WHAT: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) will meet student veterans and leadership at UT Austin on Tuesday to highlight a newly expanded scholarship for U.S. veterans pursuing STEM degrees. Three UT Austin student veterans will share their experiences transitioning from the military to school and how the scholarship would help them pursue their education. UT Austin President Gregory L. Fenves and Director of Veterans Services Jeremiah Gunderson will speak about the additional programs that qualify for the scholarship, and employers NASA and Dell Inc. will explain why veterans are in high demand in STEM fields.
WHEN: 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27
WHERE: Peter O’Donnell Jr. Building, 201 E. 24th St., Room 2.404A, Visualization Lab, Austin, TX 78712
WHO:
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Gregory L. Fenves, President, UT Austin
Brent Iverson, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, UT Austin
Jeremiah Gunderson, Director of Veterans Services, UT Austin
Rebecca Larson, Student Veteran & President, Student Veterans of America, UT Austin
Sabin Jacob, Student Veteran, UT Austin
Jeremiah Wells, Student Veteran, UT Austin
Anne Roemer, Manager of Astronaut Selection at Johnson Space Center, NASA
Robert Douthit, Executive Director of Solutions Center, Dell Inc.
BACKGROUND: Sen. Cornyn’s Veteran STEM Scholarship Improvement Act broadens GI benefits for veterans in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The Nourse STEM Scholarship provides an additional nine months or $30,000 of GI Bill eligibility to student veterans pursuing STEM degrees. Current law mandates that eligible STEM programs exceed 128 required credit hours; however, the average STEM degree program in Texas requires fewer than 128 credit hours. This bill would reduce that requirement in the Nourse STEM Scholarship to reflect that STEM programs should exceed 120 required credit hours so that more veterans are able to take advantage of the scholarship in Texas.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
1:20 p.m. – Roundtable begins
1:50 p.m. – Student veteran Rebecca Larson presents her astronomy research (b-roll opportunity)
2:05 p.m. – Media availability
