July 09, 2025 | Adelyn Mui
The Chez Veterans Center showed an increase in military-connected student engagement in the first year after implementing a comprehensive case management model.
The number of unique students Chez served increased by 25.89%, meaning that the center had expanded its reach to more students while focusing on more targeted, individualized care. Andy Bender, director of operations and services at Chez, said that the focus of this initiative was putting the person back into what they do.
“What do we need to do in order to connect with the students on a human level and show them that we care and we really are interested in their success?” Bender said.
The initiative was spearheaded by Ingrid Wheeler, Chez’s assistant director for behavioral health programs, who took the concept of the new model and made it into a practical application. Wheeler said that the shift began with questions like the one above, and evolved over time through the pandemic and as the Veteran population changed.
Her background in social work and case management helped her recognize that “a more individualized plan has to be in place to really support the ever-changing needs,” she said. “It’s about seeing it through a different lens that maybe we wouldn’t have if we weren’t seeing them as an individual.”
Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of College of Applied Health Sciences, was also part of conversations from the beginning, said Bender. She has been supportive of Chez’s mission shift and provided resources and knowledge about transition. Additionally, the Chez team said that student feedback, through their conversations with staff, was another part of shaping the new model.
Bender said that a September 2023 visit from Samuel Skinner, an alum and former White House chief of staff, had prompted the team to look more deeply into how Chez was caring for students. Previous to this shift, Bender said the way things were run wasn’t wrong, but that this mission change is a new approach to making a more powerful impact.
“A lot of our things were based on transactional services,” Bender said. “It was reliant on the student identifying that they have a problem and identifying a source for relief of that challenge. Often what would happen is the student would come in, they’d get the help, and then we’d never see the student again.”
Chez still provides those transactional services, such as assistance with Veteran benefits, resume writing and counseling, but now with an emphasis on continuing to check in with students. Chez documented 1,287 case management encounters this past year, ranging from quick check-ins to intensive support sessions.
Another aspect of the mission change was assessing what might be barriers for students and providing them with resources before they run into those barriers.
“Now we’re reaching out to students individually several times throughout the semester to really pull them in and have those conversations of ‘What’s brought you to campus? What are your goals?’” Wheeler said. “We can connect them to different resources, whether it be in the center or on campus, versus ‘Oh, you came to orientation—here’s a couple of pamphlets with everything on campus. Good luck!’”
Andy Bender
Chez Veterans Center director of operations and services
She also said that Chez has been making sure that its own staff is equipped to answer the main areas that many students have questions about, such as resume review, so that students aren’t bounced around as much.
John Goeken is an electrical engineering undergraduate student and a former Marine and combat Veteran. Goeken’s first interaction with the Chez Veterans Center was through the Warrior’s Scholar Project, a “boot camp” started in 2022 for military-connected students to reacquaint themselves with the classroom environment.
“The hospitality that they had for us for that program for each student—they were willing to go out of their way and make sure we were accommodated,” Goeken said. “It was just above and beyond the reception you get as a Veteran anywhere else.”
Goeken recalled the first time that he spoke to Wheeler—he said he was just blowing off steam about difficulties adjusting during his first semester, including figuring out childcare.
“I’m just venting all this stuff, and she’s taking all these mental notes and literally follows up with me on an email that day an hour or two later with a list of resources for me to investigate,” Goeken said. “That was huge. I still have the list, too.”
Goeken said that he didn’t realize how much stress can compound, especially with the loss of structure and support that came with being in the military.
“But Chez helps fill that gap with knowledge, hospitality and resources,” Goeken said. “It hasn’t been any grand gesture, but it’s been all these little incremental things.”
Another student-Veteran, Jacob Means, is a social work student and a former Chez resident advisor. He said the biggest service Chez has done was connect him with the community.
“The biggest thing for me was the people,” Means said. “It’s hard to connect with people in class. With Chez, you’re immediately ingrained in this really welcoming community of people that are very excited to have you there and that understand you, which is super hard in college.”
Means also said that a benefit of living right above the CVC was the close access to all of Chez’s resources.
“It takes people like me, who were scared and alone and didn’t know what to do, and it empowers them and it gives them all this ability to feel able to say, OK, I can leave this housing and understand what’s going on now,’” Means said.
With the new model, the Chez team said its focus is to improve and develop what it is doing, which often means taking into account military-connected student feedback.
Goeken suggested more resources with specifics to different colleges, as well as Chez taking a more proactive role in encouraging Veterans to access the benefits available to them.
“There are so many resources out there, but Veterans like myself often don’t know what’s available, or how to stay informed,” Goeken said. “If Chez could expand its outreach or offer low-pressure education around available benefits, through peer support, onboarding, or regular updates, I think it could make a real and lasting impact.”
Even with the increase in quantitative data of this year’s engagement, Bender said success isn’t defined by numbers.
“I want the success to be more about how the student defines their success,” Bender said. “Again, every student is different and everyone has a different idea. If we’re going to put humans back at the center of all we do, then the numbers can’t be the most important—it has to be the feedback they give us on their success and if they feel like they’ve achieved their own goals.”
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