Chattahoochee Tech opens redone veterans service center

Chattahoochee Technical College has opened its newly renovated Jim Cunningham Veteran Services Center at its Marietta Campus at 980 South Cobb Drive.

The center is named for Jim Cunningham, a 21-year U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam.

He is the father of Jay Cunningham, founder and owner of Superior Plumbing, who pledged $75,000 to Chattahoochee Tech in support of the college’s Veteran Services Center.

The support center for military personnel, veterans and their families is open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and 8:30 a.m. to noon Fridays.

The center provides connection and engagement with other veterans who are students, an AT&T Resource Center for academic success and career exploration, computers for coursework, counseling services dedicated to military service issues and contacts for local resources and services.

The college’s Veteran Services coordinator is Barry Munday, a 30-year U.S. Air Force veteran who holds a doctorate in biblical counseling.

With 800,000 veterans in Georgia, Munday said in a college statement there were 843 enrolled veterans and veteran family members during the 2017 fall semester.

More than half were those previously and currently serving in four of the five branches of service — Army,

, Marines and Air Force, he added, with their leading programs of study being health sciences, computer information systems and business management.

Since 2015, Munday said more than 220 Chattahoochee Tech employees have volunteered to complete training for the college’s Green Zone initiative, which calls for an increased awareness of veteran needs and to connect veterans and their families with the support and assistance they need to begin or continue their journeys in college.