Working with students in military

A large map of the world hangs on the wall of her office. It has no pins, no marks, not even a star on it — those are on another map.

This one is to look up the far away places where the men and women Jocelyn Groot talks to on the phone are stationed.

“I’m terrible in geography, and when I’m talking to a [student], I like to get up and go look,” she said.

Groot talks to men and women serving in the military from all over the world as Coastline Community College’s new dean of military and contract education.

Groot works to make sure more than 20,000 students can register for classes, figure out financial aid, transition back to the states and take classes, whether they are on a submarine or in a small base in Afghanistan.

“I can be so busy in a day, but I never, ever regret coming to work . . . because I know each day, we’ll be helping someone serving our country,” Groot said.

As dean, Groot works to provide corporations with customized classes for their employees, and she wants to find a way to unite her work with corporations with her military work. She is hoping to start working with businesses interested in hiring Coastline’s military graduates.

“That’s exactly what I’m looking to do, is bridge that gap,” she said.

Groot’s position is new, a combination of two departments — Contract Education and Military Programs — but Groot is familiar with the college. She was the director of the Contract Education Department and has worked throughout the district for more than 25 years.

The experience in different positions in the district is one of Groot’s strength’s, said Nathaniel Harrison, a military and contract education technician with the college.

Groot can see the community college as a whole, and her knowledge of the military gives her a unique perspective, Harrison said.

“She understand the military community really well,” Harrison said.

Groot’s father is a World War II veteran, and her brother served in the Vietnam War. Her father is just now starting to talk about his experiences and deal with the trauma he faced. The situation is similar to what Iraq and Afghanistan’s veterans are going through now, she said.

“They’re dealing with issues,” Groot said.

“We’re trying to recognize their issues.”