G.I. Jobs, a magazine for military personnel transitioning into civilian life, has designated Jamestown Community College a military friendly school.

The 2012 Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities, and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members and veterans as students.

The list of schools, as well as interactive tools and search functionality to assist military veterans with their school decisions, can be found at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com.

"Members of JCC’s faculty and staff have worked diligently over the past several years to understand and provide for the needs of student veterans,” said Eileen Goodling, vice president and dean of student development. "We are proud to have earned the ‘military friendly’ designation and are dedicated to continuing to provide the environment and services that are most conducive to the academic success of our student veterans.”

In its effort to help student veterans find the right school, G.I. Jobs incorporated a survey of student veterans at more than 8,000 schools nationwide. The feedback provides prospective military students with insight into the student veteran experience at a particular institution based on peer reviews from current students. Survey feedback can be viewed at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/2012 list.

 "The Military Friendly Schools list is the go-to resource for prospective student veterans searching for schools that provide the right overall experience,” said Michael Dakduk, executive director of Student Veterans of America. "Nothing is more compelling than actual feedback from current student veterans.”

Service members and veterans can also meet individual student veterans from various schools on the Military Friendly Schools website to learn more about personal school decisions and the transition from the military to an academic environment.

The 1,518 institutions on the list prioritize the recruitment of students with military experience. These schools offer scholarships, discounts, veterans’ clubs, full-time staff, military credit, and other services to veterans.

Methodology, criteria, and weighting for the list were developed with the assistance of an advisory board consisting of educators. A list of board members can be found at http://militaryfriendlyschools.com/Article/advisory-board/.

G.I. Jobs (www.gijobs.com) is published by Victory Media, a veteran-owned business which also publishes The Guide to Military Friendly Schools, Military Spouse, and Vetrepreneur magazines and annually rates the nation’s military friendly employers, military spouse friendly employers, and best corporations for veteran-owned businesses.

The "Veterans Business Outreach Program” of the SBDC at Jamestown Community College is planning a "Veteran Owned Business Expo.”   The primary feature is businesses owned by veterans. The "Buy Veteran” program will be featured along with their marketing resources and techniques. Services and education programs for veterans interested in going into business, disabled veteran procurement options, franchise discounts, as well as, loan programs for business investments.  We are currently working with the Chautauqua County IDA in the development of this event, more to come in the following months.

Currently the SBDC at JCC is providing technical assistance to 22 veterans who currently own or want to start a business.