ETSU is now offering Green Zone Training for military-affiliated students. This training has been launched and has helped faculty and staff develop higher educational skill sets that will help students.
Cody Merolock, an academic advisor for the College of Arts and Sciences, developed this idea for his master’s degree capstone project. Over eight months, Morelock coordinated and developed this idea, which will help over 1,000 military-affiliated students at ETSU.
“The idea for Green Zone at ETSU was sparked during a presentation at NACADA focused on advising military students. The university giving the presentation talked about their Green Zone program, and I felt that it was a missing and necessary component here at ETSU,” said Morelock.
This training focuses on staff and faculty who can better assist the military-affiliated student population. Morelock mentions that he partnered with ETSU along with outside partners regarding the creation of the initial training. Morelock believes that the military-affiliated student population will benefit from this training through interactions with the faculty and staff who have completed the training.
Some training sessions have already started. An inaugural session was held earlier this semester at the Academic Advisement Council meeting. Twenty-four staff were trained, and each earned a Green Zone Military Friendly Area of Operation decal for their offices. These sessions are an hour and a half long at full-length time, or 30 minutes for shorter training times.
Morelock is hoping to see change and support for the military-affiliated student population on campus. Seeing the military-affiliated students thrive and succeed academically and personally is one of his goals and missions for this project.
“The overall mission of Green Zone is to create an educated and informed network of support on campus so that our MAS population can feel supported whether they are inside the classroom or out and whether they are facing challenges or celebrating successes,” said Morelock.
