Speaker
Amanda Venske
Education Benefits Program Manager & School Certifying Official for University Veterans Services, UW–Madison
As a dependent of a retired Wisconsin Army National Guard service member, Amanda Venske received support from University Veteran Services while becoming a two-time Badger, earning her BS in Education Studies and MS in Educational Psychology from UW–Madison’s School of Education. She advocates uplifting military-connected identities, including implementing annual Month of the Military Kid celebrations that celebrate dependents of veterans and service members. Ms. Venske is honored to help military-connected students navigate higher education and assist students to best use the educational benefits they have earned and deserve.
Speaking in
Towards Constructing Military-Connected Student Inclusion: A Student Panel and Discussion
Similar to a few other large, public institutions, UW-Madison’s history is inextricably intertwined with that of the nation’s military. This highlights the critical importance in supporting the unique needs of student veterans, service members, and family members. Supporting military-connected students requires learning more about military-connected identities and experiences. Often presenting in invisible ways, military-connected identities can be obscured by other aspects of student identity. Working towards inclusive environments for military-connected students at UW-Madison becomes possible once prepared to understand the transformative power of community.
This session seeks to elevate current military-connected student stories and provide support for them to voice their experiences. A student panel of current UW-Madison military-connected students is central to the focus of this session.
Session Objectives
- Learn about trends in military-connected student populations
- Build empowerment to better support military-connected students