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[Diane Middleton] Hello and welcome to Dateline Delta.

I'm Diane Middleton, a member of the Delta College Board of Trustees.

On today's show, we'll see how Delta College supports the needs of military veterans.

And learn about Delta's BEDI Department.

We will see the next installment of Perspectives and learn of another unique student journey.

To wrap up today's program, we'll learn about year end giving opportunities, visit the planetarium for a preview of their holiday themed shows, and hear from athletics and fall sports successes.

Delta College prides itself on being a veteran friendly institution.

In fact, Delta was recently awarded Gold Level status by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency for their commitment to supporting military connected learners.

To learn more about the benefits available to veterans, we spoke with Brittany Hodges, Coordinator of Veteran Services.

[Brittany Hudges] The Veterans Services Office has been around for at least 40 years, much longer than that, based on our research, dated back to at least articles in the Collegiate to 1977, where we had stories about, my predecessors in this position.

The Veterans Services office last year for the 2023-24 academic year served, on average, 60 veteran identified students per semester, who were supported by GI Bill benefits or other VA Education benefits.

Our veterans through the VA, we are approved to support them through, use of the Veteran Readiness and Employment Program, formerly known as VOC Rehab.

And then we also have the Post 911 GI Bill, and we have some students who are currently using the Montgomery GI Bill activity Duty.

We are approved to use that as well, but it has been phased out by the VA. And then we also have for our guards members and reservists, they can use the Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve.

It's really important for veterans to come and speak to me in the office because depending on their service and their eligibility requirements, they may have available GI Bill benefits that can support at least some monthly housing allowance stipends, if not tuition and fees.

But it's really important to have that conversation because I can help them navigate alternative financial aid opportunities depending on their eligibility status.

Here at Delta College, we host various events for our veterans throughtout the course of the academic year.

These opportunities allow for veterans to connect with community based resources as well as campus based resources to learn more about those benefits that they qualify for and how to access those benefits.

We also have fun events such as trivia where they can test their knowledge, about their own branch of service or other branches of service or ramdon history or media facts.

Just to enjoy network and make some more friendships.

Its really important to provide space here in veterans services for our veterans to come together.

While we... Their adult learners so, their not always here together but when they do, they can speak, share about their experiences, collaborate about how to be successful in classes.

I know sometimes they will have a study group occasionally.

But most importantly, just having a safe space where they know that they have a sense of community and that there are efforts we made to extend beyond to allies or others who are maybe not veterans, but are family members and are attending school here.

I work really closely, through Veterans Services with the Office of Disability Resources because the Office of Disability Resources, they can help with accessibility needs for those veterans who have, sustained injuries or illnesses that are seen and unseen.

And this does not take away from at all from any other students here.

The resources are available, and I'm more than happy to make those referrals to the Office of Disability Resource Team so that the students can continue to be supported while they're here.

Delta College provides the service because it's really important to honor the time, the commitment and sacrifice that our veterans have made to the country.

And the fact that they have earned these education benefits, we want to make sure that they have the support that they need so that they complete the programs or any new trainings that will help them to successfully transition from military to civilian life.

For more information about Veterans Services, you can contact me directly with the information on your screen.

[Diane Middleton] Delta actively promotes, advocates, respects, and values differences by fostering an environment of openness and appreciation for all.

To tell us more about how Delta embraces and welcomes all, we heard from Chris DeEulis, Director of Belonging, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

[Chris DeEulis] As a part of Delta's commitment to being able to create an inclusive campus, belonging equity, diversity and inclusion is central to our mission at Delta College.

And so it's been not just the work of one office, but a piece that really branches across the entire college.

BEDI, is Belonging Equity, Diversity, Inclusion.

We use the acronym to be able to kind of simplify it, but it encompasses everything from our work to be able to help our faculty and staff be included, to helping our students to learn about working across difference, creating opportunities for equitable practices, where we think about the context that people are coming from, to be able to adjust our practices and really fostering inclusion and valuing everyone that is here.

BEDI is set up as a combined division at Delta College that has multiple aspects.

There's the student facing work, which includes our veteran services, our student engagement and then our support for our special populations under the CT Perkins Grant for our occupational students who are in, those programs that are covered under the grant.

And then we have an access based program called Possible Dream for six through 12th grade students from our service counties.

The overall work though of BEDI is to be able to support students, faculty and staff to be able to come together with our local community, to be able to then build those relationships and really foster that sense of inclusion through the belonging work, celebrating the diversity that's here with equitable practices at the center of that.

The easiest way for students to be able to find information is probably the website.

It has some high level information about what BEDI is at Delta.

But it also is a great place to be able to stop in.

We newly renovated the space down here on the lower level of the A Wing, to be able to create opportunities for people to be able to come together.

So that includes space for, e-sports gaming, but it's also a space for people to be able to just have a meeting or talk with someone else.

We have resources for our our intercultural resources and our LGBTQ resources in our area and can come in and engage with our staff.

We have a pretty large student worker team that helps to be able to also give student voice into the process.

Another aspect of BEDI is that we're trying to build partnerships with community organizations.

We've been doing this at Delta for a long time.

