Welcome Week for Military-Affiliated Students & Their Families
Military-affiliated students — veterans, service members, reservists, spouses, and dependents — often arrive on campus with more on their plate than a typical first-year student.
Many are balancing family, work, education benefits paperwork, and a move to a new city, all at once.
A welcome week event hosted by a Center for Military & Veterans Services can make that transition much easier — if students leave knowing exactly who to go to for help, and having met a few people who understand their situation.
The Goal of the Event
A strong welcome week event for military-affiliated students does two things:
- Connects students and families with campus and community resources — by name, not by brochure
- Connects students with each other, so they have peers who understand their path
Who to Invite as Resource Partners
Campus Offices
- Veterans or Military Services staff (education benefits and certification)
- Financial Aid and Scholarships
- Academic Advising and Tutoring
- Counseling and Wellness
- Accessibility or Disability Services
- Career Services
- Student Veterans Association or military student club
- Housing and Transportation
Community Partners
- Local veterans organizations
- Military family resource centers
- Childcare and family services
- Employment programs for veterans and military spouses
Why Resource Fairs Often Miss the Mark
Most resource fairs follow the same pattern: students walk the room, pick up a few flyers, and leave.
Staff don't get to have real conversations, and students forget which office does what by the following week.
Students also rarely meet each other — which is often what helps most in the first semester.
The Resource Passport Activity
A resource passport turns a fair into a guided conversation. Each student gets a short list of tables to visit, with one specific question to ask at each.
Example Passport Prompts
- Find the Veterans Services table and ask how they help students with their education benefits
- Find the Financial Aid table and ask what funding options military-affiliated students often miss
- Find the Counseling or Wellness table and ask what support is available this semester
- Find the Career Services table and ask how they help translate military experience into civilian careers
- Find the Student Veterans Association table and ask when their next meet-up is
- Find a community organization table and ask what they offer to military families
Add a Few Peer Prompts
- Find another incoming student in your program and ask what they're most looking forward to this term
- Find someone who moved to this city recently and ask for their best local tip so far
- Find a returning student and ask for the one campus tip they wish they'd known in their first week
All 15 prompts are in the Military & Veteran Student Welcome Week template.
Writing Prompts With Care
Military-affiliated students come from many different experiences. A few guidelines keep the activity welcoming for everyone:
- Don't ask about deployments, combat, injuries, rank, or reasons for leaving service
- Let people share their service background only if they choose to
- Include prompts that spouses, partners, and dependents can answer too
- Keep prompts about goals, programs, family, hobbies, and settling in
Running It With Jam Bingo
Jam Bingo turns the resource passport into a phone-based activity. Students scan a QR code, get their first prompt, and scan the QR code of the staff member or student they talk to in order to unlock the next one.
- No app to download — students join with their phone camera and their name
- Resource staff get real conversations instead of handing out flyers
- Students leave with a list of everyone they connected with
- Anyone without a phone can play with a family member or a buddy
A Family-Friendly Run of Show
- 0:00 — Check-in, name tags, and light food; kids' corner opens
- 0:15 — Welcome from the Center for Military & Veterans Services
- 0:25 — Resource passport activity (40–45 minutes)
- 1:10 — Student veterans association introduction and upcoming events
- 1:20 — Open time to revisit tables and connect
Plan it with the free Run of Show Generator and Event Planning Checklist.
After Welcome Week
- Send a follow-up email with every office's contact details
- Invite students to the next student veterans association meet-up
- Ask for quick feedback: which resources were most useful?
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a welcome week for military-affiliated students include?
Information on education benefits, financial aid, academic support, counseling and wellness, accessibility services, career services, and the student veterans association — plus community resources for families, and time for students to meet each other.
How do you get students to visit every resource table?
Turn it into a resource passport: give each student a short list of tables to visit, with one question to ask at each. Students leave having actually talked to each office, not just picked up brochures.
What should you avoid asking military-affiliated students in an icebreaker?
Avoid questions about deployments, combat, injuries, rank, or reasons for leaving service. Keep prompts about goals, programs, hobbies, and settling in, and let people share their service background only if they choose to.
How do you include families at a veteran student welcome event?
Schedule it at a family-friendly time, invite spouses and dependents explicitly, include community resources for families, and offer a kids' activity corner so parents can visit tables.