The Electronic ConAP form, a concept under discussion for several years, is finally a reality. On Tuesday September 22, 2009, the United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) implemented the form. Designed to automate the process of establishing prospective relationships between future soldiers in the United States Army and Army Reserve and over 1,970 colleges nationwide, the electronic form increases the number of possible ConAP contacts by more than 75,000 annually.
A majority of individuals joining the United States Army list education as the primary reason for enlistment, and the Army prides itself on its long history of providing quality educational opportunities to soldiers. ConAP is a unique program to the Army and Army Reserve that establishes a plan for post secondary education at the time of enlistment. It is a prime opportunity for colleges to identify future veterans interested in attending their institution.
For colleges and universities, this is how the process will work. Once the Future Soldier enlists, they will have the opportunity to fill out a ConAP form during Future Soldier processing with their respective recruiter.
- Upon completion of the ConAP form by the Future Soldier, an e-mail will be generated to the ConAP point of contact for the respective institution.
- The institution point of contact will click on the hyperlink embedded within the e-mail to go to the specific ConAP college site.
- Once at the ConAP college site, the point of contact will click on the
state where the college is located and then click on the name of
the institution.
- On the institution specific page, a list of Future Soldier names will appear for those who have submitted ConAP forms to the institution.
- The institution will need to acknowledge each form submitted. This takes the place of the signature on the old form.
- Once the institutional point of contact acknowledges the form, e-mails will
automatically be generated to the Future Soldier and the recruiter of record
indicating the same.
The college will now have the e-mail address of the Future Soldier. The astute college will send congratulatory correspondence to the Future Soldier and at the appropriate time, provide information to the Future Soldier on matriculation, financial aid, and veteran's services. The institution can also advise the Future Soldier on how to enroll for distance education opportunities if applicable.
As with any new undertaking, there will be challenges with the electronic form process. It is imperative that colleges keep the point of contact information up to date. Please provide all updates to Mr. Doug Reinheimer at 800-368-5622, or e-mail: conap@aascu.org. If e-mails are sent to incorrect e-mail addresses at institutions, the e-mails will be automatically returned to specified USAREC contacts, who will in turn, contact respective Army recruiting battalion education services specialists for rectification.
Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges stands ready to fully support the implementation of this exciting program. Please contact us for any further assistance that you may require. If you feel that your institution should be receiving electronic ConAP forms, but none have been received, please contact Dr. Mark Sifford at 800-368-5622 for assistance.
Sincerely,
Mark D. Sifford, Ed.D.
Project
Director, ConAP
Servicemembers Opportunity
Colleges