Colorado State University and Veterans Green Jobs are working together to create the Veterans Green Jobs Education Initiative for the purpose of encouraging and enhancing opportunities for military veterans to attend the university, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Participants will work to receive degrees in the following area: natural resources management, forestry and military lands management, green/sustainable construction, renewable energy technology and sustainable business development.
by Tracey de Morsella, Green Economy Post
Colorado State University and Veterans Green Jobs announced recently, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to create the Veterans Green Jobs Education Initiative at the university. CSU is the first four-year university to partner with Veterans Green Jobs to provide “green” educational opportunities to veterans.
The MOU establishes a formal relationship between CSU and the Denver-based, non-profit organization, Veterans Green Jobs, for the purpose of encouraging and enhancing opportunities for military veterans to attend the university, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The initiative promotes academic disciplines that provide post-educational career opportunities for veterans in the green jobs sector, both in Colorado and nationally.
“Veterans of our armed forces hold a special place in our campus community because of their willingness to serve our nation and the sacrifices they’ve made to fulfill their commitments,” said CSU President Tony Frank. “As a university, it is important that we honor their service and recognize their sacrifices by providing both access to education and opportunities for career development. This MOU can help provide a veteran with a second career after their military service as well as contribute to Colorado’s new energy economy.”
These disciplines, across four colleges at CSU, would include, but are not limited to: natural resources management, forestry and military lands management, green/sustainable construction, renewable energy technology and sustainable business development.
“This agreement brings together two important goals for the university – supporting our student veterans, and preparing them, along with the rest of the student body, for potential careers in the emerging green workforce,” said CSU Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Rick Miranda.
To achieve the goals of the MOU, the university and Veterans Green Jobs will focus on:
– supporting military veterans attending Colorado State University in achieving their educational and professional goals for the green jobs sector;
– and, developing pathways and programs that will assist and encourage military veterans to attend Colorado State University to undertake undergraduate and graduate level studies in green job related disciplines.
“The signing of the MOU between CSU and Veterans Green Jobs is a significant event for the university because it directly confirms two preeminent missions of CSU as Colorado’s land grant institution: access to higher education for military veterans and their families; and, environmental stewardship of our state’s natural resources contributing to the state’s green economy sector and goals for renewable energy,” said Bill Doe, associate dean of CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources and Veterans Green Jobs board member. “This MOU brings full-circle the inspirational notion that military veterans, who have served the nation in war and peace, will now through CSU, gain the knowledge and skills to serve the environment and the green economy.”
Partnering with academia and private industry, Veterans Green Jobs training programs have resulted in a skilled workforce currently implementing energy efficiency and weatherization measures as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In 2010, Veterans Green Jobs will launch programs across the United States to train veterans as leaders of market-based initiatives to manage weatherization programs, install solar panels and wind turbines, rebuild and retrofit homes, and replant and restore both urban and wildland environments. For more information about the programs, visit http://veteransgreenjobs.org/ or contact Kirsten Maynard, (415) 350-4147, kirsten@veteransgreenjobs.org.
