Season 12 of “Student Affairs Voices from the Field” concludes with a remarkable episode featuring Dr. Doris Ching, an iconic leader whose influence continues to shape the student affairs profession. Whether you’re a veteran administrator or just starting your higher education journey, this episode is an inspiring listen that traces the arc of Dr. Ching’s extraordinary career, explores the evolution of student affairs, and points to a future built on inclusion, mentorship, and student-centered vision.

Dr. Ching, emeritus Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Hawaii and the first Asian American and first woman of color to be elected President of NASPA, shares how her journey began as an eighth-grade English teacher and evolved—often unexpectedly—into a series of leadership roles that allowed her to champion student success at every level. Her story is a testament to the power of passion, humility, and saying 'yes' to opportunities that may, at first, feel intimidating.

One of the central themes of the episode is mentorship: Dr. Ching credits her achievements to the many mentors and colleagues who believed in her, and she emphasizes the importance of supporting and uplifting new leaders within the profession. She also reflects on her commitment to rewriting the rules—literally rewriting job descriptions—to ensure her roles always centered on improving institutions for students and colleagues. Her advice to current professionals: if you’re offered a leadership opportunity, take it, and make it your own.

The episode also highlights Dr. Ching’s advocacy for greater representation and support for Asian American and Pacific Islander professionals—work that led to the founding of NASPA’s API Knowledge Community and established enduring community and visibility for AAPI leaders. Her legacy is honored through NASPA awards that bear her name and continue to encourage excellence and diversity in the field.

As Dr. Ching and host Dr. Jill Creighton discuss the past, present, and future of student affairs, listeners are challenged to consider how the profession can remain relevant and impactful, especially by ensuring student affairs always has a seat at the executive table.

This season finale brims with insight, perspective, and heartfelt encouragement—don’t miss the chance to learn from one of the field’s most influential voices. Listen to this episode to feel reinvigorated about your impact and to honor those paving the path for the next generation of student affairs professionals.

If you’re searching for inspiration, wisdom, and a genuine look behind the scenes of student affairs, the latest episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field is a must-listen. This unique episode features Dr. Matt Gregory (Texas Tech University) and Dr. Andy Morgan (Illinois State University)—two lifelong friends who started as undergraduate orientation leaders and now serve as senior student affairs officers at major public universities. Their candid conversation, hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton, brims with hard-earned lessons and reminders about what truly matters in higher ed leadership.

The Power of Professional Friendship

Matt and Andy’s journey together is a testament to the sustaining impact of having trusted peers in student affairs. They first connected as student leaders at Southern Illinois University in the early 90s, and even as their careers took them to different institutions and roles, their friendship became a sounding board through every professional triumph and challenge. Their story highlights how vital it is to have a confidante outside your own campus—someone who understands the pressures of the job, offers honest feedback, and helps keep your feet on the ground.

Authenticity in Leadership

A recurring theme in the episode is the importance of authenticity, especially when pursuing leadership roles. Both Matt and Andy recall instances of competing for the same position but emphasized that being true to themselves—not just chasing titles—was key to personal success and lasting friendship. Their advice? Let your genuine self shine through at every stage of your career journey, and remember that every search process is an opportunity to learn and grow, regardless of the outcome.

Evolving Student Affairs in a Changing Landscape

Listeners will also appreciate the episode’s examination of current challenges in student affairs: from navigating volatile policy environments and advancing staff compensation, to advocating for student engagement in a post-pandemic world. Both guests speak to the increasing synergy between student and academic affairs, the need for robust data to demonstrate impact, and practical strategies for supporting staff well-being. Despite pressures and shifting expectations, Matt and Andy’s passion for student success and commitment to inclusive, student-centered leadership truly shines.

Why You Should Listen

Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned professional, this episode offers not just career advice, but heartwarming stories, candid reflections, and practical strategies you can apply right away. Tune in to be reminded of the enduring value of mentorship, honest connection, and the purpose that brings us to the field in the first place.

Listen now, and let Matt and Andy’s journey encourage and energize your own path in student affairs.

In the latest episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, host Dr. Jill Creighton sits down with Dr. Niah Grimes and Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne, two of the three authors behind the ground-breaking new book, Thinking Like an Abolitionist to End Sexual Violence in Higher Education. This episode dives deep into not just the book, but the lived experiences, philosophies, and activism shaping how we address sexual violence on college campuses today.

The conversation is rich, personal, and thought-provoking from the outset. Both Dr. Grimes and Dr. Karunaratne share their journeys into higher education and research, rooted deeply in addressing systems of violence, healing, and examining the needs of minoritized students. Their experiences as scholar-practitioners and their commitment to transformative justice is palpable throughout the discussion.

At the heart of the conversation is the bold theme of “abolitionist thinking.” Rather than viewing abolition solely as dismantling harmful systems, the authors draw on the work of Ruth Wilson Gilmore and others to frame abolition as the presence of care, community, and healing. They challenge the carceral and compliance-driven frameworks that have dominated Title IX and other campus responses while calling for practices that actually meet the needs of survivors and communities—not just adhere to federal mandates.

Dr. Grimes highlights how compliance cultures, rooted in white supremacy, often stifle creativity and community, leading to approaches where “business as usual” takes precedence over true prevention and healing. Dr. Karunaratne adds the importance of local, grassroots efforts and "1,000,000 experiments"—encouraging institutions and individuals to try new approaches, fail, learn, and grow together. Throughout, both assert the transformative power of centering healing—for survivors and for communities as a whole.

Perhaps most refreshing is the authors’ call for those in higher education to move beyond compliance as the ceiling of their work, to instead use it as the bare minimum "floor" from which innovation, accountability, and holistic care can grow. They urge practitioners to honor their own strengths, invest in their healing and that of students, and build community from the ground up.

If you are a student affairs professional, educator, or simply care about safer and more just campuses, this episode will challenge and inspire you. Listen now to hear new perspectives on building communities where all students can thrive beyond the constraints of the current system.

Listen to the episode and rethink how we approach prevention, healing, and justice in higher education. Your campus could be the next place where abolitionist thinking takes root.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay voices from the field host. Welcome back to another episode of essay Voices from the Field, where today we're featuring two of three authors of a brand new book, Thinking Like an Abolitionist to End Sexual Violence in Higher Education. Our first guest is Dr. Niah S. Grimes, who received her doctorate from the University of Georgia in Education with an emphasis in College Student Affairs Administration with a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:48]: Dr. Grimes was the recipient of the Mary Frances Early College of Education's Research Award and spent her tenure at the University of Georgia investigating campus sexual violence and systems of domination to begin eradicating violence and oppression from higher education. As an assistant professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program in the Department of Advanced Studies Leadership and Policy, Dr. Grimes focuses her scholarship and teaching on spirituality and healing, examining the experiences of people on campus with multiple minoritized identities, and eradicating violence and systems of oppression in higher education and beyond. Our second guest is Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne, and she's a postdoctoral research associate in the McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Utah. In her research, she employs power conscious frameworks to understand issues of sexual violence in higher education, focusing on interrupting harm and promoting healing for minoritized survivors. Nadeeka's background in student affairs, specifically her work in campus cultural centers and with university violence prevention efforts, influences her scholarship and teaching.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:48]: She's also a trauma informed yoga instructor programs on college campuses and in the community. Welcome to SA Voices, Niah.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:01:56]: Hi. My name is Niah Grimes. Welcome. I'm happy to be here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:59]: And Nadeeka, welcome.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:02:01]: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:03]: We've got a coast to coast situation today with Naya coming to us from Maryland and Nadeeka coming to us from California. So I'm very glad we were able to make the time zones work out to have this very rich dialogue ahead. We're talking about your book today, which we'll get into in a moment. But before we do that, we always love to start our show by getting to know our guests and how you got to your current seat. So Naya, let's start with you. How did you become an assistant professor?

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:02:26]: Wow. How to sum up such a long journey? I never really saw myself in this role at all. I I actually even in getting the college, I was first gen. I wasn't even considering that, like, the professors teaching me that that was a job available to me. And then at the time, I was at George Mason. They were in r two on the road to r one. So they had a ton of funding that they were pouring into undergraduate research. So I never thought about research, but my professors saw something in me just in my criticality, I think.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:02:59]: And I'm really just a problem solver, like, I like to solve problems. And so I was studying sociology, equity, and social change, and my professors were pushing me into research. So I was able to start taking qualitative research classes at the undergraduate level. I had an honors thesis where I did a qualitative dissertation level of work, but I interviewed 12 people, men specifically around their experiences retrospectively in high school, how they were taught to learn about sex. There was so much in the literature then almost blaming women for unintended pregnancy. And I'm like, where is the other perspective? And, you know, this is such a larger issue. So that's where I started my work in research, but I didn't believe in the power of research. I felt like we were doing all of this good work, but it wasn't reaching the people I cared about, my community members.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:03:51]: And so I started to do work more in the community, and I got into mental health counseling. I was doing work with survivors of violence, domestic violence, partner violence, neglected, unhoused youth, and I was working on the suicide switchboard nationally. And I recognized early on that, like, for some reason, I had a capacity to handle some of the harder things. And I leaned into that. One of my supervisors was a counselor, and I admired the relationship she built with the people we were serving. And I was like, I wanna do that. I feel like that's where my time should be spent. So I spent all this time getting a counseling degree, and I ended up counseling mostly in student affairs because I really loved undergraduate students, students in that before 25, the brain fully closed, like, area.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:04:42]: They just were so open to change and transformation. And as a transdisciplinary scholar, that is what sort of, like, ignites me is where can we make the most transformation towards healing so that people can meet their needs, so that people can live wholly. And from that work, I realized in working mostly with marginalized students, it wasn't them. It was systemic. And so I was like, okay. So now I need to generate power to really try to change structures and culture and community. And the best way that me personally with the identities that I hold to do that, not having any generational wealth, was to go back and get a PhD. So that's how I ended up at UGA with Chris Linder, and it's all really synchronous.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:05:29]: Right? Because without all of these things along the way, I would have never met doctor Linder. Through Chris is how I met Nadeeka through the Spencer. We did a symposium through Spencer together around sexual violence. And doctor Linder was really like, you have the capacity to really do assistant professor tenure track work. And, again, I I was like, well, I think I really need to practice. At the same time, my disability was getting worse and worse. So I was like, okay. I think that this is really spiritual and that, you know, I can try to work and be disabled.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:06:04]: It's still challenging, but still do transformative, like, transdisciplinary, equitable work that I love. So that's how I ended up here. Specifically, I work at Morgan State University, which is a HBCU in Baltimore, and I just think that I'm primed for that institutional type. Like, I love how authentic I get to be in my work.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:23]: Thank you for sharing that journey with us, Naya. You referenced doctor Chris Linder, who is the other author on the book. So we're glad to get two or three of you today. Again, we'll talk about the book more in a little bit. And Zika, same question to you. How did you get to your current seat?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:06:38]: So I currently work as a postdoctoral researcher. I work with Chris Linder at the University of Utah's McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention. So right now, I'm doing kind of most of my work is research, and I love it. And similarly to Naya, I when I started on my kind of post undergraduate professional journey, I never thought that I would be doing research at all, let alone full time. I didn't foresee a PhD on the horizon, but I pursued my master's in student affairs administration at Michigan State. And I had some really incredible mentors, shout out to Dr. Krista Porter and Dr. Ginny Jones' boss, who were like, hey, do you know about research? Do you know about this side of student affairs and higher education practice and academic programs? And so after I finished my master's, I worked a lot of my research is informed by my work as a student affairs practitioner.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:07:27]: So I worked in doing violence prevention education. I worked at a cultural center, racial equity work. And a lot of the questions that I still pursue in my my research and scholarship are from a lot of the experiences I had and things I witnessed as a practitioner, particularly with working with survivors, working with students of color, other minoritized students, and seeing how a lot of the things that we, and myself included, were doing, particularly in the context of anti violence work, weren't working. They weren't serving students. They weren't leading to preventing violence. And they in particular weren't serving the needs of minoritized students like women of color. And so that led me to go back to graduate school to do my PhD at UCLA, where I studied the the healing experiences of women and femme students of color and really to continue to dive into this research and scholarship to, as Naya talked about, seeing what kinds of change and transformation is needed and is needed, especially by students, to better address their needs and to more effectively respond to violence and also importantly prevent violence in higher education. So say much of my current work is informed by my experiences as a student affairs practitioner.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:08:37]: I also will say I teach as a trauma informed yoga instructor, and I think that space and that training and experiences teaching really informs how I show up in all kinds of spaces, including in a research context, including in a classroom, including in my student affairs work. And so that's a big philosophy and framework that influences me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:56]: The book we're talking about today is Thinking Like an Abolitionist to End Sexual Violence in Higher Education. Again, you are two of the three authors of this work. And I think hearing your foundations both as scholar practitioners really helps inform the work. It's a bold title, and I love it. Can we start with how did we arrive at this as the right time, the right moment for this piece right now, especially knowing knowing that I'm imagining from when you began to write the piece to now that it's published have shifted quite a bit.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:09:27]: Yes. It is a old title, a title that we spent a lot of time talking through and thinking about. I guess I'll share a little bit about how the book came to be, which you're right. Given the publishing timeline and the process, this was a couple years ago that actually Chris Linder brought the three of us together based on kind of our individual and collective work that we had been engaging in and the kinds of conversations that we've been having in as scholars and scholar practitioners around, again, things that we have experienced working with students, have seen, have read, have seen the state kind of of sexual violence in higher education research. And she brought us together to dream and to create something that encapsulated kind of all of our different really brought together all of our different views and work on the area. So for me, I'll say my journey into being a student of abolition is it really started actually as a practitioner. And when I was working as a violence prevention educator, I started to learn about frameworks of carceral feminism by scholar activists like Mimi Kim and Mariame Kaba and learning about the ways in which at large the mainstream anti violence movement, so not just in the context of higher education, but at large, had really aligned itself with carceral or punitive structures and practices and starting to think about the ways that we in higher education have done mimic some of those systems that are outside of higher education. So I will say when we talk about carcerality, we talk about logics or practices of control, of punishment, and surveillance, and how those practices have become really integrated with, again, mainstream anti sexual violence work and also in the context of higher education.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:11:04]: And so for me, that's kind of when I started learning about these, these frameworks and how they might be applied into the context of my work in higher education, doing violence prevention work and how maybe these frameworks might in particular serve the needs of minoritized survivors as students of color, queer and trans survivors, survivors with disabilities. And so that's a little bit about kind of my journey into this. And then as I continue to work with students and engage in research, I found more and more of the ways that, again, especially minoritized survivors, we're talking about often say things like, I don't want to see the person who harmed me punished. I just want them to stop. I want them to stop what they're doing. I don't want them to hurt me or to hurt anyone else. And the ways in which they are talking about whether or not they're using the language of anti carcerality or logics of surveillance control punishment, but they're really speaking about their needs as being outside of these systems that we have, have created. So the last thing I'll say is a little bit around the title.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:12:04]: So we use the phrase, I think it's oh, it's an I always want to make a point to say that we use the phrase thinking like an abolitionist because I think it's important that, instead of using a phrase like abolition, to end so we we use that thinking like an abolitionist to to try to, to name that true abolition would require abolishing higher education as we know it. And so we really want to be cautious around how, we're use we're talking about employing these frameworks, that scholars and organizers have have created and developed for years that, to not be appropriating that into the context of higher education, but rather thinking about what are the the larger overarching lessons, and ways of being and doing that we might be able to bring into our work. And so that's where kind of that phrase thinking like an abolition comes in.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:57]: You mentioned carcerality a couple of times. It's also a big theme in the book. Now I think from my conduct officer hat and my deputy title nine coordinator hat, I would think of it more of a retributive framework or align with retributive justice as opposed to restorative justice, which is something that we've been kind of moving towards in higher education for a long time, looking at harm and repair versus crime and punishment and institutions being stuck in systemic structures that require a crime and punishment model in order to be in compliance with what the government has required from us historically. And so it's an interesting tension between that community aspect, that healing aspect for what survivors need and and also what respondents and perpetrators might need in order to change behavior in many circumstances. But I also wanna dig into your definition of abolitionist because I like the way that you frame it in the book. We historically think of abolition as the absence of something, which you reference right up top in that chapter. But I'm gonna read this quote here. And while abolition is certainly abolishing harmful practices, we also subscribe to Ruth Wilson Gilmore's idea that abolition is about presence, not absence.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:03]: We believe that by working together to build what we need to thrive, we can build futures that do not include surveillance, control, punishment, and policing. We work in a higher education environment where these things are quite common and quite present, especially kind of the monitoring, the control and monitoring of how universities, have managed sexual misconduct in the past. And I would say a lot of that was earned by watching institutions not handle these as well as they could over the course of time. But now we're in a bit of a different space where the government is taking, swiftly different actions. We're recording this in April of twenty twenty five, so we don't really know what the future of Title nine, the Clery Act, Campus Save, VAWA, what those look like in the next session and what might happen through executive order. But one of the things you all focus on is systemic change in the way that we handle these things in higher education. Can you talk a little bit more about what an ideal approach would look like in terms of a campus community?

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:15:05]: So I think you covered a lot there, and I definitely don't wanna speak for Nadeeka or Chris. But I will say, I think what really, like, a major theme of our book is that higher education is so compliant in white supremacy culture, which connects and leads to the carcerality and the lack of community. Like, I directly believe we can blame white supremacy culture for the lack of community and even I feel like what's been taken from us because we've inherited such an oppressive world is how to even build community in true ways. And when fear and being fear of difference and not being able to connect across difference and understand how we are all more similar than not, and that not being something that's taught like, you know, we study education. I work with my k through 12 colleagues. We have created a system to keep us oppressed so that we can be compliant and easily controlled. I get really impatient when we don't, especially as student affairs, practitioners because, like, our whole field was birthed out of meeting a need. When we act like what is created, what we inherited can't be destroyed and recreated.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:16:24]: It's not natural. Someone created it. And we know the history. We know why it was created and to what end. And it wasn't to liberate us. It wasn't to educate us. But inherently, learning is free. Like, just as a human, we come to learn.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:16:41]: Like, anyone can learn. You don't need a system of higher education to learn. Now we're in that dissonance. And so we talk a lot about dissonance in the book, and that's why we say thinking like an abolitionist because until we can fortify community, we can't build the future we need. And so for me, community, true community on campus would look like, first and foremost, campuses recognizing the communities they've taken over and just doing some retribution, healing work to the land, the communities that they've destroyed, pushed out, impoverished, exploited. We need to heal that. I have a ton of scholars who do a lot of, like, participatory action research with community members and so connected to these institutions. So first, we just need to repair and heal.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:17:31]: And then from there, we need to build fire, water, shelter, food. Before we can stop relying on the state and worrying about so much what the federal government's doing, we need to make sure we can feed ourselves, shelter ourselves, cover those basic needs in community. And I remember before a lot of our, like, black communities were decimated when people couldn't cover their rent, when people weren't eating, if you needed you know, if you were sick, like, we were living in such rich community that all of those needs were covered, but we don't have that. And even with the proximity we have on campus, because of white supremacy culture, because of the divide, like, I've been on campuses where people are choosing to sit at different lunch tables. Right? We don't want to really get to know each other outside of our obligations. And so I think, first, healing needs to occur for the pain that's happened, and then we need to meet needs, educate in a more Montessori way. Right? Like, can we focus on just being human relationships, feeding ourselves, healing, working through conflict, then we can get to what's next. Because I think in this culture of forward growth technology, we forget that we were just traumatized, COVID.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:18:46]: Now we're being currently traumatized by the literal, like, takeover of our rights. Like, before it was so under they hid it in policies. They hid it in laws. Now it's like a direct assault on our rights broadly. And so I think they're like, we can no longer move in white supremacist thought. We can't be scared. We have to heal and meet our needs so that we don't have to rely on the state. And I believe that higher ed needs to fully relinquish itself from the state, especially federally.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:19:18]: And even think about how are you serving the institutions and the land that you're on.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:19:24]: Thanks, Naya, for for all that you shared. I think the part of the question around kind of ideal approach, I think, is a little hard for me to talk about. I think partly one of the kind of abolitionist principles or values that we write about and that I know I hold is this idea of really getting local and like this thinking of Mariame Kaba uses this phrase, like, we need 1,000,000 experiments. And then there's like a whole podcast series and movie around that that concept. So I think that means that we need to be experimenting and trying and learning from our mistakes and failures and what doesn't work. And so I guess to just build a little bit on what Naya said, I think something that I wanna make sure we highlight and that is is important to kind of in my understanding of thinking like an abolitionist and what we write about in the book, but the importance of kind of this internal work and transformation. And so I think part of this is like doing everything at once in some ways, right? Like Naya is talking about really structural systemic stuff, and that is important. And also thinking about the ways in which we are engaging with, with others, the ways in which we are moving through the world.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:20:29]: And so thinking about one of my favorite quotes is from Adrienne Maree Brown. One of quotes this a lot, but it's from Grace Lee Boggs, but transform yourself to transform the world. And so really committing to for ourselves to be practicing accountability, to be engaging in our own healing, to be tending to our relationships, to think about the ways in which these ideas of punishment and surveillance and control show up in our own lives in the ways in which I'm whether that's in a work context or outside. Right? I am thinking about, right, how does engagement with my my partner or my friends. Right? Like, how am I bringing those those logics in that, like, white supremacy culture that Naya was talking about? How am I bringing that into my interactions in my work and then working to disrupt that? Right? Like, working in community with other folks who can tell challenge me on that. So that's not the only answer. It's just one piece, but I think a lot of that internal work and transformation is an important part of being able to really actualize. And the world that I think many of us want and to feel that liberation is that kind of internal work that doesn't have to, again, happen in isolation.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:21:37]: It's just it it probably happens best in community and with others, but that is really about turning inward and interrogating where are the ways that I'm bringing these harmful ways of being and ways of relating to my work and to my relationships.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:52]: You both talk about the both end of the individual and the institution of the system, meaning to have some care applied in order to get us to a place where we're able to move forward. I think this is an interesting tricky space because we're all part of the system that we're also trying to change, and sometimes it can be hard to see how to move or shift something so large when we're also inside of it. What are your thoughts on being a part of a system while also trying to change that system and actively participating and also fighting against at the same time?

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:22:26]: I think Nadeeka really touched on a lot of it. It's that you you have to first be doing at all times. It's a continuous you have to be in continuous process of healing and holding yourself in a critical self accountable place. And I think the other piece to that would be making sure you know your values and know when they shift, know your capacity. Like, you have to be so self aware because in any given day in these systems, in these relationships, while we're not free, you never know what will be asked or exploited from you. And when we continue to let that spirit murdering occur, we don't have the capacity to create. We don't have the capacity to support that initiative towards liberation. And so I think it's really balanced.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:23:18]: I remember hearing Angela Davis speak, and she's one of the abolitionist thinkers of my heart. And she really was like, we need like, everyone can't do everything at once. Like, sometimes your goal right now in this is to heal, especially too if you aren't taking space to heal and really meet your own individual needs, have the capacity to do more. And so I think first, especially after just the collective trauma we've been experiencing before anything else, we're in crisis mode. Like, I was trained as a clinician. Whenever you go into these very crisis has just occurred. We're not worrying about big structures yet. I'm just trying to get people fed.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:23:56]: I'm trying to make sure that they're warm, that they feel secure. You know? And I'm tearing up thinking about it because it breaks my heart that we even have to talk about this, that this has been so trained out of us. But I think part of it is balance, values, really knowing what you can and cannot do, and not taking those, like, grassroots interactions as not as not being as transformative as they are. In white supremacy culture, we wanna focus on, like, big solutions, big policies, big change. But I know just creating safe healing space for a student, for a colleague, for anyone, that that's where transformation occurs. And so I think to Nadeca's point about grassroots all the time, we can't take for granted those, like, moment to transform and really show up in those values that we need a model for the new world that we wanna create. Like, we have to be the model of those things. We have to courageously show up as we want to be, not as we were taught to be in this oppressive state.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:24:57]: Yeah. The only thing I'll add is something that I really Naya is a person who's really, I think, helped me to understand this in a more deeper, richer way. But this understanding that we all have our own unique gifts and strengths, and that point Naya was just making her own, like, we all can't do everything, and we shouldn't. Right? We should be actually bringing to the world, to our work, to our relationships, to ourselves, the specific gifts that we bring. Right? Artists, caretakers, healers, educators, thinkers, writers. So there's this this quote I'll share from the book that Naya wrote. So this is Naya's writing. I understand that as an individual, my power would exist in helping transform as many spirits as I could through counseling, education, caretaking, scholarship, and art.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:25:41]: And so I just really love that because I think for so many years, I felt like I needed to be to think of myself as someone who's engaging in change work. I needed to be doing all of the things and showing up in spaces and doing things that didn't align with my strengths. And, in fact, I think we need to be creating space for ourselves and for each other to use those gifts and those strengths and to bring those to work, like, in going back to your question, right, to working within systems. So that's the only I I just wanted to add that piece as well.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:26:12]: Yeah. Just to I'm sorry to add to that piece. Because ideally, we're supposed to be living in abundance so that, like, we're able to just move in our strengths. One thing I don't think we wrote about yet and people don't know, we modeled these things in writing the book. So, like, the approach we took in writing the book, we very much held ourselves accountable to the values and, like, to what we were asking people to do themselves. So I just think that's really important to name. And I really am like, I honor the work that we did, and I really honor having Chris and Adika in this, like, coalition against oppression because we really do show up in our strengths and support each other in that. And you don't see it, but that's one of the main things we focused on in writing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:57]: One of the things that you all do beautifully in the writing is researcher positionality. It's both at the beginning and the end of the book as well as sprinkled throughout, and there are also many autoethnographic pieces that tie into the research. So there's some wonderful nuggets that I won't spoil in advance for our listeners who want to go pick it up. But what I definitely appreciate is that we know who you are as authors. I think so many times when we read books that are kind of making more or less subject subjective claims are presented as objective, and I think you do a very good job of letting us know where you're coming from and the assumptions you're making as authors, as well as the assumptions that you're asking readers to make, before they read the work. So I wanna give my appreciation for you in that. One point that you make that's very strong is that when we exist in a culture of compliance, we are also taking away resources from prevention, which ultimately is the goal of addressing sexual violence and sexual misconduct on campuses anyway. We're trying to free or liberate, to use your language, liberate our campuses from acts of violence of all kinds, whether they be sexual violence or physical violence or other types of violence that show up in community.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:07]: And you assert that healing is a number one way of doing that or a strong way of doing that both in individual and community spaces. Would you mind kind of sharing with us what that could look like in practice for someone who's reading the book and going, okay. I am with you in spirit. I anchor to these principles, but I don't know what that would mean to have it activated in the space.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:28:28]: I think one idea is to first I always have, like, student think of myself. Where are you positioned? And the later chapter the later chapters, we talk about knowing sort of what's in your locus of control. So I think it really depends on where you're doing this work and knowing that you have multiple roles within the work. And so I feel like some people who are like, well, I'm working in Title IX. I'm in compliance. This is how I feed myself. Right? And so this is also, like, I want us to, like, be pulling apart how this is all intentional. Like, it's easy for us to comply when we have to maintain our needs on the compliance itself, like, on these roles.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:29:13]: And so thinking about ways that you're being preventative maybe outside of your role or in conjunction with your role, but it really does depend on the positionality. So sometimes it's hard to give, like, a direct, like, answer if I don't know that person's role. But if I were to give an example, I would think about if I'm coming in working as, like, the director of the prevention office, I would be looking at incoming students and students who have already shown like, we can tell through the literature who might be at risk for causing harm based on, like, showing lack of empathy, past past history of harm, certain aggression, like, certain respect like, certain things that come up already relationally. Like, how are we intervening with those folks as soon as we know those things? So I would be thinking of, like, preventative workshops, infusing relational conflict, managing distressing emotions. We don't teach people these things. So for me, if I was doing prevention work, I would be thinking in that lens. But if I was in title nine, I might be thinking about, okay, how can I pull in literature that's saying exactly what I think and know would be more holistic here to then, like, make the points that I wanna make? So sometimes you have to be really strategic in your position, but I really do think it depends on your position and what you have the power to do. And it always doesn't have to be happening in that role.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:30:39]: But sometimes I've done organizing work with students outside of my role just as a human. So we can get really creative to maneuver around the system.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:30:49]: Yeah. I think I've had the really amazing opportunity to talk to practitioners in a lot of different capacities in anti sexual violence work, particularly in the context of research. And there are so many folks doing really incredible, I would say, healing work, right, with, like, Nya is saying, within and sometimes outside of their role using, I think, this idea of compliance as instead of it as the ceiling, but as the floor. So we're, yeah, sure. I'm complying. I'm checking the, you know, the things that my institution is, has asked of me given the kind of federal and larger context that we're in. And I'm also meeting the needs of the student in front of. I am, there's so many folks who are working with respondents to really do some of that that work that Naya was just talking about of building empathy, understanding why they're causing harm, really doing that.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:31:37]: I would say, like, student development work, right, that is direct prevention work. There's so many title nine folks across kind of that I've talked to and met that, right, are thinking about all of the different constraints that they're holding, right, and still working to meet the the healing needs of the student in front of them even within, right, these systems and constraints that they're working in. And so I think I think it really goes back to some of the the things that we were talking about earlier. Right? Like, really centering in our values. Right? Knowing what our lines are. Right? Like, knowing what we are willing to do and not do. Getting creative. Right? Coming back to our specific strength, coming back to community and the networks that we have.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:32:16]: So we do in the book offer some, some like more specific, like practices, like healing around healing, around contemplative practices, and internal work. And so there's some kind of healing activities or modalities that we offer, but those are just some, I would say, a handful of the kind of creative and really imaginative and dreaming things that folks are already doing. And I think some of the work is around making connections and having conversations and also being cautious again, not upholding one particular thing as kind of a best practice that should be applied across all institutions, but rather really learning from kind of the lessons and the underlying strategies and approaches that folks are using. And I think that's one of the things that the three of us, I know, hope that our current and, you know, future research also aims to do that to really uplift what folks are currently doing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:04]: You also ask readers to ask their institutions some hard questions throughout the book, which is, I think, part of that abolitionist thinking that you're bringing forward. How are we thinking about the systems and structures that we're upholding, and are they really serving the institution? Are they serving the community members within the institution? We unfortunately are short on time to continue this dialogue, but it's so rich in terms of the read. So, again, please make sure that you go check out Thinking Like an Abolitionist to End Sexual Violence in Higher Education. We are on to our theme questions for the season, which again is the past, present, and future of student affairs. So I have one question on each theme. Starting with the past, what's one component of the history of the student affairs profession that you think we should continue to carry forward or alternatively to let go of?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:33:53]: I can share this first because it was actually kind of just what I was give a little sneak peek in my last answer, but I think really keeping our focus on student development. I feel like really coming back to centering student development in anti violence work. And I see that as a direct form of a primary prevention and of engaging in healing work. And so I think that centering in our kind of the student development expertise and perspective that student affairs practitioners and the profession bring.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:34:22]: To that, I would say, you know, and it's such an interesting question because of how our institutions were created and to what end. But student affairs was birthed out of, like, a need. Right? Like, we were like, you know what? We need a bit more to make this buff right. And I just love that energy. Like, I love that energy of what can make this better. And I wish that we would just get back to some of that, some of that creativity, that fluidity, that let's just go do it, meet a need, and figure it out along the way. We built a whole profession just from meeting a need. And so I wish that we would let fear go and remember our roots and listen to what students need and what our communities need right now and and our capacity meet those needs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:05]: Moving into the present, what's happening in the field right now that's going well for student affairs?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:35:09]: That is a question, especially when higher education as a whole is experiencing so much precarity and uncertainty and questions about the the future, I guess, and and our present. But I think one thing that is actually kind of exactly what Naya was was just speaking about, but I I do I have heard and seen folks, right, like, getting creative, using their full gifts and resources and networks to meet the needs. Like, that's the language I was gonna use of the students in front of them. And so I think in amidst all of the larger context, there are definitely folks in this field who are in alignment with their values, are are getting creative to to serve the students that are in front of them.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:35:51]: Yeah. This is hard for me to answer only because I'm very upset with our collective response. And so I'll talk about what's going on at the grassroots level. But I think right now at the grassroots level, there are people who recognize, like, we cannot continue as business as usual. We must heal. Like, now is the time to heal and strategize. Like, we're not safe. And so I think that right now what's happening is the people on the ground who recognize we can't just continue with the status quo, and we have to heal and really be creative.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:22]: And looking towards the future, in an ideal world, what does the field need to do to thrive towards the future?

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:36:28]: I think we have to do a lot, but I really do believe it starts first with ridding ourselves collectively of this idea that, like, we need to be punished and that doing harm will ever meet any need. In one situation scene where, like, harm has met a need. I know there's even some research on if you pop a child's hand, like, if they're gonna, like, touch a burning stove, like, that's okay. But you could even gently grab that. You know, like, I just feel like there's always a way outside of harm. And at first, we have to do, like, our own individual and then collective work to recognize why are we okay with championing this and how do we release it from ourselves. Like, I don't believe that I live in a world where, like, war is okay. Like, we're killing other people for land and resources.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:37:13]: We're not better than that. We are. So that's my hope for the future.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:37:17]: Yeah. I think, really, it's something that is, again, really present throughout the book, something we've talked about in this conversation, but moving beyond just compliance. Right? Like, using, again, compliance is kind of that floor rather than the ceiling in our work as a field, and particularly in the context of anti sexual violence work. But I think we're seeing in general at broad in higher education, the kind of challenges with compliance and over compliance and preemptive compliance. And so I think really transformation and, again, addressing the needs of our students really requires moving beyond compliance to to think about what they're actually asking for, what they actually need for their healing and their learning and their growth.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:57]: It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:03]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. Each year at the NASPA annual conference, the NASPA Foundation recognizes a series of distinguished individuals who have served as leaders, teachers, and scholars in student affairs in higher education. Each individual is nominated and supported for designation as a pillar by colleagues, students, friends, and others who find them deserving of this honor. If selected as a pillar, the nominator and selected foundation board member will raise $3,500 in the name of the individual being nominated to further research and scholarship in student affairs. The NASPA Foundation's Pillar of the Profession award honors members of the profession who have provided significant service to NASPA through regional and or national leadership roles within the association and have created a lasting impact on the institutions or organizations at which they have worked, leaving a legacy of extraordinary service recognized by a cross section of institutional and organizational stakeholders and or have demonstrated sustained lifetime professional distinction in the field of student affairs and or higher education. The nominations for the pillar of the profession are open and are due by 06/06/2025. If you are interested in nominating someone, I would highly encourage you to go to the NASPA Foundation website at NASPA.org.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:32]: There is a video presentation and a slide deck that will explain to you more about what a successful nomination packet looks like, and you can get a better sense of what the expectation is. This is a great way to be able to recognize people in the profession that have done amazing things, and I highly encourage you to think about someone that you will want to that you would want to nominate as a pillar of the profession. The twenty twenty five NASPA conferences on student success in higher education is happening June 27 through June 30 in Denver, Colorado. The NASPA conferences on student success in higher education is a convergence of three conferences in one registration. The conferences offer outstanding professional development opportunities that will shape your learning experiences. This conference is designed to engage professionals in critical discussions about in critical discussions and strategies around assessment planning and data analytics, dismantling systemic barriers to student success, and first generation student success. Each track will address the unique challenges and opportunities within these fields, equipping attendees with actionable insights to enhance institutional effectiveness, promote equity, and foster student achievement. This is a space for collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of best practices across higher education, focusing on the student experience from a data informed equity centered perspective.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:40:54]: This conference offers a platform for professionals who are committed to advancing equity, fostering student success, and using data driven strategies to enhance the higher education experience for all students. Whether your focus is on assessment, dismantling barriers, or first generation success, you'll find resources, insights, and a community of like minded professionals at the SSHE conference. The regular registration deadline for this conference ends on June 4, so you still have some time to be able to get in to the conference at the regular registration rate, and then late registration goes from June 5 to 06/27/2025. Find out more on the NASPA website. Finally, today, there is a new step by step course called conducting sexual misconduct climate surveys, a step by step course. This is a live web event in partnership with Rankin Climate. NASPA is providing a comprehensive course to meet the needs that colleges have to be able to understand how to develop these important climate surveys. This course will guide you and your team through a step by step process and will provide you with a blueprint for institutions that choose to administer a survey using only in house resources or minimal external assistance, culminating in participants building their own climate assessment plan.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:42:16]: This training builds a foundation for further data collection and assessment strategies, including general climate surveys and analysis of internal sexual mix sexual misconduct case data and the programmatic assessment to measure the impact of the effects of the efforts you and your colleagues are conducting to move the needle on the indicators on the indications from your overarching community survey work. Again, the live sessions for this begin on June 11, but this is there are three live sessions from June 11, on June 11 from one to 3PM eastern, June eighteenth from one to three eastern, and June 25 from one to three eastern. Find out more about this great course in the online learning community, in the NASPA online learning community. You can reach that by going to learning.NASPA.org. Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:43:42]: Where do you fit? Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that. Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:31]: Chris, thank you so much for sharing what's going on in and around NASPA and another lovely and informative NASPA world. And, Nadeeka and Naya, we are here with our lightning round. I have seven questions for you in about ninety seconds. You both ready to go?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:44:45]: Yes. Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:46]: Question one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:44:51]: Cuff It by Beyonce.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:44:52]: It would probably be some young nudie. I can't think of a title on the spot.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:56]: Number two. When you were five years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:45:00]: I think a teacher.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:45:01]: I wanted to be a Spice Girl. Which

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:02]: Spice Girl?

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:45:03]: Well, see, I was like a in between scary, sporty, posh.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:06]: So number six. Spice Girl number six. I love it. Number three, who's your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:45:13]: That's so hard. I will just shout out doctor Krista Porter. I've been really thinking about her lately. She's also making some serious moves in her own career, and it's been amazing to watch, but that's hard to pick the most, but she has been on my mind and heart lately.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:45:26]: Yeah. The most is hard because I really have a community of scholars who hold me down. I I would say right now, I'm thinking of one of my peer mentors, doctor Shonda Breeden. She is just an exemplar for me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:40]: Number four, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:45:43]: The book that just came into my brain was What It Takes to Heal by Prentiss Hemphill, which is an incredible, incredible book that I think every human would benefit from, including Sunifer's book.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:45:54]: I'm shamelessly plugging our book. It's brilliant, and you need to read it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:57]: Can you title it again, Naya?

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:45:59]: Thinking Like an Abolitionist in Sexual Violence in Higher Education.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:03]: Number five, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:46:06]: I just finished, and it's very relevant to this conversation, I just finished the Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO. Not, like, necessarily the best, but it's it's a really good show. And I just, yesterday, finished the the whole series.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:19]: Showrunner, Minnie Kaling, I think. Right?

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:46:21]: Yes. I just finished Severance season two. I now know what the GOATs were for. So

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:27]: Alright. Number six, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:46:31]: I think mine is How to Survive the End of the World, which is by Adrienne Maree Brown and her sister, Autumn Brown.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:46:38]: Everyone knows this about me, but one of my character flaws is I I don't listen to podcasts. It's something with my neurodivergence. I just I can't listen to them. I can't listen to audiobooks. It's a thing. But I can read the transcripts, so I haven't been binging any podcasts, sadly.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:54]: And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:46:58]: I think a huge shout out to doctor Chris Linder who couldn't be here with us, but is always with us in spirit whenever we're talking about these things.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:47:06]: Yes. I would second that. Shout out to doctor Chris Linder for bringing this just incredible work to life, and I really appreciate her strength. She's just an action oriented person. Like, what she sets her mind to, she gets done. And we really need people like that towards liberation. So thank you, Chris.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:26]: And after our show airs and after our colleagues have read the book, if they'd like to join you in dialogue, how can they find you?

Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne [00:47:33]: You could go. I have a website that has my contact info. It's nadikak.com and has my email and everything.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:47:39]: And you can find me on the Morgan University website. My academic email is there. I'm also available on LinkedIn.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:48]: Well, Naya, Nadeka, it's been a joy getting to speak with you and learn about your perspectives and, of course, your book. Please thank Chris for her contribution to the work as well, and thank you both so much for sharing your voice with us today.

Dr. Niah Grimes [00:48:00]: Thank you. Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:07]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill l Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:46]: That's me. Produced and audio engineered by Dr. Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.

In the most recent episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, recorded at the 2024 NASPA Annual Conference in New Orleans, host Dr. Jill Creighton invites us into a vibrant tapestry of real stories from practitioners at every level of higher education. The episode centers around a powerful question: Can you share a moment or experience in student affairs that you feel embodies the spirit of this profession? The result is a chorus of voices revealing the deep, often unseen impact student affairs professionals have on their campuses and on each other.