And as a community college, that's part of our mission, is working with our service counties and the areas that we're a part of.

But we're intentionally trying to build relationships to be in spaces where we can engage with community and continue to foster those relationships, to make sure that everyone sees higher education, and especially Delta College, as an option.

Students are the center of how we are thinking about BEDI at Delta.

Everything that we do has that lens with it.

So whether we're talking about our prospective students in a possible dream context, Or if we're looking at our current students and whether that be through student engagement, veteran services, or our special populations work, we center the students in those conversations at all times.

The work that is primarily, focused on my role is support for faculty and staff to be able to think about how do we continue to learn more, to be able to continue to improve practices, to be able to create more inclusion for our students and our colleagues.

The BEDI services division is here for everyone.

We want everyone to be able to feel welcome and included at Delta College.

And so if someone is looking to contact us, you can check the contact information on the screen or stop by the lower level A Wing.

If you're on the main campus.

[Diane Middleton] Now it's time for the next installment of Perspectives.

Where Delta's president, Dr. Michael Gavin, shares a community college perspective on national topics in higher education.

[Dr. Michael Gavin] So there's a lot of interest obviously, in how the country as well as our localized region stacks up against the world and the nation in degree attainment.

Its pretty easy to see that the country is not doing as well as it used to.

We're about 41% of people getting a degree of higher education, whether that's a certificate which is less than an associate's degree in terms of credit accumulation or associate's or bachelor's degree where it used to be 49%.

On top of that, one of the things that I always like to highlight is we know that the current generation of people who are 18 to 21 will be the first generation of people less educated than the generations before it.

That's never happened in American history.

That's very much dovetails with the notion of people, questioning the value of higher education.

At the same time, the market economy is such that younger people can get a job that seems well-paying in the moment but is not life sustaining, especially if one wants to have a family in the long term.

Some of the solutions to that are pretty simple.

Local community colleges provide a great value in terms of both quality but also the cost of higher education, Delta College being one of them.

In our region, we collectively are doing worse than the nation in terms of the statistics I just cited.

So at the top level, we're at about 38%, meaning at Midland it's about 38% degree attainment, but it's below that in both Saginaw and Bay County.

I see Delta as a vehicle and part of an ecosystem to elevate those numbers so that people can have a better life.

So a lot of the work that we're doing at Delta is trying to reach out to people who thought maybe at a younger age, that they didn't want to go to college and are seeing now after having a job that they want to move up.

That this is the way to do it.

We benefit again from different kinds of ways to fund the education.

So many people can come to, almost all people can come to college for free.

We at Delta have also benefited in the last couple of years, from a new strategic plan where we've elevated, all numbers with regard to enrollment, retention and what we call completion.

Which includes which is basically graduation.

The number and percent of people that we're graduating because of the work we're doing at Delta to make ourselves more flexible and try to fit into other people's lives, rather than people having to fit college into their lives.

Has been quite successful.

In the last year, we've increased our number and percent of graduation, graduations for people, which I also have to remind people, is changing people's lives by 10% collectively.

And for African-American and Hispanic students, nearly 20% in the same year.

So we're focused really on making sure that we're educating everybody.

And by focusing on that, everybody is at all levels succeeding.

So we have something for everybody at Delta College.

Whether you want to have a bachelor's degree.

In the end come and get your associate's, which is the first two years of a bachelor's degree at Delta.

Saving yourself a lot of money to get to that level.

We also have a significant amount of what people call skilled trades on our campus, where you can earn, what's called a certificate, which is sometimes one semester's worth of work, sometimes a year.

And we also have associate degrees in things like welding, automotive and health care.

All of these lead to good paying jobs.

And we have different mechanisms by which one can get a degree while working.

Maybe get back into the workforce and come back to get another degree.

So we have long term and short term approaches, including apprenticeships for anybody who is looking to better their lives for education.

I'd like to say that we accept the top 100% of those who apply.

Which means we accept everybody and try to get everybody to the to reach their goals successfully.

[Diane Middleton] This next feature is on Kindra Manial, a student in Delta's welding program.

She first enrolled in the certificate program, but after receiving guidance from an advisor, she found a way to incorporate her love of travel with her career path.

She switched to the associate program and began working toward a certificate in Global Studies.

Let's hear more from Kindra.

[Kindra Manial] The Delta way is really your way.

You do it however you like.

Because this is your career.

This is your life.

So my Delta way is really doing things how I like.

Delta has definitely brought me a great sense of independence.

I feel more responsible now.

So it's really prepared me and made me feel more like an adult.

Which is really nice.

Thanks to thanks to Delta.

[Diane Middleton] Delta is grateful for the generous financial contributions from individuals in our community that support students and their success.

Let's listen to Pam Clark, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, to learn why a gift is so important this time of year.

[Pam Clark] Good day, Im Pam Clark here at Delta College, encouraging you at this wonderful time of year to consider making a financial contribution to the college.

Whether it is to the college itself, for scholarships or in support of programs.

We have so many wonderful things that happen in our classrooms, and we are helping both middle school, high school, as well as college students get on track to get an education.

Your financial contributions can make a difference.

