Office of the President

Clemson lone university to make 2021 Military Friendly® Employers List; awarded gold status

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Clemson, S.C.— Clemson University has been selected a 2021 Gold Military Friendly® Employer by VIQTORY.

Clemson University professor emeritus, alumnus, and WWII hero Ben Skardon, 99, a survivor of the Bataan Death March, greets ROTC cadets who came to place flags around the Scroll of Honor for Military Appreciation Day, Nov. 3, 2016.

Clemson is one of only 290 employers in the nation earning the designation and the lone university to make the cut. It shares the list with organizations such as Citi Financial, Hilton, Comcast NBC Universal, Verizon, Wells Fargo, Lockheed Martin and Southwest Airlines. In the past year, Clemson has made investments in programming to support and promote veteran employees, significantly moving the University up the ranking of Military Friendly Employers.

VIQTORY, a service-disabled, veteran business enterprise (SDVBE) that connects the military community to civilian employment, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities through G.I. Jobs®, Military Friendly and Military Spouse, recently published its annual list of employers acclaimed for providing civilian opportunities to veterans. Since 2003, the Military Friendly® lists have set the standard of organizations providing the best opportunities for veterans and military spouses.

This is the second consecutive year Clemson has earned the Military Friendly Employer designation, which was created in 2003 as an advocacy vehicle to encourage civilian organizations to invest in programs to recruit, retain and advance veterans as employees. In past years Clemson has also earned the separate Military Friendly Schools designation, which advances veterans as students. This is the first year Clemson has received the “Gold” designation, which puts it in the top 10 percent of organizations applying.

“Engaging and leveraging the skills of our military is an important strategy that helps us build a strong college community,” said President Jim Clements. “Receiving a Gold Military Friendly Employer recognition this year and being named among the best of all organizations is a major distinction and perfectly reflects the University’s dedication and support to veterans and those who are currently serving our country. At Clemson, we value the leadership skills our veterans gain while serving our country and the breadth of experiences they bring to their positions at Clemson.”

HR’s Kelsey Crawford holding Clemson’s National Military Friendly Employer award. The award recognizes an organization’s commitment, effort and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefit for its military community through its military hiring incentives, benefits and workforce development. Of 8,800 employers nationally, Clemson was one of only two universities to receive this designation and was recognized for being in the top three percent of all award recipients.
Kelsey Crawford holding Clemson’s 2020 Military Friendly Employer award.

“It’s rewarding to see the positive effects of Clemson’s strategic investment in programs supporting and advocating on behalf of military members and veterans so we can leverage our veterans’ skill sets to build a stronger workforce at the University,” said Director of Talent Acquisition Josh Brown. “Since we hired Kelsey Crawford to lead our military recruitment, retention and promotion, we’ve been able to apply key strategies and programs, offer selective benefits, and create meaningful relationships leading to improved hiring and promotion. We rely heavily on our relationships with current veteran employees too, and without their mentorship, we would not have made so much progress in our veteran initiatives so quickly.”

Programs earning the Military Friendly® Employers designation were evaluated using both public and government data sources with responses from a comprehensive survey completed by the employer. Ernst & Young independently evaluated the scoring methodology for the Military Friendly® Employers list using the criteria set forth by VIQTORY.

Data exhibited on how Clemson was rated by Military Friendly
Selected a 2021 Gold Military Friendly® Employer, Clemson University exceeds the standard in the six rated categories.

Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by VIQTORY with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining an organization’s survey score with an assessment of the organization’s ability to meet thresholds for Applicant, New Hire Retention, Employee Turnover, and Promotion and Advancement of veterans and military employees.

“Companies that have earned this designation have invested in substantive programs to recruit, retain and advance veterans within their organizations,” said Josh Rosen, Director of Military Friendly. “To them, hiring veterans isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s good for business.”

Clemson University will be showcased in the December issue of G.I. Jobs ® magazine and on MilitaryFriendly.com.

About VIQTORY:

Founded in 2001, VIQTORY is a service-disabled, veteran business enterprise (SDVBE) that connects the military community to civilian employment, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities through G.I. Jobs®, Military Friendly® and Military Spouse. VIQTORY and its brands are not a part of or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense or any federal government entity.

Learn more about VIQTORY at www.viqtory.com and MilitaryFriendly.com.