Green Zone
Transitioning from military life to student life can be difficult for student veterans, especially if they recently have returned home from a deployment or just recently have completed their active duty service. Unlike the structured atmosphere from the military, universities like Austin Peay State University (APSU) have a variety of colleges, departments and administrative areas that can be challenging to navigate. The Green Zone program is designed to give our students a way to recognize staff and faculty who have been trained to be a resource and allies for student veterans and active duty service members. The goal is to make APSU a more military/veteran-helpful university.
What is Green Zone?
- An initiative to support student veterans by designating locations recognized as a “safe place”
- Identify faculty and staff at APSU who are knowledgeable about challenges faced by military-affiliated students and the resources available to assist them.
- Participants are identified by a Green Zone emblem located outside their office door and on their syllabus.
- A way to be supportive and give back to those who have sacrificed for others.
- Helps faculty and staff provide supportive services necessary to ensure that military-affiliated students are successful in their academic pursuits, adjust to the campus environment, and eventually transition to civilian employment.
Who is a Green Zone volunteer/ally?
APSU staff and faculty who identify themselves as:
- Someone who is aware of the challenges and concerns faced by military-affiliated students
- Someone who is available to assist the student
- Someone who has completed the Green Zone training
Volunteers are NOT expected to be experts who can "solve" the problems, instead:
- They lend a sympathetic ear
- They help the student find the appropriate resources for problem resolution.