More than 40 UTMB employees and students attended the inaugural meeting of the Veterans Resource Group (VetsRG) on the Galveston Campus Aug 5.
The new group is open to everyone—regardless of veteran status—with the primary goals of assisting veterans with their transition to the workplace, educating non-veterans on the importance of inclusion and supporting the hiring and development of former and current service members.
At UTMB, there are 577 employees (5 percent) who are self-reported veterans, with the largest proportion of veterans working within Correctional Managed Care and the School of Medicine. More than 2 percent of our students are self-reported veterans, with more than half in the School of Nursing.
VetRG leaders were introduced during the meeting: Ron McKinley, Ph.D, executive sponsor and co-chair of the VetRG; Tony Griffin, co-chair of the VetRG and Diversity Council; and Lori Blackwell, vice chair of the VetRG and co-chair of the Diversity Council. Rofus Coburn, director of Veterans Education with the Texas Veterans Commission, served as the guest speaker.
McKinley and Griffin led a discussion on the proposed vision and mission of the group, which aims to have UTMB recognized as a military-friendly university environment by the year 2017. Many attendees had the opportunity to suggest ideas for promoting inclusion, including peer-topeer mentoring and ensuring that the UT System and partnering organizations are able to translate military skills, training and certification into civilian job opportunities.
The VetRG will report to the Diversity Council, which is coordinated by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. For more information and future meeting times, visit https://hr.utmb.edu/diversity/VRG.aspx, or email veterans@utmb.edu.