And of course, you can support our public broadcasting stations.

They do wonderful things in terms of programing.

We have our Michigan Learning Channel that educates students and helps our teachers in the classroom.

It is all possible because of our community.

Very generous supporters, whether they are individuals, businesses or corporations, foundations.

All of those contributors have come together to really make it possible for Delta to offer all of the great things that it does throughout the year.

We're encouraging you to do likewise.

The information for how to contribute is on the screen.

We'd love to have a contribution from you yet this year.

If it is mailed in by the end of the year, by December 31st, we'll be sure to send you a tax receipt in the new year as well, to recognize your commitment here to the College.

At this important time of the year.

We'd like to thank you for all of your past support.

Wish you a very wonderful holiday season ahead.

To you and your family, enjoy.

{Diane Middleton] The Delta College Planetarium is an iconic staple in the heart of downtown Bay City.

Each holiday season, the planetarium offers appropriately themed shows for public viewing.

To hear more about these family friendly shows, we heard from Mike Murray, Astronomer and Manager of the Planetarium.

[Michael Murray] With the holidays coming up, the Delta College Planetarium has all kinds of features and specials to offer you and your family.

For example, there are two special shows this year there will be directly connected to the holidays.

One is a remake update of a show that hasn't run here in about ten years.

It's called Season of Light, and it looks at the rich tapestry of traditions and celebrations that typically go on at this time of the year.

But it looks at the historical origins of a lot of our holiday celebrations.

Season of Light, will actually start the weekend before Thanksgiving, so if you're looking for something to kind of get you into the holiday mood right around the Thanksgiving time, that's going to be a perfect show.

And then we still have our holiday music light show called Let It Snow.

Where we have all kinds of great animations and images of the season and that will be playing all of December.

Another annual favorite that we have at the planetarium is called Life Under the Arctic Sky, which follows the Sami people of northern Scandinavia and their reindeer migrations and their holiday celebrations and their winter festivals.

And so there's lots of very rich on site, live action photography in that program that also seems to always run well with the holiday season.

So if you're looking for something fun for your friends and family while they're visiting, the Delta College Planetarium has three very special programs for you to take advantage of.

For more information you can go to our website at delta.edu/planetarium, where you'll also have an opportunity to reserve your tickets online.

[Diane Middleton] The Delta College fall sports season is wrapped up with the women's soccer and volleyball teams chasing postseason titles.

To get an update on these exceptional pioneer teams.

We spoke to Brad Barlog, Director of Athletics and Student Athlete Development.

[Brad Barlog] Our soccer and volleyball teams did tremendous, this fall.

We had our first... Our volleyball team, one of their first ever regional title for the program history.

So that was a huge accomplishment for those ladies.

And being able to achieve that goal and then hosting the district tournament for the first time in program history was also huge.

So lots of excitement happening with the volleyball program.

The surprise I think for the volleyball team was definitely winning that regional title for the first time in program history.

You know, the girls came in with the expectation of at least winning their conference, and trying to move on to the, postseason tournament.

And then having the opportunity to be in both the regional tournament and the district tournament.

I think it was a huge accomplishment.

And I think looking for next year, the girls are just looking to expand on that.

I know we got some top recruits coming in as well next year after talking with our volleyball coach.

So she's really excited for the program and we're moving in the right direction, to compete in a national level.

Our soccer team won our regional tournament, that we hosted here vs Owens Community College in the final.

We then got to host the district championship tournament here at Delta College.

And we ended up also beating, Owens Community College, to go on to the national championships in Batavia, New York.

So we went there for a week tournament We want our first game.

Move on to the semifinals.

In our semifinal game and then eventually, one ended up winning the national championship.

We beat Mohawk Community College.

And, it was our second national championship earned for the program.

One unique stat for our women's soccer team for the season.

We were 88-4 goal differential.

And that carried on to the national tournament where we didn't get any goals scored against us.

So really proud of our women's soccer team in that effort.

In recent years, Delta, a women's soccer program here, has been very successful.

We've won two national championships already.

We were runner up last year in the national championships.

We have the talent on the team.

And all the girls work cohesively as a team in terms of not only on the field, but off the field.

And we've seen that team chemistry.

It's just my short time that I've been here.

So yeah, I want to congraduate.

Not only our women's volleyball team, but our soccer team on both successful fall seasons.

And looking ahead, we have our men's & women's basketball teams, starting their season started, yesterday for us.

So we're really excited to jump for the winter sports now.

And hopefully everyone will come out and support, and, hopefully those teams will do very well this year.

I'd like to congratulate Delta soccer and volleyball teams for the successful season they had, and encourage everybody to visit Delta to attend one of the men's or women's basketball games this winter.

Now let's see what's on the Dateline Delta Calendar of Events.

[Diane Middleton] Well, that wraps up our show.

Please join us again on December 29th when we highlight what's happening here at Delta College, one of America's leading community colleges.

Now, I leave you with the sights and sounds of Delta College for Dateline Delta, I'm Diane Middleton.

Thanks for watching.

Local production scene on Delta College Public Media are made possible with support from viewers like you.

Thank you.