Student Senate passed a resolution on Monday in support of assigning an advisor for student veterans.

Having an advisor for student veterans would make the transferring process smoother, Academic Affairs Director and resolution author David Miller said. Currently, there is no advisor to veterans, though there was one in the past.

Military personnel can transfer their military skills, experience and classes to college credits through the Joint Services Transcript (JST). With assistance from the GI Bill, veterans are provided financial aid to help pay for college credits.

Senator Thomas Rocque, a veteran and co-author of the resolution, spoke from personal experience to highlight issues with the veteran transfer process.

Rocque said none of his credits from the JST transferred to UW-Eau Claire because there wasn’t anyone familiar with the JST who could translate them into academic credit. This led to him to having to retake classes for knowledge he already possessed, thus exhausting some financial assistance provided to him from the GI Bill.

Rocque said this hurts him in the long run because he wants to attend law school after Eau Claire, but the GI Bill only provides assistance to a certain point.

“It doesn’t make sense for us to be learning the same thing over and over and over again and losing money on it,” Rocque said. “That’s the problem.”

Having an advisor who knows how to translate these credits would make the transfer process easier for student veterans, Rocque said, which is the resolution’s aim.

“We just want somebody who knows what should count toward what and make it count for that,” Rocque said. “And they can pick and choose what’s going to count toward that degree and take away what so that we can still use our benefits.”

The resolution passed in voice vote.

Other news:

• A bill to restructure the way Senate seats are allocated was introduced, and it will be voted on next week. If passed, it will need need to be approved by the student body in a referendum in the fall.
• A bill introduced the 2018-19 Information Technology Budget. It will be voted on next week.
• Karissa Red Bear, an off-campus senator, resigned her Senate seat.