Savanna Hebert-Annis has directed services and programming for the recently renamed Office of Military-Connected Student Services at Indiana University South Bend since 2019. But she broadened her role in October 2022, when she became university coordinator for IU Military-Connected Student Services.

She wants students with a military affiliation to have a sense of belonging on their IU campus, and ensure they have the support needed to navigate their academic journeys and transitions to student and civilian. That involves working with each campus office that serves veterans and military students to spread awareness about available services and education benefits.

IU Today recently caught up with Hebert-Annis to discuss her work and goals.

Question: Your background includes various administrative roles at IU South Bend before moving to its Office of Veteran Student Services in 2019 and taking on the additional role of Indiana University military and veteran services coordinator in October 2022. What appealed to you about those roles and what have you enjoyed about them?

Answer: In 2015, I started working with Veterans Affairs education benefits as an assistant registrar and quickly fell in love with both the challenge and working more closely with our military-connected students. I feel incredibly fortunate to come to work each day to a job I love while being an advocate, mentor and leader to make the college experience more accessible for our military-connected students and colleagues. I love the richness this community brings to IU and how we, in the military-connected offices, have forged so many lifelong relationships with our students and families beyond IU.

Q: How do you assist each IU campus in their efforts to support veterans, active military and military-affiliated students?

Savanna Hebert-Annis. Submitted photo A: Our Military-Connected Student Services offices are a small but mighty staff who are the most dedicated and caring group of colleagues and friends. We are all there for our students every step of the way.

While each campus has its unique identity, there is also the IU identity as well. For me, it’s important to understand the campus culture, colleagues and students to ensure we are not only meeting the needs but exceeding them in a relevant and accessible way.

The focus is on the student experience and being there for them — to be that steadfast point of contact. Currently, I am working to solidify university supports to unify all offices and each campus to be designated as Collegiate Purple Star of Indiana.

Q: As the university military and veteran services coordinator, what have been your goals and why? How would you describe the progress toward achieving them?

A: With military-connected students, one of my goals has been to have a space on each campus where students feel at home and connected to their School Certifying Official. Of course, the physical space varies greatly across the university, so each campus is different from one another.

I am truly passionate about serving our military-connected community and engaging others in creative ways that focus on de-stigmatizing and reducing barriers that our students often face and/or encounter each day. Another goal is to further engage with our campus and university-wide colleagues and offices to enrich those professional relationships to further awareness, visibility and accessibility for our military-connected students before, during and after their time at IU.

Q: What should faculty, staff and non-military students know about students who are veterans, active military and military-affiliated?

A: Military-connected students are the most amazing individuals you will meet. You may have some individuals who may talk about their military experience and others who do not, which is perfectly OK. They are extraordinarily hard-working, dedicated, resilient and observant.

Honestly, I am humbled each day by their spirit, their vulnerability and the connections that I have with our military-connected students. There are days we share tears and laughter, but I would describe it as a parent — being their mentor, teacher, advocate, cheerleader and wanting them to succeed and achieve their goals and dreams. For those that I am fortunate enough to share in their journey at IU and beyond, I am thankful, as you each teach me so much and to become an even better person.

Q: What else should people know about you or the work you do?

A: Since we work so much with our students one-on-one, we have the unique opportunity to connect with them on a deeper level and to provide wrap-around services to mitigate barriers. The work we do is not just limited to VA education benefits and IU; our offices are active in our communities and assist in connecting our students to the resources that they need and are not sure how to navigate.

Throughout the year, each of our campuses hosts different military-connected events. Be sure to check them out and meet our amazing students and colleagues!

Savanna Hebert-Annis can be contacted by email at sannis@iu.edu or by phone at 574-520-4115 with questions.