Open House: Veterans Center of Excellence

Left to right: Veterans Center of Excellence staff Megan Anderson, Eli Gonzalez-Roman, Monica Patton, and Donna Larson with Oswald (center).

The Clark College Veterans Center of Excellence welcomed student veterans and potential students during its spring open house on April 22.

The Clark College veteran is any military-affiliated student at Clark: veterans, active duty, or military dependent (spouse or child).

Often when students enroll at Clark College, they aren’t aware of the assistance they can receive at the veterans center. Even students who are not veterans themselves but have a parent or spouse who is or was a veteran may qualify for Veterans Affairs (VA) education benefits.

VCOE staff can connect student veterans to agencies, programs, and support. Fostering a sense of belonging and space here at Clark is important, and the Veterans Club for students is starting up again.

We were excited to have a great turnout from our current VCOE students, college staff, the Clark College Foundation, and our VCOE advisor board members. We are working on creating a video with the Digital Media Arts 215 class, and we were so encouraged when half the class came to the open house to hang out and get to know our staff, and see our space.

Our veteran staff at the center can help military-affiliated students with their educational journey. We have an academic advisor, VA certifying official, veteran workstudy employees, and more. We offer free tutoring for math and English. We have programs for student success focusing on the whole health of the veteran. That includes help with books and calculators; offering useful workshops; providing a study area with computers and printers; lounge and games for relaxation; networking with other veterans and more.

Clark College Veterans Center of Excellence



Air Force ROTC

Students and Veterans Center of Excellence staff meet with University of Portland Air Force ROTC at a luncheon.

The Veterans Center of Excellence at Clark College (VCOE) hosted an informational session with Lt. Col. Natasha Waggoner, Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps instructor from the University of Portland on February 5. More than a dozen Clark students participated in this opportunity to learn about the AFROTC program and options available to them.  

The AFROTC program at University of Portland has consortium agreements with Clark College and more than a dozen other colleges in the Portland-Vancouver metro area that allow students at those institutions to participate in the University of Portland’s AFROTC program at no additional cost to the student. Students who participate in AFROTC must attend weekly AFROTC classes at the University of Portland. 

The Air Force is interested in recruiting cybersecurity professionals. Professor Dwight Hughes, the director of Clark College’s Cybersecurity Bachelor of Applied Science program, joined Lt. Col. Waggoner in talking with students about opportunities for collaboration between the college’s Cybersecurity program and AFROTC, including career development, military job opportunities and Air Force ROTC guest speakers in cybersecurity classes. 

Full-time students may be eligible to join the AFROTC program at University of Portland, whether they are enrolled in a bachelor’s program at Clark or completing a bachelor’s degree at another college where AFROTC has an agreement.  

VCoE program specialist, Eli Gonzalez-Roman shakes hands with AFROTC Donald Patton.
VCoE Director Donna Larson talks with Lt. Col. Natasha Waggoner.

About AFROTC 

Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC): 

  • Must be a full-time college student pursuing a bachelor’s degree 
  • Eligibility is determined by Air Force ROTC 
  • Opportunity to become an Air Force officer after completing a bachelor’s degree 
  • Designed to prepare the student for active duty as an officer with increased responsibility year after year 
  • AFROTC offers numerous programs and scholarship opportunities leading to an academic degree and a commission in the Air Force as a second lieutenant 

Learn more about AFROTC at University of Portland: 

About the Veterans Center of Excellence 

The Clark College Veterans Center of Excellence coordinates comprehensive support services for veteran students. These support services address academic, financial, physical, and social needs for student veterans and include math, science, and English tutors; textbook and calculator loans; textbook purchase; quiet study space; computer lab with printers; practical workshops; break area with comfortable furniture, piano, air hockey table, TV screen and more. To learn more, click here or visit PUB 015. 

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley