This document is the program for the 18th Annual Texas A&M University System Military-Affiliated Symposium, held October 5-6, 2026 in Frisco, Texas. It is intended for higher education faculty, staff, administrators, and veteran service professionals who support military-affiliated students. The program opens with a welcome letter from Dr. Monteigne Long, Director of Veteran & Military Services,…
This document is the official program for the 18th Annual Texas A&M University System Military-Affiliated Symposium, held October 5-6, 2026 in Frisco, Texas. It is designed for higher education professionals, veteran service staff, and military-affiliated student support personnel attending the event.
The symposium opens with a welcome from Dr. Monteigne Long, Director of Veteran & Military Services, and remarks from Tom Palladino of the Texas Veterans Commission and Eric Ellenberger of the Wounded Warrior Project. The first day includes a moderated panel discussion titled "Built Through Relationships," plenary sessions by R.J. Jenkins and Commissioner Charles Wright, and four rounds of concurrent sessions.
Concurrent sessions on day one cover topics such as the VET+MAP purpose-to-impact intervention, participatory methods for veteran engagement, on-demand mentorship models, adaptive horsemanship at Tarleton State University, and the new Hazlewood Database from the Texas Veterans Commission. Sessions also address credit for prior learning, mental health, and cross-sector partnerships.
Day two features concurrent sessions on Texas policy strategies for veteran education, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV), leadership development, donor relationships, Wounded Warrior Project's Warrior Care Network, and campus-to-career ecosystems. Additional sessions cover embedded behavioral health, veteran transition to civilian healthcare, and cultural reintegration measurement.
The program concludes with a Solutions Exchange featuring roundtables and workshops on self-mastery, scaling military student support, civilian transition factors, and career development. A closing plenary by Dr. Glenn Phillips and closing remarks by Dr. Monteigne Long wrap up the event. Abstracts for selected presentations are included at the end.