Holyoke Community College Welcomes New Veterans Benefits Counselor

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) recently welcomed Derick Santos as its veterans-benefits and financial-aid counselor. He joined HCC on Jan. 22.

Originally from Lajas, Puerto Rico, Santos holds a bachelor’s degree in computational mathematics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he also worked in the Military and Veterans Services department for the university’s online campus. His father is an active-duty serviceman with the Puerto Rican National Guard.

In his new role, Santos is HCC’s school-certifying official and will process all benefits for U.S. veterans and military-affiliated students. He will also counsel prospective and returning students through the financial-aid process and serve as part of the counselor on-call rotation.

As such, he splits his office hours between the Bunker veterans resource center and study lounge in Donahue 105 (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings) and the Financial Aid office on the second floor of the Frost Building (Wednesday afternoons, Thursdays, and Fridays). The Bunker is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.