JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Whether it’s getting a college degree or earning certification
in a job skill, service members can turn to the Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph
Education Services Center to provide them with the resources, tools and
counseling to meet their educational and career goals.
The JBSA-Randolph Education Services Center, in building
208, is staffed by three education specialists who can provide academic
counseling to active-duty service members and their dependents and any
Department of Defense civilian employees or cardholders.
Lynda Packett, JBSA-Randolph Education Services Center
education specialist, said the center provides academic counseling in several
programs for service members, from job skill certification to college level
degrees.
“It is my job to take them from wherever they are in their
educational world to wherever they have a desire to be at, whether it would be
technical, certification or a traditional college environment,” Packett said.
Laurie Murphy, 802nd Force Support Squadron chief of
education and training at JBSA-Randolph, said the Education Services Center
offers educational and career assessment resources, such as the online Kuder
Journey Tools program that utilizes a five step approach for educational
planning and career development.
Packett said assessment resources such as Kuder Journey Tools
can be useful to service members in determining what educational and career
goals are attainable for them.
Murphy said the center provides counseling in the Air Force
Credentialing Opportunities On-Line Program, or COOL, which enables service
members to earn certification in several career fields in the Air Force.
Tuition assistance is available to service members who take their examinations
for certification in the COOL program.
Service members can take courses from several colleges and
universities at the Education Services Center, including Alamo Colleges, Embry
Riddle Aeronautical University, Park University, Wayland Baptist University and
Webster University. There are several degree plans service members can enroll
in at the schools that are based at the center, including associate, bachelor’s
and master’s degrees.
Within the last year, 764 students have taken 2,000
college-level courses at the JBSA-Randolph Education Services Center, Murphy
said.
Murphy said students can take courses through one of the
schools at the center that can go towards an associate degree with the
Community College of the Air Force.
The center has a testing area for service members to take
college level entrance exams such as the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional
Education Support and College-Level Examination Plan tests. Service members can
also take the Defense Language Proficiency Test and the Defense Language
Aptitude Battery at the center.
Once a month, the center hosts a two-day seminar, the
Transition Goals Plans Success Higher Education Track program, for service
members who are leaving or retiring from the military and who want to go to
college. Murphy said the seminar informs service members on the process for
enrolling in a college program and obtaining financial aid.
The JBSA-Randolph Education Services Center is open 8 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon Friday. Call 652-5964 to make an
appointment to see an education specialist or one of the college or university
representatives based at the center. The center also accepts walk-in
appointments for education specialists from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through
Thursday.