From directors and deans to graduate students just starting their journey, one theme rings clear: student affairs is about people. Stories of mentorship, community, and personal growth abound. Many professionals recounted full-circle moments—guiding undergraduates, only to see them return years later as colleagues or even scholars in the field. Listening in, you’ll hear how those simple, day-to-day interactions—a word of encouragement, honest conversation, or helping hand in crisis—can change a student’s path or even their life.

Community and connection surface as vital throughlines. The NASPA conference itself becomes a symbol—a place where hugs, laughter, and candid discussions help professionals recharge, collaborate, and remember why this work matters. There’s a raw honesty, too: several speakers acknowledge the unique challenges facing higher education today. Yet, in the face of adversity, they highlight the unwavering spirit of resilience, support, and advocacy that defines student affairs.

Listeners will also appreciate the emphasis on equity, inclusion, and the holistic development of students. Whether it’s empowering first-generation scholars, supporting students in crisis, or building bridges across functional areas, the profession’s commitment to fostering belonging and success shines bright.

What elevates this episode is its authenticity. These are not scripted testimonials: they're person-on-the-street interviews, each voice echoing with genuine passion and care—for students and for one another. It’s an episode that will remind you of your “why,” whether you’re a new grad or a seasoned pro.

If you’re seeking inspiration, camaraderie, or simply a reminder of the everyday magic in student affairs, tune in to this episode. It’s a celebration of the profession’s heart—and a call to keep showing up, for our students and for each other.

Listen now and let these stories rejuvenate your passion for student affairs!

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm doctor Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay voices from the field host. Hey, SA voices. We are back with our third and final episode from this year's annual conference. This is our third person on the street style interview, and we're so thankful for those of you who chose to share your voice with us. Today's question was on theme three, which was sustaining and celebrating the student affairs profession.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:44]: We asked you, can you share a moment or experience in student affairs that you feel embodies the spirit of this profession? Once again, thank you so much if you shared your voice with us today. And for those of you who are unable to attend annual conference, we hope that these three episodes plus our three interviews from the conference gave you a bit of a taste of what was going on, in New Orleans. And if you were at the conference, we hope that this reenergizes you and brings you some of that joy and passion that we get when we are able to be together in community. Thanks so much, and enjoy your conversations.

Eileen Hentz [00:01:14]: Hello. My name is Eileen Hentz. I am the program director of academic and student services at the University of Maryland Department of Aerospace Engineering celebrating sustaining student affairs profession. I think a moment that I can remember that I feel embodies the spirit of the profession is just through mentoring. I remember meeting a student their very first semester as a first year student and not knowing they'd had no idea what they wanted to do or where they wanted to go. And I'm kind of working with them all throughout their time as an undergraduate student. And at some point, they kind of recognized that they wanted to do something that I did. They wanted to go into student affairs, and now they have gone through both their master's program.

Eileen Hentz [00:01:50]: They have really done a fantastic job with their work, and they're now even a PhD student going all the way through with their PhD in student affairs. And we have been in contact every single moment of the way, and I'm really proud of them. And they've, you know, of course, said thank you to me for helping them find their way professionally, but I really, really put a lot of things in them because they are exactly what helps make me feel passionate and excited about doing the work that we do. We're certainly a team in student affairs.

Dr. Alyssa Bivens [00:02:23]: Hi. I'm doctor Alyssa Bivens. I'm representing George Mason University. I'm in their very new graduate division as a graduate career and professional development program coordinator. I'm still pretty new to the profession, but in working with some of my graduate professional assistants, seeing them improve on something that I've mentored them in and and seeing actual growth, I think, is one of the one of the reasons we do this, is seeing that incremental growth in the students around us.

Amerette Renieri [00:02:54]: I'm Anurant Ranieri. I'm from Texas A and M University in College Station, Texas. I am currently serve as the associate director of career services for Mays Business School. This is one's a hard one. I've been in the profession now for almost twelve years, and I think, honestly, NASPA has really brought me a lot of joy because I've been able to connect with professionals from all over the all over the, like, country and really finding a space where while I work in career services, I very much identify as a student affairs practitioner in a career services space. Whereas a lot of career services people identify more on the career services side, but I very much view my job as a student affairs educator in a career services world.

Amy Law [00:03:34]: Hello. My name is Amy Law. I am a GAP from the graduate associate program with NASPA. I am from California. I currently attend the University of Southern California for my degree in post secondary administration and student affairs with my master's program. I actually, like, just ran into my undergraduate student affairs mentorship team with enough program with NASPA here at the NASPA annual conference. And I had not seen them since undergrad, but I got into the field of student affairs in undergrad. And so now as a master's student, being here as a annual conference intern, being in this space as a graduate associate as well, it is such so full circle to see the people that contributed to where I am standing here today in this role.

Amy Law [00:04:23]: And I feel like that is what embodies this profession so much because this profession has so much mentorship, so much guidance and support that we don't even realize it until you're standing in this position looking at the people who who had a hand in bringing you here today.

Angela Watts [00:04:39]: Angela Watts, the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio School of Nursing. I'm the director for student success. This may be not a very original answer, but for me, commencement is always one of those moments where I am not only proud of the students, but I feel rejuvenated. And because oftentimes, you know the struggles that students have gone through to be able to make it to the point where they're crossing that stage. I mean, you see their families and their friends so excited for them. And so I think that those are moments where I feel like my work has made a difference in someone's life. And not only in their lives, but often in their family's lives and the trajectory of future generations of their families.

James Quisenberry [00:05:21]: Asia Jones, associate director at the National Association for Student Affairs Professionals, AKA NASPA. My defining moment in my experience in student affairs was when I came to NASPA. Working on college campuses for the last ten years was great. And I was worried when I first came because I was such a student friendly person. Like, how was I gonna be able to do that work and not be in the face of students? And what defined me is to see that I can do this work, and I'm doing it at a greater and broader level that flows down to the students that create retention and graduation programs for students to be able to excel. And so that has really helped define me that no matter where I go in student affairs, I can find my mission and get it done.

Dr. Bernard Little [00:06:07]: I'm doctor Bernard Little, vice president for student affairs at Prairie State College. A moment or experience in in student affairs that embodies the spirit of this profession, I would say one of the best experiences that I've had is attending the new VPSA Institute. And coming from a community college, I was a little nervous about, right, what that would be for me, given I was in the room with some heavy hitters. And it was truly a remarkable experience because I was embraced and was able to really lean into professionals who were not only feeding me, but also learning from me as well. And I think that's just really what student affairs is about. It's just not about the show, really about truly, people and how we can help one another on this journey that we're in together.

Camden Doolittle [00:06:52]: My name is Camden Doolittle. I use they and them pronouns. I'm coming to you from the NASPA annual conference in New Orleans, but I am from the University of California Davis in the Sacramento region of California. I think a lot of things two things that stand out to me. One is being consistent. Showing up every day, every month, every year over a career and standing for what you believe in as that evolves and changes. And I think that's that's excellence and that's the spirit of what we do and who we are. And I think the other piece is just resilience.

Camden Doolittle [00:07:23]: I went to undergrad at the University of San Diego, a Catholic institution, and I was there right as we were talking about what does it mean to be gender expansive in a Catholic setting. And we put on a drag show and kind of talked about what does it mean to celebrate gender expression. And there was a lot of pushback because it was change. And so it's how do we engage change. And I think that doing that drag show over three to four years really embodied that for me, and that's the spirit I try to bring in my career. That was ten years ago now, but it still stays with me.

David Zemoyski [00:07:57]: I'm Charles.

Speaker K [00:07:58]: I think if you just look at this conference I did a pre conference yesterday at the Black and African Men's Summit, and there's so many people who are going through the same things everywhere, but we're finding ways to support each other. And I think that's probably the most important thing for me, just finding that community and supporting each other. It doesn't even have to be someone in your school. You gotta find someone, a way that you can just unpack and talk about the things at your that's happened at your university or in your everyday life that you can be unfiltered with.

Jessica [00:08:33]: My name is Jessica. I think it's important for conferences like this and other student affairs profession conference for us to connect and network because we are going through similar things either on the state or federal surface. And so it's really important for us to have those connections and making sure that we can lean on each other, whether you are from the East Coast, the West Coast, Canada, Mexico. Higher education impacts us all. And so it's always nice to bounce ideas

Clarissa Lau [00:09:01]: off one another as well.

Chris Hall [00:09:04]: Hi. I'm Chris Hall. I'm the director of residence life and student housing at Georgetown University Law Center. I would say that daily we have moments in student affairs that embody the spirit of this profession, whether that be something as simple as just helping somebody out, with a simple question that they may have or figuring out a very complex challenge and finding the solution to yes rather than they trying to get to no. I think that's one thing that we believe in very much is how do you get to yes. I think if we keep that and embrace that as a concept, we can do really well for our students.

Clarissa Lau [00:09:37]: I am Clarissa Lau. My pronouns are she and her, and I work at the University of Toronto. I work a lot with student data, and I also work a lot with student staff trying to understand student data. And I remember very fondly moments when I was actually leading a set of focus groups with staff, trying student data to improve. And hearing their excitement about that, not only did they share about experiences of how they engage students to understand their student data, but then as well as how they personally feel revitalized, empowered in their work, I think that was a real highlight for me.

Speaker O [00:10:18]: My name is Dan Maxwell. I serve as the interim vice president for student success and student life at the University of Houston downtown. I think the way that can sustain and celebrate student affairs is, again, this is about reaching not only our students where they are, but it's also about reaching our staff and our individual staff members where they are and helping them to embrace the moment, think about the future, and have some patience as we navigate sometimes these turbulent waters that we're in.

Speaker P [00:10:47]: Dan Balchak, interim dean of students at Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Sharing a moment, I can tell you when I was a RA as an undergrad, there was an RD there who I became very good friends with, got very involved with NASPA, was a NASPA president at one point, got me involved with NASPA. I've done a lot of stuff with NASPA, and to me, that's part of the profession, how we mentor young people, we work with young people, and we hopefully learn well.

Speaker Q [00:11:14]: Hello. My name is David Chow. I am currently the chair of the technology knowledge community for NASPA. So the moment in experience that's that I really cherish almost every year is attending the NASPA conference. It's a time for me to recharge and just remind myself why I believe in student affairs as a profession and the energy, it just nudges me and just helps keep me going.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:11:33]: My name

Speaker S [00:11:33]: is David Zemoyski. I'm senior associate dean of students at Boston University. The most recent example for me is the moment I learned that Betty Simmons is receiving this year's Fred Turner award for outstanding service to NASPA and that Maureen Keefe is receiving the Scott Goodnight award for outstanding performance as a dean. To me, they're two friends and colleagues I have enormous respect and affection for, and what a great moment for the association and the foundation to recognize excellence in this way.

Speaker T [00:12:04]: I am doctor Deborah Wright, and I am with the George Washington University in Washington, DC. I love to think about times when students come in to our organizations, to our institutions where they are, for example, first generation students or other students don't have support in helping them navigate college. And as student affairs professionals, we do what we do best, help students gain connection and belonging. We do that well during our orientation programs and just finding ways to especially engage them so that they can feel part of our university communities and cultures.

David Zemoyski [00:12:33]: Hi. My name is Diedra Cobb, and I am from Fairmont State University in West Virginia, and I am the student success coordinator. I was hired under the title three grant with the intentions of being, first and foremost, a bridge between academic affairs and student affairs along with other responsibilities such as forming a student success support team and also overseeing a student ambassador program called the student empowerment liaisons. I'm actually hired under academic affairs, but my office is in the student affairs area. So I get to interact with a lot of student affairs professionals as well as academic affairs professionals. So I think that is very important to be able to collaborate and communicate across departments. But I also think one of the best things that has come out of this grant, and embodies the spirit of the profession is actually having that student ambassador program, the SELs, or student empowerment liaisons, because it's a way of having a liaison between the students and administration to get the students' perspective. And absolutely enjoy working with those students and have learned a lot from them, probably as much as they have learned from me.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:13:53]: Hello, everyone. My name is Eddie Martinez. I serve as the associate dean for student affairs at Suffolk County Community College. When I go to NASPA annual conferences and I walk from one place to the other and you just watch all of the hugs, the kisses, and the deep conversations, the light conversations. People from all over the world who just gather one time a year and it is what gives me the goosebumps. It's what gives me joy to come to annual conference every year and just hug people, have conversations, and truly commiserate sometimes and appreciate each other. That's the spirit of our profession, and NASPA provides that venue for us to do it.

Speaker V [00:14:37]: My name is Ellie McMillan. I'm the graduate apprentice at the Center for Leadership in Elon University. I use sheher pronouns, and I'm a graduate student in the Master of Art in Higher education program at Elon. So a moment that I feel really embodies this profession is actually something at the NASBA conference. So yesterday, we were kind of going to a opening night reception over at Mardi Gras World, and I actually got to introduce my graduate supervisor with my undergraduate supervisor. And it was just a really, like, full circle moment for me. And I'm originally from the Northeast, So I also was encouraged to move down south for graduate school by my dean of students. And it was really powerful because I actually got to see him again and be like, hey, I'm here, and I'm successful and I'm loving graduate school, in the South.

Speaker V [00:15:35]: And so just reconnecting with everyone at graduates at my undergrad institution and having kind of my grad school and undergrad school connect, has been really, really special for me.

Speaker W [00:15:48]: Erica Stocks, director of student affairs at Boston University's Henry m Goldman School of Dental Medicine. I think honestly, like, starting, getting involved in a gaps. I mean, this year, I feel like I'm coming full circle because 2015 was my first NASPA conference. It was here in New Orleans, so I feel like I'm back. And it was really where I found, like, a really professional home and really welcoming individuals. And I think that's kind of the spirit of student affairs, right, is we're all welcoming. We wanna interact with students, but also, you know, supporting each other in the work that we do. It can be taxing at times.

Speaker W [00:16:17]: It can be draining and particularly in graduate and professional student affairs where sometimes you might be the only person in that office or the only person in the department. So you need that kind of community and it may not be at your institution. It may be within sort of a larger professional organization. So I think that one in particular for me because I was coming by myself as a new professional, and I was like, I don't know any of these people, but everyone was really welcoming. And then I have sort of found my professional community. While I have a a little bit of a larger team, it's still not huge in in respects to other schools. So I do tend to use my colleagues to bounce ideas off of sort of across the country, particularly because we're working on sort of the same issues and topics that come up in graduate and professional student affairs.

Speaker X [00:16:56]: I'm George McClellan, professor of higher education at the University of Mississippi. So I'm gonna tell you two stories. I was lucky enough to be in a room. There was a time when NASPA's archives, you know, at Bowling Green, was trying to interview some of the founding original student affairs greats because they were all getting older. And so they went out to capture the voices of these living folks. And so it was basically student affairs giants interviewing other student affairs giants, and I was not a giant. I don't know if I am now, but I certainly wasn't that. And so Peggy Barr said to me, she was gonna interview James Radagon.

Speaker X [00:17:30]: It was one of my favorite people. People. Passed away. Great loss to the field. Wonderful human being. Anyway, Peggy says, you can sit in a room, but you can't talk and you can't ask any questions. So I'm sitting in a room while Peggy Barr is interviewing James Radagon. And she asked him I don't remember what question was, but he started talking about he was the long time vice president of Wichita State.

Speaker X [00:17:49]: And he he was there when they lost their basketball team and a bunch of coaches in a plane crash. And decades had gone by, and he started crying. The pain continued to be real for him. And I've seen too many people stay in this business too long to the point where they lose the magic with students. And I always thought, I don't wanna be one of those people. And that day with Radegan reminded me. And And I've said since then, I never wanna be here so long that I don't cry over students. I cry when they graduate because I'm happy.

Speaker X [00:18:21]: I cry if one of them doesn't make it through. I'm a willeller. I'm a crier. But I never wanna be at a place where I don't cry about students. And and then I'll tell you the other story. So this profession brings you lots of wonderful things, meeting people like you, all the friends I've made over the years, and all of that sort of thing. But the coolest thing for me is every place I've ever been, literally every single institution, staff that have worked with me, for me, students that I've met, etcetera, to this day, they will send me little cards that'll say, hey. Just wanna let you know I had my first child.

Speaker X [00:18:54]: Wanna let you know I got this job. Wanted to let you know this, that happened. My mom died. Those cards let me know whatever else I've managed to accomplish, there's somebody out there, a real person, who knows that I care about them and that I'll want to know that news about their life.

Speaker Y [00:19:13]: Hello. My name is Hallie Vavris. I am a graduate student at Baldwin Wallace University in the leadership in higher education program here. Right now, I am working in the STEM scholars program at Baldwin Wallace University. So I am working with a woman named Cat Katie Adkins. She and I are working on writing grants for the Choose Ohio First program. And sharing a moment in that office is amazing because I used to work with a student who was hard of hearing. And this student was a STEM student, hard of hearing, and I realized that she needs a role model.

Speaker Y [00:19:48]: You know, the student was really looking for somebody who was I believe it was chemistry, and finding a role model was difficult. And I had to really use, like, my outside resources outside of the university to really do my own research, and I think that that was really a learning moment for me as a graduate student that we might not have all of the resources here at the university. You know, it's a lot of, like, brainstorming and creativity to kind of think outside the box. So what I did in that scenario was that I contacted, I believe it was the deaf hard of hearing community in Columbus. I contacted them and I was like, hey. Would you have any mentors for this student? And, you know, I kind of helped bridge that connection. And let me tell you what, that student, I believe it changed her life because she really got to see, you know, somebody who relates to her. And and then she graduated, and yeah.

Speaker Y [00:20:39]: And she is doing so well. And that really kind of helped build the connection to with her professionally.

Speaker Z [00:20:47]: I'm Jackie Yoon. I take the she series, and I serve as the executive director of the student center at at Harvard Griffin GSAS. It feels hard to talk about celebrations right now as we're in this moment in higher ed where we're having a lot of challenging days. There's, like, a little bit of occupational hazard to our work right now, but I think it's even more important during this time to think about our students. And for me, it's it's all about folks being successful and growing. And so watching students cross the stage that for commencement that had struggles in their graduate in their graduate journey, which everyone has struggles in their graduate journey. But watching a student leader really grow in their leadership identity and really work on things in their time with us, seeing student groups come together around celebration. I just, this year I was watching a Diwali event in the student center from the balcony and just the color and the dancing and the festivity and the joy and people inviting each other into each other's cultures.

Speaker Z [00:21:45]: I just feel grateful for those moments of fun and celebration. I feel lucky to work with such amazing students.

Dr, Jacob Diaz [00:21:54]: My name is Jacob Diaz. I serve as the associate vice chancellor for student success at the University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg campus. Being at the NASPA conference right now reminds me of the importance of community. And I think now it's what dropped me into the field, and I think I'm realizing now it's what sustains me is that being in community with my colleagues on my campus, my colleagues nationally and internationally helped to remind me that I'm not in this alone. And then that helps give me energy to keep doing the work that's needed.

Herbie Gibson [00:22:30]: Hi. This is James Quisenberry. I'm executive director of student affairs technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. One of my most exciting moments being a student affairs professional is every year at our IT professionals conference on campus, where all the IT leaders and professionals come together in the fall, I host a panel for students to share their experiences with technology, and I and I bring them there, and I I actually make our IT professionals just sit and listen because we need to do a better job as technology leaders and leaders in student affairs to listen to what the experience of our students are so we can move things forward. And it and it's always great to give the students a voice, and I enjoy those moments very much.

James Stewart [00:23:18]: Hi. I'm James Stewart, associate vice president for student development and achievement at Coppin State University. You know, I think NAS conferences do that. I think that we come together in support of each other in our common experience and community. That's exactly what we want our students to do, and so I look forward to it each year. It's my chosen family in the profession.

Jamie Haney [00:23:41]: Hi. I'm Jamie Haney, associate dean for the graduate college at University of Illinois Chicago. I feel like I see a lot of small moments. You know, staff and faculty put themselves on the line every day, especially in the current day and age. And so letting students again know that we are human, and the ways that we want to support them are the ways that we wanna support everybody in the world.

Dr. Jamie Washington [00:24:06]: Hi. I'm Jamie Washington, and I am the president and founder of the Washington Consulting Group and of the Social Justice Institute Training Institute. I've seen so so much good, and being here at NASPA for me gives me an opportunity to just be reminded of how far we've come and all of the good work that's happening around all of what we do, whether that's in student health, whether that's in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and belonging, whether that's in residence life. There's so many things that in this forty first year of my professional life that I've had an opportunity to see. Just stories after stories of people coming up to me and I remember when I was a student, I was an RA and I was doing this and and now I'm doing this and, you know, and so just as I said at the beginning that we are preparing the next generation of leaders, I get to see that live in this space. So that's what it means to me.

Dr. Jeanna Mastrodicasa  [00:25:03]: Hi. This is Gina Masterdecasa, Casa, and I am the director of the office of institutional assessment at the University of Florida. And I've been there for more than twenty seven years in a total of six roles. I am a student affairs professional not working in student affairs. I do work on a college campus, and I can tell you that I can pick up a conversation I haven't had in a year or two with people here at NASPA or from a out of the blue phone call or text or email and feel like I am part of something. And that is why I've remained committed to attending NASPA and being a member, but more importantly, I'm finding wonderful connections and professional development to happen.

Dr. Josie Ahlquist [00:25:47]: Hey. My name is Josie Alquist. I use sheher pronouns. I am a digital engagement consultant, executive strategist, coach, and speaker. You know, we are at a moment that fully represents this profession to be able to be in community and connect. When we're on our campuses, it can feel so siloed and shielded in bubbles and don't forget to break out whether if that is is coming to a conference, finding someone on LinkedIn, on Instagram, pick up the phone. You are a % not alone and deserve to have other people around you.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:26:29]: Julie Payne Kirchmeier, sheher pronouns, vice president for student success for the Indiana University System.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:26:34]: That's not a system.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:26:35]: We can

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:26:35]: call it a multi campus university if you would like. I'm gonna take this from the NASPA board chair space and say when COVID hit and we shut everything down, we remained supportive of each other in very specific and very broad ways, whether it was the association coming together and figuring out how we were gonna best support folks in need that were either losing their jobs or losing access to professional development funds, flipping things online, and how we worked very intentionally to bring people back together in meaningful spaces. Because as we heard Amelia say the other day, one of the best ways to get through a really difficult time is to be in community with each other and with people who care about you and know what you're experiencing. So.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:27:16]: So I

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:27:16]: think about a moment that embodies the spirit of student affairs. I think back to my undergraduate experience and all the advisors I had, especially when I was, president of Kent Interhall Council at Kent State University and just what they poured into me as advisors and just having some of those tough conversations as a young man that was still pretty bold and unaware of the the world around just having some of those steering conversations. And to this day, I take that forward and think about the conversations I have to have with students, that might be still developing and growing in their maturity.

Jawan Jacobs [00:27:46]: Hey, y'all. My name is Jawan Jacobs. I am currently an assistant director in the Student Involvement and Leadership office at Duke University. Really, the one thing that comes to mind is the Undergraduate Student Conference, which is a pre conference through NASPA. I had the privilege of attending in 2021 and 2022. And truly, it is such an intentional space because I don't think that you ever really get to talk with students, particularly undergraduate students who are so invested in higher education. They're student leaders, they're really active on their campus, and they really wanna make an impact. So what does it really mean to have a dedicated space and a full day conference for those folks where we can have the candid conversations about making sure that you are prepared, but also exposing them to so many different fields and functional areas.

Jawan Jacobs [00:28:32]: We know a lot of our undergraduate students say, I am in a Greek lettered organization, so I want to go into fraternity and sorority life. And while that is great, it is so important that we are exposing our emerging professionals into what it looks like to just have variety of experiences. So really going to that conference and participating on the committee during the planning process and being able to see the intentionality behind it, I think is something that is honestly second to none. It is so intentionally done, so intentionally driven. Lots of work goes into it and then we are intentional about putting them on college campuses that are nearby where the conference is actually being held. So we are giving them a snapshot as to what it looks like to have conversations about being a graduate student, have conversations about being a professional within higher education. And I think that is so, so important because so many questions go unanswered and there are so many different ways to do things and we're just never really actually sure sometimes. The best way to steer someone when they're like, I wanna get involved in higher education.

Jawan Jacobs [00:29:30]: I wanna get involved in student affairs. So, the Undergraduate Student Conference, again, if you are listening to this right now and you have an undergraduate student, please find the means to invest in this opportunity for them. I've been able to see students attend that undergraduate student conference and then become graduate students and then serve on the undergraduate student conference committee. And now, they're full time professionals doing good the good work. Some Some of them are on doctoral programs and it really the foundation and the root of that was us being able to expose them to all of the different kinds of opportunities via the undergraduate student conference. So Go USC, has a special place in my heart and yes, go NASPO.

Kevin Willis [00:30:11]: Hi. My name is Kevin Willis. I am a membership manager with NASPA's membership team. I'm originally from Kentucky. A moment that I feel embodies the spirit of the profession is when I was a student supervisor and I got to actually work with students from freshman to senior year at my last position. And I really got to see them grow and flourish, and we got to develop a wonderful mentor mentee role where I was able to support them and help them grow and become the best versions of themselves. I actually got the chance to walk in the graduation of one of my student managers as part of the staff commencement, and I was able to see her from when I first met her as a freshman to now being a confident, amazing graduate of her institution. And that moment always sticks with me because it's the end goal.

Kevin Willis [00:30:54]: It's what we always hope to have is to get our students across the finish line. And I think for me that embodies not only the profession, but it also embodies why I went into the profession, which is to help students and support them the most.

Herbie Gibson [00:31:07]: Herbie r Gibson, sheher, associate director of residence education for student learning and leadership, Michigan State University. Shout out to the NASBA undergraduate fellows program. I am a proud alum of the program. And if it wasn't for enough, I wouldn't be the practitioner that I am today. And so the ways in which we pour into these students and mentorship and giving them opportunities to learn more about the field, the Dungey Leadership Institute. Coming to NASPA, those are just really great opportunities for people to connect and those connections are still something that I cherish today.

Dr. Laura Devoe [00:31:42]: Hi. My name is doctor Laura DeVoe, and I'm a visiting assistant professor at Boston College. The moment in student affairs that I think embodies, the profession is when we are actually the first people that students come to when they are in need. And that's what we're here for. We are here for the students. We are servant leaders, and we see that every day. And I think anyone listening to this can think of that in their own life.

Mylon Wallace [00:32:11]: My name is Lauren Zelensky. I'm the associate director for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies. And a moment or experience in student affairs that embodies the spirit of this profession would definitely be my office taking over some of the orientation responsibilities of all of our graduate programs within the School of Medicine just to make sure that we are hitting all of those baseline needs for all of our students to ensure that they're receiving all of the necessary resources and information above and beyond what their program specific needs and information for orientation would be.

Marcus . [00:32:47]: My name is Marcus. I'm from Singapore, and I'm representing a social enterprise called Sojourner's Agora, but I also work in student affairs in the National University of Singapore, taking care of student life for the undergraduates. It's sometimes helpful just to see my younger self in the students whom I'm serving. It reminds me also of the many decisions and challenges that I've had to face while I was younger, but also to remember that my experiences are not all the experiences that they're facing. Now I have the opportunity to be a conduit of a whole hybrid and synergy of different stories and narratives and how can I best facilitate that information for the students whom I'm serving? So that mentoring experience really is the most fulfilling thing for me and I feel it's what keeps me going.

Mary Pat Morgan [00:33:35]: My name is Mary Pat Morgan, and I am a program coordinator with the mechatronics engineering program at the universities at Shady Grove. When we're working with students, I think the most important thing is just to connect them to resources beyond the university community to get to know the greater community and to see higher ed as an equalizer that can transform their lives and their trajectory, not just of their own lives, but that of their families, and I've seen it.

Dr. Melanie Mitchell [00:34:05]: Hello. My name is doctor Melanie Mitchell, and I have the pleasure of serving as the director of the Impact Leadership Village at North Carolina State University. A moment that comes up for me when I think about embodying the spirit of the profession is when I have seen the benefits of having an open door policy and empowering students to stop by and connect. It it helps the students see you as human and as a person that they can talk to and share what's going on for them. And so there's value in that, and I think that's something that's important. Relationship building is at the heart of what we do, and being able to have that open door policy, to engage with students really is how you meet their needs and support them where they're at.

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:34:56]: Hi. I am Melinda Stoops. I am currently serving as the interim dean of students at Bay Path University, and I've been working in higher education for over twenty years at this point. From personal experience, recently, my job was eliminated back in January. And as I've worked the past couple of months in terms of transitioning to an interim role and letting people know about my change in circumstances, I I've had so many people reach out and provide support to me. Some of these people I know well that I've worked with for a number of years. Other people, I didn't know at all, and they reach out to me and just, you know, express support for me. And I think that really embodies the spirit of student affairs that as a profession, we are a bunch of helpers, and I mean in a good way, not in a way where we're walking around over helping people.

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:35:46]: But I think we look at people, and we want people to thrive and to succeed, and that applies to our colleagues as well. And I have just been so amazed by the support from this community, and I think that embodies the spirit of the profession.

Melissa Aponte [00:36:01]: I am doctor Melissa Aponte. I serve as assistant dean of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. I am being overwhelmed with the memories of actually being in NOLA ten years ago when I hosted, at the time, my college's first ever alternative spring break and spending a week with our students, sharing time, doing volunteer work. And now ten years later, reflecting on where all those students have gone, some of them have pursued student affairs roles and careers. Others have gone on to do doctoral doctoral work and then also pursued giving back to the community because of some of the impacts of that trip, actually. So I think that really embodies the spirit of really connecting with students, seeing who they are individually, and helping them grow and guide them to whatever opportunities might be there for them.

Melissa Ward [00:36:55]: I am Melissa Ward. I am director of student engagement at the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. That moment for students when something clicks is my drug and why I I show up to work every single day. So whether it's they get a concept or they get the job or they get the leadership

Melissa Ward [00:37:25]: prevention outreach and education department at Michigan State University as our director for employee and graduate student programs. I think about multiple crises that are taking place. I look at what has happened in North Carolina, Florida, California with wildlife disasters. I think about hurricane responses for our campuses that are in the South. And when I see and when I learn and when I hear about these experiences, that is what embodies the best of us. When student affairs professionals are the ones that come together, support folks going through crises, provide the resources, work to get people what they need, that is what I think, is the at the heart of the student affairs profession.

Dr. Michael Sheehane [00:38:01]: Howdy. My name is Michael Sheehan. I work at Texas A and M University in career services. Specifically, I'm the director of campus programs in the career center. Been there for about fifteen years now. I've been doing this for a while. I would say, to date, it's still fascinating to me how students absolutely remember how you made them feel. And so, to date, I'll still get random emails from students that maybe I interacted with a decade or more ago, and they'll update me about where they are now and what they're doing now.

Dr. Michael Sheehane [00:38:28]: And so I think that speaks to the power of the little moments and and making sure that you understand that even though it might be a conversation that you've, as a professional, had 500 times before, it could be the first time that student's hearing it. And so making sure you you give care to each one of those moments.

Dr. Michelle Burke [00:38:45]: Michelle Burke, Grand Rapids, Michigan. I work with the Michigan Center for Adult College Success. I've been a NASPA member for a long time. I think coming to the NASPA conference almost every year and seeing the people that you have mentored that have mentored you. And what I love is when I have my undergraduate student from years ago who's now getting a doctorate and gonna be a professor in higher ed. That's amazing.

Dr. Mimi Benjamin [00:39:11]: I'm Mimi Benjamin. I'm a professor in the student affairs in higher education program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I think that when I come to the national conference and I run into former colleagues and former students who tell me about their successes and are so excited about everything from passing their comps to getting a promotion to doing the kind of work and making the kind of impact on students that they always talked about doing. Those are really the times that I know I picked the right profession, and I'm really excited to be part of of the field.

Mylon Wallace [00:39:48]: Mylon Wallace. I work in the Office of Student Conduct at the University of Alabama. I've had the opportunity in the Office of Student Conduct where I've been able to make a decision that could have faced somebody's life and chosen not to. I feel like that embodies compassion and empathy because at the end of the day, I do still have a job to do and they do still have to be held accountable, but that doesn't mean I have to be malicious with it.

Narelle Njok [00:40:12]: Hi, everyone. My name is Nairole Njok. I'm currently a first year graduate student at Iowa State University in the student affairs master's program, and I am from Omaha, Nebraska. As a first year graduate, I really reflect on my experience in undergrad as a member of a a black Greek letter organization and a member of a scholarship community that I was involved Those individuals really embodied what it means to be a student affairs professional to the point where now I'm in the field now and being able to live out my purpose. And so shout out to those individuals who've just been been on my side and sat with me when I've had hard conversations. And they've had those conversations with me even when I didn't wanna hear it. But overall, like, they've really shaped the individual that I am today, and I I appreciate them so.

Pedro Ramos [00:41:00]: Hi. This is Pedro Ramos. I am the student engagement manager for the program Exploratory Studies at CU Boulder from Boulder, Colorado. So hello. I remember leading a student leadership conference maybe, like, three years ago at Adams State University, go Grizzlies. And one of the things that I remember asking the students is, where do you come from, who are you now, and where are we going in the future? And it was an embodiment of true inner reflection that we were able to get students to really reflect on their values. And I think that's one of the things about the student affairs professionals is that we're constantly going back to the drawing board and being, alright. Where do I come from? Where am I? And where am I going in the future? So in the same way we ask that for our students, I hope we ask that for ourselves too and really, I don't know, hoping for a really prosperous journey for all of us.

Pedro Ramos [00:41:51]: So thank you.

Dr. Peggy Crowe [00:41:54]: Hi. I'm Peggy Crowe. I serve as the director of the counseling center and the student accessibility resource center at Western Kentucky University. I think this conversation right here with my dear friend, Chris, is a way that we embody the spirit of the profession. I think all the sessions that we're at, all the reunions that we're having, you know, we're talking about Chris and I are part of the inaugural serve academy and trying to find ways for us to get together and just be in presence with one another. I think we are forgetting the importance hugs that we're receiving. That's the spirit of this profession. That's why we come back here.

Dr. Peggy Crowe [00:42:30]: That's why we feel engaged and rejuvenated to go back and do our very important work.

Dr. Phil Covington [00:42:36]: I'm Phil Covington. I serve as associate vice vice chancellor for student success at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Fortunately, those are things that seem to happen almost every day and that's just the point in time where a student finally sees you not as a suit, not as an administrator, not as somebody who's there just checking boxes, but realizes, oh, this guy really cares about me and my experience and my future and my family. So taking the time to slow down long enough to see people for who they are and for who they're becoming and hoping in return that they can do the same for us, it's just so beautiful in this profession. And then getting to come to places like the annual conference and seeing colleagues that we've known for a long time, as well as connecting with new folks and being encouraged and being encouragers. There's so much negativity going on, but there's also incredible opportunity for us to make a difference for one another right now.

Rachael Amaro [00:43:33]: Rachel L. Morrow, admissions and academic advisor for the Department of Educational Leadership at Cal State Fullerton. I think recently, for me, a moment that really brings the spirit of student affairs is that we had a student in crisis very recently, and what I appreciated was the connection our students have to not just myself as the advisor for the department, but to my EDD director and even to the faculty made them feel comfortable to let all of us know, hey, there's another member in our cohort who we are concerned about. And going through all of that made us feel like, oh, good. The students trust us to help, and they help each other in moments of crisis. And so we really felt like a team in working through the situation and getting help for the student, and now things are a lot, have improved. And so it's nice for us to know that not only are we doing a good job at connecting with them, but they feel comfortable with us and reaching out when even it's not themselves that need help, but someone in their cohort.

Rachel Duvall [00:44:42]: I'm Rachel Duvall. I'm the associate director of volunteer engagement at NASPA. I am from Memphis, Tennessee. I think seeing the KCs and some just all professional organizations who share resources without a sense of competitiveness is what I really have valued in getting to know folks around here. We are all doing the same work, and so rising tides lift all boats kind of situation. And so when we don't compete, but we build on what everyone is doing in a way that feels supportive, I think that's when we are the most successful.

Ray Fisco [00:45:14]: Hi. Ray Fisco, he, him pronouns. I am from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I serve NASPA as the assistant director of Statewide Coalitions Trainings and Partnerships. Certainly, there was a time that I was helping a student that got into trouble for drinking on campus, And, you know, I got to talk to them about making better choices, talking about their goals, talking about, you know, what they want to do in college and how this experience, how getting in trouble shouldn't define who they are. And they really took that conversation, that meeting with me, and really allowed them to, you know, really reflect. And from that moment, it felt like they really grew and really knew what they they wanted to do moving forward and to not allow this experience define who they are. And I, you know, I got to see this student continue to grow and prosper beyond that meeting that, you know, one mistake doesn't define what is what a student does for for the rest of the time in their career, and that really defines to me the moment that experience that I have in student affairs of, like, why I'm in this profession, why I love the work that I get to do.

Sean Devoe [00:46:21]: Hi. Sean DeVoe. I serve as the associate vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Massachusetts Boston. At UMass Boston, where we are a primarily or majority minority institution and also majority first gen, on a daily basis, I get to help someone out. And that's that's really sometimes it's as simple as making sure a student understands who to connect with on campus. And sometimes the other day, I met with a student who arrived in our campus and had been, designated as an unhoused student in her high school years, transitioned to us from out of state. And after doing some research, I was able to provide her with what's called in state residency as a state institution, which knocked her tuition down tremendously. And she was thrilled, and I know that I have a student that I've really impacted.

Sean Devoe [00:47:10]: So it's a good place to work.

Sarah Edmonson [00:47:15]: Hello. I am Sarah Edmonson. She, her pronouns. I serve as the associate director for student involvement at Washington University in Saint Louis or WashU. I think it's such a small example, but to me it is a really good one. In my top five strengths is this developer strength. I lean into heavily in my developmental work with students, and I had a student. They were actually one of my very first student leaders in my full time professional role, and several years later, they had ended up going to grad school.

Sarah Edmonson [00:47:40]: They took a job in higher education in student affairs. They were working with teams of students, kind of supervising teams of students like I was when I was in the position where I knew them. And they had a group chat. And this group chat, I was in housing at time when I worked with this student. The staff of that building had a really robust, really funny, clever group chat. I mean, just a lot of kind of funny inside joke, and that culture really that staff team bonded really, really well.

Sarah Edmonson [00:48:03]: And

Sarah Edmonson [00:48:03]: but now she's managing one of those. And a great team, but it's blowing up at all hours of the day. And you come back and you've been away from your phone for twenty minutes, and you come back to a 50 missed messages in the group chat. And it was just fun to see her reach out to me and say, I had no idea what that was like for you as a professional until I am now in this position. And thank you for the ways. You are always gracious with us and understanding, while also, like, setting those boundaries, turning off the group chat when you needed to have kinda your space and check out. But I thought it was really fun to see her go from being a student to being the professional that is loving working with students and really following a very similar career path and finding just as much meaning and fun, but also balancing some of those tricky pieces that come with working with students and having a very different kind of life than they have. But for me, that was a really beautiful full circle moment and how I got to kind of contribute to sustaining the profession, getting to inspire the next generation of leaders.

Sarah Edmonson [00:48:57]: And I hope to do that with my staff and to keep building them up so that they continue to move up and we continue to have a really robust, healthy field. Hi. I'm doctor Sheila Carussell.

Dr. Sheila Carusel [00:49:09]: I work at Ohio Northern University, and I'm the director of pharmacy student affairs. Thinking about an experience that really, I think, embodies the spirit of this profession, the thing that recently happened with me, a mother called me and said, whatever you did with my student, I do success coaching, whatever however you worked with her, she's blossoming in her second year. She was never the strongest student in high school and she came to ONU and, yeah, didn't have a good first semester but then worked with you in the spring semester and now she is a TA in a biology lab and she got over a three point o GPA this past fall and I congratulated her and said keep up the great work and I think that really is what embodies our profession.

Sylvester Gaskin [00:49:55]: Name is Sylvester Gaskin. I'm a leadership development program leader for the Association of American Medical Colleges. I think, you know, now that I'm kinda adjacent to the field, just hearing from former students saying, like, they're going off to do great things, they're getting great jobs. They're getting promoted or, like, they struggle, then you don't hear from them for a while and they kinda get back to you like they've done well. Like, I I posted a picture on LinkedIn with a colleague of mine that I worked with, like, fifteen years ago and had a bunch of students reach out and be like, y'all were there when we needed you. And, like, I'm I'm thriving now. I bought my first house, paid off my car early. I'm like, I'm having a family.

Sylvester Gaskin [00:50:32]: Those are the things I think you don't see immediately, but down the road, you'll see you'll see that result. And I think that that to me, those are moments that, you know, like, okay. Like, yeah. Like, we did something good.

