PSEG Foundation Awards $200,000 Grant to TESU to Expand Military and Veteran Portal

PSEG Foundation Awards $200,000 Grant to TESU to Expand the Military and Veteran Portal

On Oct 26, 2020

Sonar, night vision, jet engines, satellite navigation – all pivotal innovations first utilized by the U.S. military – have important civilian implications today. With ongoing grant support from PSEG Foundation, Thomas Edison State University’s Military and Veteran Portal (MVP) is following suit.

Launched in 2014 with support from PSEG Foundation, the MVP portal has helped nearly 14,000 U.S. service members and veterans discover how their military training equates to college credits, view potential degree programs aligned with their training and estimate the cost of their education – all before they apply to the university. A recent $200,000 grant from PSEG Foundation will now enable thousands of non-military students and alumni to access the same resources. Outside of the MVP portal, the grant will also ensure students receive innovative hands-on simulation training in cybersecurity courses.

“Veterans often struggle with integration into civilian life,” said Calvin Ledford, PSEG director of Corporate Social Responsibility and president of the PSEG Foundation. “The PSEG Foundation, which supports education and workforce development programs, is honored to help TESU and all those who create the tools and resources veterans need to apply their abundant skills, experience and leadership to their community. The PSEG Foundation helps build sustainable and thriving communities by fostering safety, diversity, inclusion and equity as well as supporting education and the environment in the communities we serve, and TESU embodies this mission.”

Past funding from the PSEG Foundation supported enhancements to the MVP portal’s career counseling and job placement components for active-duty service members and veterans. The portal’s newly developed Career Enhancement Initiative will make those components available to thousands of TESU’s non-military students and alumni seeking jobs or advancement in their fields. The initiative will also provide a platform on which the university’s employer partners can post available career opportunities at their organizations and proactively recruit students and alumni for available positions.

PSEG Foundation funding has also supported state-of-the-art online laboratory simulations in the university’s online cybersecurity programs. Recent grant support is now focused on addressing the critical shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals in the workforce. In response, expansion of new laboratory simulations in the university’s cybersecurity courses will provide students with operationally-realistic environments and hands-on skillsets necessary to address current and emergent cyber threats.

“We are immensely grateful to PSEG for enabling us to continue to serve our military and veteran students while enriching our cybersecurity programs and extending the efficacy of the MVP portal to our civilian students, alumni and our corporate partners,” said John Thurber, vice president for Public Affairs at TESU. “The initiatives will allow us to create a pathway of success for more students and alumni while providing a pipeline of talented graduates entering the workforce.”

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