‘Boots to Broncos’ Teaches CPP Employees how Student Veterans Experience Campus

The Veterans Resource Center hosted its Boots to Broncos faculty/staff training workshop on Feb. 3. Boots to Broncos is part of the Operation Ally series designed to make faculty and staff more aware of the student veteran experience as they transition to Cal Poly Pomona.

Boots to Broncos embraces CPP’s “learn by doing” philosophy by having groups of participants visit mock CPP department booths and complete a challenge at each — one that student veterans may encounter at that CPP department. The purpose behind creating these challenges is to show faculty and staff what student veterans experience after coming out of the service, where structure and guidance is embedded in the military culture.

Toward the end of the workshop, participants shared their experiences and expressed their higher degree of understanding of the transition that student veterans experience when entering higher education. Those who attended the two-part Operation Ally series received a plaque for their office, which lets military-affiliated students know that they completed the training.