Taylor Henderson [00:50:45]: Hi. This is Taylor Henderson. I'm the director of the Reliance Student Experience office at Texas A and M University's Mays Business School. So I've been in this work for about fourteen years now, and I worked in various offices, academic programs, advancement, career services, now student experience office. And watching the student journey

Taylor Henderson [00:51:03]: manifest in many different pockets of campus,

Taylor Henderson [00:51:03]: I think, is always the different pockets of campus, I think, is always the experience that matters most. And it's it's what embodies the spirit of student affairs because seeing students in all of these different corners and all of these different functional areas kind of growing simultaneously as as individuals and as a collective body is, I think, what student affairs is all about.

Terrence Duffy [00:51:28]: Hi. My name is Terrence Duffy, t. I'm a first year graduate student at Baldwin Wallace University in the leadership in higher education program. One that I've definitely noticed is right now, I do an internship with Residence Life and Housing. So seeing a lot of the residents connecting with their RA is has been something that I think has been really rewarding, specifically in their programming. I technically oversee the commuters, but I still work with some of the RAs and go to their programming. So seeing them utilize this lounge that I created is something really impactful for me because not only is it being used by a underrepresented, community at Baldwin Wallace University, but also students who now are like, woah. Like, I didn't even know that this could be an option once I loop move off campus or so I think just kind of having that students realizing that there's other things out there than what they know is something that I think has been really rewarding.

Dr. TJ Pegg [00:52:24]: Hello. I'm doctor TJ Pegg from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. And then a moment in student affairs that, really embodies the spirit of this profession is each year I serve on our Welcome to Mason community committee on campus, and I lead our kickoff to success resource fair where I get to collaborate with campus partners across academic and student affair units. And seeing over 30 units outside our arena, tabling with students and welcoming them to campus really embodies the collaboration effort across our profession.

Travis Tucker [00:53:02]: Alright. Hello there. My name is Travis Tucker. I use him as pronouns. I serve as the assistant dean and director of the Carley Field Center at Princeton University. I also am a member of the GSKC as the cochair elect. I mean, this conference really is it. Right? Like, where I am being able to connect with individuals that have made such a lasting impact on me and really being able to reconnect with them in a way that feels just really personal.

Travis Tucker [00:53:24]: It really has given me the opportunity to refocus my work and refocus my passion in it, and so I get that every year. So as I sit in this space, I have to honor the fact that this conference is that for me today.

Val Shepherd [00:53:40]: Hey. I'm Val Shepherd. I'm a senior analyst with UCLA Recreation. I'm a long time member of the administrators and graduate professional student services knowledge community, and it's such a wonderful community. I've made great friends that I've known for over ten years, and it's wonderful. And I feel like if everyone can have that in student affairs where they make those friends, it really does embody the spirit of this profession.

Sabina Kapoor [00:54:13]: Hi, my name is Sabina Kapoor and I'm the new co chair, one of the new co chairs for the SAPA knowledge community with NASPA. I've been in higher ed for a little over twenty years, and in that time, I've served roles in student affairs, academic affairs, student success. And after a little over twenty years, I decided to go back to school full time and pursue my PhD. So if all goes well, I'll get that by the end of this year. So I was for a short period, I was at a community college and it was a dual designated HBCU and HSI.

Sabina Kapoor [00:54:47]: So I

Sabina Kapoor [00:54:47]: think they're one of the only ones in the nation. It was located in a part of town where it's predominantly low SES. So on my second day on the job, I met someone. I met a student who was walking away from a abusive domestic situation. She was in her early twenties. She had served already, and she had a child. And she was literally living in her car. So I was able to connect her.

Sabina Kapoor [00:55:17]: I didn't know all of our services on campus, but I immediately connected her to, we had still some money left. That I knew my first day was that we still had funding residual from COVID that we were still trying to use out. And the institution was using that on a as needed basis to help people with things like immediate needs like housing, food, and so on. So I immediately connected her to that service under my umbrella. But then I also connected her to community connections that I had within the city. So she was able to buy groceries on the immediately. And some of these non profits that work in the community were able to help her find a place to live. So in I'm lucky in that scenario in that I've lived in my hometown for a long time, so I knew a lot of people across the city.

Sabina Kapoor [00:56:09]: And then the people and I just met some folks in my new at my then new institution. So we worked with her and I kept in touch with her, kept tabs on her. And then maybe a little about a month or month later or so, she was settled and situated. She really had a lot to offer. And then vice president of The United States has having a symposium in the White House, and it was targeting HBCUs, and the topic was on abortion rights. And so I said, let's have this student represent. I think she can bring experience as a nontraditional student. And the fact that she's a mother, she made a choice, but she had that choice.

Sabina Kapoor [00:56:53]: And so and that was a key thing. So I advocated for her to go, and we were able to have her go to this. And when she came back, it was like she was recharged, her energy was renewed, and she was just really excited about being in school. I think this is what she needed to continue going at this institution. And so I worked with a lot of different people on campus and a lot of folks off campus to make this happen, but I really feel like this was what student affairs does is really help develop the student outside the classroom in a holistic way. And so I really felt that that was it.

Vanessa Vera [00:57:38]: Hi. My name is Vanessa Vera. I'm a conduct education graduate assistant at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. A moment that I recently experienced in the field of student affairs as a new professional of about two years in the field was having a mentee of mine when I was an undergraduate student, which is where I got my start in the field, approach me and tell me that it was my mentoring and and my relationship with her during peer mentoring that gave her the confidence to go for a student body president position at our institution at Northern Arizona University. And I think that moment was something that filled me with a lot of joy. That was my first job in student affairs, and I didn't think that I could have that kind of impact on somebody. And to hear someone say, you gave me the confidence to believe that I could do that and represent my institution and be a leader meant the world to me. And so I think about that moment a lot and just me continuing to be able to impact students in the different fields and areas that I engage with.

Dr. Will Simpkins [00:58:37]: This is Will Simpkins. I'm vice president of student affairs at Metropolitan State University of Denver. So my grad school mentor of twenty five years ago sends out an annual Christmas letter. Marsha Gensler Stevens University of Maryland is one of my favorite people in the world. And her letter talked about spending time with students in protest, spring twenty twenty four, which many of us did. And in her letter, she said how she spent time on the quad engaging students around the question of how did you come to believe that? And I just remember sort of sitting with that December 29 when I got the letter at home. Like, we were so busy trying to ask questions about demands and could we negotiate? Can we get this encampment down that we forgot to actually be educators? And say, like, tell me what you believe and tell me how you came to understand that and what information are you pulling in. So to me, that's the profession.

Dr. Will Simpkins [00:59:29]: Educators asking deep questions.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:44]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show, and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:23]: That's me. Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:33]: time.

In the latest episode of "Student Affairs Voices from the Field," listeners are treated to an energetic collection of perspectives straight from the annual NASPA conference. This dynamic, "person on the street" episode—hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton—dives into a pressing topic: How can we better leverage technology to meet the evolving needs of students in higher education?

What stands out most from these conversations is the profession’s willingness to lean into change, rather than shy away from it. From associate vice presidents to graduate students, professionals across the nation acknowledge that technology—and especially artificial intelligence (AI)—is reshaping student affairs. As Dr. Eddie Martinez puts it, “The bus has left the station … we need to play catch up.” There’s consensus: AI isn’t just a trend. It’s a powerful tool that can streamline administrative tasks, enhance communication, and free up time for the real heart of student affairs—the human connection.

But it’s not all enthusiasm and optimism. Many professionals, like Eileen Hentz and Dr. Bernard Little, admit to their initial hesitation and the need for continual learning. The episode encourages honesty about where we’re starting from, and models what it means to be a lifelong learner in higher ed. Just as importantly, ethical use, intentionality, and a focus on access are recognized as essential values as we navigate these new tools.

Students themselves are often ahead of the curve, pushing their institutions to integrate technology in ways that feel intuitive and relevant. Yet, as several speakers caution, “simple is better.” Too many platforms can overwhelm students, so thoughtful integration—rather than chasing every shiny new thing—is crucial. Streamlining platforms, as Dr. Will Simpkins urges, helps ensure technology truly empowers rather than confuses our campus communities.

This episode is a masterclass in collective wisdom: you’ll hear voices championing data-driven decisions, advocating for AI workshops, and urging a balance between technological innovation and the irreplaceable human touch. The themes are clear—embrace change, keep learning, focus on ethical and efficient solutions, and never lose sight of the student experience.

Tune in to hear these fresh perspectives and discover actionable insights that you can bring back to your own work. Whether you’re tech-savvy or just starting your journey, you’ll leave inspired to reimagine how technology can support both you and your students. Listen now and join the conversation!

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm doctor Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay Voices from the Field host. Welcome back to Student Affairs Voices from the Field. We're here with our three conference episodes that feature your voices. Chris and I were able to move about the conference and connected with over 60 of you who shared your thoughts on the three conference themes. We asked you each one question on each theme, and we're going to be bringing you one episode per question.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:46]: So today's question will be on theme one, which was well-being and healthy excellence in student affairs. Next week, we'll be bringing you theme two in changing the student affairs profession, and then finally, theme three, which is sustaining and celebrating the student affairs profession. Today's question was, how can student affairs professionals model healthy excellence in their own lives and institutional cultures while supporting students' well-being? If you joined us, thank you so much for sharing your voice, and we hope that you enjoy hearing from your colleagues and peers.

Eileen Hentz [00:01:15]: Hello. My name is Eileen Hence. I am the program director of academic and student services at the University of Maryland Department of Aerospace Engineering. Do as I say, not as I do, because I am not I will admit that I am not the best at modeling healthy excellence in my own life, but I really truly believe it's important to do so by having a healthy work life balance and making sure you remember your priorities and trying your best to ensure that you don't lose yourself in your work. I think that's something that I need to do more of, is remembering that I do have an important life outside of work, and it is okay to say no, and it is okay to set boundaries on our time, and still pour as much of our heart and soul into our jobs as possible during the times we should be working and when we should not be working to make sure that we take that time for ourselves and not feel guilty about it.

Dr. Alyssa Bivens [00:02:07]: Hi. I'm doctor Alyssa Bivens. I'm representing George Mason University. I'm in their very new graduate division as a graduate career and professional development program coordinator. I think one of the ways that student affairs professionals that we can model healthy excellence in our own lives and institutional cultures is really trying to be the people that we want our students to be. So for example, I work with a lot of graduate professional assistants, and I try to model professional behaviors both with them, treating them how I wanna be treated, and also showing them good work and professionalization skills from organization to just general things that will help them moving forward in life so that they have a model that they can potentially look towards. I try to be, not always.

Anurant Ranieri [00:02:53]: I'm Anurant Ranieri. I'm from Texas A and M University in College Station, Texas. I am currently serve as the associate director of career services for Mays Business School. I think showcasing balance of, like, walking the walk and talking the talk. Right? Like, that's really an important aspect of student affairs that sometimes we don't do. We we tell students to take care of themselves, but we're not always taking care of our own selves. And so making sure that we take the advice that we give students most of the time. I know I'm really bad about that, but I sometimes will be, like, check myself and be, like, oh, right.

Anurant Ranieri [00:03:26]: What I would tell a student in this moment, I need to tell myself I need

Mimi Benjamin [00:03:29]: to get more sleep or I need to do this thing.

Anurant Ranieri [00:03:30]: And so I think that's really important.

Amy Law [00:03:34]: Hello. My name is Amy Law. I am a GAP from the graduate associate program with NASPA. I am from California. I currently attend the University of Southern California for my degree in post secondary administration and student affairs with my master's program. Especially as student affairs professionals, I feel like we can really model healthy excellence in our own lives and even contribute to that institutional culture by being student facing even as we go into higher levels that are not so student facing. I think maintaining a level of student support and student advisory, like, committees even and leveraging, like, student voices is definitely a perfect way to model healthy excellence because students know best what they need and students know best how to advocate for themselves. And if you are not, you know, in a point where you're at least, like, reaching out or asking them how they need the support, I feel like it's a little bit hard to understand them in that way.

Amy Law [00:04:38]: So always making sure that you have another set of eyes, whether it's from a group of students or even just one student, will make such a big difference.

Angela Watts [00:04:50]: Angela Watts, the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio School Of Nursing. I'm the director for student success. I think that student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence in their own lives by really small ways in our day to day lives. Simple things like not eating lunch at your desk, taking that time away to rejuvenate during that hour and and really just modeling the behavior that we encourage in our students. When you take time off from work, actually disconnecting as much as possible and just really demonstrating for them how to have as much balance as possible even though we all know that it's impossible to be completely balanced with work life, but just demonstrating as much as possible the healthy behaviors that we encourage in our students.

Asia Jones [00:05:39]: Asia Jones, associate director at the National Association for Student Affairs Professionals, AKA NASBA. So I believe one of the ways that we model healthy excellence is resting. Rest is resistance. So many years in student affairs, we've thought we've had to work sixteen and seventeen hour days to get things done. And the way we model in our own lives that healthy excellence is knowing when to take breaks, knowing when to rest, and setting boundaries around that to be able to still get the work done. But if we don't have any rest or any sleep, then we're doing things on a not even a half empty cup, like, maybe three fourths of a cup, and that's not working anymore. And so we've gotta find different ways to to set up boundaries so that within ourselves so that we can be the best to other people.

Dr. Bernard Little [00:06:27]: I'm doctor Bernard Little, vice president for student affairs at Prairie State College. I think that one way that we can model healthy excellence in our own lives is being honest about our truths and what we experience. When I took on vice president for student affairs role, I also started therapy, my therapy journey, and it has really enhanced my life both personally and professionally. And I've been open and honest about that with my staff and, with others who work with me. And it has been a refreshing journey to see how they've been impacted by my story and my experience.

Camden Doolittle [00:07:04]: My name is Camden Doolittle. I use they and them pronouns. I'm coming to you from the NASPA annual conference in New Orleans, but I am from the University of California Davis in the Sacramento region of California. I think healthy excellence for me looks like, especially in this political climate, owning who I am, all the time and with joy. I'm a trans and non binary person and we have so many of our students who share those same identities. And right now they're under attack. At federally, at all levels of government and society and showing up as a transhuman, that model is healthy excellence and and modeling boundaries. I don't have to be at all things all the time, but I am there for my community.

Camden Doolittle [00:07:41]: Show students they can show up and step back as they need to because I think that's all the more important as we move through college and whatever comes next in this world.

Charles [00:07:52]: I'm Charles, and we can model healthy excellence in our own lives while taking care of student well-being by finding ways to kinda put our mental health first. Relaxing, taking that time to really unplug, breathe, because you can't pour from an empty cup. So you gotta be ready and able. And Jessica agrees, so we share the same answer here.

David Chow [00:08:20]: Right? Yes. Yes.

Chris Hall [00:08:23]: Hi. I'm Chris Hall. I'm the director of residence life and student housing at Georgetown University Law Center. I think one of the things that we can do to really help our students is by modeling good work activities, making sure that, you know, we are working reasonable hours. We are, both in terms of daily and weekly, that we are not doing the kinds of things that we don't want our students to do. We don't wanna be, you know, burning the midnight oil or, putting things off to the last minute, things like that. I think that's probably what would help them with their well-being as much as anything.

Clarissa Lau [00:08:59]: I am Clarissa Lau. My pronouns are she and her, and I work at the University of Toronto. I think the first is recognizing work life balance, being able to practice that, obviously, model that for students when we try to encourage students to study hard, play hard, and I think that's equally also the role of a student affairs professional.

Dr. Dan Maxwell [00:09:21]: My name is Dan Maxwell. I serve as the interim vice president for student success and student life at the University of Houston downtown. When I think about modeling a healthy excellence in my life and the culture at the institution, I would say that I try to be my authentic self wherever I show up. I think by being comfortable with who I am and showing people the comfort of my identities and being in my spaces, I think when we can bring 100% of ourselves into our spaces, then we can do our better work in that way.

Dan Balchak [00:09:52]: Dan Balchak, interim dean of students at Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. We can experience healthy excellence in our own lives by taking care of us and time management. And I can tell you I'm not very good at that. I've been working way too hard, but we really need to make space for ourselves and give ourselves grace to be healthy, to be able to support our students.

David Chow [00:10:15]: Hello. My name is David Chow. I am currently the chair of the technology knowledge community for NASPA. So I think student affairs professionals, obviously, we have to take care of ourselves in order for us to effectively take care of our students. It's easy to forget sometimes because we want to serve our students. We wanna be there for them. But if we we don't practice what we preach to them, then we struggle and and our health is damaged and then ultimately we can't help our students. So I think just it's kind of practicing what we preach.

Dan Balchak [00:10:41]: My name David Zimoyski. I'm senior associate dean of students at Boston University. This is an uncertain time in the higher education landscape, and I think what I am trying to do right now as best I can is stay calm, stay focused, be thoughtful, display care for others. And in doing so, I feel good about how I am spending my time day to day. And I think that is a, hopefully, a good example for others in my professional community.

Dr. Deborah Wright [00:11:13]: I am doctor Deborah Wright, and I am with the George Washington University in Washington, DC. I am doctor Deborah Wright, and I am with the George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Deidre Cobb [00:11:24]: Hi. My name is Diedrich Cobb, and I am from Fairmont State University in West Virginia, and I am the student success coordinator. I was hired under the title three grant with the intentions of being, first and foremost, a bridge between academic affairs and student affairs along with other responsibilities such as forming a student success support team and also overseeing a student ambassador program called the Student Empowerment Liaisons.

Dr. Eddie Martinez [00:11:55]: Hello, everyone. My name is Eddie Martinez. I serve as the associate dean for student affairs at Suffolk County Community College. I think that we, as professionals, need to continue to honor ourselves. And when we're tired, take that break. When you wake up and you just feel, I need a mental health day, it's okay. That's why we have them. All too often, we in student affairs continue to push, push, push, and it's at the expense of our own health.

Dr. Eddie Martinez [00:12:20]: And by default, our students don't get the best of us. So making sure you check-in with yourself, I make sure I do my best to try to check-in with myself. Don't always succeed, but I do try.

Ellie McMillan [00:12:32]: My name is Ellie McMillan. I'm the graduate apprentice at the Center for Leadership in Elon University. I use sheher pronouns, and I'm a graduate student in the Master of Art in Higher Education program at Elon. I think modeling well-being is super important because oftentimes, we find that students have a culture of busyness, and we discourage our students from overcommitting themselves or being too busy. But if we want them to kind of model that, we also have to model that for ourselves. So we have to carve out time within within our days. We have to kind of cut down the meetings that we do, limit ourselves to three meetings a day, if that's possible. I think that's a really important first step of, like, we can't be asking our students to be doing things that we can't ourselves do.

Erica Stocks [00:13:28]: Erica Stocks, director of student affairs at Boston University's Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. I think it's really just about when we're where we're speaking to students or we're having interactions. I think particularly in the work that I do is when I'm doing presentations, taking a moment to kind of teach students, okay, let's take a deep breath. Let's all kind of collectively come together to take a pause in a moment. And I think it's also that we're trying to be really intentional about the programming that we're doing, about making sure that students are taking breaks to appreciate the small

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:13:56]: things in life.

Erica Stocks [00:13:58]: And that also goes with us to kind of going out and taking breaks from our desk and walking out into the student activities area. And so I think that there's it means so much more that we do. I think that we're thinking about well-being and particularly from a student perspective and also as a professional. Right? It's multifaceted. It's not just, oh, I need to work out. Oh, I need to do this. It's like taking a moment, taking a breath, taking a pause, whatever it might be.

Dr. George McClellan [00:14:21]: I'm George McClellan, professor of higher education at the University of Mississippi. So I've been in student affairs in one way or another for about forty something odd years. And one of the things I learned early on in the profession was that you aren't gonna be able to help take care of other people until you learn to take care of yourself. So it's a really important question. And I think one of the keys is being comfortable acknowledging that you're not comfortable. Right? That you need rest, that you need time, that you need to reflect, that you need whatever it is. You need challenge. You need something to pick you up.

Dr. George McClellan [00:14:53]: I think it's really important to to, a, to be tuned into yourself in that way, but, b, to be okay saying I need help, I need something, that sort of thing. I think a lot of people, particularly early in their careers, are so concerned that if they acknowledge any need that somehow they're confessing a great sin, but that's simply not the case. As you move through the field, I think what you can do is help the people who report to you. I'm not a I'm not a big fan of those hierarchies, but but to help those people who report to you in an organization know that it's it's okay to say those things. Right? That you can project a signal that says it's okay. And one of the easiest way to do that is for you to when somebody says to you, how are you doing? Just give them the sort of, oh, I'm fine. You know, everything's fine. Right? But it's, you know, I'm having an okay day, but I'm a little rundown today.

Dr. George McClellan [00:15:43]: Maybe not enough veggies, but today, I'm a little tired. So I think that's really important. And I think when it comes to institutional culture, it's the advocacy for prioritizing health and well-being. And, you know, we we have a million things going on. And as staffs are cut and there are funding reductions and resource reductions of all various kinds, it's gonna some of the first things that are gonna go if we're not advocating are taking care of staff. And so we have to advocate for ourselves. We have to be okay doing that.

Hallie Vavris [00:16:18]: Hello. My name is Hallie Vavris. I am a graduate student at Baldwin Wallace University in the leadership in higher education program here. We are role models for students first and foremost, and I think that higher education professionals, you know, sometimes we can think about more of the logistics of things, like, oh, like, what are we teaching? Because we we are in education. However, I think something that needs to be talked about more is that students are always, like, watching us, like, just our behaviors and our choices. I know for myself, I wanna work in a community college specifically. So, you know, helping students and meeting them where they are at is a really big aspect, you know, supporting students' well-being and just being a student's student advocate. I really like the word advocate because you are alongside the student developmentally wherever they're at.

Jackie Yun [00:17:11]: I'm Jackie Yoon. I take the she series, and I serve as the executive director of the student center at Harvard Griffin GSAS. I think student affairs professionals can model healthy behaviors by being our whole person. So, obviously, being involved at work and doing good work to support students, but also taking care of our physical health and our mental health and well-being, and sharing that and modeling that where we can with both our staff, but also with our students. I feel feel grateful to be in the student activities space because I feel like that's essential to the mission that we have. At the student center at Harvard, we're really focused on reminding students that they are full beings with interests that go beyond their academic pursuits, and they do better academically when they engage in those things that bring them joy. And graduate school is hard and long, and we need victories. So we need moments of creation, connection, and opportunities to do things that just spark joy.

Jackie Yun [00:18:12]: And I feel like I'm constantly reminding very high achieving students that are very focused in their discipline that it's okay to have fun in graduate school.

Dr. Jacob Diaz [00:18:23]: My name is Jacob Diaz. I serve as the associate vice chancellor for student success at the University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg campus. So I believe the work on healthy excellence starts with me as an educator and doing my own work on trying to get clear about what works for me to maintain a sense of peace and harmony while amidst, at times, a very chaotic environment. And so I try to think about what makes me feel good, what grounds me each day, and then reminding myself that this is important work to do and that I'm contributing even if it's in a small way.

James Quiesenberry [00:19:05]: Hi. This is James Quisenberry. I'm executive director of student affairs technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Our campuses have to adopt what's called, being a health promoting university, something called the Okanagan Charter. I encourage people to check it out. But it's not just leaders in student affairs, but it's leaders on campus that have to take a look at what's going on in their environment, what's going on in their climate, and be comfortable in supporting their staff in leading healthy lives to achieve the best that they can.

James Stewart [00:19:42]: Hi. I'm James Stewart, associate vice president for student development and achievement at Coppin State University. In this, to me, we have to be the role model and examples for students. We often tell students to balance well-being, to balance their lives, to pursue personal interests, and then we don't do those own things. We can always be bombarded with the day's fires and all the work we have to do, but we also have to be thinking about how are we in the best place to, as they say, put on our own oxygen mask first before helping others.

Jamie Haney [00:20:17]: Hi. I'm Jamie Haney, associate dean for the Graduate College at University of Illinois Chicago. I think one of the best ways to do that is to share our lives with students. Just letting them know that the challenges we face in our own lives are similar to what they face in their lives, and how we cope with those, and how we try to balance everything. I'm a wife and a mother and a full time employee. Once upon a time, I was also a full time doctoral student, and so letting students know that I was experiencing a lot of the same challenges and experiences that they were going through was really helpful for them. I think it helps them to know that we have experienced or are experiencing what they are going through and just knowing that we are human just like they are. So I think that's an important way to share our own lives with students.

Dr. Jamie Washington [00:21:03]: Hi. I'm Jamie Washington, and I am the president and founder of the Washington Consulting Group and of the Social Justice Institute, Training Institute. So when I think about, again, student affairs professionals and well-being and how we can continue to support excellence, what comes up for me is that we continue to live into what our why is and our commitment to always putting students first, remembering that we got into this profession because we cared about the experience of students and what they get to do and what they get to become. So our primary goal in higher education is to prepare the next generation of leaders and those who will go forth from our spaces and do good work and make a difference in the world. So we get to continue to remember that that's our charge, that we stay in that, and we help them navigate through difficult and challenging times, and we navigate it along with them.

Dr. Jeanna Mastrodicasa  [00:22:00]: Hi. This is Gina Masterdecasa, and I am the director of the Office of Institutional Assessment at the University of Florida. And I've been there for more than twenty seven years in a total of six roles. Really doing your very best to figure out what you can tell people you do with your time, being able to articulate it. It can be as simple as family time, catching up on the bachelor, whatever other inane things that make you a better human, but tell people that. So the other thing I think that I have done in my own career is I have been open with people about my own personal struggles challenges that I'm facing, both as a human being and part of a complex family and the whole thing. And I've been upfront about it and visible about using my time for mental health purposes. And And I think that's something I'm I'm doing for myself, but I'm really doing it to show people it's okay.

Dr. Josie Ahlquist [00:22:56]: Hey. My name is Josie Alquist. I use sheher pronouns. I am a digital engagement consultant, executive strategist, coach, and speaker. Modeling healthy excellence is going to take a level of letting go of perfection if you are gonna ensure your own well-being as well as your students. I know that's really hard for us in higher ed. We have very high standards, but good is also really good.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:23:26]: Julie Payne Kirchmeier, sheher pronouns, vice president for student success for the Indiana University System. That's not a system. We can call it a multi campus university if you would like. That whole concept of being balanced when you talk about work and you talk about outcomes and being driven in addition to being balanced with yourself. And so whether that's life, whether that is how you kind of navigate your energy even at work, how you set healthy expectations for yourself. Don't undersell it or you're not stretching enough. Don't overdo it or you exhaust yourself. And so that's kind of where I think that lies.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:23:59]: And how can they do it? I think you gotta take an honest stock of where you are. What are the expectations that are placed on you and really think through how you can bring that concept of healthy excellence into the space. And I would also say that if you get to the point where you're like, this institutional culture is not supporting that for me and it's unsustainable, you gotta start looking. And I know that's hard, and for some folks, it's almost impossible. But for your own well-being, I think you gotta do it. I'm Justin Jeffrey.

Justin Jeffrey [00:24:26]: I'm the assistant vice president at Texas A and M University. So I think about how I role model healthy, excellent to my own life and how it's important for us to do that as professionals is just being present when you need to. And but for students to also see that you take time for yourself and that you are not at every event. I think sometimes we feel that we have that pressure to be at everything, but I think when you pick and choose what's most important to be at and then when you have conversations with the students about why maybe you couldn't join that evening and you have a family commitment or you needed to go to the gym, just being really honest and transparent about that so that they know that you're a true person, real person, and you're trying to balance your health and well-being as well.

Jawan Jacobs [00:25:06]: Hey, y'all. My name is Jawan Jacobs. I am currently an assistant director in the Student Involvement and Leadership office at Duke University. When thinking about well-being and healthy excellence and student affairs, right, I think one of the things that student affairs professionals can do to really model healthy excellence in their own lives is being proactive with what rest, relaxation, rejuvenation looks like. I think we're talking about it from the perspective of institutional culture. Making sure that you're advocating for yourself, I think, is always fair and you're right. Right? So making sure that in all of the things that you are being upfront with your supervisor, with your team, whether that be your staff or your students, and really letting them know what does it look when I'm having a 10 out of 10 day? How does that differ from when I'm having a three out of 10 day? Right? And what does that mean for support?

Kevin Willis [00:25:54]: Hi. My name is Kevin Willis. I am a membership manager with NASPA's membership team. I'm originally from Kentucky. I think that student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence in their lives, by thinking about healthy boundaries and encouraging their students to do so as well. I always tell my students when I supervise them in the past that they can't serve others if their cup is not full either. And so I always want people to think about how they can be there for the students and show that care and dedication while also maintaining boundaries. And maybe that is letting them know of the resources for particular conversation topics or letting them know this is where my strengths are and this is where I'll be for you, and then let's find you somebody that can match you in the other areas that you need them from.

Herbie Gibson [00:26:34]: Herbie r Gibson, sheher, associate director of residence education for student learning and leadership, Michigan State University. So when I think about modeling a healthy excellence within the field, first it actually starts with us rethinking the ideal worker norms that exist within the field. We've been socialized to believe that we have to work these long days, that we have to be accessible at all times of the day to our students, and that in no way is healthy whatsoever. And so how are we rethinking the work that we are doing to serve our students? I would also say that rest is important. Take your paid time off because PTO also stands for prepare the others. And so making sure that you are engaging in rest, taking vacation time, setting boundaries as a way to reevaluate your relationship to the work, and that's ways in which you can model that healthy practice.

Dr. Laura Devoe [00:27:26]: Hi. My name is doctor Laura DeVoe, and I'm a visiting assistant professor at Boston College. When I'm thinking about the well-being and healthy excellence in student affairs, I don't really know what else to say, but get off campus. You have to get off campus. You have to touch grass, as the kids say, and that grass can be off campus. You don't have to just be living your life in your university or college polo shirt. Move off campus, find some space, and get some life off campus that makes you happy, and find your people elsewhere. You will always have your people on campus.

Lauren Zielinski [00:28:09]: My name is Lauren Zielinski. I'm the associate director for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies. I feel that student affairs professionals can model excellence in their own lives by learning to say no more, by putting boundaries on easy things such as when to stop checking their email at the night, setting up those clear boundaries of when their day starts and when their day ends so they can have that time to their selves to spend with family, friends, hobbies, anything that's gonna take them and help them disconnect from the work to give them that work life balance.

Marcus . [00:28:48]: My name is Marcus. I'm from Singapore, and I'm representing a social enterprise called Sojourner's Agora, but I also work in student affairs in the National University of Singapore, taking care of student life for the undergraduates. I think an important thing with my experience has been to understand emotional and physical boundaries in your work, especially as someone who lives on campus and serves students twenty four four seven. It's wonderful to see them as friends, but at the same time, it pays a lot to understand that, there is boundary between students whom you get to know professionally as well as the ones that you know through your own organic social activities outside. And that helps because you wanna be an example also of, drawing good boundaries, healthy boundaries so that your students can also model after that.

Mary Pat Morgan [00:29:36]: My name is Mary Pat Morgan, and I'm a program coordinator with the engineering program at the universities at Shady Grove. I think it's really important for student affairs professionals to model healthy excellence by bringing it back to the basics. Those things that we talk about during orientation, during those first advising sessions with students. I often tell myself it's important not to be a hypocrite, though always taking time to take a lunch. Even if it's ten minutes at your desk, take a lunch. Make sure you get that food in you and fuel you to get back to the work. Sleep is so important. The physical and mental preparation for the day.

Mary Pat Morgan [00:30:14]: I think the physical health is such an important component. Moving that mental preparation before the day.

Dr. Melanie Mitchell [00:30:23]: Hello. My name is doctor Melanie Mitchell, and I have the pleasure of serving as the director of the Impact Leadership Village at North Carolina State University. A moment that comes to mind for me when I think about being a student affairs affairs professional and modeling healthy excellence is thinking about how I do that on a daily basis in small ways. Right? And so an example that comes to mind is thinking about how to make sure I schedule lunch and take lunch, sometimes engage in taking a walk around campus. Also, just like we schedule all the things in our work, it's important that we're taking time even after work to pour back into us. Right? Because you can't pour from an empty cup. And when students see you modeling what it means to be well, that helps them think about that as they navigate their college career.

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:31:16]: Hi. I am Melinda Stoops. I am currently serving as the interim dean of students at Bay Path University, and I've been working in higher education for over twenty years at this point. I think one of our challenges as student affairs professionals is we tend to work a lot of hours and sometimes challenge ourselves with boundaries around work life balance. And I think it's so important that we model healthy excellence in our lives for our students. And I think there are lots of ways to do it, but one thing I would say that's really important is think about how you model that in the office in front of students. So when a crisis comes up, how are you reacting to it? Can you react in a way that is somewhat calm and to say, okay. Let's go talk about this.

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:32:01]: Let's work this out. Or are you freaking out as everyone else is freaking out? At a basic level, separate from a crisis, I also think about lunch. I have a bad habit of working through lunch. And there are many times over the twenty years in higher ed is I thought this is such an awful modeling for my students. Like, if my students in the office see me working through lunch, what does that say to them about self care and priority? So I really try and be intentional when I remember to do so about saying, okay, I'm gonna even take a few minutes to just sit quietly and eat or take a ten minute break and go for a walk just unwind and and sort of model those healthy behaviors.

Melissa Aponte [00:32:42]: I am doctor Melissa Aponte. I serve as assistant dean of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. I think one way that student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence in their own lives while supporting student well-being is by sharing with students some of the challenges that they face in their own lives. I think I've utilized examples from my own life and been open and transparent in sharing with my own students some of the challenges I've faced and how I've overcome them. And then I try to work with students to dig into their own life experiences and help them see how they've overcome challenges and that they have resiliency in themselves. So when they come to college and they're facing different issues, they can dig into those past experiences. So I think sharing is important and being open, I think, and showing that you are a whole human being. I do like to share tidbits of my life with my students as appropriate.

Melissa Ward [00:33:42]: I am Melissa Ward. I am director of student engagement at the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. So one thing I think I need to work on is being a better model of healthy excellence in how I work with our students. I try very hard to give them breaks and model when I'm taking breaks, but then you always wanna be responsive. Right? Because my weekends are sometimes when they can get their work done. So I think I need to be better at that. So I'm still learning.

Michael Allensworth [00:34:13]: Hello. My name is Michael Allensworth, and I work in the prevention, outreach, and education department at Michigan State University as our director for employee and graduate student programs. I'm thinking about how can we learn to hone in prioritizing the different priorities that we have. And so thinking about not everything can be a crisis, but focusing on what is important for a particular point in time, I think is something that's gonna help all of us better model healthy excellence in our organizations and within our units.

Dr. Michael Sheehane [00:34:42]: Howdy. My name is Michael Sheehan. I work at Texas A and M University in career services. Specifically, I'm the director of campus programs in the career center. Been there for about fifteen years now. So an example of how I do this, I think it actually starts with coming to the realization that you can't do it all and it's okay to, prioritize and say no to certain things. And so at some point, you gotta say, so how much effort and energy do I have to give? Make sure that you're living out excellence in your own life and being fully invested in the things you choose to be invested in, but knowing that you can't be involved in everything all the time. And I think that's something that some students have a particular time struggling with.

Dr. Michael Sheehane [00:35:16]: So they wanna do all the things all the time. And so I think modeling, that is okay to prioritize and let some things go, and that's okay too.

Dr. Michelle Burke [00:35:26]: Michelle Burke, Grand Rapids, Michigan. I work with the Michigan Center for Adult College Success. I've been a NASPA member for a long time. I think one thing that can be done to be available to students in their time is to work on staggered schedules for staff to recognize that not everybody's gonna work eight to five or eight to 8AM to 5AM, and that make sure that you're taking care of your team so they can take care of students. Model that as a supervisor by taking care of yourself and allowing your own self care time too.

Dr. Mimi Benjamin [00:36:00]: I'm Mimi Benjamin. I'm a professor in the student affairs in higher education program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. And one of the ways that I think student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence is to get sleep and talk about the fact that they actually do sleep. I think that sleeping underrated well-being tasks that we can take on, and I think the more we talk about how we rest, the more others will see the value in that. Mylon Wallace. I work in the office of student conduct at the University of

Mylon Wallace [00:36:32]: Mylon Wallace. I work in the Office of Student Conduct at the University of Alabama, and I believe that student affairs professionals can just model it by showing students that we are all human, really, is the most important aspect of it. We all gonna make mistakes. We're all gonna be held accountable for our mistakes, and it's best we learn from them and keep going. Hi, everyone.

Dr. Mimi Benjamin [00:36:53]: My name is Nairole Njok. I'm currently a first year graduate student at Iowa State University in in the student affairs master's program, and I am from Omaha, Nebraska. I like to think about how we give tips to our students when it comes to their well-being and how we should actually be modeling those tips. And so it'd be really counterproductive if we asked practitioners are telling students to take care of themselves, set boundaries if we aren't doing that ourselves. And so living by your tips is how I'd see this. And I think in addition to that, being aware of the culture on your campus is really important because you're out of touch. It is really hard to support your students and to be able to kinda understand where their experience is when it comes to their well-being. If you aren't aware of what's going on on campus and especially since that will affect your students.

Dr. Mimi Benjamin [00:37:45]: And so being aware of what's going on on your campus, as it pertains to the culture and living up to your own tips slash expectations that you have for your students when it comes to their well-being.

Mylon Wallace [00:37:57]: Hi. This is Pedro Ramos. I am the student engagement manager for the program Exploratory Studies at CU Boulder from Boulder, Colorado. So hello. I think one of the biggest things that I can think about is knowing when to take a step back and saying no and being able to observe all the different pieces going on when we're making decisions about students. I feel like sometimes we go into a situation and we're really passionate about a certain initiative or a certain project. And we also can get crispy in that in that efforts. And so just reminding ourselves, okay, let me regroup myself, come back to this experience once I feel like I have everything prepared or I feel ready, or maybe even saying no is an important lesson that I think we can even tell our students that they don't need to be everything for everyone, at their institution.

Dr. Peggy Crowe [00:38:52]: Hi. I'm Peggy Crowe. I serve as the director of the counseling center and the student accessibility resource center at Western Kentucky University. Well, I think the pandemic showed us a lot of ways that we can provide more healthy excellence and balance in our lives. There is no such thing as balance. I don't like when people say I'm looking for balance because there is no such thing. But I think if we role model that for other people, taking care of our families, finding balance in our lives, maybe working remotely if that is a possibility while still maintaining a great work ethic. I think we can do that and then we're role modeling for students.

Dr. Peggy Crowe [00:39:27]: So if I'm not responding to an email at midnight every night or on the weekends, then I'm role modeling healthy balance and well-being to students.

Dr. Phil Covington [00:39:37]: I'm Phil Covington. I serve as associate vice chancellor for student success at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Really understanding and pausing long enough to know what are my individual values and the boundaries associated with those, how much flexibility am I willing to engage over the course of a year. Obviously, there are seasons within each year that we've got, you know, higher loads that may have to, be taken. There's times and moments of crisis, obviously, that are gonna take additional effort from us, but it's it's knowing that we've got these things in place. One of the things that I've done over the course of the last year is just even prioritizing throughout the course of the day, at least three times a week, trying to get out and take a twenty minute walk across campus. Never fails. Maybe another staff member wants to come along with me.

Dr. Phil Covington [00:40:21]: Maybe I'm running into colleagues along the way and they ask if you can talk. I said, yeah, if you'll walk and so those are pieces that are making a difference, hopefully modeling, but also I know making a difference for me and my own health.

Rachel Omara [00:40:36]: Rachel O'Mara, admissions and academic advisor for the Department of Educational Leadership at Cal State Fullerton. I think that a good way to model sort of healthy excellence is to remember that we're all going through a lived experience and that as professionals, maybe we sometimes appear like we know more than our students or the people that we serve, and I think it's really crucial for us to make those connections and make the spaces really important for us to show ourselves and the things that we care about so that the students understand that we have those connections to them. Even if you have random posters in your director of volunteer engagement at NASPA.

Rachel Duvall [00:41:29]: I am from director of volunteer engagement at NASPA. I am from Memphis, Tennessee. I'm Rachel Duvall. I'm the associate director of volunteer engagement at NASPA. I am from Memphis, Tennessee. So how student affairs can professionals can model healthy excellence in their own lives and institutional cultures while supporting students' well-being. I think the really big thing here is to remember your roots in your professional journey and how you have evolved throughout the profession. Everyone's trajectory looks different, so honoring that in all folks.

Rachel Duvall [00:41:59]: And so if your journey doesn't look the same as someone else's, really being conscious of that and supporting folks in whatever they decide to do in their current role, next role, and all that and encouraging them to get involved with the professional track that works for them. So if that's regions or knowledge communities with us here at NASPO or a steering committee, I think that is how you can encourage someone to find community at their institution or with a professional organization, but just supporting them in whatever decisions they make.

