A resolution to create a new cabinet position for Veterans Affairs passed on its first reading during last Wednesday’s Senate meeting.
The resolution, sponsored by Senator-at-large Jason Neas, proposed a bylaw amendment to give Veterans Affairs an official cabinet role in Associated Students Inc.
Currently, there is no designated position to promote or support events relating to this demographic, according to the resolution.
ASI President Lucy Nguyen appointed David Rose as the assistant secretary to Internal Affairs/Veterans Affairs because she recognized that he had a military background.
Nguyen also noticed that ASI did not have veteran representation in the cabinet.
“Basically, I have no specific job duties listed in the bylaws,” Rose said. “I was essentially my own entity. There’s no official position, so that’s why I’m assistant to internal affairs. Lucy [Nguyen] created this position.”
Nguyen asked Rose to find out what issues student veterans face and if it was necessary to create a cabinet position.
“She couldn’t just create a position because, first of all, it takes a bylaw amendment, and second of all, she didn’t know if there was a need,” Rose said.
During the fall semester, Rose worked with Marshall Thomas, director of Veterans Affairs services and Veterans Network (VetNet), and spoke to student veterans to see what issues they faced.
Once the need for this cabinet position was established, Neas, Rose and Nguyen began working on the resolution with Thomas.
According to the resolution, the secretary for Veterans Affairs shall be responsible for representing and promoting awareness of veterans, military dependents, active duty, national guard and reserve service members, in order to strengthen the knowledge and relationship between current and former members of the service, their families and the campus as a whole.
“If there’s no official position then how can ASI help veterans? They can’t, so that’s why we have this resolution,” Rose said.
One of the biggest issues found was that Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) clashed with the priority registration that veterans receive.
“Priority registration and SOAR is a big issue that ASI can handle, because Lucy and ASI have a good relationship with SOAR,” Rose said. “That’s something we can go to them for and say, ‘Hey, how can we take care of this? How can we make this work?'”
Senate Bill 272 was implemented in 2007, and it gave veteran students priority registration if they had completed active federal service in the last two years. In 2010, the law expanded its term to four years.
According to Thomas, veteran students receive an earlier registration date than non-veteran students.
“The main reason that the state has done this is because student veterans can use the GI Bill,” Thomas said. “In order be able to use the GI Bill, they’re required to be in 12 units if they want to receive their full housing allowance.”
According to Thomas, Cal State Long Beach has few students currently on active duty.
“We do know for sure that we have well over 326 veterans on campus,” Thomas said. “In fact, we estimate that we probably have close to 400 veterans on campus.”
According to Thomas, CSULB had 1.5 percent veteran students enrolled during fall 2010.
“I’m happy that we were able to create this position and give a voice to a constituency that should’ve have had a voice on this campus for decades,” Rose said.
Because the cabinet position is new, the May 2 application will be extended if the Senate approves the position with a two-third majority during its third reading, Rose said.
“We’re not excluding anyone,” Rose said. “This is an equal opportunity, but in order to have the job be done right, in my opinion, they should be a veteran.”
For more information on applying for the position, contact David Rose at [email protected].