Military & Veteran Services

African-American Military Heritage Celebration

John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Military and Veteran Services supports military veterans, active duty service members, reservists, guardsmen, officer candidates, and their family members with vibrant and relevant veteran-focused programs and assistance. Military and Veteran Services provides student veterans personal support through its on-site services, the student-led John Jay Veterans Association, dedicated Veterans' Center spaces, our veteran honor society chapter, and assistance from staff and faculty throughout the college.

We actively back veteran students throughout their college experiences with: assistance in admission, enrollment and advisement; peer support programming; support for academic and personal success; social work support; veteran-focused academic courses; and job preparation, internship, and post-graduation employment programming.

Military and Veteran Services

  • Retired Navy chaplain Military and Veteran Services Manager available to provide veterans personal support, guidance, and mentoring
  • Full-time Veteran Certifying Official and Military Benefits POC available to advise and assist veterans and their family members in using their educational benefits and financial aid
  • Military and Veteran Services Social Worker (LMSW) available for emotional support and counseling, help for personal and family problems, referral for VA benefits, accessibility accommodation assistance, and academic support
  • John Jay Veterans Association: our vital student-led veterans organization with positive peer support; recreational, social and professional programs; and community outreach
  • Attractive Veterans' Center with lounge, technology center, study and meeting spaces
  • SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society chapter to recognize veteran and military students' academic accomplishments
  • Veterans' Services support: career and academic advisement services; accessibility services; PROVE (Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education) social work interns; VA New York Harbor Healthcare System VITAL (Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership) peer support specialist; and other valuable programs

Military and Veteran Services Team

Richard (Dick) Pusateri, Military and Veteran Services Manager, 212-484-1329, rpusateri@jjay.cuny.edu 

Chrissy Pacheco, Veteran Certifying Official and Military Benefits POC, 212-237-8153, cpacheco@jjay.cuny.edu 

Claire Steines LMSW, Military & Veteran Services Social Worker, 929-486-2418 (for texts), csteines@jjay.cuny.edu

Emily Kiy, College Assistant, ekiy@jjay.cuny.edu   

John Jay College Accreditation

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a premier veteran-serving institution of the City University of New York (CUNY) with over 550-veteran and military students enrolled, is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the US Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).  John Jay most recently received reaffirmation of its accreditation in 2023. 

Specialized Accreditation: John Jay’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) is accredited by the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). The last NASPAA accreditation visit was conducted in 2021-2022.

Full accreditation information is found at: https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/accreditation-information