Ray Fisco [00:42:27]: Hi. Ray Fisco, he, him pronouns. I am from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I serve NASPA as the assistant director of statewide coalitions, trainings, and partnerships. I think this is a really fantastic question. I actually run a coalition in Colorado where we have a campaign called the Time to Ungrind campaign, where it really looks at the culture around hustling. Because I know we as student affairs professionals fall into this culture, and we ultimately do see that with our students as well. So I think it's important that when we tell students about really taking care of yourself and really not falling into this culture of feeling like you have have to hustle and grind all the time to feel successful. I think it's important to model to students that, you know, it's important to rest.

Ray Fisco [00:43:13]: It's important to have self care. It's important to take a break. It's important to say no. Because especially in the field of student affairs, it's, like, very hard to say no. But when you're able to say no, that really shows growth, that really shows the opportunity to really be taking care of yourself and really be taking care of your own well-being.

Sean Devoe [00:43:36]: Hi. Sean Devoe. I serve as the associate vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Really focused on making sure that you're doing good stuff for yourself in your work that excites you and that really promotes the best work that you can do on behalf of your students. If you're not doing stuff that's exciting you, you're probably not doing stuff that's exciting your students as well.

Sarah Edmonson [00:44:04]: Hello. I am Sarah Edmonson. She, her pronouns, I serve as the associate director for student involvement at Washington University in Saint Louis or WashU. For me personally, one of the things I think is really important is setting boundaries. I set boundaries with the students I work with, and I'm very clear about communication. I do share my phone number with a handful of students that I work with, but I make it very clear that I reserve the right to not respond outside of business hours. I also try to do a really good job of working when I'm at work and not working when I'm not at work. So try to be really thoughtful about turning off notifications to technology and Teams, Outlook, all of those different pieces so that I'm not really distracted by or getting sucked into work while I'm not there.

Sarah Edmonson [00:44:45]: I also try to think about, like, if I need to do work outside of my kind of typical work schedule, which what is a typical work schedule in student affairs, but I try to be thoughtful of, like, is this urgent? Do I need to do this now? Or, like, can this really wait, and can I prioritize it, you know, tomorrow or when I have a moment? End up really doing better work because I think part of that balance piece is having a healthy, productive life outside of work and and then supporting that culture for my staff. Absolutely. And so really encouraging them to take their vacation time, to take flex time where it's appropriate, to have varied interests outside of work that does not that have nothing to do with work. And I think modeling those things for our students and explaining that of, like, I'm not gonna get to your email that you sent at 8PM until tomorrow or maybe even the next day, depending on what I've got going on, especially if it's not urgent, and saying, like, we don't need to buy into this this hustle culture or this everything is urgent culture when everything is not necessarily urgent. There are some things that are, but outside of that, we need to be really thoughtful and model for our students what is productive and healthy.

Dr. Sheila Carusel [00:45:48]: Hi. I'm doctor Sheila Carussell. I work at Ohio Northern University, and I'm the director of pharmacy student affairs. I've been in student affairs for over twenty five years, and I think one of the best ways that we, as professionals, can model the healthy excellence in our lives and supporting our institutional cultures is to really work on showing that work life balance. And so what that means is whenever it's possible, leave your office, go have fun, go home, and do what's best for you. Talk with your students about your hobbies. Talk about how you de stress and that you can refill how you refill your your cup for the students.

Sylvester Gaskin [00:46:38]: Name is Sylvester Gaskin. I'm a leadership development program leader for the Association of American Medical Colleges. We see this field as like an extension of ourselves when it may be at times we just need to see it just as a job, as a career, and to put yourself first. So the best advice that I got about this was actually from my father, who said you have to make business decisions. And sometimes the best business decision you could make is to just take care of yourself. And so in my experience, I didn't really model healthy behaviors and I ended up burning out, getting really sick. And I found that the institution really wasn't concerned about my own well-being. And so I see myself as the CEO of my own business and sometimes the best interest of the business is that I didn't go to a late night event or I didn't attend a meeting and and if I got in trouble for it, well, you know, that's just part of the business.

Dr. Alyssa Bivens [00:47:29]: So

Taylor Henderson [00:47:30]: Hi. This is Taylor Henderson. I'm the director of the Reliance Student Experience office at Texas A and M University's Mays Business School. I think it's really important to acknowledge challenge. I think sometimes we find ourselves in our profession staying late, helping students with things after hours, before work, after work, on the weekends, and just we feel such a responsibility to be 100% available because we know that the student experience happens primarily of their classroom. And I think that that is an unrealistic expectation for any profession. And it's an unrealistic model for us to put in front of students whenever they see us as working professionals. So I think, you know, establishing boundaries and showing them that it's okay to have boundaries for for yourself and to take care of yourself is just so important.

Terrence Duffy [00:48:17]: Hi. My name is Terrence Duffy, t. I'm a first year graduate student at Baldwin Wallace University in the leadership in higher education program. My biggest thing is boundaries. People always assume boundaries just kind of mean those are your you will not pass. It's like, no. It's just setting healthy boundaries with not only where you work or your school work because, you know, you do need a break from time to time. So I think showing them that, yes, as professionals, we work hard and long sometimes.

Terrence Duffy [00:48:44]: Having those times where we're like, okay. We need to stop for a minute, take a step back and take a breather, I think is something that can really help show students that they can also do the same, especially in their schoolwork.

Dr. TJ Pegg [00:49:02]: Hello. I'm doctor TJ Pegg from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Hello. I'm doctor TJ Pegg from from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. I think as far as student affairs professionals and modeling excellence in our own lives and institutional cultures is really communicating our boundaries and letting students know that they have the ability to do that as well and setting their boundaries as within their program, setting their boundaries and how they're getting engaged on campus, and letting their professors, faculty, and staff on campus, and campus resources that they utilize know what their boundaries are so that they can be their best self when they're on campus. We talk to students a lot of times in the work that I do about meeting their own definition of success, and part of that is setting boundaries and communicating with those that are in their circle to support their experience.

Travis Tucker [00:49:55]: Alright. Hello there. My name is Travis Tucker. I use him as pronouns. I serve as the assistant dean and director of the Carley Field Center at Princeton University. I also am a member of the JSKC as the cochair elect. So when I think about healthy excellence, and thinking about marrying and monitoring healthy excellence in my life, I really think about creating proper boundaries. What does it look like for me to really model with navigating how to turn off my email at a given time? I'm really navigating expectations around what that looks like for my staff.

Travis Tucker [00:50:24]: I'm really encouraging them to really think about what it makes sense for them to do. I really don't ever try to put people into a box. I don't believe in toxic positivity when it comes to healthy healthy boundaries, and so really making sure that people have the that capacity to learn and lean into that is really important to me.

Val Shepherd [00:50:44]: Hi. I'm Val Shepherd. I'm a senior analyst with UCLA Recreation, practicing what we preach. Basically, doing the same things, modeling that for our students. We can't expect our students to do anything different than we do. Talking about our families, working across across disciplines, partnering with academic affairs, especially in student affairs. I've had wonderful partnerships with colleagues in the School of Public Health, for example. So I think definitely modeling what we would like students to do is how I see

Sabina Kapoor [00:51:21]: that. Hi. My name is Sabina Kapoor and I'm the new co chair, one of the new co chairs for the SAPA knowledge community with NASPA. I've been in higher ed for a little over twenty years and in that time I've served roles in student affairs, academic affairs, student success, and after a little over twenty years I decided to go back to school full time and pursue my PhD. So if all goes well, I'll get that by the end of this year. I think this is something where there needs to be an organizational cultural shift. While we can't focus on the whole institution, maybe just focusing on the student affairs division and the workplace culture there. And so I think it begins with leadership to say in student affairs to say, work life balance.

Val Shepherd [00:52:05]: And, you know, sometimes I think student affairs staff, they're so devoted to the job that they will maybe not do a flex schedule or compensate their hours that over work, you know, over forty hours or whatever the minimum is for full time. But there needs to be a workplace cultural shift to say, and we all know this, is that we all need to be healthy so that we can best serve others. But sometimes we get in a zone and we compromise our health, skip lunch to meet with the student or stay just two hours extra to finish decorating for an event the next day. And so the problem is that one, sometimes leadership doesn't realize that that's what you're doing. And then if you've agreed to work a certain schedule and you kinda veer away from that, then it's really hard for leadership to compensate at that point. So when I say cultural shift, I mean leadership mid level supervisors facing staff work together and be proactive with scheduling, knowing peak times, knowing when events are, etcetera. So I think this is a bigger thing and it requires an organizational or divisional workplace cultural shift. And this is including institutional cultures and that ties into that part of institutional cultures while supporting students' well-being.

Val Shepherd [00:53:27]: The key of this is that there is a servicing students. You can manage and operate in a way that you are serving students without overworking some individuals or student student affairs staff. You can work schedules can be arranged in a way to where they get a break and at the same time they get a break but at the same time they continue with that student service.

Vanessa Vera [00:53:55]: Hi. My name is Vanessa Vera. I'm a conduct education graduate assistant at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. I think what comes to mind is really a human centered approach to navigating student support and just the communication and relationships that we value in our life. I think sometimes just having grace with ourselves, having grace with our colleagues, having grace for our students, and that sometimes life happens to put it simply, and that there really is no right way to go about things. I think sometimes in the procedure of every day and the routines that we fall into, it's easy to get in a groove and expect things to go the way they do, but they never really do, and there's so much uncertainty every day in our lives that we navigate professionally, personally, and just in all spaces.

Dr. Will Simpkins [00:54:43]: This is Will Simpkins. I'm vice president of student affairs at Metropolitan State University of Denver. I think you have to make the time. You have to create the boundaries and make it a priority in your life. You can't be everything to everyone. And if your own internal sense of validation is how many people that I helped today, you're not helping yourself. And so always put at the front, what do I need to get through today? Whether that's coffee or a walk with the dog or a massage at the end of the day or a workout, whatever it is, put the boundaries around the work.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:55:25]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show, and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:56:04]: That's me. Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:56:16]: time.

Student affairs is a profession built on the foundation of supporting others—walking alongside students as they navigate challenges, pursue growth, and build their futures. But as highlighted in the latest episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, modeling “healthy excellence” goes beyond what we say. It’s about what we do, how we set boundaries, and the ways we show up for ourselves and each other.

So what does healthy excellence look like in practice? The episode features over 60 voices—new professionals, seasoned leaders, and everyone in between—offering authentic, actionable reflections on how we can care for ourselves while nurturing student wellbeing.

A recurring theme is the importance of role modeling. As Eileen Hentz notes, we need to set boundaries, carve out “off” time, and not feel guilty for prioritizing ourselves. This was echoed by many who admitted that while we tell students to take care of themselves, we often fail to follow our own advice.

But it’s about more than just taking a lunch or using vacation days. Dr. Bernard Little opened up about seeking therapy and the positive ripple effect it had on his staff. Others, like Camden Doolittle, spoke to the importance of authenticity, especially in representing marginalized identities—showing up as your whole self is, in itself, an act of healthy excellence.

Several speakers detailed the need to challenge institutional norms. From rethinking the “ideal worker” who is always on-call, to advocating for organizational culture shifts, this episode calls on student affairs divisions and leadership to normalize work-life boundaries (and yes, actually unplugging at the end of the day).

There’s also an emphasis on being transparent with students about our own challenges and the strategies we use to navigate them. As Jamie Haney and others shared, letting students know we are human too makes space for honest conversations about balance, imperfection, and resilience.

Most importantly, the episode reminds us that caring for ourselves is not selfish. As the expression goes, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” By prioritizing our health—mental, emotional, and physical—we become better mentors, leaders, and advocates for our students.

If you’re looking for practical inspiration and validation from colleagues across the country, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in for real talk and real strategies that can help you and your institution make sustainable, healthy excellence a reality.

Catch the episode and join the conversation on nurturing well-being in student affairs—because thriving professionals create thriving campuses.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm doctor Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay Voices from the Field host. Welcome back to Student Affairs Voices from the Field. We're here with our three conference episodes that feature your voices. Chris and I were able to move about the conference and connected with over 60 of you who shared your thoughts on the three conference themes. We asked you each one question on each theme, and we're going to be bringing you one episode per question.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:46]: So today's question will be on theme one, which was well-being and healthy excellence in student affairs. Next week, we'll be bringing you theme two in changing the student affairs profession, and then finally, theme three, which is sustaining and celebrating the student affairs profession. Today's question was, how can student affairs professionals model healthy excellence in their own lives and institutional cultures while supporting students' well-being? If you joined us, thank you so much for sharing your voice, and we hope that you enjoy hearing from your colleagues and peers.

Eileen Hentz [00:01:15]: Hello. My name is Eileen Hence. I am the program director of academic and student services at the University of Maryland Department of Aerospace Engineering. Do as I say, not as I do, because I am not I will admit that I am not the best at modeling healthy excellence in my own life, but I really truly believe it's important to do so by having a healthy work life balance and making sure you remember your priorities and trying your best to ensure that you don't lose yourself in your work. I think that's something that I need to do more of, is remembering that I do have an important life outside of work, and it is okay to say no, and it is okay to set boundaries on our time, and still pour as much of our heart and soul into our jobs as possible during the times we should be working and when we should not be working to make sure that we take that time for ourselves and not feel guilty about it.

Dr. Alyssa Bivens [00:02:07]: Hi. I'm doctor Alyssa Bivens. I'm representing George Mason University. I'm in their very new graduate division as a graduate career and professional development program coordinator. I think one of the ways that student affairs professionals that we can model healthy excellence in our own lives and institutional cultures is really trying to be the people that we want our students to be. So for example, I work with a lot of graduate professional assistants, and I try to model professional behaviors both with them, treating them how I wanna be treated, and also showing them good work and professionalization skills from organization to just general things that will help them moving forward in life so that they have a model that they can potentially look towards. I try to be, not always.

Amerette Ranieri [00:02:53]: I'm Amerette Ranieri. I'm from Texas A and M University in College Station, Texas. I am currently serve as the associate director of career services for Mays Business School. I think showcasing balance of, like, walking the walk and talking the talk. Right? Like, that's really an important aspect of student affairs that sometimes we don't do. We we tell students to take care of themselves, but we're not always taking care of our own selves. And so making sure that we take the advice that we give students most of the time. I know I'm really bad about that, but I sometimes will be, like, check myself and be, like, oh, right. What I would tell a student in this moment, I need to tell myself I need to get more sleep or I need to do this thing. And so I think that's really important.

Amy Law [00:03:34]: Hello. My name is Amy Law. I am a GAP from the graduate associate program with NASPA. I am from California. I currently attend the University of Southern California for my degree in post secondary administration and student affairs with my master's program. Especially as student affairs professionals, I feel like we can really model healthy excellence in our own lives and even contribute to that institutional culture by being student facing even as we go into higher levels that are not so student facing. I think maintaining a level of student support and student advisory, like, committees even and leveraging, like, student voices is definitely a perfect way to model healthy excellence because students know best what they need and students know best how to advocate for themselves. And if you are not, you know, in a point where you're at least, like, reaching out or asking them how they need the support, I feel like it's a little bit hard to understand them in that way.

Amy Law [00:04:38]: So always making sure that you have another set of eyes, whether it's from a group of students or even just one student, will make such a big difference.

Angela Watts [00:04:50]: Angela Watts, the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio School Of Nursing. I'm the director for student success. I think that student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence in their own lives by really small ways in our day to day lives. Simple things like not eating lunch at your desk, taking that time away to rejuvenate during that hour and and really just modeling the behavior that we encourage in our students. When you take time off from work, actually disconnecting as much as possible and just really demonstrating for them how to have as much balance as possible even though we all know that it's impossible to be completely balanced with work life, but just demonstrating as much as possible the healthy behaviors that we encourage in our students.

Asia Jones [00:05:39]: Asia Jones, associate director at the National Association for Student Affairs Professionals, AKA NASBA. So I believe one of the ways that we model healthy excellence is resting. Rest is resistance. So many years in student affairs, we've thought we've had to work sixteen and seventeen hour days to get things done. And the way we model in our own lives that healthy excellence is knowing when to take breaks, knowing when to rest, and setting boundaries around that to be able to still get the work done. But if we don't have any rest or any sleep, then we're doing things on a not even a half empty cup, like, maybe three fourths of a cup, and that's not working anymore. And so we've gotta find different ways to to set up boundaries so that within ourselves so that we can be the best to other people.

Dr. Bernard Little [00:06:27]: I'm doctor Bernard Little, vice president for student affairs at Prairie State College. I think that one way that we can model healthy excellence in our own lives is being honest about our truths and what we experience. When I took on vice president for student affairs role, I also started therapy, my therapy journey, and it has really enhanced my life both personally and professionally. And I've been open and honest about that with my staff and, with others who work with me. And it has been a refreshing journey to see how they've been impacted by my story and my experience.

Camden Doolittle [00:07:04]: My name is Camden Doolittle. I use they and them pronouns. I'm coming to you from the NASPA annual conference in New Orleans, but I am from the University of California Davis in the Sacramento region of California. I think healthy excellence for me looks like, especially in this political climate, owning who I am, all the time and with joy. I'm a trans and non binary person and we have so many of our students who share those same identities. And right now they're under attack. At federally, at all levels of government and society and showing up as a transhuman, that model is healthy excellence and and modeling boundaries. I don't have to be at all things all the time, but I am there for my community. Show students they can show up and step back as they need to because I think that's all the more important as we move through college and whatever comes next in this world.

Charles [00:07:52]: I'm Charles, and we can model healthy excellence in our own lives while taking care of student well-being by finding ways to kinda put our mental health first. Relaxing, taking that time to really unplug, breathe, because you can't pour from an empty cup. So you gotta be ready and able. And Jessica agrees, so we share the same answer here.

Chris Hall [00:08:23]: Hi. I'm Chris Hall. I'm the director of residence life and student housing at Georgetown University Law Center. I think one of the things that we can do to really help our students is by modeling good work activities, making sure that, you know, we are working reasonable hours. We are, both in terms of daily and weekly, that we are not doing the kinds of things that we don't want our students to do. We don't wanna be, you know, burning the midnight oil or, putting things off to the last minute, things like that. I think that's probably what would help them with their well-being as much as anything.

Clarissa Lau [00:08:59]: I am Clarissa Lau. My pronouns are she and her, and I work at the University of Toronto. I think the first is recognizing work life balance, being able to practice that, obviously, model that for students when we try to encourage students to study hard, play hard, and I think that's equally also the role of a student affairs professional.

Dr. Dan Maxwell [00:09:21]: My name is Dan Maxwell. I serve as the interim vice president for student success and student life at the University of Houston downtown. When I think about modeling a healthy excellence in my life and the culture at the institution, I would say that I try to be my authentic self wherever I show up. I think by being comfortable with who I am and showing people the comfort of my identities and being in my spaces, I think when we can bring 100% of ourselves into our spaces, then we can do our better work in that way.

Dan Balchak [00:09:52]: Dan Balchak, interim dean of students at Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. We can experience healthy excellence in our own lives by taking care of us and time management. And I can tell you I'm not very good at that. I've been working way too hard, but we really need to make space for ourselves and give ourselves grace to be healthy, to be able to support our students.

David Chow [00:10:15]: Hello. My name is David Chow. I am currently the chair of the technology knowledge community for NASPA. So I think student affairs professionals, obviously, we have to take care of ourselves in order for us to effectively take care of our students. It's easy to forget sometimes because we want to serve our students. We wanna be there for them. But if we we don't practice what we preach to them, then we struggle and and our health is damaged and then ultimately we can't help our students. So I think just it's kind of practicing what we preach.

Dan Balchak [00:10:41]: My name David Zimoyski. I'm senior associate dean of students at Boston University. This is an uncertain time in the higher education landscape, and I think what I am trying to do right now as best I can is stay calm, stay focused, be thoughtful, display care for others. And in doing so, I feel good about how I am spending my time day to day. And I think that is a, hopefully, a good example for others in my professional community.

Dr. Deborah Wright [00:11:13]: I am doctor Deborah Wright, and I am with the George Washington University in Washington, DC. I am doctor Deborah Wright, and I am with the George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Deidre Cobb [00:11:24]: Hi. My name is Diedrich Cobb, and I am from Fairmont State University in West Virginia, and I am the student success coordinator. I was hired under the title three grant with the intentions of being, first and foremost, a bridge between academic affairs and student affairs along with other responsibilities such as forming a student success support team and also overseeing a student ambassador program called the Student Empowerment Liaisons.

Dr. Eddie Martinez [00:11:55]: Hello, everyone. My name is Eddie Martinez. I serve as the associate dean for student affairs at Suffolk County Community College. I think that we, as professionals, need to continue to honor ourselves. And when we're tired, take that break. When you wake up and you just feel, I need a mental health day, it's okay. That's why we have them. All too often, we in student affairs continue to push, push, push, and it's at the expense of our own health. And by default, our students don't get the best of us. So making sure you check-in with yourself, I make sure I do my best to try to check-in with myself. Don't always succeed, but I do try.

Ellie McMillan [00:12:32]: My name is Ellie McMillan. I'm the graduate apprentice at the Center for Leadership in Elon University. I use sheher pronouns, and I'm a graduate student in the Master of Art in Higher Education program at Elon. I think modeling well-being is super important because oftentimes, we find that students have a culture of busyness, and we discourage our students from overcommitting themselves or being too busy. But if we want them to kind of model that, we also have to model that for ourselves. So we have to carve out time within within our days. We have to kind of cut down the meetings that we do, limit ourselves to three meetings a day, if that's possible. I think that's a really important first step of, like, we can't be asking our students to be doing things that we can't ourselves do.

Erica Stocks [00:13:28]: Erica Stocks, director of student affairs at Boston University's Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. I think it's really just about when we're where we're speaking to students or we're having interactions. I think particularly in the work that I do is when I'm doing presentations, taking a moment to kind of teach students, okay, let's take a deep breath. Let's all kind of collectively come together to take a pause in a moment. And I think it's also that we're trying to be really intentional about the programming that we're doing, about making sure that students are taking breaks to appreciate the small things in life.

Erica Stocks [00:13:58]: And that also goes with us to kind of going out and taking breaks from our desk and walking out into the student activities area. And so I think that there's it means so much more that we do. I think that we're thinking about well-being and particularly from a student perspective and also as a professional. Right? It's multifaceted. It's not just, oh, I need to work out. Oh, I need to do this. It's like taking a moment, taking a breath, taking a pause, whatever it might be.

Dr. George McClellan [00:14:21]: I'm George McClellan, professor of higher education at the University of Mississippi. So I've been in student affairs in one way or another for about forty something odd years. And one of the things I learned early on in the profession was that you aren't gonna be able to help take care of other people until you learn to take care of yourself. So it's a really important question. And I think one of the keys is being comfortable acknowledging that you're not comfortable. Right? That you need rest, that you need time, that you need to reflect, that you need whatever it is. You need challenge. You need something to pick you up.

Dr. George McClellan [00:14:53]: I think it's really important to to, a, to be tuned into yourself in that way, but, b, to be okay saying I need help, I need something, that sort of thing. I think a lot of people, particularly early in their careers, are so concerned that if they acknowledge any need that somehow they're confessing a great sin, but that's simply not the case. As you move through the field, I think what you can do is help the people who report to you. I'm not a I'm not a big fan of those hierarchies, but but to help those people who report to you in an organization know that it's it's okay to say those things. Right? That you can project a signal that says it's okay. And one of the easiest way to do that is for you to when somebody says to you, how are you doing? Just give them the sort of, oh, I'm fine. You know, everything's fine. Right? But it's, you know, I'm having an okay day, but I'm a little rundown today. Maybe not enough veggies, but today, I'm a little tired. So I think that's really important. And I think when it comes to institutional culture, it's the advocacy for prioritizing health and well-being. And, you know, we we have a million things going on. And as staffs are cut and there are funding reductions and resource reductions of all various kinds, it's gonna some of the first things that are gonna go if we're not advocating are taking care of staff. And so we have to advocate for ourselves. We have to be okay doing that.

Hallie Vavris [00:16:18]: Hello. My name is Hallie Vavris. I am a graduate student at Baldwin Wallace University in the leadership in higher education program here. We are role models for students first and foremost, and I think that higher education professionals, you know, sometimes we can think about more of the logistics of things, like, oh, like, what are we teaching? Because we we are in education. However, I think something that needs to be talked about more is that students are always, like, watching us, like, just our behaviors and our choices. I know for myself, I wanna work in a community college specifically. So, you know, helping students and meeting them where they are at is a really big aspect, you know, supporting students' well-being and just being a student's student advocate. I really like the word advocate because you are alongside the student developmentally wherever they're at.

Jackie Yun [00:17:11]: I'm Jackie Yoon. I take the she series, and I serve as the executive director of the student center at Harvard Griffin GSAS. I think student affairs professionals can model healthy behaviors by being our whole person. So, obviously, being involved at work and doing good work to support students, but also taking care of our physical health and our mental health and well-being, and sharing that and modeling that where we can with both our staff, but also with our students. I feel feel grateful to be in the student activities space because I feel like that's essential to the mission that we have. At the student center at Harvard, we're really focused on reminding students that they are full beings with interests that go beyond their academic pursuits, and they do better academically when they engage in those things that bring them joy. And graduate school is hard and long, and we need victories. So we need moments of creation, connection, and opportunities to do things that just spark joy. And I feel like I'm constantly reminding very high achieving students that are very focused in their discipline that it's okay to have fun in graduate school.

Dr. Jacob Diaz [00:18:23]: My name is Jacob Diaz. I serve as the associate vice chancellor for student success at the University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg campus. So I believe the work on healthy excellence starts with me as an educator and doing my own work on trying to get clear about what works for me to maintain a sense of peace and harmony while amidst, at times, a very chaotic environment. And so I try to think about what makes me feel good, what grounds me each day, and then reminding myself that this is important work to do and that I'm contributing even if it's in a small way.

James Quiesenberry [00:19:05]: Hi. This is James Quisenberry. I'm executive director of student affairs technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Our campuses have to adopt what's called, being a health promoting university, something called the Okanagan Charter. I encourage people to check it out. But it's not just leaders in student affairs, but it's leaders on campus that have to take a look at what's going on in their environment, what's going on in their climate, and be comfortable in supporting their staff in leading healthy lives to achieve the best that they can.

James Stewart [00:19:42]: Hi. I'm James Stewart, associate vice president for student development and achievement at Coppin State University. In this, to me, we have to be the role model and examples for students. We often tell students to balance well-being, to balance their lives, to pursue personal interests, and then we don't do those own things. We can always be bombarded with the day's fires and all the work we have to do, but we also have to be thinking about how are we in the best place to, as they say, put on our own oxygen mask first before helping others.

Jamie Haney [00:20:17]: Hi. I'm Jamie Haney, associate dean for the Graduate College at University of Illinois Chicago. I think one of the best ways to do that is to share our lives with students. Just letting them know that the challenges we face in our own lives are similar to what they face in their lives, and how we cope with those, and how we try to balance everything. I'm a wife and a mother and a full time employee. Once upon a time, I was also a full time doctoral student, and so letting students know that I was experiencing a lot of the same challenges and experiences that they were going through was really helpful for them. I think it helps them to know that we have experienced or are experiencing what they are going through and just knowing that we are human just like they are. So I think that's an important way to share our own lives with students.

Dr. Jamie Washington [00:21:03]: Hi. I'm Jamie Washington, and I am the president and founder of the Washington Consulting Group and of the Social Justice Institute, Training Institute. So when I think about, again, student affairs professionals and well-being and how we can continue to support excellence, what comes up for me is that we continue to live into what our why is and our commitment to always putting students first, remembering that we got into this profession because we cared about the experience of students and what they get to do and what they get to become. So our primary goal in higher education is to prepare the next generation of leaders and those who will go forth from our spaces and do good work and make a difference in the world. So we get to continue to remember that that's our charge, that we stay in that, and we help them navigate through difficult and challenging times, and we navigate it along with them.

Dr. Jeanna Mastrodicasa  [00:22:00]: Hi. This is Jeanna Mastrodicasa, and I am the director of the Office of Institutional Assessment at the University of Florida. And I've been there for more than twenty seven years in a total of six roles. Really doing your very best to figure out what you can tell people you do with your time, being able to articulate it. It can be as simple as family time, catching up on the bachelor, whatever other inane things that make you a better human, but tell people that. So the other thing I think that I have done in my own career is I have been open with people about my own personal struggles challenges that I'm facing, both as a human being and part of a complex family and the whole thing. And I've been upfront about it and visible about using my time for mental health purposes. And And I think that's something I'm I'm doing for myself, but I'm really doing it to show people it's okay.

Dr. Josie Ahlquist [00:22:56]: Hey. My name is Josie Alquist. I use sheher pronouns. I am a digital engagement consultant, executive strategist, coach, and speaker. Modeling healthy excellence is going to take a level of letting go of perfection if you are gonna ensure your own well-being as well as your students. I know that's really hard for us in higher ed. We have very high standards, but good is also really good.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [00:23:26]: Julie Payne Kirchmeier, sheher pronouns, vice president for student success for the Indiana University System. That's not a system. We can call it a multi campus university if you would like. That whole concept of being balanced when you talk about work and you talk about outcomes and being driven in addition to being balanced with yourself. And so whether that's life, whether that is how you kind of navigate your energy even at work, how you set healthy expectations for yourself. Don't undersell it or you're not stretching enough. Don't overdo it or you exhaust yourself. And so that's kind of where I think that lies. And how can they do it? I think you gotta take an honest stock of where you are. What are the expectations that are placed on you and really think through how you can bring that concept of healthy excellence into the space. And I would also say that if you get to the point where you're like, this institutional culture is not supporting that for me and it's unsustainable, you gotta start looking. And I know that's hard, and for some folks, it's almost impossible. But for your own well-being, I think you gotta do it. I'm Justin Jeffrey.

Justin Jeffrey [00:24:26]: I'm the assistant vice president at Texas A and M University. So I think about how I role model healthy, excellent to my own life and how it's important for us to do that as professionals is just being present when you need to. And but for students to also see that you take time for yourself and that you are not at every event. I think sometimes we feel that we have that pressure to be at everything, but I think when you pick and choose what's most important to be at and then when you have conversations with the students about why maybe you couldn't join that evening and you have a family commitment or you needed to go to the gym, just being really honest and transparent about that so that they know that you're a true person, real person, and you're trying to balance your health and well-being as well.

Jawan Jacobs [00:25:06]: Hey, y'all. My name is Jawan Jacobs. I am currently an assistant director in the Student Involvement and Leadership office at Duke University. When thinking about well-being and healthy excellence and student affairs, right, I think one of the things that student affairs professionals can do to really model healthy excellence in their own lives is being proactive with what rest, relaxation, rejuvenation looks like. I think we're talking about it from the perspective of institutional culture. Making sure that you're advocating for yourself, I think, is always fair and you're right. Right? So making sure that in all of the things that you are being upfront with your supervisor, with your team, whether that be your staff or your students, and really letting them know what does it look when I'm having a 10 out of 10 day? How does that differ from when I'm having a three out of 10 day? Right? And what does that mean for support?

Kevin Willis [00:25:54]: Hi. My name is Kevin Willis. I am a membership manager with NASPA's membership team. I'm originally from Kentucky. I think that student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence in their lives, by thinking about healthy boundaries and encouraging their students to do so as well. I always tell my students when I supervise them in the past that they can't serve others if their cup is not full either. And so I always want people to think about how they can be there for the students and show that care and dedication while also maintaining boundaries. And maybe that is letting them know of the resources for particular conversation topics or letting them know this is where my strengths are and this is where I'll be for you, and then let's find you somebody that can match you in the other areas that you need them from.

Herbie Gibson [00:26:34]: Herbie Gibson, sheher, associate director of residence education for student learning and leadership, Michigan State University. So when I think about modeling a healthy excellence within the field, first it actually starts with us rethinking the ideal worker norms that exist within the field. We've been socialized to believe that we have to work these long days, that we have to be accessible at all times of the day to our students, and that in no way is healthy whatsoever. And so how are we rethinking the work that we are doing to serve our students? I would also say that rest is important. Take your paid time off because PTO also stands for prepare the others. And so making sure that you are engaging in rest, taking vacation time, setting boundaries as a way to reevaluate your relationship to the work, and that's ways in which you can model that healthy practice.

Dr. Laura Devoe [00:27:26]: Hi. My name is doctor Laura DeVoe, and I'm a visiting assistant professor at Boston College. When I'm thinking about the well-being and healthy excellence in student affairs, I don't really know what else to say, but get off campus. You have to get off campus. You have to touch grass, as the kids say, and that grass can be off campus. You don't have to just be living your life in your university or college polo shirt. Move off campus, find some space, and get some life off campus that makes you happy, and find your people elsewhere. You will always have your people on campus.

Lauren Zielinski [00:28:09]: My name is Lauren Zielinski. I'm the associate director for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies. I feel that student affairs professionals can model excellence in their own lives by learning to say no more, by putting boundaries on easy things such as when to stop checking their email at the night, setting up those clear boundaries of when their day starts and when their day ends so they can have that time to their selves to spend with family, friends, hobbies, anything that's gonna take them and help them disconnect from the work to give them that work life balance.

Marcus . [00:28:48]: My name is Marcus. I'm from Singapore, and I'm representing a social enterprise called Sojourner's Agora, but I also work in student affairs in the National University of Singapore, taking care of student life for the undergraduates. I think an important thing with my experience has been to understand emotional and physical boundaries in your work, especially as someone who lives on campus and serves students twenty four four seven. It's wonderful to see them as friends, but at the same time, it pays a lot to understand that, there is boundary between students whom you get to know professionally as well as the ones that you know through your own organic social activities outside. And that helps because you wanna be an example also of, drawing good boundaries, healthy boundaries so that your students can also model after that.

Mary Pat Morgan [00:29:36]: My name is Mary Pat Morgan, and I'm a program coordinator with the engineering program at the universities at Shady Grove. I think it's really important for student affairs professionals to model healthy excellence by bringing it back to the basics. Those things that we talk about during orientation, during those first advising sessions with students. I often tell myself it's important not to be a hypocrite, though always taking time to take a lunch. Even if it's ten minutes at your desk, take a lunch. Make sure you get that food in you and fuel you to get back to the work. Sleep is so important. The physical and mental preparation for the day. I think the physical health is such an important component. Moving that mental preparation before the day.

Dr. Melanie Mitchell [00:30:23]: Hello. My name is doctor Melanie Mitchell, and I have the pleasure of serving as the director of the Impact Leadership Village at North Carolina State University. A moment that comes to mind for me when I think about being a student affairs affairs professional and modeling healthy excellence is thinking about how I do that on a daily basis in small ways. Right? And so an example that comes to mind is thinking about how to make sure I schedule lunch and take lunch, sometimes engage in taking a walk around campus. Also, just like we schedule all the things in our work, it's important that we're taking time even after work to pour back into us. Right? Because you can't pour from an empty cup. And when students see you modeling what it means to be well, that helps them think about that as they navigate their college career.

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:31:16]: Hi. I am Melinda Stoops. I am currently serving as the interim dean of students at Bay Path University, and I've been working in higher education for over twenty years at this point. I think one of our challenges as student affairs professionals is we tend to work a lot of hours and sometimes challenge ourselves with boundaries around work life balance. And I think it's so important that we model healthy excellence in our lives for our students. And I think there are lots of ways to do it, but one thing I would say that's really important is think about how you model that in the office in front of students. So when a crisis comes up, how are you reacting to it? Can you react in a way that is somewhat calm and to say, okay. Let's go talk about this.

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:32:01]: Let's work this out. Or are you freaking out as everyone else is freaking out? At a basic level, separate from a crisis, I also think about lunch. I have a bad habit of working through lunch. And there are many times over the twenty years in higher ed is I thought this is such an awful modeling for my students. Like, if my students in the office see me working through lunch, what does that say to them about self care and priority? So I really try and be intentional when I remember to do so about saying, okay, I'm gonna even take a few minutes to just sit quietly and eat or take a ten minute break and go for a walk just unwind and and sort of model those healthy behaviors.

Melissa Aponte [00:32:42]: I am doctor Melissa Aponte. I serve as assistant dean of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. I think one way that student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence in their own lives while supporting student well-being is by sharing with students some of the challenges that they face in their own lives. I think I've utilized examples from my own life and been open and transparent in sharing with my own students some of the challenges I've faced and how I've overcome them. And then I try to work with students to dig into their own life experiences and help them see how they've overcome challenges and that they have resiliency in themselves. So when they come to college and they're facing different issues, they can dig into those past experiences. So I think sharing is important and being open, I think, and showing that you are a whole human being. I do like to share tidbits of my life with my students as appropriate.

Melissa Ward [00:33:42]: I am Melissa Ward. I am director of student engagement at the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. So one thing I think I need to work on is being a better model of healthy excellence in how I work with our students. I try very hard to give them breaks and model when I'm taking breaks, but then you always wanna be responsive. Right? Because my weekends are sometimes when they can get their work done. So I think I need to be better at that. So I'm still learning.

Michael Allensworth [00:34:13]: Hello. My name is Michael Allensworth, and I work in the prevention, outreach, and education department at Michigan State University as our director for employee and graduate student programs. I'm thinking about how can we learn to hone in prioritizing the different priorities that we have. And so thinking about not everything can be a crisis, but focusing on what is important for a particular point in time, I think is something that's gonna help all of us better model healthy excellence in our organizations and within our units.

Dr. Michael Sheehane [00:34:42]: Howdy. My name is Michael Sheehan. I work at Texas A and M University in career services. Specifically, I'm the director of campus programs in the career center. Been there for about fifteen years now. So an example of how I do this, I think it actually starts with coming to the realization that you can't do it all and it's okay to, prioritize and say no to certain things. And so at some point, you gotta say, so how much effort and energy do I have to give? Make sure that you're living out excellence in your own life and being fully invested in the things you choose to be invested in, but knowing that you can't be involved in everything all the time. And I think that's something that some students have a particular time struggling with. So they wanna do all the things all the time. And so I think modeling, that is okay to prioritize and let some things go, and that's okay too.

Dr. Michelle Burke [00:35:26]: Michelle Burke, Grand Rapids, Michigan. I work with the Michigan Center for Adult College Success. I've been a NASPA member for a long time. I think one thing that can be done to be available to students in their time is to work on staggered schedules for staff to recognize that not everybody's gonna work eight to five or eight to 8AM to 5AM, and that make sure that you're taking care of your team so they can take care of students. Model that as a supervisor by taking care of yourself and allowing your own self care time too.

Dr. Mimi Benjamin [00:36:00]: I'm Mimi Benjamin. I'm a professor in the student affairs in higher education program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. And one of the ways that I think student affairs professionals can model healthy excellence is to get sleep and talk about the fact that they actually do sleep. I think that sleeping underrated well-being tasks that we can take on, and I think the more we talk about how we rest, the more others will see the value in that. Mylon Wallace. I work in the office of student conduct at the University of

Mylon Wallace [00:36:32]: Mylon Wallace. I work in the Office of Student Conduct at the University of Alabama, and I believe that student affairs professionals can just model it by showing students that we are all human, really, is the most important aspect of it. We all gonna make mistakes. We're all gonna be held accountable for our mistakes, and it's best we learn from them and keep going. Hi, everyone.

Nairole Njok [00:36:53]: My name is Nairole Njok. I'm currently a first year graduate student at Iowa State University in in the student affairs master's program, and I am from Omaha, Nebraska. I like to think about how we give tips to our students when it comes to their well-being and how we should actually be modeling those tips. And so it'd be really counterproductive if we asked practitioners are telling students to take care of themselves, set boundaries if we aren't doing that ourselves. And so living by your tips is how I'd see this. And I think in addition to that, being aware of the culture on your campus is really important because you're out of touch. It is really hard to support your students and to be able to kinda understand where their experience is when it comes to their well-being. If you aren't aware of what's going on on campus and especially since that will affect your students. And so being aware of what's going on on your campus, as it pertains to the culture and living up to your own tips slash expectations that you have for your students when it comes to their well-being.

Mylon Wallace [00:37:57]: Hi. This is Pedro Ramos. I am the student engagement manager for the program Exploratory Studies at CU Boulder from Boulder, Colorado. So hello. I think one of the biggest things that I can think about is knowing when to take a step back and saying no and being able to observe all the different pieces going on when we're making decisions about students. I feel like sometimes we go into a situation and we're really passionate about a certain initiative or a certain project. And we also can get crispy in that in that efforts. And so just reminding ourselves, okay, let me regroup myself, come back to this experience once I feel like I have everything prepared or I feel ready, or maybe even saying no is an important lesson that I think we can even tell our students that they don't need to be everything for everyone, at their institution.

