MSU Denver ROTC & Veteran/Military Student Fund 2024

ROTC Program
The Reserve Officers Training Corps was created in 1819 to prepare young adults to become officers in the U.S. military, including Army, Air Force and Navy. During this time, 600,000 students nationwide have been commissioned as Second Lieutenants upon successful completion of the program. These students indicate they signed on in order to help pay for college, gain leadership and decision-making skills, benefit from mentorship, make the most of their college experience, and ultimately to have the opportunity to serve their country upon graduation.

The Golden Buffalo Battalion is based on Auraria Campus and includes students from the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado School of Mines, University of Denver and Metropolitan State University (MSU) of Denver. There are currently 47 students in the program.

In addition to a college curriculum that includes physical exercise and military science courses, cadets must attend training, which ROTC officials say can last about a month and emphasizes learning and applying leadership skills in tactical environments. Held in the summer, training covers physical conditioning, handling weapons and survival skills. This training is required of all juniors and lasts for six weeks.

We are working to increase the number of students who can be assisted through the Crew Fellowship. The immediate goal is support four students annually through academic year and summer stipends since many MSU Denver students are unable to participate in unpaid summer opportunities without assistance.  

Veteran & Military Student Fund
We are looking to increase support for two  areas within the Veteran & Military Student Fund - Boots to Suits and our Student Veteran Orientation. 

• Boots to Suits: This professional development program provides matchless support to student veterans transitioning from military service to the classroom to the workforce and community. In a unique partnership with our colleagues at University of Colorado – Denver, we are committed to meeting Auraria Campus students where they are and joining with them in achieving their educational and professional goals.  Led by experienced university personnel, the program includes include individual professional development counseling and mentorship, mental wellness support, tutoring assistance, and scholarships. Boots-to-Suits represents a year-long commitment by student veterans to enhance their marketing, networking, resume-writing, interviewing, and other skills necessary to landing that dream job and contributing to their community. Support from individuals and industry partners enables us to offer a world-class experience and celebrate program graduates by providing each graduate a new professional outfit for job searches and interviews.     

• Student Veteran Orientation: Numerous schools have reported success with developing intensive orientation sessions for incoming student veterans.  Large residential schools in our area have created programs ranging from one to two weeks, involving multi-day courses, and costing $1500 and $2500 per student.  Such programs work particularly well when students are able to commit up to ten workdays to the orientation sessions.  Well over half of MSU Denver student veterans, according to a Fall 2022 survey, work while attending school, and would be hard-pressed to give up more than a day or two of work to attend orientation.  At the same time, students utilizing the Veteran and Military Student Services lounge often bring questions and issues that could easily be handled during an orientation session.  In particular, the opportunity to introduce students to specific resources that could aid them in their educational journey would enable students to more effectively navigate their educational journey with existing programs designed to enable their success.  We feel a one-day orientation session with sessions providing expertise and assistance in areas of particular interest to student veteran would pay huge dividends.  Roadrunners are lean: a one-day orientation program for incoming student veterans would cost an estimated $175 per student.  This would still include parking, meals, instructional sessions (writing for college, introduction to college), facility rental, and a stipend for completing the training.  The $175 estimate is for 20 students, each receiving a $100 completion stipend.  Increasing the number of students would change the estimate.