buy In Modules (Non-Academic)  Go For Alternative Sources (MOOCS, CBE, OER)  Follow-the-Leader Mentality  Emphasis on Price

Regulations  Federal (Civilian & Military)  States (with Federal shotgun at their back)  Accreditors  All = ++ $$

Pace of Change  Technology = Information Overload  Demographics = New “Majorities”  Competitive Landscape = Global/Intense  Economy = Global/Uneven/Directly Related

“Paddling with Purpose”  Working with others  What the field is telling us  Shifting from active to veteran = challenge  Working with vet organizations  Keeping “old media” around  Dealing with $250 credit hour ceiling

Positive Forces  Vets are Kings/Queens  Service Chiefs Support Voled  Growing Acceptance of  Alternative Sources of Credit  Use of Experience Assessments  CBE  Measuring Outcomes, Not Input  Employer Preferred Hires

The Debt We Owe Our Military Veterans  Today – Volunteers  Accepted idea that they could lose their life  Reason to believe  20 th Century = 36 times in harm’s way; 1.5m killed or wounded  21st Century = Off to fast start – more wounds than dead .05 of our population

George Washington’s Reminder “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier were treated and appreciated by their nation.”

So How Are We Doing?  Total Veteran Population = 21,973,000  Jobs = 6.1% (9/5/14) vs 5.7%  Healthcare = 9m enrolled with VA  Housing = 12% of homeless population;  Divorce = increased by 42% for Iran/Afghanistan Vets  Suicide = 22 per day (Vet Affairs 1/11/14); Vietnam Vets = Highest  Education = Exceed in enrollment, lag in completion

Keep Up the Good Work Focus on Those Who Serve and Those Who Have

Questions?