Dr. Peggy Crowe [00:38:52]: Hi. I'm Peggy Crowe. I serve as the director of the counseling center and the student accessibility resource center at Western Kentucky University. Well, I think the pandemic showed us a lot of ways that we can provide more healthy excellence and balance in our lives. There is no such thing as balance. I don't like when people say I'm looking for balance because there is no such thing. But I think if we role model that for other people, taking care of our families, finding balance in our lives, maybe working remotely if that is a possibility while still maintaining a great work ethic. I think we can do that and then we're role modeling for students. So if I'm not responding to an email at midnight every night or on the weekends, then I'm role modeling healthy balance and well-being to students.

Dr. Phil Covington [00:39:37]: I'm Phil Covington. I serve as associate vice chancellor for student success at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Really understanding and pausing long enough to know what are my individual values and the boundaries associated with those, how much flexibility am I willing to engage over the course of a year. Obviously, there are seasons within each year that we've got, you know, higher loads that may have to, be taken. There's times and moments of crisis, obviously, that are gonna take additional effort from us, but it's it's knowing that we've got these things in place. One of the things that I've done over the course of the last year is just even prioritizing throughout the course of the day, at least three times a week, trying to get out and take a twenty minute walk across campus. Never fails. Maybe another staff member wants to come along with me. Maybe I'm running into colleagues along the way and they ask if you can talk. I said, yeah, if you'll walk and so those are pieces that are making a difference, hopefully modeling, but also I know making a difference for me and my own health.

Rachel Omara [00:40:36]: Rachel O'Mara, admissions and academic advisor for the Department of Educational Leadership at Cal State Fullerton. I think that a good way to model sort of healthy excellence is to remember that we're all going through a lived experience and that as professionals, maybe we sometimes appear like we know more than our students or the people that we serve, and I think it's really crucial for us to make those connections and make the spaces really important for us to show ourselves and the things that we care about so that the students understand that we have those connections to them. Even if you have random posters in your director of volunteer engagement at NASPA.

Rachel Duvall [00:41:29]: I'm Rachel Duvall. I'm the associate director of volunteer engagement at NASPA. I am from Memphis, Tennessee. So how student affairs can professionals can model healthy excellence in their own lives and institutional cultures while supporting students' well-being. I think the really big thing here is to remember your roots in your professional journey and how you have evolved throughout the profession. Everyone's trajectory looks different, so honoring that in all folks. And so if your journey doesn't look the same as someone else's, really being conscious of that and supporting folks in whatever they decide to do in their current role, next role, and all that and encouraging them to get involved with the professional track that works for them. So if that's regions or knowledge communities with us here at NASPO or a steering committee, I think that is how you can encourage someone to find community at their institution or with a professional organization, but just supporting them in whatever decisions they make.

Ray Fisco [00:42:27]: Hi. Ray Fisco, he, him pronouns. I am from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I serve NASPA as the assistant director of statewide coalitions, trainings, and partnerships. I think this is a really fantastic question. I actually run a coalition in Colorado where we have a campaign called the Time to Ungrind campaign, where it really looks at the culture around hustling. Because I know we as student affairs professionals fall into this culture, and we ultimately do see that with our students as well. So I think it's important that when we tell students about really taking care of yourself and really not falling into this culture of feeling like you have have to hustle and grind all the time to feel successful. I think it's important to model to students that, you know, it's important to rest. It's important to have self care. It's important to take a break. It's important to say no. Because especially in the field of student affairs, it's, like, very hard to say no. But when you're able to say no, that really shows growth, that really shows the opportunity to really be taking care of yourself and really be taking care of your own well-being.

Sean Devoe [00:43:36]: Hi. Sean Devoe. I serve as the associate vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Really focused on making sure that you're doing good stuff for yourself in your work that excites you and that really promotes the best work that you can do on behalf of your students. If you're not doing stuff that's exciting you, you're probably not doing stuff that's exciting your students as well.

Sarah Edmonson [00:44:04]: Hello. I am Sarah Edmonson. She, her pronouns, I serve as the associate director for student involvement at Washington University in Saint Louis or WashU. For me personally, one of the things I think is really important is setting boundaries. I set boundaries with the students I work with, and I'm very clear about communication. I do share my phone number with a handful of students that I work with, but I make it very clear that I reserve the right to not respond outside of business hours. I also try to do a really good job of working when I'm at work and not working when I'm not at work. So try to be really thoughtful about turning off notifications to technology and Teams, Outlook, all of those different pieces so that I'm not really distracted by or getting sucked into work while I'm not there.

Sarah Edmonson [00:44:45]: I also try to think about, like, if I need to do work outside of my kind of typical work schedule, which what is a typical work schedule in student affairs, but I try to be thoughtful of, like, is this urgent? Do I need to do this now? Or, like, can this really wait, and can I prioritize it, you know, tomorrow or when I have a moment? End up really doing better work because I think part of that balance piece is having a healthy, productive life outside of work and and then supporting that culture for my staff. Absolutely. And so really encouraging them to take their vacation time, to take flex time where it's appropriate, to have varied interests outside of work that does not that have nothing to do with work. And I think modeling those things for our students and explaining that of, like, I'm not gonna get to your email that you sent at 8PM until tomorrow or maybe even the next day, depending on what I've got going on, especially if it's not urgent, and saying, like, we don't need to buy into this this hustle culture or this everything is urgent culture when everything is not necessarily urgent. There are some things that are, but outside of that, we need to be really thoughtful and model for our students what is productive and healthy.

Dr. Sheila Carusel [00:45:48]: Hi. I'm doctor Sheila Carussell. I work at Ohio Northern University, and I'm the director of pharmacy student affairs. I've been in student affairs for over twenty five years, and I think one of the best ways that we, as professionals, can model the healthy excellence in our lives and supporting our institutional cultures is to really work on showing that work life balance. And so what that means is whenever it's possible, leave your office, go have fun, go home, and do what's best for you. Talk with your students about your hobbies. Talk about how you de stress and that you can refill how you refill your your cup for the students.

Sylvester Gaskin [00:46:38]: Name is Sylvester Gaskin. I'm a leadership development program leader for the Association of American Medical Colleges. We see this field as like an extension of ourselves when it may be at times we just need to see it just as a job, as a career, and to put yourself first. So the best advice that I got about this was actually from my father, who said you have to make business decisions. And sometimes the best business decision you could make is to just take care of yourself. And so in my experience, I didn't really model healthy behaviors and I ended up burning out, getting really sick. And I found that the institution really wasn't concerned about my own well-being. And so I see myself as the CEO of my own business and sometimes the best interest of the business is that I didn't go to a late night event or I didn't attend a meeting and and if I got in trouble for it, well, you know, that's just part of the business.

Dr. Alyssa Bivens [00:47:29]: So

Taylor Henderson [00:47:30]: Hi. This is Taylor Henderson. I'm the director of the Reliance Student Experience office at Texas A and M University's Mays Business School. I think it's really important to acknowledge challenge. I think sometimes we find ourselves in our profession staying late, helping students with things after hours, before work, after work, on the weekends, and just we feel such a responsibility to be 100% available because we know that the student experience happens primarily of their classroom. And I think that that is an unrealistic expectation for any profession. And it's an unrealistic model for us to put in front of students whenever they see us as working professionals. So I think, you know, establishing boundaries and showing them that it's okay to have boundaries for for yourself and to take care of yourself is just so important.

Terrence Duffy [00:48:17]: Hi. My name is Terrence Duffy, t. I'm a first year graduate student at Baldwin Wallace University in the leadership in higher education program. My biggest thing is boundaries. People always assume boundaries just kind of mean those are your you will not pass. It's like, no. It's just setting healthy boundaries with not only where you work or your school work because, you know, you do need a break from time to time. So I think showing them that, yes, as professionals, we work hard and long sometimes.

Terrence Duffy [00:48:44]: Having those times where we're like, okay. We need to stop for a minute, take a step back and take a breather, I think is something that can really help show students that they can also do the same, especially in their schoolwork.

Dr. TJ Pegg [00:49:02]: Hello. I'm doctor TJ Pegg from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Hello. I'm doctor TJ Pegg from from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. I think as far as student affairs professionals and modeling excellence in our own lives and institutional cultures is really communicating our boundaries and letting students know that they have the ability to do that as well and setting their boundaries as within their program, setting their boundaries and how they're getting engaged on campus, and letting their professors, faculty, and staff on campus, and campus resources that they utilize know what their boundaries are so that they can be their best self when they're on campus. We talk to students a lot of times in the work that I do about meeting their own definition of success, and part of that is setting boundaries and communicating with those that are in their circle to support their experience.

Travis Tucker [00:49:55]: Alright. Hello there. My name is Travis Tucker. I use him as pronouns. I serve as the assistant dean and director of the Carley Field Center at Princeton University. I also am a member of the JSKC as the cochair elect. So when I think about healthy excellence, and thinking about marrying and monitoring healthy excellence in my life, I really think about creating proper boundaries. What does it look like for me to really model with navigating how to turn off my email at a given time? I'm really navigating expectations around what that looks like for my staff.

Travis Tucker [00:50:24]: I'm really encouraging them to really think about what it makes sense for them to do. I really don't ever try to put people into a box. I don't believe in toxic positivity when it comes to healthy healthy boundaries, and so really making sure that people have the that capacity to learn and lean into that is really important to me.

Val Shepherd [00:50:44]: Hi. I'm Val Shepherd. I'm a senior analyst with UCLA Recreation, practicing what we preach. Basically, doing the same things, modeling that for our students. We can't expect our students to do anything different than we do. Talking about our families, working across across disciplines, partnering with academic affairs, especially in student affairs. I've had wonderful partnerships with colleagues in the School of Public Health, for example. So I think definitely modeling what we would like students to do is how I see

Sabina Kapoor [00:51:21]: that. Hi. My name is Sabina Kapoor and I'm the new co chair, one of the new co chairs for the SAPA knowledge community with NASPA. I've been in higher ed for a little over twenty years and in that time I've served roles in student affairs, academic affairs, student success, and after a little over twenty years I decided to go back to school full time and pursue my PhD. So if all goes well, I'll get that by the end of this year. I think this is something where there needs to be an organizational cultural shift. While we can't focus on the whole institution, maybe just focusing on the student affairs division and the workplace culture there. And so I think it begins with leadership to say in student affairs to say, work life balance.

Val Shepherd [00:52:05]: And, you know, sometimes I think student affairs staff, they're so devoted to the job that they will maybe not do a flex schedule or compensate their hours that over work, you know, over forty hours or whatever the minimum is for full time. But there needs to be a workplace cultural shift to say, and we all know this, is that we all need to be healthy so that we can best serve others. But sometimes we get in a zone and we compromise our health, skip lunch to meet with the student or stay just two hours extra to finish decorating for an event the next day. And so the problem is that one, sometimes leadership doesn't realize that that's what you're doing. And then if you've agreed to work a certain schedule and you kinda veer away from that, then it's really hard for leadership to compensate at that point. So when I say cultural shift, I mean leadership mid level supervisors facing staff work together and be proactive with scheduling, knowing peak times, knowing when events are, etcetera. So I think this is a bigger thing and it requires an organizational or divisional workplace cultural shift. And this is including institutional cultures and that ties into that part of institutional cultures while supporting students' well-being.

Val Shepherd [00:53:27]: The key of this is that there is a servicing students. You can manage and operate in a way that you are serving students without overworking some individuals or student student affairs staff. You can work schedules can be arranged in a way to where they get a break and at the same time they get a break but at the same time they continue with that student service.

Vanessa Vera [00:53:55]: Hi. My name is Vanessa Vera. I'm a conduct education graduate assistant at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. I think what comes to mind is really a human centered approach to navigating student support and just the communication and relationships that we value in our life. I think sometimes just having grace with ourselves, having grace with our colleagues, having grace for our students, and that sometimes life happens to put it simply, and that there really is no right way to go about things. I think sometimes in the procedure of every day and the routines that we fall into, it's easy to get in a groove and expect things to go the way they do, but they never really do, and there's so much uncertainty every day in our lives that we navigate professionally, personally, and just in all spaces.

Dr. Will Simpkins [00:54:43]: This is Will Simpkins. I'm vice president of student affairs at Metropolitan State University of Denver. I think you have to make the time. You have to create the boundaries and make it a priority in your life. You can't be everything to everyone. And if your own internal sense of validation is how many people that I helped today, you're not helping yourself. And so always put at the front, what do I need to get through today? Whether that's coffee or a walk with the dog or a massage at the end of the day or a workout, whatever it is, put the boundaries around the work.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:55:25]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show, and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:56:04]: That's me. Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:56:16]: time.

The latest episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field is not only a must-listen for higher education professionals but a rich resource for anyone seeking insight into the dynamic landscape of student affairs. Dr. Jill Creighton hosts a thoughtful conversation with Dr. Amelia Parnell, the new president and CEO of NASPA, as she reflects on her journey, the evolving challenges facing the profession, and her vision for the organization and the field.

Leadership Through Uncertainty

One of the strongest themes of the episode is leadership amidst change and uncertainty. Dr. Parnell candidly discusses stepping into her presidential role during a significant period of transition—mirroring the larger flux happening across higher education. She emphasizes the importance of staying calm, understanding the complexities of policy shifts, and making informed decisions, especially as national and state regulations impact campuses at breakneck speed.

The Power of Community

Dr. Parnell’s gratitude for the NASPA community—its staff, members, and peer associations—shines through. Her message is clear: while the challenges ahead are real and substantial, the strength of student affairs lies in its collaborative spirit and supportive networks. She notes that community isn’t just a buzzword. Whether through regional conferences, association partnerships, or simply reaching out to colleagues, being “in it together” makes turbulent times more bearable and productive.

Value and Impact of Student Affairs

A recurring point throughout the episode is the critical need to showcase the impact of student affairs, not just in crisis management or engagement, but as facilitators of student learning and success. Dr. Parnell calls for professionals to embrace data, tell their stories, and make a compelling case for the essential role they play across campuses nationwide. She encourages the field to move beyond simply surviving and towards thriving, both individually and institutionally.

Looking Ahead

Perhaps most inspiring, Dr. Parnell expresses optimism for the future. She predicts ongoing difficulty but also emphasizes resilience, adaptability, and the vibrancy of the student affairs profession. Her practical advice—utilize new NASPA resources, invest in community, focus on continuous learning, and center the student experience—resonates deeply.

Tune In for Insight and Inspiration

If you’re searching for honest dialogue and encouragement amidst challenging times, this episode is essential listening. Dr. Parnell’s warmth, expertise, and hopefulness will leave you feeling empowered and connected—ready to support your campus and each other as the field forges ahead.

Listen to the full conversation and join the ongoing journey with the NASPA community. Your work and your voice matter—now more than ever.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm doctor Jill Creighton, sheherhers, your essay voices from the field host. Today on essay voices, I'm so pleased to bring you a conversation with doctor Amelia Parnell, our first on the podcast with her in her new role as president of NASPA. We've had doctor Parnell on before in her prior role at NASPA as the VP for research and policy, and I really loved getting to hear her vision for the organization, where we're going as an association. And if you weren't able to attend the annual conference, she also follows up on some of her remarks and her keynote speech. So this is not one to miss.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:53]: We're so glad that Amelia was able to make the time to come on the show. A little bit more about Amelia. Doctor Parnell is an accomplished higher ed leader and executive and an internationally recognized thought leader regarding current issues and emerging trends in the field. She's a passionate advocate for higher education as a tool for personal advancement and impact, and she seeks opportunities to partner with organizations and individuals who share her sincere commitment to centering students' needs. In her prior role as VP for research and policy at NASPA, she led many of the association's scholarly and advocacy focused activities and fostered partnerships with college administrators, researchers, grantmakers, and other higher ed professionals. As a frequent keynote speaker at national and regional conferences, Amelia presents on topics related to higher ed, student affairs, college affordability, student learning outcomes, and institutions' use of data and analytics. She's been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and the PBS NewsHour. Amelia recently completed four years of service on the board of directors for EDUCAUSE, where she was the chair of the finance and investment committee and the audit committee.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:55]: She's also the past chair of the Higher Education Equity Network or HEEN, a collective impact network representing more than 25 organizations at the forefront of addressing a racial equity in higher ed. Amelia enjoys opportunities to teach, and she's energized by making complex concepts easy to understand. She's had enriching engagements with students and peers as an adjunct instructor and lecturer, and she's the author of the book, You Are a Data Person, which she wrote to encourage all higher education professionals to discover and embrace their unique data identity. Amelia holds her PhD in higher education from Florida State University and master's and bachelor's degrees in business administration from Florida A and M University. Amelia, welcome back to SA Voices.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:02:35]: Thank you very much for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:36]: And we're recording just about two weeks post annual conference. It was lovely to see you in person and living in your element and leading a marching band from opening to Mardi Gras World and welcoming all of us to New Orleans. So we're thrilled to introduce you as NASPA president and CEO for the first time. In the past, we've had you on as VP of policy and research. So as we typically do, we love to open our show by asking you, how did you get to your current seat?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:03:03]: Well, I should tell you that I got a similar question yesterday in an interview with someone who asked if I'd always knew I wanted to work in associations. And I said, when I was in my, of course, undergrad program, I didn't even know about higher ed associations or higher education as a major. And then when I was doing my doctoral work, I knew about associations, but didn't necessarily see myself there. So I can say it's been a journey, but every step along the way has been part of the preparation. So first I'd say getting to this literal seat is involved a lot of association experience. So, you mentioned it before this role for nine years, I was that VP of research and policy. And then before that, I worked for a few years at another association, the Association for Institutional Research. So, those who know me know that I enjoy data conversations and that kind of helped with that.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:03:44]: And then prior to that, I spent seven years in state policy in Florida in an office that really felt a lot like the IR office or institutional research office for the legislature. So a lot of association industry experience, and then a lot of other things that fill in the spaces. So served on some other association boards, did some teaching, some writing, some research, public speaking, advisory board service, and all that together in addition to early, early days working on a campus. So I'd like to think that this opportunity now was several, several years in the making.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:13]: And just to plug some of your work, if you're a data nerd, Amelia has a great book out on data, so you should check that one out if you're a data and assessment person.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:04:21]: I think we all are.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:22]: Definitely. And I think more so now in the profession than we were, you know, five, ten years ago. Even the data has begun to speak differently than it has before. Mhmm. But you've been in the NASPA presidency just under a year now. So how is it going?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:04:35]: It's going very well. Now I can say, like many others in higher education, has not all been easy. But I would definitely say it's been more bearable when you're in a welcoming community, and I'm glad to have that. So specifically, the membership has been really welcoming. I had an opportunity to go to almost all the regional meetings, over the past year. This one, the Western Regional, but I'll see them at their meeting this year. The membership in general has been very kind and welcoming. Get a lot of emails.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:04:59]: The challenge I have is to respond to all of them in a timely way. The board has been very supportive and enjoyed that partnership and looking to build on that. NASPA staff are great. This feels like a commercial, but truly, it it really has been nice. The my neighbor association, some of those CEOs and presidents have immediately reached out. So I feel a sense of community that I was already there, but just feels different in this new role. So it's going really, really well.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:19]: I know you're gonna love Western Regional. It's one of my favorite conferences as a former region fiver. So I'll give a shout out to Josie Alquist and Kim Halapa who are the chairs of NASPA Western Regional this year. You're gonna have a great time.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:05:30]: Okay. Okay.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:31]: But as we look at kind of you incoming to the presidency, I kind of think of doctor Lauria White's journey as well. She started her presidency, like, five seconds before COVID hit the world. You started your presidency right amidst a major presidential transition and policy transition. And coming from your policy background, I'm sure that has been maybe some unexpected turns, in your first year. So can you talk about kind of your philosophy behind navigating all

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:05:57]: of it? Oh, absolutely. I don't wanna downplay it and say, oh, I was ready for this. No big deal. That type of thing. But I can say some of my earlier experiences in my career have certainly helped me for this moment. And the first I'll say is that it's never a single person's responsibility. Although being in a role like president, you are asked to make a lot of decisions and that might be a partnership with the border. It might be this is in your scope of influence.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:06:18]: What are we gonna do? That type of, I'd say, heightened responsibility, I'm not necessarily new to it. I've been able to be a part of, like I said, the NASPA executive team for a while. It's a different role, but it did give me some direct exposure to kind of how NASPA should be able to move and navigate in these environments. In terms of the specific policy angle, that's where my state policy experience in Florida. And if anybody watches the news, Florida has been in the news for a while. And so I worked in Florida policy at a time when, just like now, Florida was in the news, and there were a lot of moving discussions that put me right in the middle of making decisions in a difficult time. So nothing prepares you for the moment that you're in because you've never seen it before. But the environment, one that you could probably say is a little bit uncertain, unexpected, a little bit challenging, I've gotten able to be uncomfortable in those situations.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:07:02]: So what I would say I've learned is to not panic. It's hard to do, but it's definitely relevant. Try not to panic. We make better decisions when you have a chance to sit and think. Maybe not in abundance of time to sit and think, but, number one thing for me I'd say is make sure you understand everything possible that you can, that you can absolutely absorb and try not to panic because you can make better decisions when you have a clear head.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:22]: I think that not panic moment is really important in higher ed right now. I've been in the public policy division space for NASPA for, I think, like three terms now. And I was having a conversation with Gaut Sheehan, who's the outgoing policy chair for us. And he and I gave a presentation, like, a couple of years ago called something like why public policy should matter to higher ed pros.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:07:44]: Talk about foreshadowing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:45]: And I just remember us being like, how do we get people to understand this is important to their work and how much that has shifted over the last couple of years where we're now in a space where policy is moving at us at what can really only be described as a breakneck pace. And so I'm not asking any of us in the field to agree, disagree, or be undecided about what these policy changes are and mean. What I'm really asking us to do is to take a look at how it's affecting our campuses and our students because regardless of how we personally feel about it, it's happening, and it's happening in ways that affect our campuses. So aside from remaining calm, kind of that keep calm and carry on, what advice do you have for campuses who are trying to keep up right now?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:08:24]: Yeah. Absolutely. And and before I answer that, let me add on to your point about your session with Scott. I've said this many times, kind of in jest, that I feel prepared for this moment because the the nine years I spent leading the research and policy area, those were two areas that when you say, hey, you know, would you like to sit down and talk about some data? Those people will be like, I don't know. That's my favorite topic. Maybe we'll get back to you and and talk another time. And if it's policy, oh, well, you know, I've got a colleague who does our policy stuff. And so this idea that these two big buckets and they're they're really kind of linked research and policy together were areas that we needed to be paying attention to closely anyway.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:08:55]: And this feels like the right time to elevate that. So I appreciate your question. And I would say, I see the thing, keep calm. I don't want to say carry on because I feel like that could be dismissive of what it means to be working in the field. But the calm nature means as you are still going through these difficult times, try not to be too overly overwhelmed. I'd say about what's going on. In terms of specifically what we can do, I think I can think of three things. The one I'd say to anybody, this is a great time to learn as much as possible.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:09:19]: And I know that the news outlets give us news and they give us updates, but there are certainly other opportunities for us to really understand how does a bill become a law? How does the law become a rule? How does the rule turn into policy? What's the difference between the executive order and, act of Congress, things like that. This is the time where if you you're not quite sure, ask somebody, see if you can read up on it. I know we talk about Schoolhouse Rock and the basics. It's okay to go back to the basics because I think in this time now it helps us have deeper conversations about what our options are. Got to understand what's going on. That ultimately will lead to the space of influence, which will be your campus policies or campus decisions. And so it all fits together. I think that's number one.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:09:55]: Learn as much as you can. In terms of supporting students, I think it means consistency. You know, for as much as things are changing all around us and we as professionals see this, students are still coming. They're still coming to class. They're still going home, still making plans, and they're looking to us to still provide some consistency in how we're going to help them navigate their college experience. I know it's hard, but they, I think, could give us a signal of where we could go to support them. And then I'd say the last, I just got to double back down on the idea of informed decision making. We haven't gotten to that question yet, but I feel like to some extent that that pairs well with not panicking, because if we have an abundance of information about what's been working, where our places of improvement should be, this is a good time.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:10:33]: And we're being kind of pushed into those conversations, by not rushing. Maybe moving at a faster pace, but not rushing to every quick decision that gives us a chance to take a fresh look at some information and data that we might already have in partnership across the campus. So that's gonna bring us closer together.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:47]: I will plug that Schoolhouse Rock piece on YouTube because it does hold up. It's the policy process is exactly the same. And one that I also like to include is the more r rated version by Saturday Night Live, which is about executive orders. So go watch that one. It's definitely not child or office friendly, but in your spare time, go check out that one because it's also pretty much accurate. But we are also in a space where all of the federal personnel that campuses may be used to talking to for investigations or there's currently, you know, we know the list of 60 and things like that going on. How might you advise campus professionals who are trying to do their best to comply with federal regulations knowing that their staff or relationships have all changed, how do you recommend people begin to re navigate this new landscape?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:11:31]: So that's a specific question I could imagine that impacts those who are used to having an ongoing connection to the department, and that would include me. Before this current administration, the previous administration, we would get invited to have a closed conversation here or convening there or some type of email exchange that would say, this is what we're considering. Can you tell us maybe a perspective of student affairs professionals? And to not have that has been a little, little tough because number one, it gives you access into conversations that might be emerging into something later. But also it kind of gives us a chance to prepare in advance. And so to not have that, it does feel acutely more difficult than previous situations. This is a place where I would say associations can actually support with the membership though. So even though I may not have that direct line to as many department professionals as I previously did, a lot of associations do have connections to the Hill. And so NASPA doesn't do direct lobbying, but we do a lot of advocacy work, which connects us to other associations who have that type of capacity.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:12:22]: So I think that's a place where associations can help members understand a little bit of what's going on. Now, naturally, we can't share everything that we've heard, especially if some of it is speculative, but it does help us be a little bit ahead and prepared. So some of the things that we're seeing right now, those conversations, I think we, we got a little bit of a heads up of what might happen. And of course we all are speculating to some degree, but we had a little bit of a head start, maybe a few weeks ahead or maybe a couple of months in other cases. So I think in terms of those individuals who might be doing work where they normally would have to engage, maybe you're doing iPads reporting, or maybe you're doing something that directly connects to one of the departments. I think that's a place where associations can help a little bit. Now we don't have a Rolodex to offer and new people to connect to, but I do think those specific questions, they would be looking to associations to help them unpack a little of those unanswered questions.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:06]: And you kind of mentioned it already, but NASPA has enjoyed really positive relationships with other higher ed associations that are DC based for a good long while now. We even, I believe, shared an office with a couple of them for a while. So knowing all of that and knowing that you all are very connected, it's, I think, important for our members to know that we're not alone, that student affairs professionals aren't there floating out in this world of change without the scaffolding of other professional associations around us. So can you talk a little bit about how NASPA's working with those other associations or how they're weathering the storm with us as we work through this process?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:13:37]: Sure. There are some natural groupings of associations. So for those listening, I'm not sure if everybody knows, but there are probably at least 50 different associations that touch or connect to higher education in some way. And some of them are larger comprehensive associations like NASPA that covers a suite of departments and units like we have. And then there are some that are specifically focused on one area. So you might have both NASPA, but then you also have ACUOI, which is specifically focused on housing or my previous association AIR. So those associations, we get together from time to time to share what's going on. Now, again, we don't open up our professional diaries and share everything that's going on, but we do talk about the impact of some of these changes that are completely impacting higher education and how it's impacting us specifically within our membership in our particular area of influence.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:14:20]: So that leaves a lot of space for us to compare notes and say, have you considered this or you had considered that? We all have different levels of capacity, even down to the amount of policy and advocacy staff we have. So those who might have a little bit more, they might take up a little bit more of the, the time to give updates. Those of us who have a little bit less, we might spend more time listening, but we can still offer context. So I would say there's a great imperative across the associations from my POMO perspective that we share with each other. Not that we didn't previously, but in a time like this, there's not that type of competition that you might think, well, who can get out first? Who can be the best at this? I think there's an ongoing commitment to say we literally all are experiencing something similar. We're better together by, by having these conversations in a way that helps us see where the opportunities for partnership are at a very limited level conversations. And so it's been nice for as much as a difficult time can be nice. It's been nice to be able to go to those meetings and not have to be concerned about someone trying to have ulterior motives.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:15:13]: I haven't experienced any of that, and I don't think it'll be that way for the foreseeable future.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:17]: I always get a bit of a nerdy kick out of the fact that there's, like, associations for associations.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:15:21]: Yes. There's an association for associations if there's a big one, ASAE.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:25]: But given all of that, I also know that NASPA has come out with some new resources for members to help us look at all of these things, specifically the policy hub. Can you tell us a little bit about the policy hub and any other resources that NASPA is currently putting out for members?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:15:38]: Yeah. So I have to give credit to the NASPA policy and advocacy colleagues that we have, both the policy division, the policy and advocacy colleagues on the staff, and others who have been really influential in creating this, the executive team. I should stop naming names because I'm gonna leave somebody out. The idea behind the public policy hub was that we would have a space where individuals who are saying, hey, I see executive words are happening, or this dear, dear colleague letter. I'm trying to keep up with everything. So rather than number one, have to try to bookmark a certain email here or flag a certain news article there, they would have a centralized place to catch up on all the news that would be relevant to higher ed with that student affairs lens. So it's a central location for that. Beyond that, there are places where we can actually do a little bit of a summary.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:16:16]: So if a document is exceptionally long, they may be able to read, not the cliff notes, but give me the summary of what this might mean for student affairs. Now we don't have legal guidance in there. So if someone's listening to this and they're like, oh, I know exactly what to do because the resource hub is going to tell me, that's not it. We would still suggest that because each campus is different, that you talk with your legal counsel and other policy experts, but it does provide a level of translation and curation that I think feels a little bit easier to absorb than what you might see a flurry of emails and newsletters and things like that. So we try to do our best to highlight everything that's happening within real time. And so if something happens at 2PM on Tuesday, then maybe don't check it at 3PM, but very soon after we would have something there, a bit of a summary and something that says considerations. I'd also want to highlight that the public policy division, to a point you just, you just named, they're watching these things very closely. The, the leadership team meets monthly.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:17:03]: They had several sessions during the annual conference. And I know they're probably thinking of some virtual things they can do throughout the rest of the year. In addition to that, probably our regional meetings will have more of that stuff too. So long story short, the policy hub, we're still building into it. Every time something happens that we think would be relevant, it's organized by topic area and by timing of when things occurred. So there's a there's a lot in there. A lot of good stuff in there.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:24]: We've talked a lot about policy, but policy is not all that NASA is. It is a member experience. It's learning. It's resources. It's publications. It's access to other members, its conference gatherings, all of the things that create community in the student affairs profession, in my opinion. So I'm wondering if you can talk about NASPA at large, bigger NASPA. What is your vision for the typical member experience and where you hope to drive the association in kind of the foreseeable future?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:17:51]: As a membership association, I think the main thing for me will always be the main thing, which is that with, in this case, 14,000 individuals, I want everyone to feel like what they get from NASPA is worth their investment. Now, also understanding that everybody could want something different. That's sometimes challenging, but I'd say at the core, some come to NASPA for the community. Then it's not that these are mutually exclusive, but it does help to be in community with someone who understands your job, does a similar role. I mean, you have shared experiences together. Others will come because they really want to know what's going on, what they can expect in the future. So current and emerging topics, and coupled with that would be a place to learn, learn with each other, learn from each other, a place for scholarship, for research, and all those things. And there may be a long list of other things that people would expect from NASPA.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:18:34]: But regardless of what that mix of expectations is, I think there are three things that I hope everybody will experience to some degree. I hope that they would see NASPA as timely, like a timely organization that regardless of what's happening in higher education or student affairs, they feel like we're on the cusp of what's current, that we can be a place for them to come and be informed. I really want it to be tailored. Something about the comments that I made during the opening session that people keep telling me about is when I made the connection to Netflix. The idea that Netflix really understands what types of films I want to see, short stories I want to see, and they always put those right in front of me. So, that's an opportunity for us to use our data to make that experience for each individual as tailored as possible. So, that though we have a lot to offer, we figured out exactly which things matter most to which people. And then lastly, because I'm just a nice person.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:19:20]: I want us to be thoughtful. I want us to have everything from our messaging to our experiences and our conferences, to all of our interactions to be developed in a way that's thoughtful. Now, again, that's subjective, what's thoughtful to one, someone might say it's no big deal, but I want the intentionality of this relationship between NASPA and its members to be as clear as possible. That I want it to feel like a very thoughtful and tailored and timely organization.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:42]: What's most important to NASPO right now?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:19:44]: It's the same thing I would probably say to anybody. We gotta be close to the membership. And I don't like to compare crises, but I would say during the pandemic, we made a a conscious decision to say we wanted to lower the the cost of the annual conference, for example, just to make it so that more people could actually stay involved. And it's not that I'm looking for this exclusively as a business. I'm looking at it really to say, we have a hard time having community with no people. And so what's important to me is that we have individuals feel like they can still be connected to us and have access to what we're doing. We're going to make it through this. I really do think that this is a difficult time, but it's not impossible, but we need a community that's together, that's able to connect and share with each other what we know, and that will get us through this difficult time.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:20:21]: But what's most important is that we have the community. So I wanna be able to deliver some decisions that will help us get to that point now and for the foreseeable future.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:29]: I think this is a really important message that, you know, NASPA's focus is not whiplashing with the things that are changing, but a continual focus that ultimately, it's a member organization, and we're here to support each other and to serve the needs of the profession. And keeping that mission at the core, I think, is really gonna be seen by the members as we move forward.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:20:49]: I hope so.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:50]: At the conference, you made four predictions, and you asked four questions of higher ed. And I think these are really important to share, especially for those who were not able to attend the conference or for those who only got to see it live or wanted more time to reflect that. We can go there a little bit. So I'm gonna start with the predictions. The first thing you predicted was that things are gonna be hard for several years, but we're going to survive. Can you talk more about that?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:21:12]: Yes. I would say we I could think of higher ed in the the long term. So I almost wanna make the connection between that and the stock market. And those who are finance nerds. If I weren't studying higher ed, I'd be looking more at financial markets and things like that. But oftentimes when people talk about investing, they say, maybe don't look at one to two years. You know, what's happened this year compared to last year. If you look at the market over time, it always rebounds now.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:21:34]: So realize that this is coming out at a time when the markets right now are tumbling. So I'm hoping that this analogy still holds. But the idea is that if you took a one hundred year period, you would see very few fluctuations. If you were to look at the diagram, The idea is that it's mostly consistent and it will probably rebound. Even during periods of recession or depression, the market will rebound. I don't want to make a one to one parallel, but I will say higher ed does need to change. And we all realized that that was not new, but I don't see a situation in which all of higher education will ultimately crumble. We will survive.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:22:03]: And in the keynote, I said, there are some places where I think we will actually continue to thrive. We're not doing all this work for nothing and not everything is going bad. I realized that the news cycles would have you believe that everything is going in the downward direction, but there are still students who are having a very good college experience. There are still campuses that are having vibrant experiences within student affairs, amid all of these challenges. So when I say survive, I mean, we're still going to be here, but it's not going to be all bad. I think there'll be some very, very hard challenges that will point out to us places where we were a little bit more vulnerable and we'll approve on those things. And ultimately we will thrive because we will be better at rebounding. And I say reacting and then being proactive for some things that are coming.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:22:42]: So, long winded way of saying, I think that things will be hard because they're already hard, but I don't think that we will be in a place where higher it will ultimately crumble. We will survive.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:50]: Your second prediction dovetails here, which is that NASPA will thrive.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:22:53]: I think I said alliteration. If I had the the timely thorough alliteration there, I want to use another one with the letter V and just say, I've said this in a couple of interviews that I think NASPA will continue to be a valuable, vibrant, and versatile organization. I use those three things intentionally. So I always say valuable and that if someone comes to NASBA, I want them to feel like they got what they expected to some degree. Now, again, trying to do that for $14,000 that's a little hard, but there should be some value. There should be some value there. It's the same way I want to emphasize the need for us to show the value of student affairs in the larger conversation. Vibrant because we're a wonderful community.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:23:26]: We bring all kinds of differences, backgrounds of perspectives of cultures, you know, just all kinds of things that make a really wonderful mix of experiences, which is why I think we had such a great time in New Orleans. And then versatile because we're big enough. And I feel fortunate to say this, that we can pivot if we need to. And I almost hesitate to say that word pivot because we use it so much during the pandemic. But versatility in the sense that with the membership that goes across so many functions within student affairs and so many levels of involvement from senior leaders all the way to those who are studying at the graduate level. Of course, we're going to be versatile, so we can do a lot of things simultaneously. And I think that's, that's one of the things that makes the Aspen special.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:02]: Your third prediction is that student affairs will become more collaborative, which I think is an interesting one, because I feel like as a field, we're already pretty collaborative and sharing practice. What does this mean in practice?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:24:13]: Yeah, I think about it in terms of the student affairs function on a campus, and I'll give some shout outs here. Not that I have any favorites, but the things that come to mind. So there are a lot of other areas of a campus that are doing what they would describe as student success work. They may not say student affairs, but student success work. In the Kubo, for example, they just released recently a student success hub. And so I think that was some intentionality to say that there is a connection between business decisions and and ultimately trying to help students succeed in college. And so I could see the collaborations between student affairs and the finance office being one, student affairs and IR, student affairs and technology. As you can see within a campus, I think we're going to have even more collaborations than what we currently have.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:24:50]: Nationally, I'd say at a broad level, there are lots more collaborations across associations. And whether those be funded by philanthropy or just started up because of shared goodwill and interest, I really do think, pointing back to that earlier question about the association community, we're gonna see a lot more collaboration, and I'm excited about it. I'm happy for the number of student affairs associations that came to the NASPA conference too, off the invitation. I I really feel grateful that they came and spent the time with us. And your

