CASAA board member heads veteran program at UH Manoa

Dr. Nadine Shigezawa

Dr. Nadine Shigezawa, long-serving board member of the Colleges of Arts & Sciences Alumni Association and psychologist with the Veterans Administration, now has an office at UH Mānoa. Shigezawa will provide student veterans a multitude of services through a program called Veterans in Transition to Academic Leadership (VITAL). She will also assist staff with veteran issues.

Housed in the Queen Liliuokalani Center for Student Services, Shigezawa's presence reflects a unique new partnership between the VA and UH Mānoa. Previously, veterans had to go to the VA for help, resulting in fewer of them taking advantage of critical services.

Shigezawa is pleased to take the work she has done for the VA for over 22 years to her alma mater. She earned her degrees at Mānoa — a BA in Psychology/French, MA in Psychology, and PhD in Psychology.

About VITAL

The VITAL program seeks to provide a link between the VA and university campuses in order to better support student veterans’ integration back into the community through their success in educational pursuits. Services offered through the VITAL program for veterans include:

• On-campus clinical counseling for student veterans with PTSD or other concerns including relationship problems, stress associated with attending college, anger management, depression, insomnia, or general adjustment to civilian life.
• Assistance with enrollment and accessing medical care through the VA.
• Information to help veterans utilize their GI Bill, VA Vocational Rehab, and other benefits.
• Consultation with instructors to facilitate understanding of potential difficulties for veterans within the learning environment.

Services offered to faculty and staff include:

• Consultation/presentations regarding the mental health concerns common to veterans and services offered by the VA.
• Availability to serve as a guest lecturer on topics such as PTSD, the VA’s role as a health-care provider, or other related military or mental health concerns.
• Collaboration with veterans’ counselors or organizations currently located on campus to promote veterans’ adjustment to the campus environment.
• Possible collaboration with VA on research projects.

For more information, please contact Dr. Shigezawa at (808) 594-8039.

The College of Languages, Linguistics & Literature (one of the four Arts & Sciences colleges) of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa offers a broad curriculum in English, foreign and heritage languages and literatures, second language studies, and linguistics. Its Asia and Pacific focused curricula is unique in the nation. The faculty regularly teaches more than 25 languages, and has the capacity to teach many more.

If you would like to support the college, please visit www.uhfoundation.org/GivetoLLL.