Parachutes for Patriots<\/a>, helped strengthen the university’s financial support category, while tutoring services improved the student success category.<\/p>\nKepner said he understands the transition because he experienced it himself after serving in the military and later returning to school for his graduate degree at UCF.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not have any idea how to be a student,\u201d Kepner said. \u201cSo part of the concept now, between orientation and starting classes, is building a plan for a Veteran Success Workshop to teach veterans how to be students in class.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
To help combat any obstacles, support begins early through orientation. Kepner said UCF recently expanded its military-connected orientation efforts to include first-time-in-college students and is developing a Veteran Success Workshop to help veterans adjust to college and life after graduation.<\/p>\n
Kepner said the workshop would help veterans understand skills such as reading a syllabus, using office hours, managing time and asking classmates for help. He said the goal is to prepare veterans not only for college, but also for life after graduation.<\/p>\n
For Chris Reid, a first-year master\u2019s student studying computer science and a U.S. Air Force veteran, the department helped make UCF feel like the right choice after moving to Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MVSS on campus is a place where I could go to find students with a similar background,\u201d Reid said. \u201cThe center is also well networked and connected to job markets outside Orlando. That is a huge asset to lean on when considering career options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reid said the office\u2019s newsletters and networking events have also helped connect him with career resources in the veteran community.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttending virtual networking sessions has gotten my resume seen by recruiters across so many industries around the country,\u201d Reid said. \u201cFor many students, simply knowing where the opportunities are is a huge asset as they move closer to graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Career readiness is another major focus for the department. Kepner said partnerships with employers such as Disney, Amazon and Lockheed Martin help connect military-connected students to internships, mentorships and long-term career opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows for us to create a true talent pipeline of military connected students into those companies,\u201d Kepner said.<\/p>\n
UCF also plans to continue expanding career support this fall through a mentorship program connecting student veterans with veteran employees at companies such as Amazon<\/a>. Kepner said the office\u2019s next goal is to move beyond gold and reach the Top 10 designation on the Military Friendly Schools list.\u00a0<\/p>\nKepner said the office is grounded in \u201ca community of service\u201d and a servant leadership model that helps student veterans feel supported from the moment they arrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still serving those who serve,\u201d Kepner said. \u201cTo me, a life of service continues, whether it be in uniform or not.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UCF earned the Gold Award last month\u00a0on the 2026-27 Military Friendly Schools list, highlighting the university’s efforts in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[115,139,141,140],"class_list":["post-250649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}