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:14]: fourth prediction was that we were going to have a fantastic twenty twenty five annual conference. So I wanna give a huge shout out and congratulations to doctor Akira Bradley Armstrong, who was the annual conference chair. It was a fantastic conference. I believe we had about 6,200 attendees.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:25:28]: 6,600.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:29]: 60 six hundred. That's nearly 50% of national members. Is it usually that high? It felt really vibrant this year to me more so than maybe past years.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:25:39]: I think it's the largest one since the pandemic happened. So we've had a couple that were larger than that, like, over 7,000, but this was the largest one we've had since coming back from the pandemic. And now since I gotta say some thank yous, I definitely Akira and the whole conference leadership committee, they did a great job. We had thousands of volunteers who did everything from help direct traffic to work at the membership area, the registration area. We have a lot of volunteer help, which was great. The board was really fantastic. The staff was great. Of course, a lot of staff of the hotels and the convention center.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:26:06]: So it takes a lot of work. That project, I would say the conference itself starts at least maybe eighteen months to two years in advance. All the details, the local arrangements committee. I mean, just a lot of people put a lot of work into this. So, I had a good feeling it was going to be good, but I think when I said it, I should have put fantastic and bold. It was a really, really, it's a really good experience. And it was kind of like a metaphor because anybody who was there in person on Saturday might recall we had some really, really just turbulent weather. It was really, really windy.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:26:34]: And unfortunately there were some tornadoes nearby that touched down. And so, to go from that really windy stormy day to Sunday at the opening in the evening, and the sun was shining, and it wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold, and we got to go to Mardi Gras world. It was truly like the sunshine after the storm, which nobody would have planned it that way, But to go into that idea that I had, that higher ed will actually be fine on the long term, it's going to look different. Truly, I think it will feel different. It'll be different, but the sun's going to come back out. That sounds so cheesy. I know. I know.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:27:04]: It sounds so cheesy. I know. I know. Just go with me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:06]: Our co producer on the podcast, Chris, he actually got diverted to Mobile, Alabama and spent, like, several hours on the ground in Alabama trying to get note to Nola. I was several hours delayed out of my connection as well. And so some of my amazing colleagues actually had to present part of the pre con on my behalf. So we all got there, though.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:27:23]: It was rough.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:24]: You also asked four questions of the profession and of higher ed. The first being, what does the increased state in federal involvement in higher ed mean for student affairs staff? And you talked about specifically more difficult conversations and an ongoing urgency to explain implicitly the value of student affairs, which I think a lot of us felt like we were finally seen in COVID in terms of what we were contributing to the higher education experience. Presidents were leaning on student affairs more than many other parts of their university administrations to help the institutions thrive. But have we backslid? Are we going in a different place now?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:28:00]: I don't think we backslid. I think the current state of us using data to show the value and impact is where it previously was. And I'll, I'll use your example as maybe my starting point for my response. So I think for a while, and this is back to maybe even two or three years into my role as VP for Research and Policy, when I started to spend more time outside of just student affairs and talking with some provost and presidents and things of that sort. So I oftentimes hear a description of student affairs that fits into one of three buckets. Number one, the obvious one that you just named, that student affairs professionals are great in a crisis. And I'm happy that we are. So the crisis in that case being COVID, that we are trained professionals to be able to handle the unexpected events that could be unfortunate in nature.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:28:41]: That's really good. But if we're not careful, we would end up being put in that box and we stay there, which is that we need student affairs. The value of student affairs is that we need someone to handle a crisis. And that's not where I want us to be. On the completely opposite end of the continuum, you have someone who would say, I'm so glad we have student affairs. They are the best at engagement activities. We have orientation, we have clubs and activities, all kinds of things that make students feel welcome and belong. And we absolutely need that.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:29:03]: And I'm happy that that's part the portfolio. But if we're not careful, you'll see articles that come out and describe student affairs as balloons in the lawn and pizza parties and things of that sort. And we need those things too. Those are elements of helping students feel welcome and comfortable, but we're more than that. And we're more than crisis. The middle piece, the third narrative that I want to see pushed more, and it started a little bit during the student success wave when there was a student success agenda for everybody, whether it be conferences or roles and things like that, is that we are facilitators of learning. That those very same things that employers say that they want and graduate schools say they want, critical thinkers and those who can communicate well and solve complex problems, we are facilitators of those things. And so when I said we need more data to show the value and impact, it's impact across all three.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:29:45]: We're doing fine on the crisis management. Even without extra data, people know that we're getting a crisis, and they know that we are very good in engagement. But we need an extra effort, additional effort to show the real impact that we have for every student who engages with advising of any type. The likelihood of them persisting in major is this, the likely of them, likely of them moving toward graduation and completing a credential. It's this. That's the missing piece that I think. So I don't think we've gone backward. The two very clear narratives are just as clear as they were years ago, but I want to push a little bit more to see that that value and impact conversation expands beyond what I would say are the two prevailing narratives at the time.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:20]: The second question you asked is NASPA changing its strategy for supporting the profession. And your response on stage was that it's changing some of the strategies for supporting the profession, but we still have a major focus on learning and data, inform portfolios and resources. Anything you wanna elaborate on here?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:30:38]: Yeah. So the the new and the different. The different pieces that I really want us to be more data informed. And so on stage, I made the example of Netflix that basically, if we do the best we can with this abundance of data that we have, I should know that doctor Jill likes to read articles that are on this. And so when we write you, I feel like at least a section of that update email should say, check out the latest that we have on the areas that interest you. So that part should be new. We're not behind in that regard, but we have definitely a lot more opportunity that we haven't leveraged yet. The more things change, the more they stay the same, we're still a membership association, and we have a commitment to learning and community and access and all the things that I just mentioned earlier about why I feel like NASPA's commitment should stay the same.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:15]: Feel like there's an opening for AI to do some work for us here.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:31:19]: Could be.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:20]: Your third question, which I think is an important one, and one we've been talking about on the podcast for a long time now is is everyone leaving student affairs. And this question, the way we've talked about it on the podcast is really directed towards salaries and hours and things like that because of the level of intensity of the work, the credentials required for entry level positions, the constant tension with HR data about what the value of a position is and things like that. You gave some statistics, which is that eighty eight percent of people surveyed state that they would leave due to the salaries not being commensurate with their experience or their expectations of the position. And that sixty eight percent said that they have they have job duties that are not in their PD. That other duties as assigned box is something we all say a bit pejoratively, but it's a very real pain. And that sixty one percent plan to stay more than five years. So there's some things in the statistics that aren't wholly aligned, but I think the story hasn't changed a ton.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:32:20]: So with one caveat on the former pieces of data. So the eighty eight percent, we didn't ask them about what would make them want to leave. We asked them what they think others would leave for. So basically what we're asking, we said, hey, if someone were to leave the field in the next five years, why do you think they would leave? And then the 88% said, hey, this is probably going to be paid. To add to the ones you just named, another 84% said they think others will leave because of the stress of the work. Like it's just really hard work. The other 81% said they think others will leave because they feel undervalued and then you get to sixty eight percent. So the data are clear.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:32:49]: If I had to guess, it would be no different. Even if I asked someone, hey, John, why do you think someone else would leave at this 88% that said pay? Pretty good chance that John themselves would say, I too would have considered leaving for one of those four reasons. So for each individual, it may not be that their number one is pay, but I think those are still the top four, regardless of whether you're talking about yourself or someone else, which is why we followed up with that question of, well, what are you planning on doing? And 61% saying, okay, I think in the next five years, I'll probably stay. That's not exceptionally good news. It's not bad news, it's right in the middle, which is to say, there's the opportunity. And I'm thinking all the time about what would it take to get that 61% to trend upward instead of downward? Because even though they said, I think I'm planning on staying, amid all the things that you've just named, those are all reasons, you know, some of them beyond assets control. Like we can't control what campuses would offer in terms of salary, but we can offer some strategies for how to approach staff retention and not just keeping them there, but helping it be a thriving and valuable and vibrant profession that could move that 61% up instead of down. So you're right.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:33:48]: I think the biggest issue in student affairs has to be how we're going to retain individuals and pathways into the profession, not just to get into it for a few years and to say, I think I'm going to go someplace else, but to say there's enough space there for growth professionally. And hopefully, we'll see more people respond differently if we were to ask that question again. I'm kind of nervous to ask it right now, given everything that's happening in the backdrop of higher education.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:34:10]: That's fair, but it also leads very nicely into the fourth question you asked, which is, if things remain difficult for a while, how do we find and keep our joy in the profession? And I'm gonna quote you because I actually giggled. You said, we've got about 65, 60 six hundred attendees here in New Orleans. And quote, this might sound like a ploy for NASBA, but you chose to come here.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:34:31]: Yes. Yes. And I wanna celebrate that. I had to say it that way because ultimately, and you made a great point, that we had almost half the membership that came. And though each individual's experience is different, each campus' experiences are different, one of the best places you can be in a difficult time is in community. And so, there were so many people, and I realize I'm about to be that single person example, but there were a lot of people that I saw walking around the conference that actually gave hugs or high fives and they were smiling. And it doesn't mean that everything was perfect. It doesn't mean that they didn't come from some tumultuous situations, job losses and everything else.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:35:02]: But in this moment, when you're trying to find joy, like where can I find my small piece of happy in a difficult time? Something about being in community does help you manage that. So back to your first question, when you said, how's it been going so far? I had to quickly say it has not been easy, but it is much more bearable when you have a community of people that you know are welcoming and can say, Hey, I get it. I understand what you're going through. And that to me helps find and keep a little bit of joy in these hard times while we're waiting for this period of difficulty to pass through. And it will. The storm will pass through. We will have more coming, but this particular one, I'd rather be under the umbrella than somebody else talking about it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:37]: Anything else you want to share with the membership right now?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:35:39]: Gratitude, honestly, just gratitude. Everybody who's asked like, how's it going, though? How's it really going? How are you doing? How are you really doing? That's an extra question because I think we all get it. But this truly, in my remarks, I said this is just one of the best places I've ever worked, one of the best professions I've ever been a part of, and I'm grateful. I know that there's still a lot more hard work to do, and there are gonna be times when we're gonna be even more disappointed with the direction of things. I don't think that I'd be wise to tell anybody, hey, don't worry about it. Give it a couple of months. We'll be back stronger than ever. It's going to be hard for a while, which is why I said a few years, but I'm just truly grateful, grateful for all the volunteers and members.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:36:14]: And and even you for inviting me to the podcast, knowing my schedule wouldn't let me do it on on time in New Orleans. I'm just really grateful.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:20]: We're just glad to have you, Amelia. And now we are on to our theme questions for the season, which is the past, present, and future of student affairs. So I've got one question for you on each part of this theme. So on the past, what's one component of the history of the student affairs profession that you think we should continue to carry forward or alternatively let go of?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:36:39]: I have two. I wanna have two. I think the history of student affairs, which might map nicely to NASPA, is this opportunity for trying something new. We have a number of new things that I'd say if we never tried them, we wouldn't have something to build on. So everything from our institutes, specifically identity based programming, all kinds of things that we've said, Hey, I see a need here. We haven't previously done this. Let's try it. So I liked this idea of innovation.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:37:02]: At one point, I think we still do have that as one of our four guiding principles. So I like the idea that as things change, we can change with it. Student affairs can change too, inappropriate ways as necessary. I also liked that in the early history of student affairs, there's a lot of discussion about it coming out of a place of counseling or caring for others, something about community and that we're just, again, feeling particularly grateful right now. I think if there's a history of NASPA that's rooted in the idea that we should be caring about each other and for each other, I think I'd like to carry that forward too. In terms of letting things go, I would love to let go a little bit of this idea that you work until you're exhausted. You know, it's part of the change has to be a changing model for how we do student affairs work. So I do want us to start to let go of this idea that in order to do the work well, you have to work beyond what you're capable of.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:37:45]: It's really hard to care for someone else when you're not caring for yourself. So that's what I would say. I guess that's three things, That's three things.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:50]: On the present, what's happening in the field right now that's going well for student affairs?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:37:55]: Advising and anything related to us supporting students and making their hardest decisions. And that's not me positioning advising as the best part of student affairs, because I think honestly, a lot of people in student affairs have advising roles, even if they don't have that title. So within the whole, I guess, continuum of student affairs work, students are still seeing us, talking to us, engaging with us. And I think right now, even in this backdrop of difficult policy developments, we're still giving council advice, support to students. I think we're still doing a good job at that. I really had this hunch that the best part of student affairs is that we are connected to students and they're going to give us real time indications of how things are going. So yeah, anything related to that. The second I'd probably say, even though you told me to give you one, we're still facilitating learning.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:38:37]: So yes, of course we're doing crisis management and we're doing engagement, but I think we are still facilitating lots of learning opportunities for students. And we're we're getting to a place where we're better at documenting that. Maybe that's another podcast episode for another time.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:49]: And finally, looking towards the future, in an ideal world, what does the field need to do to thrive towards the future?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:38:55]: Gotta be data informed. Gotta be able to do more than just say we're making an impact. We've got to be able to show with data and information what that impact is and how we can sustain it. I feel like the future is gonna require that of us. And I think we're moving in the right direction, but I feel like the field as a whole, we have the evidence because we've been doing the work, but we gotta be able to provide that and curate it to different audiences so that we could not just sustain ourselves and make a good case, but literally keep the good work going in a more intentional way.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:20]: It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:26]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. There is a new short course that's being offered through NASPA called Designing Campuses for Mental Health and Well-being. The course runs from May 5 to June 9. And in this essential short course, it explores the crucial intersection of campus design and mental health in higher education. As we navigate an academic landscape marked by increasing mental health challenges, it's clear that depression and other mental health concerns compounded by academic stress lead to negative outcomes, including higher dropout rates. This course highlights the the vital role of administrators in student affairs in fostering a culture of wellness and understanding on their college or university campuses. Through comprehensive insights from experts, the course will explore various mental health models, assess campus specific needs, and develop actionable sustainable strategies to enhance campus wide mental health.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:40:28]: Through this short course, you will join a transformative journey to better support your students and colleagues and create a thriving supportive academic environment. Another short course not to miss is happening between June 16 and July 21 called building a shared commitment to well-being. This short course is designed by members of the NASPA health safety and well-being initiatives team. In this short course, you will be guided by student affairs professionals through a comprehensive understanding of holistic well-being, focusing on fostering a shared commitment to well-being in educational environments, particularly through the integration Through this course, you will have the opportunity to cultivate, Through this course, you will have the opportunity to cultivate an inclusive culture that prioritizes the health and well-being of the entire campus community. You can find out more about either of these courses on the NASPA learning portal going to learning.NASPA.org. Also, today, I'm gonna give you a save the date for the NASPA symposium on military connected students. The next symposium on military connected students will be held in Norfolk, Virginia from February 17 through the twentieth, twenty twenty sixth. The twenty twenty six NASPA Symposium on Military Connected Students is the association's premier event designed for student affairs for student for student affairs practitioners supporting military connected students.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:42:06]: The Symposium is your exclusive opportunity to share evidence based practices from your campus or organization. Through this Symposium, you can learn from leading researchers in the field and engage with other professionals committed to supporting military connected students. This three day symposium features keynote sessions, research, policy, and best practice best practices presentations and workshop style sessions to help campus professionals develop or enhance their programming and services for military connected students. You still have some time as the early registration deadline ends on 10/27/2025, but sign up today to get ready for this amazing learning opportunity. Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:43:25]: Where do you fit? Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that. Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:14]: Chris, thank you so much as always for keeping us informed on what's going on in and around NASPA. And, Amelia, we have reached our lightning round questions. And as a second time guest, we have slightly different set of questions for you. So I'm gonna change up the first one a little bit because you literally were just a conference keynote speaker, and you walked up to Before I Let Go Thank You by Starchild. You also said when you entered that you changed the song, like, four times. So can you tell us what the other songs were?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:44:40]: Yeah. So, well, the the song this version that I came out to, it was Before I Let Go. It was Frankie Beverly and Maze, but then on top of that, it was Beyonce's cover of it. So the ones that didn't make the cut, I'll give you two of them. And both of them were good for, for different reasons. Stevie Wonder is my favorite artist. And so it was gonna be Sir Duke that I came out to, but I saved that one for another time. I just really liked Stevie.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:44:58]: And plus I actually used that one at a conference in November. So I want to do something fresh. The other one is I love Whitney Houston, and I wanted to go with, I want to dance with somebody, but I was like, maybe that's going to take too long to get to the chorus. The intro people know, but I was like, nah, it just wouldn't work. And plus the one I picked had a little bit of a live band thing, which seemed to work with the New Orleans vibe. So, I landed there.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:17]: Number two, your undergraduate degree, and do you use it in your work now?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:45:20]: All the time. Maybe not the specific class related principles because it's been a couple decades since I was an undergrad, but, yeah, I was a business administration major. So being a president right now, I spend more time looking at business analytics than I ever have. So absolutely. I use it all the time. And the board kind of expects me to make sure that NASPA's financials are intact. And so, yeah, debits and credits and assets and liabilities and revenue and expenses. Absolutely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:43]: Minor details. Minor details.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:45:44]: Minor. Minor details. Minor details. Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:46]: Number three, your guilty pleasure TV show binge.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:45:49]: Oh, I've been watching a lot of TV. I've been watching, because I do a lot of DVR. Beyond the Gates. It's a brand new soap opera that's on CBS. I've enjoyed that very much. I just finished Paradise on Hulu, which everybody at the conference told me I should watch, and I finished it in two days. It was really good. And like I said in the keynote, I did watch Love is Blind.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:46:06]: I I have to watch it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:07]: I heard this season called Love is Bland. Number four. If someone visits your city, Washington, DC, what's the one place they must eat?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:46:16]: Well, if if they're not opposed to eating meat, I would definitely say go to Ben's Chili Bowl. It's a staple of the city. You gotta do that. If you like sushi, I would say go to Oku. I feel like I I should be giving you one answer. So what are those two? I'll go with those two. Those are two spots I would go to.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:29]: Number five, your favorite work related podcast.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:46:32]: Oh, other than the MASP, the podcast. Don't say that? Let me let me go without one. I wanna say MASP. I should be listening to MASP, but that's the one.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:37]: Number six, your favorite not work related podcast. I listen

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:46:40]: to a lot of personal finance and investment type stuff. So it's not called everyday millionaires, and maybe it's they might be called everyday millionaires. But the idea that these are everyday people who have figured out how to make sound investments, not anything, like, quick, like day trading, but simple things that help them get to a place of financial stability. So I really like the idea that more individuals start investing early. And so hearing about people who made that journey just really excited to me, and they all have different paths to the same outcome.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:06]: And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:47:10]: Okay. So, the whole NASPA membership, even those who did not come to the conference, I just have to go back to my place of gratitude. I'm just honored and thankful to be in this role. So, shout out to everybody who's a member of NASPA and to those who are not a member of NASPA, but a part of student affairs. I truly think it's not exclusively about joining NASPA, but to be in student affairs right now, it's one of the most challenging and joyful times, play on the title of my keynote. So anybody who works in student affairs, hello to you all. Thank you so much for everything that you're doing for your campuses and for your students. Shout out to you and Chris.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:47:39]: Thank you for keeping the podcast going. This is a place where, when we have these conversations, I know you have to do a lot to curate it and get it ready. So thank you. Thank you to both of you and thank you to the NASPA staff and the board and everybody. So I think I probably covered just about everybody in that everybody in the field space. But personally, I would say I want to thank my sister and my brother-in-law and my friend, Tiffany, all who were in the front row for the conference. I'll never forget it. It was good to see their smiling faces.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:48:00]: And then lastly, to Kevin Kruger, who preceded me in the role, to Gwen Dungey, who preceded him, to be in this role, those two individuals, I've had conversations with them. They understand more than anybody what it's like to do the job. And to my mentor, Bob Schwartz, who along the way, that early, early question about my journey, he's been with me the whole time. And so I really hesitate to do this because I feel like I'll leave somebody out. But, yeah, that's my short but yet long list of people.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:22]: I do have to say after I think we've known each other for at least five, ten years at this point, and I didn't learn till the conference you were a twin.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:48:28]: Yes. I am.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:32]: That was my first time knowing that. Very cute picture, by the way, that you put up on this line.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:48:36]: Even though I was half smiling, barely smiling. Yeah.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:39]: Amelia, it's always a pleasure to speak with you. And I know a lot of our members would like to stay in contact with you. If they would like to reach you after this episode airs, how can they find you?

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:48:47]: The best way is [email protected]. I check my emails on my phone all the time. I try to get back to folks as soon as I can. But if it's more casual and social, I'm on LinkedIn, but I don't really do as much there. But I'd be happy to connect with anybody there too. But email is probably the best place. Well,

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:49:00]: Amelia, it's been a pleasure to have you back on the pod. As always, we want to thank you so much for sharing your voice with us and the NASPA community.

Dr. Amelia Parnell [00:49:07]: Thank you very much for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:49:14]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show, and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:49:53]: That's me. Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.

In the latest episode of NASPA's Student Affairs Voices from the Field, Dr. Jill Creighton sits down with Dr. Richard Walker, President of the University of Houston Clear Lake, to explore the past, present, and future of student affairs in higher education. With over four decades of experience, Dr. Walker brings a wealth of knowledge and unique perspectives, having transitioned from a career in student affairs to the presidency. Here’s a glimpse into the key themes covered in their enlightening conversation.

Dr. Walker’s journey to the presidency is a testament to the value of diverse experiences and the encouragement of mentors. Initially set on retiring as a Vice President for Student Affairs (VPSA), Walker’s career took an unexpected turn when he was encouraged to consider a presidential role. His story underscores the importance of being open to new opportunities and the impact of leaders who recognize potential.

Once in the presidential seat, Dr. Walker’s student affairs background provided him with a distinct advantage. His approach to leadership is deeply rooted in fostering a holistic view of student success and engagement, emphasizing the importance of seamless support systems that include academic advising, student activities, and mental health services. His tenure at UHCL has been marked by significant achievements, including strategic partnerships with industry giants like Boeing and NASA, enhancing student career readiness through experiential learning.

Dr. Walker candidly discusses current challenges, particularly in light of recent legislative changes affecting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in Texas. He shares the innovative strategies UHCL has employed to comply with new laws while maintaining robust support systems for all students, emphasizing the university’s commitment to providing a welcoming environment despite external challenges.

Looking forward, Walker encourages a continued focus on student success, affordability, and the evolving role of student affairs professionals. He highlights the need for institutions to adapt to changing needs, particularly in mental health services and career readiness, ensuring that all students have the support necessary to succeed academically and personally.

For student affairs professionals and higher education leaders, Dr. Walker’s insights offer a valuable perspective on navigating the complexities of modern academia. His dedication to student engagement, community partnerships, and strategic leadership is both inspiring and instructive.

Tune in to hear more from Dr. Richard Walker about the evolving landscape of student affairs and the vital role it plays in shaping the future of higher education. Whether you’re an aspiring university leader or a seasoned professional, this conversation provides rich insights and motivation to make a lasting impact in your field. Listen now to engage with the full discussion and gather insights that could transform your approach to student affairs leadership.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm doctor Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay voices from the field host. Welcome back to Essay Voices from the Field where today we're bringing you the third conversation we had live and in person at the NASPA annual conference, this time with one of our keynote speakers, doctor Richard Walker. Richard joined the University of Houston Clear Lake as its sixth president on 05/20/2022, bringing over forty years of leadership experience in higher ed at both public and private institutions. Under his leadership, UHCL has experienced significant success. He led the implementation of the university's strategic plan, Impact 2025 and beyond, transform, translate, transcend, which has been pivotal in transforming student lives through experiential learning and workforce readiness.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:03]: This period has seen record breaking fundraising efforts with nearly $2,800,000 raised, surpassing the goal by over a million dollars. Additionally, the successful acquisition of 53 grants has yielded over 7,200,000.0 in funding for various educational and community projects in the twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three period. Under his leadership, the university has marked several notable achievements. During his first year, UHCL graduated its largest class ever with 2,427 students. Additionally, Walker's tenure has significantly increased the institution's economic impact on the local area, contributing $1,100,000,000, which equates to supporting 12,578 jobs in the university's service region. Moreover, UHCL has made considerable strides in national and regional academic standings. In the 2024 US News and World Report rankings, the university climbed 27 places to number 304 nationally and rose to number 12 amongst public universities in Texas. It also advanced 66 spots to number a 43 in the top performer for social mobility category among national universities.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:06]: Walker's impact extends beyond the campus as he actively contributes to regional and national development. He's a member of the board of trustees for HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake and the board of directors for Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership. He also serves on the executive committee of the Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors or CPUPC. Strategic partnerships with major organizations like Boeing and NASA have provided invaluable real world experiences to UHCL students, further enhancing their education and career readiness, supporting community and workforce development. Recognized as one of our pillars of the profession here at NASPA in 2016, his dedication to education is evident in his administrative achievements and active involvement in various professional and honor societies. His vision for UHCL focuses on elevating the university among the top universities in Texas, enhancing the student experience, and anticipating educational needs to ensure UHCL's relevance and influence in an evolving workplace landscape. Prior to his current role, Walker served as vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment services for the University of Houston system and vice president for student affairs and enrollment services at the University of Houston. He also spent twenty four years in significant leadership roles at the University of Miami.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:18]: Walker received his EDD in higher ed leadership from the University of Miami. He earned a specialist in education and administration and supervision from Middle State Tennessee University, a master of education administration and supervision from Memphis State University, and a bachelor of science in history from Middle Tennessee State University. He's also a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Higher Ed Management development program. Hope you enjoy our conversation. It was a delight to talk to Richard. Hi, Richard. Hey, Joe. Thanks so much for making time out of your conference schedule sit down with me.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:03:46]: It is absolutely my pleasure.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:48]: And for our listeners, our audio quality might be a little bit different today than you're used to because we're live and in person at NASPA in New Orleans sitting in a gorgeous, very fancy boardroom in one of the conference hotels. But you were on the panel this morning with three other university presidents who've come up through student affairs and are now sitting in the president's seat. So we always like to start our conversations by asking you, how did you get to your current spot?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:04:12]: It's an interesting story. So my career goal when I got in the field of student affairs was to become a vice president for student affairs. That was my, you know, the ultimate kind of goal for my career, which I achieved when I became vice president for student affairs at the University of Houston. And then I was with my boss, the president of the University Houston and the chancellor for the University of Houston system and her husband. One night at dinner, actually, we were at a c o a CEO in San Diego, and we were talking about what's next for both of us. And I said, what's next for you? What's your what are your plans? She said, what's next for you? And I said, I'm good. If you're good at my performance, I'm good at Houston. I can retire with you at Houston.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:04:51]: And she said, I really think you should become a college president. And I said, well, I'm very flattered, but I don't know if I really wanna do that. I watch what you do, and I'm like, not so sure I really wanna do that. So, anyway, years go by, and one Friday afternoon, September or the fall of twenty twenty one, she pops into my office and sits down. And you never know on a Friday afternoon when your boss pops into your office and sits down about, what was this all about? Please, there's not be a pink slip. She said, no. I need to make a change in the presidency at Clear Lake, and I want you to go down there and be the interim president.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:24]: Wow.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:05:24]: And I said, okay. And when would this be? She said, in two weeks.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:29]: Wow.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:05:30]: She said, but you don't have to tell me now. You can think about it over the weekend and get back to me on Monday. It's one of those things where you're not gonna tell her no. But I'm like, okay. I'll get back to you on Monday. So it's an interesting story because she's always thought I should be a president. I didn't really think I wanted to be a president, but I thought, you know what? This will be a test run. The agreement we had was I'd go down there for the academic year.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:05:50]: She was gonna do a national search, and then I'd come back to my position at the University of Houston. And so I got down there, and I liked it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:57]: Okay.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:05:59]: And everybody there kept saying, you're applying for the job. Right? And it's a closed search closed presidential search. The only people that knew about it was the search firm and the search committee. So I couldn't say anything. I just said, well, I'm thinking about it. And so I thought about it over holiday. She launched the search committee in December, went to see her in January and said, well, what would you think if I wanted to stay? We talked for a while and she said, I want you to do what you wanna do, but you'll have to compete for it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:25]: Okay.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:06:26]: Because I've already lost the search.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:27]: Mhmm.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:06:27]: I'm like, well, that's fair. So after ten years of not writing a cover letter and polishing up my resume, I had to get to work. And so I put my name in the hat. The search committee selected four finalists. Mhmm. I was one of the four finalists and actually had to interview for the job and was fortunate enough to be selected. And on May 2022, was named the sixth president of the University of Houston, Colorado. So I let her tell her you were white.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:06:52]: You know, it's a it's a funny thing about sometimes people see things in you you don't see in yourself.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:57]: Mhmm.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:06:57]: And this is one of those occasions. I've had several happen over the course of my career, but that's how I landed at being president of the University of Houston Clear Lake.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:05]: Your university is only 50 years old, which is, I think, really unique in American higher education in a public university, specifically. I mean, we see that all the time with for profits that are popping up and even some privates, but to have a young public like that is a very unique thing. I believe you said in the panel this morning that your institution exists because of NASA?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:07:24]: Correct.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:24]: How did that all happen?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:07:26]: So they formed the university before me in 1974 at the request of NASA. NASA really wanted a four year institution close to NASA where its staff could either finish an undergraduate degree or get a master's degree. So through the help of legislators in Texas, they formed the University of Houston Clear Lake, which was launched in 1974 as a upper division institution, so juniors, seniors, and masters. We later, in 2014, we went to downward expansion and started taking freshmen and sophomores. And in 2016, I had a doctoral program. So over the course of our fifty years, we've grown now into a full four year public institution. But it's interesting because we sit in in the city of Houston, but we're in the Bay Area. And that's very different event of the evening about Houston.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:08:13]: We're not downtown. We're not the main campus. We are literally on the interstate between downtown and Galveston. So it's called the Bay Area, and it's very unique because the industry that is thriving there is the aerospace and space industry. So I like to tell the story that NASA is literally in our backyard. They're our back backyard neighbor. Boeing is literally our next door neighbor, and the Houston Space Port is just down the road. So very community oriented, partnership oriented workforce development institution, and we're very different than other institutions within the University of Houston system in that we sit on a 524 acre wildlife reserve.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:50]: It's huge.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:08:50]: So we worry about deer, alligator, hawks. We don't worry about being in Downtown Houston where the University of Houston downtown has interstates running through your campus. And so it's a very unique opportunity to experience, and I think that makes us stand out as a unique institution and a regional comprehensive in the Greater Houston area.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:09]: Do you thought for a long time that the VPSAC was the pinnacle of career and and where you wanted to retire from ultimately? And, you know, you talked about having made the switch. I'm wondering how you look at higher education differently now from the presidency compared to when the VPSA role was a viewpoint that you had perspective from.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:09:28]: That's a great question. Let me back pedal a second. So I went in to be the vice president for student affairs at University Houston, the flagship campus, and then the University of Houston system, the vice presidents on the flagship campus were also vice chancellors for the system. Mhmm. Two years into that vice presidency, another opportunity on the Friday afternoon, the chancellor pops into my office. And she said, I'm reorganizing academic affairs, and I want you to take over enrollment management. Again, you don't tell the chancellor no. And I said to her, you know I don't have any experience in enrollment management.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:10:00]: I know. But I need you to turn it around. You've done a great job in student affairs. You can do it. So I said to her, if you think I can do it, I will give it I will give it my best shot. And I tell her that to say, I think she was setting me up because I had a student affairs background. Now she wanted me to have an enrollment background, and she said this will be good for your career, ultimately. So I've got the perspective of student affairs and enrollment management now just sitting in the president's seat.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:10:27]: So I think it has provided me with a unique opportunity. I don't come from the academic area. I've taught in both the master's and doctoral level in the College of Education at the University of Houston, but I'm not a full time faculty member. So I've got the faculty experience. But I think the unique part for me is that I'm truly a practitioner. So I know enrollment. I know student affairs. I've learned academic affairs.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:10:49]: I've got a great pro I know to hire a great provost to help manage all of that aspect of the institution. But I feel it allows me to have a very different perspective of the student experience and a different way to look at student success. And so I truly look at it holistically, and it's really about everybody being on the same page. No silos. You know, for a long time, this whole thing was about, well, what's the relationship between academic affairs and student affairs? And we talked about that a lot and even in Nasport, like, how do you bridge that gap?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:17]: And We're still having that conversation.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:11:19]: Still having that kind of you're trying. And but now I look at it from the perspective of it's everybody. And so my philosophy has been that enrollment is everybody's business. Mhmm. It's not just enrollment. It's not just academic affairs. It's not just student affairs. And student success is everybody's business.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:11:34]: We all have to be working together. So I think as being a president now and sitting in a little different perspective, I think I've got a better understanding of truly what student success means and what a true student engagement experience and really creating the environment at the institution to make our students successful. I don't know if I had the same perspective if I had gone to complete academic ground. I just think I have a much more holistic view of sitting in the presidency seat.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:02]: So what does student success mean for you now, and and how is that different than when you were a VPSA?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:12:07]: So for now, it really it is a combination of everybody working together in the academic arena. And so sometimes in higher education, things are organized in different buckets in different ways. So at the University of Houston Clear Lake, I have vice presidents and I have a vice president for student affairs, obviously, that reports to me. I also have a vice president for strategic enrollment management that reports to me. Student success, I have associate vice president for student success that reports through academic affairs. And so our student success structure, we call it student success, is academic advising, student success support services, writing center, testing center, math center, and all those aspects. But it's student affairs that house orientation in your student programs Mhmm. Which is a key component of this global process.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:12:45]: Then you've got enrollment management, which is all the recruitment pieces. So I think what for me, it's about retention and graduation rates. It's about the process of entering the institution and trying to make it a seamless experience. We have thirty nine percent first generation college students on our campus. We have 41% Pell eligible. We're a Hispanic serving, a minority serving institution. Many of our students don't have somebody to go to and turn to. So it's thinking about how do we not create barriers and roadblocks.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:13:15]: To the students, how we're organized, they don't care. And they don't know. They shouldn't have to know. To them, it should be a seamless experience. So for me, it's really about looking at, are we retaining the students? Are we doing the things from a student engagement component outside the classroom? Are we providing those academic support services? Are we drilling down to really see who's having difficulty, why they're having difficulty in making those services available? So it's about graduation rates. It's about retention. At the end of the day, the ultimate sign of success is that those students walk across that commencement stage. And I tell them that at orientation.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:13:50]: I've seen you now as you're coming into the institution. My last the senior will be when you walk across that stage, and I'll give you a call. That to me is what's truly successful, and that's what student success is to me. And it's again, I said earlier, but it's the holistic aspect of everybody working together for the same goal. I actually go speak to every new employee orientation, and there's custodians in there, there's finance people in there, there's deans who are in the same orientations. And I tell them, everybody sitting in this room has a role to play in student success. Mhmm. And whether it's bringing in new students, whether it's keeping students here, keeping them engaged, every interaction you have with a student, a parent, a community member is gonna determine our success.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:14:32]: And that's been my philosophy as president.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:35]: So if I'm a student affairs professional, sometimes the president can feel really far away, especially if I'm in maybe my first couple of years as a new professional, and I think it's really clear when you're on a campus when that that kind of drive and passion for a president, permeates through the experience of an institution. But if if I'm, your average student affairs professional, how do I kind of take that lead from my president and move forward for student success knowing that my day job is probably focused on a very specific function of the university?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:15:06]: So what I tell my team is, I try to be visible first and foremost. I try to be out there. I try to go to events and student events. We try to host events for faculty and staff in terms of their engagement with the institution. I'm a I'm a big enough campus with a small enough campus to be seen. They know who I am. I try to do regular communications about different issues that are happening on the campus so that they can hear from the president. It's not in person.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:15:29]: It leads to regular communications of things that that interest them. But But I really would advise any professional in student affairs, maybe in the university. This morning, I talked about it a little bit in the president's panel. I said it's about building relationships. And I truly believe that my success over my forty plus years career, which has predominantly been in student affairs until the last three and a half years, is because I was able to engage and build relationships across the entire institution, whether it was deans in academic affairs or faculty or whether it was in administration finance, whether it was in advancement in fundraising, whether it was enrollment management, it does not matter. I believe that both from the University of Houston system where I've been for the last in my fourteenth year and twenty four years at the University of Miami, I really truly believe it was about building those relationships. And I tell younger professionals, make sure you're reaching across the institution. Don't silo yourself only with getting to know and understand your job.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:16:27]: Yes. That's your top priority. I want you to be successful in that first. But as you think about the work that you're doing, take opportunities or ask for those opportunities Mhmm. To get involved and engage in other aspects of the institution. That will make you a better student affairs professional. It will make your institution. That will make you a better student affairs professional.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:16:43]: It will make your career trajectory something that you can talk about, how you've been able to interact and interface with multiple areas of the institution. Everybody doesn't get that opportunity. But especially at Cleric, we're a small enough institution, you have that opportunity to do so, and don't lose the advantage of that. Take advantage of that. Ask. Can I do this? Can I do that? Can I be involved in this? You know, sometimes I think my my team can be a little annoyed with me because because I was in enrollment management, the first thing I do every morning is look at the enrollment reports. As a president? As a president. When I turn on my computer, the enrollment reports pop up.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:17:18]: And so I look at those every every morning, and so I dive into the data. And so because I I understand it and know it, I know that can be a little annoying. I try not to annoy them in too much, but I know how to ask the questions. And so I also tell people to learn about how to how to use data to your advantage. I think using data is really important as well. So I would say professionals in student affairs, youngers who go into the career, take advantage of all those kinds of opportunities that might present themselves or ask for them to have those professional development type

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:57]: time. And, you know, we've seen the provost rule really being that kind of pipeline into the presidency, and that's really to shift, I think, in the last five to ten years in particular. We're seeing, you know, just with our panel today, we had Leah Barrett from Northeast Community College. We had doctor Lourdes White from DePauw, who Lourdes has been on the podcast as well. So listeners, if you wanna hear more from Lourdes, I think you have to go back probably two or three seasons to find her episode. Yourself, Richard, and then also, Dwan Womack from, Claflin University. So seeing all of you make that shift from student affairs to president, we also see folks like, doctor John Hoffman, who's at Bemidji State, Mordecai doctor Mordecai Brownlee who's at Community College of Aurora. You all are making the move that I think a lot of us didn't really think of as possible or we thought the VPSA role was the ceiling for a long time.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:42]: How are you seeing that shift happen, and how are you seeing VPSAs who want to move into that presidency be most successful with that journey?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:18:50]: I think the shift is that institutions of higher education and boards of trustees or boards of regents who actually do the recruiting for these presidencies and higher search firms and search firms themselves understand that there is a skill set that's developed in student affairs that's different than academic affairs. And if you're looking now at the challenges that institutions of higher education are facing, the things that are challenges or as above, you look at those opportunities. Those are not the same as they used to be. Yeah. And so some of the training that folks coming from a traditional academic background, from a faculty member to a department chair, to a dean, to a provost, to a president. I don't think some of those skill sets are as developed. That's why now you're also seeing a lot of provost institutes of provosts that wanna be a president, and now they're really training provosts. How do you be a president? And then I say that in in a way that's really about taking the opportunity to think about the skill set and what you bring to the table.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:19:51]: You know, I'll go back to COVID, and this was said this morning, I think, in the, I don't know, presidential panel. Who did most presidents and institutions turn to to get the institution through COVID?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:01]: Student affairs.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:20:01]: Student affairs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:02]: Yeah.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:20:02]: And that's why I'm talking about that about that skill set because they have student affairs and student affairs vice presidents, and teams in student affairs have the ability and the skill set to look at it broadly, with a different lens and a truly academic lens. Yeah. We had to switch academic programs and everything had to go online. That was the faculty. That was the dean. That was the provost. That was IT. Mhmm.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:20:23]: But constructing how you make all that happen and being at the table to help guide that process and thinking about health and mental health and all these factors that intervene in COVID and even having to go online with therapy and and and having psychologists and psych and psychiatrists available in teletherapy. I remember at, I tried for the longest time to get my director of counseling center to move into teletherapy, and she just resisted and resisted. It was amazing how fast when COVID hit, she converted.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:54]: Instantly. Yeah.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:20:54]: Instantly. Mhmm. And now it's successful. Mhmm. So I think part of it is just this transition of what's the skill set needed. I think leaders at at the at the board level understand a little difference. You're also not you're also seeing people come into presences outside of higher education. Mhmm.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:21:10]: Like, people who've led industry and business. Mhmm. You see that's been developing as well. And so I think some of the search firms and the people who lead these processes are now saying, don't think in the box. Start to look outside the box as well. Mhmm. To find the best fit for your institution.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:29]: So if I'm a coordinator of in student affairs right now and I know that my aspiration is to be a president, what advice would you give that professional who is just starting out but knows they need to build these skills along the way?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:21:42]: I would say just to take advantage of the opportunities as they present themselves, and I'm gonna use myself as a story. So when I started into student affairs, my first full time job was at the, at the time, the Central Missouri State University or the University of Central Missouri. And I took a job as a coordinator of Greek affairs, but it was housed in student housing and residential life Interesting. Because I was gonna have fraternity and sororities, pandemic, advising, all that. But on that campus, all the Greeks are housed in on campus housing. So I also had all their housing responsibilities. So my I said to myself, I'm getting two kinds of different opportunities in one job. I left there, went to the University of Miami's assistant dean of students, and stayed in the dean of student assistant dean associate dean for ten years doing fraternities and sororities, Greek life, and student conduct.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:22:32]: Mhmm. I took the Miami job because I've already been doing Greek life, so that I had to kind of had that down. But it had conduct from a residence hall perspective, but not full judicial conduct for the campus. Campus. So I thought about that. That would help my portfolio. This is ultimately where I wanna go to be a vice president. And then about ten years in, doctor Patricia Whiteley became the vice president for student affairs at the University of Miami.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:22:54]: And doctor Whiteley is the NASCO board chair and was my mentor.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:59]: Yeah. Pillar of the profession.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:23:00]: Yes. Pillar of the profession, my mentor in this whole process. She was the director of student life in the university center. When she was named vice president, she said, I want you to move out of the dean's office and move into my position. Interesting story is I initially told her no because I really wanna be the dean's student, and I thought the dean was gonna retire in two years. So I was gonna hang on two more years in the dean's office, and then you may be the dean of students. I'll be happy. And about a week later, I always said, maybe it would be good for me to go do this.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:23:25]: Even if it's for two years, it's a different experience. It's a skill set I don't have. I was gonna have the student center, run the student center. I was gonna have orientation and student activities and all those kinds of pieces that I had not not done. There's a RAS Keller, which is a campus pub and restaurant on that campus. It's not managed by food service. It was gonna report to me. I was gonna learn how to run a bar and a and a pub, but that was interesting.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:23:49]: But I did I said finally said, you know what? I'm gonna I wanna do this. She said, okay. And it's a good thing I did because the dean didn't retire for seven more years. And I say that because she saw a different skill set in Navy that I wasn't sure, you know, if that's really what I wanted to do. But when I thought about it, I'm like, it's a difference. It's another experience to add to my portfolio. Mhmm. It's something I haven't done.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:24:08]: And so from there, I was promoted to assistant vice president, ultimately associate vice president to keep adding stuff to my portfolio like career services and special projects for the president and all kind of fun stuff. But I say that to say, think about the opportunities you're given. And what I tell people is that sometimes those opportunities present themselves when they're not even looking for them. In that case, I wasn't looking to I wasn't comfortable. I wasn't looking to move. But I'd have turned it down. I wouldn't have advanced and had knowledge in all these other aspects of student affairs that I end up gaining. The same thing with doctor Couture in at If I had said no to her opportunities to take on enrollment and ultimately become a president, I wouldn't have gotten to the presidency.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:24:49]: So I tell people all the time is don't have this road map that's so stringent that you can't adjust if the opportunity presents itself. And I also tell people, people are watching you. They're watching your job performance. Mhmm. Even when you don't know they're watching your job

