U of M takes school right to field of battle

Enlarge Image

Infantry officer cadet Steph Pri­gione worked on his U of M studies while fighting in Afghanistan last year. Now stationed in Winnipeg, he’s a full-time U of M student. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Steph Prigione would come back to base last year from an extended combat patrol in Afghanistan, go to his quarters, and for a few calm hours become a University of Manitoba student.

"You couldn't take the books with you, but you'd get back to camp and get back to your books," said the 33-year-old officer cadet in the Canadian Forces infantry. He's an economics major and one of more than 10,000 students who've enrolled through U of M's military support office.

The soldier sticking his arm out of a tank turret to get a phone signal to call a professor, the infantryman sitting in the sand outside his tent studying and the sailor in a submarine bunk reading a textbook have all been University of Manitoba students over the past 35 years.

About 500 U of M students are serving in the Canadian Forces this year, about two per cent of the university's total enrolment.

Most have never set foot on the Fort Garry campus and probably won't until their convocation ceremonies.

"The university as a whole is very supportive of military students," says Dan Whittaker, recently retired as a major and the first army veteran to serve as co-ordinator of U of M's Military Support Office -- his predecessors were all ex-air force. Whittaker is also a psychology student.

Academic advisor Carol Prosk said all the military students are undergraduates, taking one or two courses each year by almost every form of distance education imaginable. "They may take eight, nine, 10 years to complete" their degrees, she said.

Prigione was at Cold Lake when he decided to enrol in university so he could become an officer. It didn't take long before he concluded U of M was the way to go.

"They were the ones finding me the most information and helping me the most, being proactive. There's a complete understanding of our situation. The most I relied on the military support office was last year, when I was in Afghanistan," said Prigione, who's now full-time at U of M while stationed in Winnipeg.

U of M first signed a distance education agreement with the military 35 years ago. With the Internet, email and satellite phones, it has become far simpler for students and professors to communicate, for the university to provide access to books and for students to turn in their work.

Still, there are times old-fashioned mail is the only way to go, whether books or written assignments or CDs, and while military students are under the same expectations and requirements as any distance education student, there are circumstances that require U of M to be very flexible.

Tanya Rideout started the program by taking distance education courses in 2003, including during two overseas tours of duty to areas she can't disclose. Now she's in Winnipeg, taking environmental studies full time as an officer cadet. The Canadian Forces pay for her tuition and books, she serves military duty in the summer, and agrees -- enthusiastically -- to remain in the military as a logistics officer after graduation.

"They're very understanding and very aware of our situation," Rideout said of U of M. Rideout makes a call to Prosk, who handles it on campus and gets back to her, wherever she may be. "They're amazing -- it's a luxury regular university students don't have. Carol is the cat's pyjamas."

Whittaker said the typical military student has changed, from predominantly officers upgrading their skills to non-commissioned personnel who want to qualify to be promoted to officer rank.

Prosk said most of the military students choose courses geared to their job responsibilities or aspirations for promotion, such as history, political science, science or economics, but some are simply interested in a subject.

"Afghanistan is not an unusual location -- we've had lots," she said. Military students "tend to perform above average, as far as grades go. As long as you've got the time, we'll make it work."

Cheryl McLean, U of M's director of distance and online education, said that the university now has more than 50 per cent of its undergraduate courses online.

"As soon as I hear 'ma'am' on the phone, I ask what part of the military they're in," McLean laughed.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 16, 2009 A11