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:04]: performance. Yeah.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:25:05]: And they so make sure you always put your best foot forward. But as people are observing you and if you're good at what you do, then people take note of that. And those opportunities that will begin to develop because people have been watching your career and saying that person is really good. They're talented. They can do something different. I can help them advance in their career. So that I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's I think that's kinda how, you know, you have to think about it is, think about those opportunities as they present themselves to you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:33]: I try to live by the personal model of life is better when you say yes to things, and it sounds very similar to kind of what you're advising folks to do. But we also have a lot of professionals who are hungry for those experiences and maybe aren't in a position where those opportunities are as easily as available. What advice would you give those professionals on how to find them or how to ask for them?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:25:51]: So typically, I would say start with those conversations with your supervisor. Or if you report to a director and directors report to ADPs or to the VP, have those conversations with your ADP and even with your vice president about those opportunities that interest you. I will tell the story about my current vice president for student affairs, Doctor. Tina Palson. She worked for me at the University of Houston as director of the student center, student center for involvement and leadership. We sat down and had coffee at Starbucks one day to talk about her career and where she really wanted to go. And she was kind of landlocked. And I and what I mean is that her husband is a physician.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:26:28]: His practice is in The Woodlands, which is North North Of Houston. She goes, we're not going anywhere. Mhmm. Like, his successful practice, I'm kinda locked into the greater Houston area. I really wanna become a vice president. And I said, well, that's because that's a challenge because you can't you can't really move. So you're in the greater Houston area. You have to think about that.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:26:48]: So when my vice president left and I had to hire an interim, I remember that conversation that we had at Starbucks about her desire to advance in her career. So I took her to lunch, and I said, how do you feel about coming to Clear Life and being being interim vice president for student affairs? And she thought to me, really? I said, yes. Really? I'm I'm giving you an opportunity. Now I'm gonna do a search. If you like it, you've qualified. You meet the qualification. You can apply, and we'll we'll see where it goes. But it's an opportunity, and I said I went back to that Starbucks conversation.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:27:20]: It said it came to mind as I was thinking about this. So who do I know that I trust to come in here right away within the next few weeks and step in and do a great job for me? At the end of the day, I did a national search. I had three finalists, and she was the top candidate. Mhmm. And she got the position. And so I think part of it was just being willing to have conversations with people, you know, to say this is kind of what I'm thinking. This is what I wanna do. And, you know, even though sometimes that intentionally make those up, go have coffee.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:27:46]: Go do I think most anybody, whether it's a director or a vice president or associate vice president, they'll have those conversations. They're very willing to have those conversations. I think in our profession, people like people coming to them, kind of the mentor thing, and for advice and give me guidance. And they kept me think through how do I get to where I ultimately wanna go, and what's that career ambition.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:07]: Both you and your, your vice president took the risk of becoming an interim leader before taking the full time position. That's a really scary move.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:28:16]: It is.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:17]: Especially knowing that if you're vacating something, you may not be able to go back to that thing.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:28:21]: Point of advice, always guarantee you can go back because I made sure that when I agreed to go to Clear Lake, I had it in writing from the chancellor that at the end of the interim term, I was going back to my existing position. I said to doctor Palson, I'm gonna give you the offer to come as interim. You go to your the vice president. The time it's gonna be the interim vice president, and you get it in writing that your position is guaranteed to go back.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:45]: That is a very, very important move. We don't always see that because sometimes the interim position's at a different university system Right. Or maybe even in a different Right. Different state or something like that. So that security feels really good Yes. Comparative to, you know, maybe you don't have something to go back to. Right. But but even if you go back to that position, you're not the same professionals when you left it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:05]: So had you decided to go back to that VPSA role, how do you think you would have been different as a professional?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:29:12]: That's a a really good question. I think I would have had different insights. I did at the in that role as VP for ten years. So I was kind of at that tipping point of what's next. I I kind of tackled the initial goals that the president and chancellor had given me when I stepped into the role. She was very specific. Two specific goals I need you to accomplish initially. That's why I think then the enrollment came later because she's like, okay.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:29:36]: You did those pretty quickly. Now now I need you to do this. But I think the challenge for me would have been, okay. What's next? Like, what's the next big thing for student affairs going back into my role at the University of Houston? Mhmm. I think that and that's a question that she was starting to ask herself and asking interims and and etcetera. And me, I think, would ask me the same question. What is next? What's the next big thing in student affairs? What are we not doing at the University of Houston that the best in affairs divisions across the country are doing? So I think I would've been challenged to think differently, and that was a little bit scary because I felt the division was in really good shape, and it was very steady. But I had a chance for a president who pushed the envelope, and she was never satisfied.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:30:19]: She called her big rocks. What's the next big thing? What's the next big rock? I mean, the University of Houston, as president, when she came in, the first big thing was to become a research one institution. She did that a year ahead of schedule, became an art. And then, you know, what's the next big thing? And then we were sitting in cabinets and retreats talking about the next big thing. We all decided, what about we just have some medical school? Not an easy task. We all agreed. We were gonna give it a shot. University of Houston now has a medical school.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:30:46]: Next big goal was I wanna be in a power five athletic, also not easily attainable. University of Houston is now in the big 12. Now her new big rock is getting to AAU, has become an AAU institution. So I say all that to say I was gonna be challenged Yeah.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:02]: Because

Dr. Richard Walker [00:31:02]: I was gonna have to think differently and figure out what what was gonna be next. But I think the presidency would have given me a different ability to look at things a little bit differently in that way as not having run the entire institution.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:16]: What surprised you most coming into the presidency?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:31:19]: I'll be honest for me, shifting size of institutions and shifting budget. I was on the flagship campus, 47,000 students. My divisional budget was double my entire institution budget in front of me. That's a challenge.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:32]: That's definitely a different scale.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:31:33]: That's a completely different scale. So that was probably my biggest adjustment. The other piece I would say, given a thought about earlier where we are in the Bay Area, it is very, very, very community oriented. We have more little mayors of townships and chambers of commerce. I got the more chamber events than I ever fall about being in the city at the at the University of Houston. But that's important. That community engagement and the visibility of the presidency is highly well respected in those arenas, and people wanna see that president. So I now sit on two boards, community boards.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:32:08]: I'm on the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership board of directors, and I'm on the Clear Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce. I'm not sure. Like, the HCA, Clear Lake Hospital Mhmm. Board of trustees. And I'm on also an unofficial ex officio member of the Clear Lake chamber board. But those kinds of things are important that I didn't see see at the university Mhmm. If that makes sense. Like, doctor Couture was the president was not she'd go to these events, but she wasn't that engaged.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:32:35]: And here is a community expectation. Majority of our alums stay in the Clear Lake area. We've got 80,000 plus alumni now, but most of them work in the greater Houston area, and many of them right there in the greater Clear Lake area. So that connectivity, is really, really important. I

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:51]: wanna talk a little bit of the hard stuff because you're in Texas

Dr. Richard Walker [00:32:54]: Yep.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:55]: And Texas state Legislature has made a lot of choices lately around trans identity, around DEI in general, around some other things that are kind of challenging for universities who are trying to meet the needs to be inclusive for students who come with all sorts of identities. So how are you navigating this with your teams and with the students who still need the support, but maybe you're a bit hampered by what you can actually do according to the law?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:33:20]: So the so Texas legislature only meets every other year. Mhmm. So maybe they meet in the odd years. So

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:26]: And only for about sixty days.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:33:28]: Yes. From January till the May first of June. So the last legislative session in '23, '2 big bills, but I'll talk about the DEI bill. It's called senate bill 17, which called for the elimination of DEI at public institutions of higher education in the state of Texas. All aspects, training, programming, positions. So as we work through that bill process, and this is something about just the politics and it's probably similar in most states within Texas. Bills always start on the drastic end. Mhmm.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:34:09]: And so we had to tell everybody, don't freak out when the first version of the bill comes up. We're gonna work through it. At some point, we'll get it hopefully better than where where it started. It may not be perfect. So we advocated and worked through the process and worked with legislators on both sides of the aisle to kinda find a happy medium of where the majority wanted to go, but the things that we needed to do to continue to support our students. So there were a few carve outs in that process. So there were a few carve outs in that process in the final bill that got passed. We still were gonna have to eliminate all DEI and the training and those kinds of things, but there were carve outs for academic programs around diversity, equity, inclusion, for faculty research, For student organizations, this was not gonna apply to them.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:34:56]: They wanted to make sure that programs and services were being provided to all students. Then they did some carve out around first generation, low economic, economically disadvantaged. Those are all words that are in the bill. So at the University of Sinclair, like, I had a chief diversity and inclusion officer that reported directly to me. Interestingly enough, I was the only institution of four in the University of Houston system that had a chief diversity and inclusion officer. So I had to ultimately eliminate that position. We had a student center for diversity, equity, and inclusion, which we had to eliminate. And what we did is we redesigned the support services to create the center for student advocacy and Community.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:35:36]: Mhmm. And then we wrote job descriptions. We already had basic needs in terms of food pantry, emergency grants, and all those kind of things. And and student advocacy was actually already housed in the Dean of Students Office. We pulled it out of the Dean of Students Office, put it in this department, and then focus the community piece on the belonging stuff and working with students, student organizations to provide this belonging activities. Everything, any advertisements even for the student organizations had to say all students are invited. You had to make it clear that everything is for everybody. And so that's how we kind of worked through the process.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:36:09]: We did that. University of Houston did something similar that they copied. I was proud. We actually were ahead of them. They said, can we have all your job descriptions? Can we see what you're doing? Now part of this process and in this bill required each board of regents in their seven systems of higher education in Texas. Each board at the end of this last year had to certify that that all of its institutions in their system complied with s p 17. So they all we all had to submit reports. Each board submitted a report.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:36:37]: It's interesting. About two weeks ago, a letter came out from the Senate Higher Education Committee and one of the other senators saying, well, every border we just complied and submitted their reports, they did not find them to be satisfied. We also had they dealt with the situation in in the state with UT Austin back in the summer where they kinda went after UT Austin first, and that's very politics. Flagship between UT and A and M. They're the two that, you know, are the most well done. The Diddy field that they had all that they had done is reorganize and rename things and really didn't eliminate it. So last summer, they literally had to completely redo. They created a division of, I think, community engagement, and they literally had to close it down and eliminate 60 something exact positions.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:37:19]: So we're going through a similar process right now. I don't think we're on the list, but did everybody go far enough in what their intent was? So we'll see what comes out of this legislative session. We may have additional bills. But what we've tried to say is we're going to support all of our students. And so some of the services, like, in our campus, LGBT services were were part of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. At the University Maybe it was a completely separate department, but they had to close that. So still trying to provide those services, but trying to operate, we eliminate all of our training. We eliminate all of our programming.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:37:50]: We said we're gonna start all over. We don't want any perception that we're still trying to hang on to this or hang on to that because that's not gonna get us anywhere. So we really have really kinda started from scratch and tried to redesign everything. And if you go to our website, it's we're very careful about what we do, what we say we do, the things that we're providing to our students. So it's still supporting our students and all of our students, but shifting the contacts. You just don't use d, e, or I in your language, in your description, and it's totally interesting to see. But so far, so taxes with like Florida and some others were kind of the first ones to get down that path, and now you see what's kinda happening in other states and happening at the federal level. So you can do it.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:38:30]: You can still provide the support. I think the importance is to make sure you're always just gonna you're gonna support the students and figure out a way to do that without tripping over yourself or using the inappropriate language that they feel is inappropriate. Not everybody feels is inappropriate. And so you have to work within the box you're given, but still have got to make sure your students are supported.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:49]: How have the students been responding to these changes?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:38:52]: Our students have responded pretty well to that. I think they understood it, and they've worked well with us to kinda make sure that we are providing the support that they need. And so far, it's been so good. So we'll see where all this goes because it's we're in a legislative session now, and so they're not finished with DEI. I think there'll be something more coming out. I think the the fear now is that they could try to tackle academic programs and academic research, but we're not there again.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:20]: We're also in a position where it's, you know, it's March what's today? The sixteenth Mhmm. 2025, and we are about a week past the Office of Civil Rights being effectively eliminated. So I'm sure we're still awaiting what will happen at the federal level for how this is gonna affect education looks like.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:39:35]: Yes. The whole thing around Title nine and how that's been implemented, it's it's changed so many times. It's been that's been frustrating because it's changed with each administration. Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:44]: The 02/2004.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:39:46]: I feel like we have constantly been rewriting our sexual harassment and our sexual misconduct policies, and they're lengthy. We have a system policy, and it's a lengthy process. And just when you think you've got it figured out

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:57]: It changes.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:39:58]: It changes. So we'll see where where all of this goes now in the in the new standpoint student financial aid Yeah. Pell Grants and those kind of things. I mean, 41% of our students are on Pell Grants. I mean, that's not something that functionally, I don't believe, you could just put back to The States. That's a massive undertaking with the student financial aid and the loan process and all of that. I'm really worried about how that impacts students and the the affordability because many of our students, if that if that goes under and we can't get that to the point where it's functional and and serving the students that we need to serve, that's what worries me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:38]: You talked about this morning that affordability is the number one concern for you and your students at your university. I think that's probably shared by most college presidents. Is there anything specific or unique that your institution is doing to support that affordability mission?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:40:51]: Well, I think even the state of Texas, I think our our governors even concerned about access and affordability. That's why the two years coming out of COVID, we did not raise local tuition, and that was our decision because we just didn't think that was the right thing to do coming out of COVID. Then the last two years, the governor said he wouldn't approve a local tuition increase, and now he said the same thing for the next. So we will go six years without increasing that local tuition stream. So we're really trying to take a look at our awarding philosophy. I challenged my new vice president for strategic role management to take a step back and see, are we utilizing all of the aid that we have available? Available? Because we get Texas grants and other grants from the state, and then we have to set aside a certain amount of our local tuition dollars. 15 percent has to go to students in need with Texas residency. So there are some built in aid programs.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:41:41]: We've asked for an increase in Texas grant for the legislature for this next cycle, again, to try to address the affordability piece. We have transfer money for transfer students that's not meeting the the gap that needs to meet for students who are transferring in, so that's kind of a different population. As part of my investiture to become president, we created the presidential excellence scholarship. So we've been raising money for that program, raising trying to get more endowed scholarships, getting people to invest in students and presenting and doing scholarships on that aspect of so we're trying to do but I just I wanna make sure I think we can do a better job at our awarding philosophy and make sure we're max optimizing the funds that we have available to award, and are we award and are we awarding that strategically? Mhmm. And really taking a look and that can change annually. I mean, if you do your if you do your homework and really dive into how you're awarding, there are shifts that happen almost on an annual basis. So for example, if you're awarding a scholarship at the University of Houston, we had something about academic excellence, and there were three tiers. Might be a 5,000, a 3,000, and then 1,000.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:42:45]: Academically, you performed perform to certain levels. You were guaranteed those tiers. We would do an analysis every year. But what if we lowered this one by 500? We put 500 more on this one, and there's you can run the data to show you, yes. That would make an impact here. We're not making an impact here. So if you use analytics to truly help you do your awarding philosophies and making sure you're really meeting the needs of the students, because many students today, especially being a HSIMS, they don't want debt. And so you also are are braided as an institution on how much debt do your students graduate having.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:43:19]: Mhmm. And they don't wanna see high levels of debt. I mean, that's a bragging point. If you can get your amount of debt your students leave the institution with low adopt, it's something to talk about about when you're talking about affordability in higher education. It's a selling point. And it's

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:34]: something that students will talk to each other about. The theme of our season is the past, present, and future of student affairs. So I'm gonna dig into our theme questions. So looking at the past, what's one component of the history of the student affairs profession that you think we should continue to carry forward or alternatively let go of?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:43:50]: That's a fascinating question. I'm gonna have to think back after forty something

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:53]: years. You've seen some changes in

Dr. Richard Walker [00:43:55]: the past.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:55]: I have

Dr. Richard Walker [00:43:56]: seen a lot of changes, so I'm trying to figure out historically from the profession. You know, when I first got into the fashion profession, I'll be honest, student success wasn't a buzzword. He really wasn't well defined. That's not what we really at least in my career, we had talked about that. We talked about recruitment and engagement, but we didn't frame it in the context of retention and success, like, measuring that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:21]: Yeah.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:44:22]: That wasn't early on in my career, but I think that's something now that forever will be ingrained in who we are. It's part of the what we have to do to convince the public as well. Higher education is well worth the investment dollars Mhmm. And to talk about how much does it cost, how quickly can you get your degree. Because the sooner you can get into job market, the sooner you will make a good living for yourself and your family. And so really thinking about don't take six years. You know, we talk about six year graduation rates. We really started to try to shift or what does top don't talk about six.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:44:56]: Yes. Nationally, that's the methodology. We need to be talking about four year graduation rates. That's where we need to focus. Six is long in my opinion. When I was going to school and my parents put me through, they're like, you have four years. I had to figure it out. I had to go to summer school, but I've got finished in four years.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:45:13]: So now it's more about trying to say to students, you have to take 30 credits over the course of a year, not fifteen and fifteen because everybody used to think about spring and didn't really talk about summer. Now it's really trying to say to them, then you have to do it all. You can do it fall, spring, and summer. You can do twelve and twelve and six over the summer. So I think part of the shift for me is about also talking about student success in the context of time to completion. Also, we've started talking about much more than we did early on about wasted credit hours, making sure we're creating pathways for students, especially transfer students, going to a community college who have a desire to transfer into a four year institution, to focus on only take the classes you need. If you know the community college, when you get your associate's degree, you wanna transfer to the University of Houston Clear Lake in engineering, we've got a path. And working with community colleges in those paths, yeah, we've had MOUs and transfer agreements and those kind of things.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:46:09]: We gotta look at it even a little bit more differently. And, really, what we started to assume, what why I've seen it change as president, we have something called the Houston DPS, Houston pathways dotted pathways, which all the four year institutions and the community colleges in the greater Houston areas are working together to make these seamless pathways. We have faculty at the community college and at the universities in Clear Lake get together, especially with San Jacinto, who's our largest speaker transfer, and talk about curriculum challenges. Okay. This math at at San Jacinto is not exactly this math at Clear Lake and the two faculties had about to get together. So I think that's been a shift also that you didn't hear as much about. We had articulation agreements, but, sometimes they paid attention to them and they necessarily didn't. So I think that's been a change.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:46:53]: Also, in student affairs, development and fundraising. Early on was not something that was invested in and looked at as the institution as a funding source to raise philanthropic dollars. Mhmm. I think what we had to start saying to folks is they're outside of the classroom engagement experiences. For some students, that was their connectivity. In fundraising and development, there's always that, oh, what college were you in? When college did you graduate for? And everybody was putting a college bucket, and that's how the fundraising was developed. And some of us in student affairs had to start going to our advancement officers, and I did that at the University of Houston. I said, you're missing an opportunity.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:47:25]: You're leaving money on the table. Some of these students are not gonna give to you from the College of Engineering. They just don't want to. But all these student leaders that were RAs and key student leaders on the campus, they did not get to opportunities within student affairs, more private philanthropy. That's been a big shift in my opinion from the start to kind of where we are today.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:44]: I've seen a big shift in that specifically related to fundraising for fundamental needs works, and people being willing to put their donation dollars towards knowing that this is going to go to food pantries or, going to provide emergency grants to students, that type of thing. And we weren't fundraising for that ten years ago either.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:47:59]: We weren't. I was actually in gags with Amelia, actually, around the whole looking at emergency financial aid, emergency grants, emergency loan programs. When NASPA first kinda got into that space and started taking a look at, with some help, NASPA got some grants on. I was on several of those work group task force that Amelia was heading up as we start to think about what does this now begin? Should it begin to look like? And I think in both the University of Houston Clear Lake and then my work at University of Houston, basic needs, food pantries, emergency grants, all those kinds of things are much more well established. And to your point, I think, yes, people are much more willing because they see that as something tangible. It's an immediate need students have. So we started seeing a lot more gifts of of people willing to invest in the basic needs programs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:46]: Looking at the present, what's happening in the field right now that's going well for student affairs?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:48:50]: I think the continued focus on student life, student engagement, student involvement on the campus. I think that's going well. I think career development, career opportunities, career engagement, intern we call it internships, spiritual learning opportunities, anything that that's in that nature. I think there's been a shift in the turn in mental mental health. I think institutions now are putting the money that they need to put into mental health. I think we saw that coming out of COVID. There was a real real section. And as talked about earlier, teletherapy, and investing in these those different kind of opportunities to create teletherapy so students can get contact anytime they want it, anytime they need it, 03:00 in the morning.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:49:33]: Mhmm. I think those kinds of things are going well. I think there's a understanding and a need that you gotta invest. That's a key component of the student success because if they're not physically well and mentally well, they're gonna drop out or stop out, and you won't you don't want those to be reasons that they're not completing and continuing their education. I think those things are going well in student affairs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:49:55]: Mental health emergencies almost never happen during business hours. Correct. So it makes sense that we've shifted to a more after hours type of model. And, you know, we still want students to be able to see our counselors during business hours for their regular sessions. It's difficult to say, I'm so sorry. We can't answer your call even though you're in absolute distress because it's 9PM.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:50:14]: Correct. I absolutely agree. In fact, we pulled some data recently. We're looking at our our data in our counseling and mental health center. And I think last year, we had 420 some or 60 something unique users coming into the counseling center. We had over 1,200 using our teletherapy.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:50:31]: I think that also speaks to some of the needs of Gen z, right, and their comfort with, technology and FaceTiming their families. It makes sense to feel comfort in FaceTiming a therapist as well. Yeah. Maybe And you

Dr. Richard Walker [00:50:41]: can even FaceTime a therapist that's sitting in the counseling center in their office now too, which that didn't used to happen.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:50:46]: Yeah. I have a a family member who's a professional therapist and she says she has some tension around around that because you wanna meet the the person where they're at, but also sometimes if you're struggling, for example, with depression, actually getting out of your space and and into a different space can be really helpful too. So, yeah, it's it's an interesting balance that I know the mental health field is working through.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:51:05]: Absolutely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:51:06]: And then our last question is, future related. In an ideal world, what does the field need to do to thrive towards our future?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:51:12]: I think a lot of it is to keep doing what we do and do what, you know. Amelia in the the kinda opening session talked about the work that we do is not gonna go over that even in this changing, challenging environment.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:51:24]: Mhmm.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:51:25]: Students need us. Mhmm. Our students need to continue to provide that support. NASPA needs to continue to provide that professional development support. It's just that things may look a little different, and it's a professional association. We're going to be here for the people in the field of student affairs. As challenging as that may be, the landscape may look different, but we will work through it. Mhmm.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:51:45]: I think I said it in the panel today. You know, resiliency is something that we do well at student affairs. As challenging as it can be. The passion for the work. I would not have done this forty something years if I didn't have passion for this work. In all the the changing environments we've talked about the diapers, things have gone over forty years and things have changed over forty years, I love getting up every morning and going to work. And it's because I think I come from that student affairs background. I come from that aspect of really caring and feeling like I really can make a difference and the teams can make a difference and student affairs professionals can make a difference.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:52:19]: As challenging as it's going to be, as I like to always say. I'm an optimist. I believe the glass is half full. It is not half empty. I believe this is a marathon. It is not a sprint. And so don't panic. Roll with it.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:52:33]: We'll work through it together. I'm hopeful and convinced that hopefully, sharp minds and smart people will prevail in the long run. But there's a need there's a need for this field, and what I don't want to happen is younger professionals get so frustrated. They aren't going with the way they think they needed it to go. You know, I'm just being honest. I'm gonna tell my I'm a baby boomer. So So I'll be I'm always honest about this. I sometimes had challenges with the different generations of people that's, you know, gone from m z's.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:53:02]: I don't I lose track of it all, but I get it. Millennials, the whole nine yards. But I think I would just always say that to folks, you know, as the future, higher education is going to be around. The need for connectivity to students and supporting our students, that is not gonna go by. Back. Whether that's higher education or k k through 12, the same, you know, some of the same things are happening in k through 12. But again, I think the future this we're gonna be around. We're not going anywhere.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:53:27]: Now the challenging things you're seeing around enrolling with smaller, little arts colleges and some smaller institutions, and you already seen some of that closing. And that's probably gonna continue to happen in some capacity, although I think some of that slowed down a little bit. Now that COVID has run its course, people are rebounding and regrouping, and we saw the climb. But, again, I think we will rebound in our enrollment as well. But I believe that we will continue to be needed. Our education is going to be here. It's just how will it look?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:53:53]: It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:53:59]: Thanks so much, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. On April 29 at twelve eastern, there will be a new policy insights for higher education in the first hundred days member briefing. Join higher education public policy leaders for a discussion for a discussion centered on federal policy updates, implications for student affairs professionals, and reflections on how to move forward in the current policy environment. Panelists will share perspectives on how student affairs professionals can stay up to date on federal and state policy changes and discuss ways they can advocate for both their institution and the field more broadly. This is a free webinar for you as a member. Encourage you to sign up today. You can go to learning.naspa.org to sign up today.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:54:57]: The Student Success and Higher Education Conference is happening June in Denver, Colorado. As we get closer to the start of this amazing conference, there is some new news to share regarding some of the powerful content that is going to be there as well as thought leadership at the core of the event. Just recently, the keynotes were announced. The opening keynote will be doctor Tia McNair, partner at Sova, who's well known for driving transformational change through actionable strategies and practical implementation support. And the closing keynote will feature a senior leader panel comprised of three leading professionals and voices in the field, including doctor Mordecai Ian Brownlee, president of the Community College of Aurora, doctor Delmi Landoff, vice president for student affairs at Pratt Institute, and doctor Joe Thomas, senior associate vice chancellor for student affairs at CU Boulder. There's still time for you to be able to sign up for this amazing conference. We are now in the regular registration deadline, but you can still be a part of this amazing conference by going to the NASPA website and signing up today. Two, journal of college and character that was recently published.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:56:09]: And in this journal, we have a ton of amazing articles that have been that have been that have been peer reviewed and focus on character development and how colleges and universities influence both intentionally and unintentionally the moral and civic learning and behavior of their students. As a member of NASPA, you have access to this journal by going into NASPA.org. You can go into the Journal of College and Character as one of the journals that are available to you as a member. And inside this issue, there are some amazing articles, all of which are focusing around ethical higher education in the anti DEI legislative climate. As you can probably guess, these articles are ones that are hitting all of our campuses, and I highly encourage you to review all of them and check them out and read through them to help your own campus to be stronger in the advocacy that you are offering your students. Finally, today, there is a spring twenty twenty five certification exam prep course that will be kicking off very soon. You can prepare to become a certified student affairs educator with the NASPA certification exam prep course. This five week exam prep course for the certified student affairs educator core exam includes four live moderated study sessions, plus a library of on demand and self paced exam prep resources.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:57:37]: Through this enhanced exam prep, you'll have the opportunity to connect with other prospective certificates, learn from colleagues who have taken and passed the exam, and brush up on your student affairs knowledge and skills through a series of self paced study modules. The prep course is available at a member rate of only $75 for members, which is definitely a no. The certification exam prep course is available at a member rate of only $75 Find out more about this amazing resource at learning.NASPA.org. Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself where do you fit? Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, Hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:07]: Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association, and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:35]: Chris, thank you so much for keeping us informed on what's going on in and around NASPA. And, Richard, we have reached our lightning round. So I have seven questions for you to answer in about ninety seconds.

Dr. Richard Walker [00:59:45]: Okay.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:45]: Alright. Question one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, which I know you were today, but what would your entrance music be if you got to choose it?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:59:53]: Oh, that's challenging. Celebrating.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:55]: Number two. When you were five years old, what did you wanna be when you grew up?

Dr. Richard Walker [00:59:58]: A teacher.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:59]: Number three. Who is your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. Richard Walker [01:00:02]: Doctor Patricia Whiteley.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:03]: Number four, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. Richard Walker [01:00:05]: That's a difficult one for me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:07]: Number five, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Dr. Richard Walker [01:00:10]: Matlock, the new person.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:12]: Number six, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Dr. Richard Walker [01:00:15]: I don't really listen to the podcast. Well, now it is gonna be the Student Affairs podcast.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:20]: And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give personal or professional?

Dr. Richard Walker [01:00:24]: To everybody who's influenced me in my career, mentioned doctor Peashua as a mentor, my chancellor, Lenore Couture. The team that I surround myself with each and every day can't do this work by yourself. And I've had lots over my career, lots of supportive staff, lots of supportive team members, so I give a shout out to everybody.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:40]: It's been a pleasure to speak with you, and I really appreciate you taking time out of your conference schedule to come chat with us. Anyone who's listening would like to connect with you after this airs, how can they find you?

Dr. Richard Walker [01:00:49]: They can find me on LinkedIn, or they can email me at [email protected].

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:53]: Thank you so much for sharing your voice with us, Richard.

Dr. Richard Walker [01:00:56]: My pleasure.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:01:02]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show, and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:01:44]: Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.

In the latest episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, host Dr. Jill Creighton sits down with Dr. Cynthia Hernandez, Vice President for Student Success at Texas State University, to delve into her extensive experience in student affairs and her vision for the future of the field. This episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in higher education, offering insights into leadership, professional development, and the evolving role of student affairs in fostering student success.

Dr. Hernandez's journey into student affairs is a story of passion and dedication. With over 25 years of progressive leadership, her rise through the ranks is anything but ordinary. From an early involvement as a student leader to her current role guiding a division of over 400 staff, Cynthia's trajectory offers invaluable lessons for professionals at all stages of their careers. Although she initially embarked on a STEM path, earning a Bachelor's in Animal Science, she discovered her true calling in higher education, catalyzed by the guidance of mentors who recognized her leadership potential.

Throughout the episode, Dr. Hernandez emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to student success. Drawing on her STEM background, she uniquely applies analytical skills to organizational leadership, demonstrating how diverse experiences can enhance student affairs work. Her perspective is particularly valuable for listeners interested in the interplay between data-driven decision-making and the empathetic, student-centered focus of student affairs.

Key themes in this episode include strategies for professional development and career advancement in student affairs. Dr. Hernandez shares candid insights into "managing up" and the importance of building institutional commitment. Whether you're a new professional or a seasoned expert, her advice on leveraging opportunities and committing to lifelong learning is sure to resonate and inspire action.

Furthermore, the conversation delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by current legislative changes affecting higher education. Dr. Hernandez advocates for a proactive stance, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a focus on student success, despite external pressures. Her ability to navigate these dynamics while supporting her team and institution serves as a powerful example of adaptive leadership in unpredictable times.

For those eager to delve deeper into the evolving landscape of student affairs and uncover strategies to enhance student success, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to gain a wealth of insights from Dr. Cynthia Hernandez and be inspired by her commitment to fostering inclusive, effective educational environments. Whether you're on a campus or beyond, her story is a testament to the profound impact student affairs professionals can have on the lives of students and the wider academic community.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, sheherhers, your essay voices from the field host. Welcome back to another episode of essay voices from the field. Today, we are bringing you the second live recorded conversation from the NASPA annual conference where we sat down with NASPA pillar of the profession, Dr. Cynthia l Hernandez. Dr. Hernandez currently serves as the vice president for student success at Texas State University, providing leadership for a comprehensive division comprised of over 400 staff housed in 12 departments, including housing and res life, dean of students, counseling services, health services, campus rec, Disability Services, Career Services, LBJ Student Center, Student Involvement, Student Learning Assistance Center, Academic Success Initiatives, and Assessment Planning and Technology Services. With over twenty five years of progressive leadership experience, Dr. Hernandez focuses on enhancing student success and learning in the co curricular through inclusive student centered programs, services, and initiatives, and communicating the impact and value of student success work.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:14]: She is a scholar practitioner and an active member of professional organizations, including NASPA, where she serves on the board of directors. Prior to joining Texas State University, doctor Hernandez served for fifteen years in the office of the vice president for student affairs at Texas A and M University as an assistant and associate VP and as an adjunct professor in the department of educational admin and human resource development. She earned her bachelor's degree in animal science and a master's degree in educational administration with an emphasis in student affairs admin and a doctorate in ed admin from Texas A and M University. Doctor Hernandez began her student success career in student orientation, transition, and retention and programming both at Northern Arizona University and Texas A and M. In addition to being an active professional member of NASPA, she's also active in NODA, which is the Association for Orientation Transition and Retention in Higher Ed, where she held the position of president. She's also served as the chair for NASPA's AVP initiatives steering committee and as a faculty member and director for the NASPA AVP Institute. Her areas of professional interest include the organization leadership and management of operating a division of student affairs, academic partnerships and collaborations, student learning in the co curricular, comprehensive program reviews, strategic planning, threat assessment, Latinas in higher education, and higher education policy. She also provides her personal statement.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:28]: I believe in selfless service, the duty to do good, and the responsibility that comes with influence honoring the impact we have on others and the world. I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as we loved having it. And like our other live episodes, this one might have slightly different audio quality, but the conversation is rich. Cynthia, welcome to SA Voices.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:02:45]: Thank you. Excited to be here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:47]: So you are our second conversation here live at the annual conference. We're so excited to feature you, as well as an award winner this year. Yeah.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:02:55]: Thank you very much. Excited to be here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:56]: Congratulations. Thank you. But Cynthia, you have been part of the student affairs profession for about twenty five years at this point. Spent most of your career in Texas And we always love to start our episodes by asking our guests, how did you get to your current seat?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:03:10]: Well, thank you very much. You know, it's it's interesting and I think like many of us in the profession, we don't set out to being in the profession. I started my undergraduate degree at Texas A and M University, and one of the wonderful things about that institution is it allows you to really flourish as a student leader. There's so many student run programs, and I got involved. I got involved when I was a student even as a freshman starting out. And I remember, though, the person that really led me into the profession before she probably even knew it was my own RA. I had a scholarship going out to A and M. That's the way I was able to go.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:03:49]: And we had to live in a residence hall, and I lived there. And halfway through my freshman semester, my RA tapped me on the shoulder and said, you do really good at trying to create community with people on the floor, and I think you'd be a great RA. And I was like, I didn't even know really what an RA did, but I did. I I ended up applying and getting it. And so that was really my first foray in. And then the next piece of that was, at that time, you had to take an RA class before you could get hired, and you had to make a certain grade in the class before you could get hired. So my RA class was taught by the director of residence life. His name is Ron Sasse, and he took a liking to me.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:04:35]: We I enjoyed being in his class, and he stayed with me throughout, my RA career as well as my orientation leader career. And when it was time for me to figure out what I wanted to do so I came in to A and M as an aerospace engineering major. I grew up in Houston and really wanted to work on the shuttle. And then ended up an animal science major because I thought I wanted to be a vet. And then I decided I didn't wanna do either of those things. And he walked into my little cubicle as an undergraduate, for my student org, and he gave me a photograph copy. And his name was actually written in Sharpie on the on the front of it, a photograph copy of the student personnel point of view. Oh, okay.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:05:23]: And he said, I think you should read this and tell him, let's talk about it. And we did and it unlocked this love and passion for not only higher education, but for the field of student affairs. And it was then that I decided to to go into graduate school and and go into this path.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:40]: But you finished your bachelor's degree in animal science.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:05:43]: I did. I do. I have a bachelor's of science in animal science. And I think about this all the time. Growing up for me, I was always strong in math and science. And so, naturally, that's what everybody focused on. I got sent to a lot of STEM things when I was in high school. I thought, well, that's what I need to lean into because that's what I'm good at.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:06:05]: And it wasn't until I got to college and really finding the work that I'm doing now that I realized just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to do that thing. Now I will tell you that my math and science, and we can explore this later on in the in the podcast if you want, but gives me a strength. I think that might be a little different in the work that I do and how I approach my work, but I realized that I really needed to find that passion and purpose and I did that in the profession.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:33]: I am curious how that STEM strength shows up as a VPSA.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:06:38]: It does quite a bit and and one of the things that I think about and I always have to

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:43]: give this caveat and I I found this out when

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:06:46]: I because I'm a first time VPSA and I found this out with my own staff. I always have to first say, we always have to center the student in our work, we always have to lead from a culture of care. But when you're in these roles, I would say assistant director and above, you really have to pay attention to the business and organizational aspect of what we're doing. And so that math and science background for me allows me to really think a little bit more critically and analytically, about the work and how we organize our work, how we organize our resources, both financial and human. Mhmm. And then even in this assessment conversation, this data conversation, this evidence based conversation, being able to look at data and understand data and translate data for those who are maybe not data experts, and that's okay, but how to make meaning of that. And I think that that math and science background has prepared me for that. The other thing I will say prepared me for is when I was at at A and M, I worked in the vice president's office for fifteen years at A and M.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:07:54]: And I had, one of my vice presidents, I had five while I was there. One of my vice presidents was a three star Marine Corps General. And what I learned in my undergrad that helped me with that was how to write things in bullet points. So I didn't write more than a five page paper until I got to my grad program, so because everything in my science background was really about brief bullet points. What data points are you paying attention to right now? Oh goodness. There's a lot. I mean, obviously, on the student success end of it, we are looking at all of our college completion matrix around persistence and retention and graduation, and then distilling that down into what are those things that are preventing this.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:40]: Mhmm.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:08:41]: And then, you know, how can we circle around those support services to meet those? So that's really on the on the student success end, and I can go a little bit deeper into that. The other pieces on, again, and Betty, who is here, talked about it, our investment in staff and development in staff and the metrics associated with, helping our staff thrive, whether that, be performance metrics and even just meeting expectations, but then also what are those things that are barriers to their work and how can we help them be successful in what they do?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:17]: You've come up in student affairs mostly through orientation Mhmm. Past president of NODA Mhmm. As well. So different association work. But I'm wondering how your vision and view of professional development of staff has shifted from your days focused on new student orientation now through overseeing an entire division of student affairs.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:09:35]: Gosh, it has been. It has been an evolution and from being a staff member focused on students, focused on it, on the orientation of students. But I will say, I think there's similar things to learn. There's they're very parallel in that, you know, we invest a lot in the onboarding of students. Starting from the very beginning when we make that contact all the way through maybe that first year, that second year, and and on, that's the same with staff. Right? As soon as we hire that staff member, how are we communicate? And I actually think it goes beyond it be before that and my enrollment management colleagues will agree with this with students, but even when that staff member is applying to be on your staff, that employees that individuals who are applying to be on your staff. How are you treating them along the search process? How are communicating with with them? How are you valuing their time in that process as well? How are you honoring that? And then how do we onboard? Mhmm. How are we onboarding staff into our communities and helping them understand what are the expectations of the new work culture they're in? How do they meet those expectations? How do we understand the lived experiences of the the staff coming in and how do we, as supervisors, honor that as well.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:10:51]: So it's all those things that we do with students that we should just be doing with humans as they're transitioning onto our communities.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:58]: I think that's the gift of coming up through orientation is that's the natural way your brain already works is how do we successfully onboard someone into the community and then that showing up for your staff

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:11:07]: as well. 100%. We talk a lot about in in the OTR world about building institutional commitment. Some might call that finding a sense of place, finding a sense of belonging, and because we know that that's important for the retention of whether it's students or staff. If they don't find that, it's too easy to pack up and go home or go elsewhere.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:26]: What do you most want your staff members to understand when they first set foot in the community? Mhmm.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:11:31]: I think first, the purpose of our work, and we talk a lot about the why. Why are we doing this? Why are we here? So understanding that piece is is critical. I think the other piece for me in in my organization at the type of institution we work at and I think that's important, I think, for people to know too as you're onboarding, recognizing what the institution, why you're gonna work, where you have chosen to work, but understanding what it means. And and for us and for all of higher education, we're in the business of helping students realize their academic goal. We get to do a lot lot more with them, and we also understand that there's a lot more barriers that prevent people from actually reaching that, and and we, fill a lot of those spaces. But that's the ultimate goal, and so how are we able to do that? So when new staff come in, I have, AVP dean of students, Valerie Holmes, who who who talks a lot about we're in the business of breaking down barriers and creating opportunities. So at the very simplest level on our staff, that's what we're trying to do. And it might look different depending in what functional area you're working in, but we're trying to get there.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:40]: You've had a, fairly traditional career path in terms of kind of moving from that first entry level all the way through to director level, AVP, etcetera, etcetera, and now to the VP seat. There's a lot of programs I'm seeing at NASPA this year about how do I make that jump? How do I make that jump from assistant director to director? How do I make that jump from director to assistant associate dean? How do I make that jump from dean AVP to VP? Mhmm. Can you talk to us about your process in figuring out how to prepare yourself for that next thing? Sure.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:13:10]: I will. And and I've had a little bit of a traditional path, but I it I actually skipped the whole director phase, which created a whole bunch of different things that I had to be really intentional about learning because I didn't have the direct experience in doing that. When I think about putting yourself in the position to make those moves, I think that our natural nature of being learners in this field helps. And I always think about what do I wanna do next and what do I need to learn to get there. And so I think part of it is really investing in that self knowledge, that learning, understanding what it is and and where you wanna go. But I think that the other piece for me has been taking advantage of the opportunities that are available. And it's not that all of the opportunities I took advantage of someone said, Cynthia, you should do this. It was scanning the horizon that I was in and saying, I want more experience in doing that.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:14:10]: Maybe I need to go and ask to see if how can I be a part of that? And, that was a big that was a big piece for me was being able to do that. And that's what I did. I didn't know I wanted to leave the orientation world. I had done it for twelve years. I loved it. I thought I would just continue in first year programs, And then an assistant to the dean of students came available, working with Dave Parrot. And I applied for that, and and I went in and I started working for him. He was housed in the vice president's office.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:14:43]: And about six months in, I had an an, vice president, Dean Bershani, who later went on to be president at North Dakota State. And he said, I want you to come be special assistant to the vice president. And so I made that move right there. And that's why I say I skipped the whole director position. And I think it was the first time I real and we talk about linear pathways, but not really. Mhmm. For me, as a younger or a mid level professional, I think it was the first time I realized that I could move up into an AVP position without having to be the dean of students. And because if you think about

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:19]: it, this was this was quite

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:15:20]: a while ago, and there were not as many AVP roles. And even the AVP grouping was not as prominent even in NASPA. Right? So you heard about VPSAs, you heard about Dean of Students, but you didn't know about these things. So I think that was an interesting thing for me and it was really about taking advantage of the opportunities available.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:43]: Let's talk a little bit about managing up.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:15:45]: Okay.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:45]: So you've been in many positions where you were managing up to your supervisor. Now you are that person who is being managed up to. Mhmm. What advice do you have for specifically directors managing that possibly to their ABPs and VPs and how to get that information to the vice president level? And also for first year professionals who might have input that is very, very valuable or they see a different perspective on a problem set that could be solved differently. And we know that their first stop is gonna be their direct teams, but also how do they get that information to

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:16:17]: a VP? Sure. Sure. It's a great question. And it does take time to learn to manage up. I think the the first thing I would say is do a lot of listening. Do a lot of listening and observing to understand how your supervisor wants information and and needs information and what what's the type of information that they're looking and everybody's managing that. Everybody has a supervisor, whether it's me to the president, the president to the chancellor, the chancellor to the board. And so we're always trying to figure out what's the information they need, how quickly do they need it, what form do they need it in.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:16:59]: And a lot of that is just listening and understanding, trying to anticipate what are those things that are gonna be on the radar. And that's a big piece of it. Some of it is giving your staff a heads up. For my directors, being able for them to understand what does the vice president need to know, what do I need to tell my AVP so that we can get that information there so we're not caught off guard on things. The other piece I'm managing up, because that's one thing, the crisis pieces, the pieces that are might make the headlines. But the other piece is about what data is important for my vice president to know in the conversation she's in. And EAB, a long time ago, had and there were several student affairs folks who helped on this piece. They had a piece called Leveraging Data to Demonstrate Impact.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:17:51]: Mhmm. And it was the first time I had really seen what they had done is EAB had interviewed presidents and provost across the country to really ask them about what data did they need from their student senior student affairs officers, and then they distilled that by each functional area. So that was a great way to kind of learn not just the heads up crisis moments, but here's some things that I need you to think about in the conversations that you're in. When I think about new professionals and first year students and lending voices, I always say first and because I have always worked at large institutions and you talk about that inverted funnel and there's some hierarchy there and there's some hierarchy there for a reason. Mhmm. And so I always talk to first year student or first year professionals or new professionals about really using learning how to use that hierarchy and how to communicate things. But then I also talk about take advantage of the opportunities that you do have to have those moments with those leaders, whether it's your own director or directors across the division, AVPs, VP. And you do that usually through volunteering in some other spaces.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:19:07]: And I know a lot of people, maybe shy away from spending even more time volunteering in spaces outside their own functional area, but I cannot tell you how much it helps with networking and relationship building in your career. Just being able to be in spaces when you are helping people move in during move in or helping set up commencement, all those things. You get to have some conversations in spaces that maybe you wouldn't have access to individuals otherwise.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:38]: I was once at an institution that did an internal internship program where five hours a week you could be reassigned to a different department just to learn that functional area, especially great for professionals who are thinking about moving up, in that ladder or also just changing functional areas.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:19:53]: Yes. Yeah. We I mean, and you know this, and I don't know what the opportunities are now, but serving on conduct panels, right, serving as investigators, serving on your crisis response team, but then also helping with more, maybe, joy filled engagement type activities as well. There's always opportunities to to do some of that. And to your point, whether it's a structured program, which is fabulous, by the way, or an impromptu, I wanna get more knowledge on this. I remember my, when I was in my AVP role, I didn't have a whole lot of, construction under my belt, building facilities and renovating facilities. And so I went to the vice president and asked, I said, we've got this construction project coming on. Can I be on on that team that's working with with the architect and the contractors? And, he said, as long as you can get your other stuff done, we'll let you carve out some time to do that.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:20:50]: But unless I had asked that, no one was sitting there saying, somebody should tell Cynthia so see if Cynthia can be on this team. So

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:56]: One of the things you included in your bio is a personal statement. And, the personal statement is I believe in selfless service, the duty to do good, and the responsibility that comes with influence honoring the impact we have on others and the world. How did we arrive here?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:21:12]: You know, I think sometimes it's easy to get caught up in everything that's going on and so much like our institutions or our own divisions, having our own mission statement, value statement that grounds us reminds us and gives us that lens to make decisions, to honor the staff and the students and just the humans in this life. What a blessing it is to be able to do what we do, where we do it. And sometimes it's hard to see that, in that. And so the statement for me has always grounded me in that. It's it's really a convergence of a lot of my lived experiences, my backgrounds, my identities that really leads to this place of selfless service and and that we're here to serve.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:58]: You're in Texas right now and, I had the conversation just yesterday with President Richard Walker. He was at University of Houston Clear Lake. And one of the conversations that he and I had was about how do we continue to support our students, faculty and staff knowing that legislation might be deeply impacting the way that we've done our jobs in the past, but also knowing that the students that are supported by student affairs and and the rest of the university, we're still here. Yeah. Right? Legislation isn't gonna change our identities and it's not gonna change the support that we need from the university. So how are you navigating that in the BPSA seat knowing that the way that you do the work has to be different?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:22:35]: It's a great question. I will say first, I got named to the title nine deputy right after the February, president Obama's dear colleague letter. Twenty eleven ECL. Twenty '11 ECL. Right? Mhmm. And I really think that being in that role during that time for the next eight years where one, I learned how to pause and take a breath as things were just plain out. And and I remember then and this is applicable now. We still have students who are going through these situations

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:14]: Mhmm. And

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:23:14]: we still have students to serve and I still have a responsibility to my institution. So trying to trying to figure out to not let the noise overwhelm me was was a skill that I learned then has come in very useful now. And so, you know, we have had state legislation around some of these issues for about eighteen months now. And so we've been navigating that, and seeing the impact of that, and then learning to still help our students feel supported and valued and our staff feel supported and and valued at our campuses. We have to do that. We know that we need to do that. Honoring the lived experiences they bring, still being identity informed, not being identity exclusive, which is prohibited. And so being able to invest and being able to invest in in students and staff to be able to thrive on our campuses, Ultimately, that's my job, and we have to keep going because I have 40,000 students

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:18]: Mhmm.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:24:19]: Who are looking to us to be able to create these experiences for them and help them reach your academic goals.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:25]: We're seeing these pieces of legislation kind of permeate in other states as well. I think Texas and Florida have been kind of on the forefront. Mhmm. So what advice do you have for other student affairs professionals who are seeing this happen in their states and are going, I'm not sure how to navigate it?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:24:39]: Mhmm. I think, you know, part of that is leaning in on your team and I know people think that it's the vice president for student affairs alone, I'm the vice president for student success, but, you know, leaning in, working with your cabinet, helping understand, going back to the mission of your institution, you know, working with your general counsel, having all of those conversations. And I'm thinking from the VP level right now on what this means and what's the impact. The other piece of it around it is how do we lean even more into student success and student support in the midst of this? And that was one of the things I really appreciated about, my president, my current president, in that how do we then look at what else do we need to do to enhance the student experience and how can we do that, within the legislation that we have and, that recommitment to student success and, students persistence and and graduation really helped us keep a focus on why we're doing what we're doing. And and so I would encourage staff to do that as well. It's a little bit different when you're, you know, working on the front end with students, working at that mid level supporting staff who also are being impacted or feeling impacted. And part of that is remaining calm, understanding that we still have a job to do. And, we just kinda we keep taking we take it day by day, and, still celebrate the joys that we have, and there are many.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:26:19]: And I think Betty talked about that too. Getting out in the spaces to see that your students are thriving in their college work. They're enjoying their college life and I know every institution is different. I work in a highly residential institution and my students are loving it and they're loving their four years. And so, yeah, reminding of the joy.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:43]: Let's transition and talk about NASPA for a minute. You've been the director of the AVP steering committee and a faculty member for the AVP Institute. This institute is pretty young in terms of NASPA initiatives. I think actually do we meet for the first time at AVP Institute? Maybe so. That seems that seems right, but I I can't remember at this point. But can you talk to us about what's important right now for NASPA and the AVP world and also for aspiring AVPs, what they might be looking at right now for their professional development?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:27:12]: Yeah. So it was interesting. I would say I you talked about being a NODA, and I was a NODA for a good portion of my career and did or pulled back on my involvement after I finished the presidency. And it was actually through the AVP space that I got reconnected to NASPA. And they were just starting out. I went to, I think, the first AVP Institute and Penny Ryu was the director. Lori White was on there. Jason Pena was on there.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:27:42]: Some others, individuals named Hecht and others. And I got connected in that space and I talk about I loved being an AVP and I was an AVP probably I was an assistant vice president for about five years and associate vice president for, three to four years. So I was in the AVP space for seven years, which you don't see a lot of. Usually, you see people stay in that space for about maybe three years, five years, then move on into maybe VP roles. I never knew I wanted to be a VP. So that was a great connection for me, and I encourage any AVPs to to do that. I got to, as part of that experience, work on the aspiring AVP pre conference for a number of years as well. And it's really neat to see some of the people that were in those rooms in these AVP positions now.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:28:36]: And I think for me, it's funny because I don't feel like when I was coming up you heard a lot about the AVP position. Like I said, I really thought it was just Dean of Students and then you're the vice president. Right? But now there are all of these spaces and I love the AVSP space because you get to be really strategic and make connections. And growing up in orientation, I spent a lot of time making connections and I had a lot of collaboration with colleagues across campus in different divisions and departments, and I think you get to do that in the AVP space. And you're less in the day to day management of a department, so you really do get to be a little bit more strategic in that. But for those aspiring AVPs, look and see what the job is like. There's a lot more literature out there. The AVP book, in fact, anytime I get a new AVP, I give them the AVP book and we talk through through it.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:29:34]: But then also going to session so you can really understand what the work is and then also understand maybe what type of AVP position you want because they are becoming in some spaces, they're becoming more specialized. An AVP for health and well-being, AVP for student engagement, AVP auxiliaries business. And so, I think understanding that sometimes at some institutions there's those nuances or if you just want to be the really number two to the VP in in some small spaces and wear 7,000,000 different hats, there's opportunities for that too.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:12]: Think we're seeing head of staff positions come out more as well in that AVP hat space and they get to do everything which is really fun. Yes.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:30:20]: Yes. Yes. In fact, I just created a a chief associate vice president, chief of staff position and I didn't realize how much I needed it until I had it. Definitely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:29]: Well, Cynthia, our theme for this season is the past, present, and future of student affairs. Mhmm. And so I have one question on each of those areas for you. The first is on the past. What's one component of the history of the student affairs profession that you think we should continue to carry forward or alternatively, it's time to let

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:30:45]: go of? I talked about Learning Reconsidered and every time I try to reread that one, and even Learning reconsidered to you, there's so much good information in there. But the the pieces that always stuck with me is one that we are one learning environment and that in order to be one learning environment at your institution, you have to have good collaborations with colleagues across. And where I find sometimes where we might trip up in the profession a little bit is we start to believe that we are the institution or we are the learning experience and and disregarding the extraordinary work, that people are doing across the university, our colleagues, in the provost's office, and valuing what each of them which each of us do. I think sometimes and I don't like the narrative of their student affairs and academic affairs. I kinda I I don't wanna receive that there's a attention, even though there probably is at points, but I'm just trying to figure out how are we working together. How are we translating information? How are we learning language so that we're speaking the same language about what we're doing? How are we collaborating and not competing. Just because you brought

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:08]: it up, I always have to plug this because our producer and audio engineer, doctor Chris Lewis, is the chair of the SAP and Knowledge Community, student affairs partnering with academic affairs. Mhmm. So, anyway, quick plug for that. Question on the present. What's happening in the field right now that's going well for student affairs? Yeah.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:32:23]: I think right now it's it's interesting. And and about two years ago, my title changed from vice president to student affairs to vice president for student success. Continuing to look at the data, mine the data, and put it in the forefront of what we needed to do. So we had to keep the conversation going on student success. And we've had these student success units forever, and they've lived sometimes under the provost's office, and we've partnered very well with them. It's been really exciting to me to see even greater convergence of these two areas. They shouldn't be separate. They need to be together.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:33:08]: What I get to do now in my work is I have all the traditional student affairs units as well as the student success units. And then now I also have some of the student services units, which are more some of the third party auxiliaries that support the student experience. But I think I'm seeing more of that now. I'm seeing less separation. Some of that's due to resources.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:28]: Mhmm.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:33:28]: We realize that we are competing and spending too much on on things, and so how do we converge them? So I'm excited about that trend a little bit. And, again, refocusing, not that we're not focused on it, but refocusing the profession on those college completion metrics and how we contribute to them.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:46]: I've always talked to my teams about the fact that students do not care how we're organized. They do not care who reports to who. They do not care if it's in academic affairs, student affairs, auxiliary functions, whatever. They just know that their experience needs to be whole. Yes. So that theme that you're talking about, I think, is a reflection of that.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:03]: Yes. 100%. They just see one university.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:34:06]: Mhmm. Right. And they shouldn't have to care about that either.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:08]: They should not. They should not.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:34:11]: And looking towards the future, in an ideal world, what does the field need to be doing to thrive towards our future?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:17]: Yeah. I I talked about this a little bit earlier. I think after post pandemic saw a a shift in who was coming into the profession, how many people were coming into the profession, where we're drawing individuals for. I think in order for us to serve students well, we have to have healthy staffs. And so for me, the the future of the profession is recommitting to supervising and developing our staff at at high levels. I I just think that's imperative. I've seen too many people leave, because of the supervisor. Right? We think about Gallup's, it's the manager text out there.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:57]: And I think part of it's on us because we actually don't do a good job of investing and and and helping our own supervisors, grow and develop to be able to supervise staff. You know, we're busy ordering the t shirts for the next event or filing the paperwork or doing case notes that we just sometimes don't take that time to develop ourselves in that area. So I I think we need to do that. In my job as vice president, I have to make sure that my staff have the resources they need, both human and financial. And if we're spending all our time trying to fill vacancies, it's the last time we get to focus on students. So how do we continue to create healthy organizations?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:40]: It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:35:46]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. The twenty twenty five NASPA mid level administrators conference is happening June in Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah. The twenty twenty five NASPA mid level administrators conference is a dynamic professional development event designed to provide mid level student affairs professionals with the opportunity to engage and learn with colleagues and senior student affairs administrators. During this two and a half day conference, participants will gain insights about promising practices to further develop professional competencies, networking, and supervisory skills, strategies to improve professional practice, and networks to advance and networks to advance your career. The mid level administrators conference is designed for student affairs professionals who serve in roles between and not including entry level positions and AVP and the equivalent roles. Additionally, professionals who have been serving in entry level roles with at least five years experience are welcome to attend. As a result of this experience, participants will be able to build and strengthen strategies for organizational leadership to include leading change, navigating institutional politics, managing resources, and supervising team members.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:37:06]: Develop the skills to manage from the middle, both internally and to include staff and supervisors, and externally to include stakeholders and cross campus constituents. Maximize your role to gain a deeper understanding of influence, power, and resources while advancing your professional growth and build a go to network of mid level colleagues. I hope you can join us for a conference packed with featured speakers, concurrent sessions around three key student affairs certification learning domains, small group reflection opportunities, and one on one coaching meetings. The early registration deadline will end on April 21 with the regular registration deadline ending on May 19. You can find out more on the NASPA website. There's a brand new brief that has been recently provided to NASPA members called five things student affairs practitioners should know about student well-being by Bridget Juhas at Butler University. This brief offers critical insights for student affairs professionals regarding holistic student well-being in higher education. With a focus on collaborative campus wide approaches to well-being initiatives, it emphasizes the importance of going beyond traditional mental and physical health support.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:20]: The publication offers actionable strategies for building cross campus partnerships, aligning efforts with institutional goals, and using data driven insights to enhance student outcomes. Examples of successful institutional practices are included. By engaging all campus units, institutions can create a cohesive and supportive environment that helps students thrive. Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself, Where do you fit? Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, Hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:41]: Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now, to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:09]: Chris, once again, thank you so much for giving us a great NASPA world and letting us know what's going on in and around NASPA. So, Cynthia, we have reached our lightning round. I have seven questions for you in about ninety seconds. Are you ready to roll? Here we go. Alright. Question number one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:26]: Think Hold On by Wilson Phillips.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:28]: Number two, when you were five years old, what did you wanna be when you grew up?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:31]: I think I mentioned earlier, I grew up in Houston, so astronaut was probably my big dream.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:36]: And the astronauts are coming home now. Hey, they are. The station. Number three, who's your most influential professional mentor? Dave Perron. Number four, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:46]: You know, this is interesting. It might be a

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:47]: little

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:47]: controversial. Administratively Adrift by Scott Bass. He was actually the provost at American University and I'm not gonna say I liked everything that was said in that book. There's some good nuggets for us to learn from though and it helps us understand maybe some perceptions of student services in the field. Number five, the best TV show you've been binging lately? Silo. I'm a sci fi nerd.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:09]: Number six, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:41:12]: You know, I listen to a podcast called The Next Right Thing and it's by Emily P Freeman and spiritually based, faith based, but it's about we're so overwhelmed with decision fatigue. How do we just make that that next right thing, that next right decision?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:29]: And finally, number seven. Any shout outs you'd like to give personal or professional?

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:41:32]: I think for me, I'm gonna give a big shout out to my mom, Martha Hernandez. She was an administrator in the Aldine School District, first gen college student, went to community college, and graduated from Texas Women's University administrator in the Aldine School District for thirty eight years, and I think it's where I I developed my love for administration. I was blessed to grow up. She was a school she was a teacher, and every summer, we had a different project we worked on. And one summer, I think about this, and we we developed a library in our garage for the neighborhood. People came and checked out books and I got to stamp them and I got to find people. I mean, if they didn't bring them back on time, but those kinds of experiences I'm very blessed because of what they taught me, and she is just she is my pillar.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:16]: Cynthia, we really appreciate you taking time out of your very busy NASA schedule to spend some time with us here on SA Voices. If anyone would like to connect with you after this episode airs, how can they

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:42:25]: find you? Well, LinkedIn, definitely. I'm on the Facebook. The Facebook. As my as my mom says, Instagram. But reaching out in the as per directory or or just Google me, I'm happy to to chat with anyone.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:39]: Well, once again, congratulations on your award. Looking forward to celebrating you as well this afternoon, and thank you so much for sharing your voice with us.

Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:42:45]: Thank you, Jill.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:51]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:30]: That's me. Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.

Unlocking the Potential of Community Colleges: Insights from Dr. Bette Simmons

In a captivating episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, Dr. Jill Creighton sits down with Dr. Bette Simmons, an esteemed leader in higher education, to delve into the transformative role of community colleges in today's academic landscape. Dr. Simmons, a celebrated figure in student affairs, shares her journey and insightful perspectives that challenge traditional views of community colleges and highlight their evolving importance in serving diverse student populations.

A Career Dedicated to Student Success

Dr. Simmons has devoted over four decades to enhancing student engagement, success, and leadership development, primarily within community colleges. Her career began serendipitously when a convincing interview led to an unexpected but remarkable path in student affairs at County College of Morris. Her story is a testament to the impact of passion-driven work and the profound influence mentors and community connections can have on one's professional trajectory.

Reimagining Community Colleges

The conversation challenges the outdated perception that community colleges are a "second choice" for students. Instead, Dr. Simmons emphasizes their vital role in providing accessible education and addressing the needs of underrepresented students and adult learners. She discusses the significant strides community colleges have made in workforce development and dual enrollment programs, illustrating their commitment to meeting industry needs and offering students a robust, supportive educational environment.

Tackling Student Challenges

Dr. Simmons also candidly addresses the growing challenges faced by today's students, including basic needs insecurity and mental health issues. She shares anecdotes of students who have triumphed over adversity, thanks to the supportive networks provided by community colleges. Her stories underscore the importance of holistic student support systems, which are increasingly necessary to navigate the multifaceted challenges students face in higher education today.

A Legacy of Mentorship and Leadership

As a pioneer in the development of NASPA's knowledge communities, Dr. Simmons’s contributions have shaped the broader landscape of student affairs. Her advice to new professionals is straightforward: seek connections, remain curious, and never underestimate the value of persistence and resilience in building a fulfilling career.

Why Listen?

This episode is a treasure trove for anyone interested in understanding the evolving role of community colleges and the future of higher education. Dr. Simmons’s experiences and insights not only celebrate the successes of these institutions but also advocate for their continued innovation and inclusivity. Listening to her story could ignite a deeper appreciation for community colleges and inspire educators and administrators to rethink how they can best support their students.

Tune into this enriching dialogue to explore how community colleges are not just places of learning but hubs of opportunity and transformation. TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, sheherhers, your essay voices from the field host. Welcome back, SA Voices. Chris and I have just gotten back to our respective homes after spending some amazing time with you in New Orleans for the annual conference. Like many years before, we were able to capture some live recordings of the podcast while we were there, and in particular this year, a few episodes live in front of some of you. So thank you so much if you were able to make space in your annual conference schedule to come see us.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:52]: The first episode we're going to bring you is with doctor Betty Simmons who won this year's Fred Turner award for outstanding service. Now this recording was captured live, so the audio quality may not be up to our usual standards, but I promise you that the recording and the conversation itself is incredibly rich. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Dr. Simmons. Betty is a distinguished leader in higher education and student affairs, recognized nationally as a NASPA foundation pillar of the profession, and regionally with several distinguished community college leadership awards. Betty has dedicated her career to advancing care, engagement, student success, and leadership development predominantly in community colleges. She retired from County College of Morris in 2022 where she spent forty two years advancing in various student affairs positions, ending as the VPSA overseeing initiatives focused on enhancing student development, student engagement, wellness, and retention. She's known for her collaborative leadership and commitment to fostering supportive and inclusive environments among students, student affairs professionals, faculty, and academic administrators. Throughout her career, she's implemented impactful programs that address critical student needs, including academic support centers, wellness centers, and basic needs resources.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:57]: Her expertise spans various areas of enrollment student services, student support services, and student engagement, all in the community college environment. As a respected mentor, Betty has guided countless student affairs professionals identifying and implementing effective and efficient roles and organizational structures, advocating for innovative approaches to developing strong student affairs professionals. Betty holds a doctorate in higher ed from Seton Hall University. She frequently serves as a community college and student affairs consultant on topics ranging from student affairs assessment, leadership development, and organizational management, as well as an accreditation evaluator. Betty resides in New Jersey with her partner. Now in retirement, she's found more time for volunteering in her community, traveling, especially cruising, and spending time with her family.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:39]: Betty, welcome to SA Voice News. How are you? 

Dr. Bette Simmons I'm great.

Dr. Jill Creighton How's your conference?

Dr. Bette Simmons Exhausting. Yes. Still have a day and a half to go. It's just wonderful now.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:49]: Yes. For our listeners, it is day two of NASA's annual conference. We're here at 08:30 in the morning, so the first session of the day. We see that many of our colleagues, may not have been able to to make it to the sessions this morning, because it was such an eventful evening last night. Last night was also Saint Patrick's Day. Dr. Bette Simmons [00:03:04]: Yeah.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:06]: Here in New Orleans. And I don't about you, but I accidentally became part of the parade.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:03:12]: I watched it from a distance

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:13]: Yeah. I was walking back from dinner, and I came right in front of our hotel, and I was, oh, I'm in this. I had to cross the street. Okay. But we're live taking today at the conference and celebrating your new award With NASPA. But congratulations

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:03:26]: Thank you so very much.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:28]: Awards are here this afternoon. Excited to celebrate you.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:03:32]: Thank you. Among many of our fellow award winners here.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:03:34]: So I'm a little. Okay. Very excited. Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:37]: But as we talk about your story today, the first question we always like to ask is, how did you get to your current seat? Now we know that you are in in retirement alone. You've had a forty two year career in student affairs, and so we'd love to hear that journey.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:03:49]: Sure. I'll make a quick story because it could be a mom's story, but to finish my undergraduate education, I had a branch of teaching assistantship to go to Harrison State University. And over the summer, I had a conversation with my father who was a high school guy in sweater. And it was tenfold because I wasn't a % sure that that's what I wanted to do. My undergraduate degree is in foreign language, Spanish and French. And I knew that I didn't wanna teach and I didn't wanna work for the government. But I didn't know what I'm allowed to do.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:04:24]: So talking with my gal, it's a question of, well, what do you wanna do? And I didn't have an answer to that. So by the end of the summer, we made a decision, my dad and I, with his help, that I'm most important girl in this country and pursue something that I wasn't passionate about. Passion is really and has all this been important to me. So I stayed in my community. I worked for a key organization for a short style. And then Mark Feller, who was an adviser board at Campbell College of Morris in New Jersey, he said, no. There's this job for delaying for educational opportunity fund. Why don't you go for that job? I'm not qualified.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:05:00]: Now you just go for it anyway. Get the experience of an interview and see where it takes you. This was in 1979. Affirmative action was all the rage. My community is a very diverse community at the time, but County College of Morris was not diverse. And so I did apply for the job. I'm interested for the job, had the best review in my entire life because in my mind, I was going to get the job. It was very relaxed.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:05:26]: I barely should work myself in practice mode. And in practice mode. Yeah. I did not get the job. But Community College of Parks was so impressed with me that they said he'd like to hire you anyway, and they created this job for me as he sits into the dean or student development. And I jumped at it because I had a wonderful experience as an undergraduate in Hunda residence halls. I was an RD, and I just endured working with students. And so that's how I dealt my career.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:05:56]: But I'm telling you, I told the vice president trajectory? Where do you see yourself going? And remember, County College of Horace is a community college. I said to him, I would like to have your job someday, but but at a real college. I will always remember those words. And for anybody who is a community college person, it's painful to hear that, to be called, you're not a real politician. The good news is I ended up with a huge job after forty two years. I remember this always at a real college and learned to appreciate the value and the work and the impact that community colleges do every single day. I am so grateful for that experience that CCI gave me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:43]: We were talking before we started taping today that you were part of the community college ethic assist squad in full

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:06:48]: of school? Absolutely. A %. Yeah. Can you talk to us a little bit about

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:52]: what community colleges meant to the communities in the areas that you became your career and that's contrasted to how would the community colleges now?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:07:01]: That's a great question. Now back in the eighties, at least in Morris County, let me give you a little bit of history of Morris County. It is a wealthy county. It's one of the wealthiest counties in the country and the sense among the community is that you don't go to County College Morris Avenue Branch Pick High School. You weeds. You go somewhere else. You go to to send you somewhere else. It's only those people who, it's probably not going to be their career goal to go to college, just go to Camden.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:07:33]: Or if you were looking to just get a couple of credits and dig yourself, go to Camden. It wasn't well respected and I think that that's historical community colleges in our history that we are second class, third class, and fourth class citizens and not the places for students to go. And also the student experience, you just go to the class and then you leave. There is no campus life. There is no student engagement. There is no leadership development. That's not true. And that was one of the things that was really important to me when I began my career at Cameron College of Mars is to embrace that we can be a real college even greater than we already are.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:08:13]: And we look at how many people are now enrolling in community colleges across the country and how well respected we are and the opportunities for people who may be underrepresented or may not be ready for the traditional college experience right out of the gate or for that adult in mutual who is really looking to retrain, tool, and get something new or get more, you have a pump in place, Lori, and we have better respect for community colleges today than we did forty years ago.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:44]: We're seeing community colleges being first choice. I suppose. Absolutely. I see community colleges doing a much better job

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:08:50]: at meeting industry Yes. With ACT. The workforce development conversation started in community colleges because you were really focused on what is the community and so as it's it's really interesting to watch the trajectory of community colleges and how people are now making that economic decision that I can still get to University of Maryland, where Cornell, we work with David transfer students, like, going through the community college, really strong integration. And then hear from the students to come back and say, you know, I was better prepared because of my time at CCM than I if I were a freshman starting at four years SOLID. It's it's just a, a wonderful, wonderful option. We also started both in

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:32]: the Middle East conversation, Virgin Olive Community Colleges rather than the four year where our doctoral degree in directing institution FC. Can you talk to us about what that conversation was like when you were first having it?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:09:43]: You know, it was like, what? Why would that be? It's it's all about the preparation and the contribution of of all of your education, but also the complete development and experience that the community colleges can give both inside the classroom as well as outside the classroom. And I was forever arguing my students about the learning that occurs outside the classroom that will set the student up for the rest of their life. The fact that they will remember in more cases than not something that happened outside the classroom than what they learned inside the classroom. They will connect with a counselor and I have a counselor or adviser who is here in the audience with me today. They will remember their experience with that person more than they will in some cases with some of your faculty as they move through that educational layer and then the contributions that they have during the whole way.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:34]: What else was born in the community colleges throughout your career that maybe you're seeing other institutions like sacred for now?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:10:41]: Sure. Dual enrollment is gonna be you know, I made a decision to stay in higher ed because I didn't wanna work in, the primary and secondary, educational environment. Well, they're on campus now, and they're there in large numbers. And post COVID, a lot of colleges are really relying on dual enrollment. Those high school students who are high achieving or looking to really strengthen their academic experience sooner rather than later. And to see more students graduating college even before they get their high school diploma, that was really born in 18 colleges. And to see four year colleges now in that space, in some cases, at least in New Jersey, taking credit for it on your cutting edge, when your tuition rate. It's amusing.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:11:28]: It's amusing. Sing with adult learners. She needed a college. We're building space when you count view of the time, adult learners will flock to the community colleges because I needed to improve in order to get up in the work. You see now more of our four year counterparts, our baccalaureate counterparts engage in the adult learner more because they understand that that's where the population is gonna come from. It's not always just in one compartment.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:53]: We also see in the community college system as time has gone on, again, with that first choice implement, we're seeing that transfer articulation agreement change over time. What was that like with that started?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:12:04]: First of all, you know? So in New Jersey, before we had legislation that said you must, it was a bit of a struggle. We have some institutions that we your students could get to when they went down the end of the loss as credit. There would not be any question about the value of the education that students experience when they came to college. A favorite story that that I had was a student was taking a course to attend our school. It was taught by a faculty member who was a faculty member at a four year institution, exact same curriculum, exact same textbook. Everything was the same. It was just being taught in your campus. When the student went to transfer the course, he wasn't gonna transfer.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:12:42]: And so we had to go to the four year school when the argument is being taught by your instructor. This This is the same curriculum as what your instructor will be teaching. We really had to fight tooth and nail to get our credits recognized. Over time and through the health legislation in some cases, there was an appreciation or the value of what's happening in classroom, community college the home experiences, that there's less equity in what was being taught in the curriculum, and there's a smoother path for transfer. There's still some challenges, and that happens a lot when students change their minds. After I graduated my community college, am I gonna go something that's different? Well, I'm not necessarily gonna guarantee that complete transfer, but we work at, and we had those conversations for the four years falls.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:26]: How have you seen the student needs change over the course of the time you've been at the community college system? Especially community colleges.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:13:34]: You inspect if people are struggling. That's one of the reasons why they come. It's the economics of it. We're less expensive. We'll close our own. We don't have to worry about room and board. And it didn't have the problems with the basic needs that we have today. In the nineteen eighties, sure, were there problems? Absolutely.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:13:51]: But to the the impact that we're seeing today, with so many students who are couch surfing or sleeping in their cars or not sure where they're going to be to take a shower the next day. They're not able to be top to side what to do with your children because they can't afford childcare, and they've gotta be able to do something. That wasn't to the extent that it is today. And the ability that the community college has is particular to help students identify and rarely get resources, but also provide more additional scholarship numbers for them. I do not have conversations with students who would say to me, you mean I could come and not pay a dime because of scholarships that you are giving in addition to what the 500 state couple minutes again? Absolutely. If your need is that high, we can do that. And then that will save you some money along the way so you will continue to transfer onto that four years full and get there. It's so much freer than ever.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:14:50]: And it's you see that's the shift in how the credit students are taking because they can only afford this much. And so that, you know, extends the trajectory to get them to serious needs, debris, or whatever, denture they're going for. It's so heart wrench to see the struggles that students are experiencing today, the mental health issues that students are experiencing, the students who are learning disabilities and learn differently. It wasn't human magnitude that it is to gain. We didn't see it as much back in these.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:17]: I know you mentored literally thousands, if not tens of or hundreds of thousands of students per

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:15:22]: your career.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:22]: Do you have a favorite student success story?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:15:25]: Oh my goodness. I have so many. I have so many. But there was a student at County College of Morris, and Maureen Moody, or I might remember Ross, she was a student with a disability, an older student. She was already there when I came to County College of New York, seeing it, and she was wreaking havoc with the vice president of student development at the time. She didn't take one the rest of the time. So she was probably our longest enrolled student. She was angry on occasions, and she was a delight to work with on other occasions.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:15:56]: But she challenged us. She actually helped push the college to really recognize what the needs of students with disabilities were and how to respond to those. And, again, this was happening in the first of the eighties and the nineties. The ADA was not as in-depth as it is now in the support services around students with disabilities. She lived in housing and transportation was a big issue where she could find food was an issue. Making sure that she bought for classes that she wanted, the faculty that she wanted. She was a chairman. She had a lot of anger inside and pain for what she experienced, but she still marched on.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:16:34]: She dealt with a realistic medical issues during her tenure. I think it took Roscoe's to seventeen, eighteen years to get her associate's degree. When we walked that young woman in my opinion across the stage, it was heart wrenching, tear jerking. The whole college community knew Roz and knew what she learned to work. To see her graduate was just a magnificent experience because Ed's munch to her and we look we had to do together with us. That's like I'm a little Mary Faber, whoever I've

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:05]: seen in Ferrisburg, right? Yes. Absolutely.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:17:08]: And she was also engaged in campus life. So it's not just about the classroom, it's about the student activities and what are the events and having many a possible premiere, an individual with multiple disabilities to be a normal student. We have to get creative and she helped teach us along the way. I think those are my favorite moments when

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:27]: you get to see a student across the graduation stage that you know has been engaged with many, many support services. And you also know that you can't celebrate that as loudly as you want to. And so I think, generally, you're just For biggest challenge. Absolutely. Yeah. Now you've had a career at basically the same institution for a great chunk of of your time in the profession, which I mean is pretty rare.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:17:49]: I think

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:49]: that there's anality in student affairs that you need to move out to, I think, partially because we have, you know, the in response to which, you know, there's only one senior senior affairs officer position. Maybe there's two AV key, you are a q four. Many, many more director opportunities, things like that. But being at the same institution, requires a level of patience. Yep.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:18:09]: A trigger for Greerbrook that

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:11]: I think, that we see in the profession now, we we do have a well earned eagerness to grow our careers Yes. Knowing that, you know, there are there are just limitations to, you know, who's gonna move forward. Sydney, you talked about the journey of of choosing to stay at one institution and choosing to grow within it? Sure.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:18:28]: It's a great question too. And you know the interesting thing is I didn't choose to stay. In my mind again because I wanted to get to a real college and in my mind that was a private knowledge, I was only gonna stay for two years. But the college took an estimate in me and after those two years passed and our years was on and I knew from an assistant dean's position to to a counseling position, I felt that, okay, Hudson really set some roots here for sure at times. And after eight years as a counselor, I decided that it was time for me to leave the college. Well, the college didn't want me to leave. And the individual who was one of my professional mentors, doctor Edward J. Yaw, he was Jack with him and Dean at the time, Katie King, college's president.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:19:11]: And he said to me, Benny, you need to lay my office and he and our ambassadors. You need to work on establishing relationships with community and it's about who understands the the thinking of students, what their needs are. You need someone who has a good relationship with people on campus. Would you be willing to do that? It was a leap of faith for him and it was a risky move for me because of choking out of student affairs, which is where my card was, working with students, eyes of the door, looking at students. But I also knew that my director of counseling thought I was too involved in other areas outside of the counseling office. And then I was losing my way. This is what they did to counseling. So I knew that I couldn't stay there.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:19:51]: So I took that heat buffet and of work, as he has sipped into the president for four years. It was one of the smartest professional moves that I made because I was able to get a thorough understanding of the entire operation working out of the president's office. Look working with work trustees, working with the mayor of the community. I was the funded action officer at the time and got to work even more closely with faculty and other individuals. I would not have had that opportunity had I stayed where I was, and it would have taken me a while if I'd left for college to establish that type of work, opportunity to become what they good old to me. So I did not for four years and I enjoyed it. Learning enough of finances, I'm learning enough strategic planning, I'm learning about, you know, facilities management. It was all part of what I was doing in the president's office.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:20:40]: And then we went through a reorganization because hospice containment needed to happen, and it was decided upon position as assistant to the president wasn't necessary. So I started looking again. And during college course, I once again stepped down and said, no. We don't want him to leave. We would like to see him go back from his student affairs area as he said 15. But we were getting rid of the vice president. When we eliminated the vice president's position, there was some penis students, and he wanted me to come back and pay the dean's students. Interesting thing, and when we talked about it actually just this morning, I ended up with math and being responsible there supervising the department that I left.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:21:18]: The counseling office there were just me. So all of my colleagues in the counseling office who were colleagues at the time were down to my staff. And it was a wonderful experience at the end. I'll rake the spout for the work that we do in student affairs. I loved what I did. And that's when I've also became from the University of NASA. And our dean of students like the Turing said, Betty, you've got to go to NASA. You've got to study the way some of the principles that that organization has to build without lived artificial vision, especially after a reorganization where we lost the vice president.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:21:48]: So I did. And one thing after another, he left. I said, okay. I'm gonna leave. And I thought, well, I'm gonna leave. We want you to come in as a dean of students. Every time I called about leaving the college, the college said, don't want me to leave. We have more for you, and we want you to do more for us.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:22:06]: And I lived in the community. I've worked there for so long. You establish roots that you're not willing to live in a follow-up, and I didn't see many to to leave. So every time I called that evening, they're held a separate. The major event that really solid quite a nice time there was I'm a super talented student. The former academic vice president had moved up to Rockley Community College in New York State, as a president. He called me and Betty Lippert College for vice president of Superfairs at Rockland Community College. Oh, him out of that.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:22:37]: Oh, what I'm not gonna get? They're not gonna hire me. They offered me a job. Do I stay where I'm comfortable? Or do I take the rest and do I leave and go someplace and explore? You fly out. The grass will start on the other side of the dance. Pause me now to say to say yes, but then can we fall into the forest? Step up and say, what? You wanna be a vice president? Okay. We're gonna merge your corporation with the enrollment services division, and we want you to be the key to student the adviser for doing the student development enrollment issue. You've got it. They increased my portfolio.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:23:10]: I'm keen on saying, you know, it's a mix. And I love that poster. I love the people that I worked with. I love the work that we did. So even though I didn't necessarily plan to begin, it was hard to leave. And after forty two years, it shows you. I think it shuts in there and us to the same institution. I really can't handle that.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:23:28]: You're probably the luck that we were able to accomplish.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:30]: You mentioned your entree of to NASPA. And one of your, I think, biggest hallmarks for our organization here is, you still identify as the grandmother of the knowledge of new. Yes.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:23:41]: Yeah. Could you talk to us another? Sure. I was attending a NASA conference. Shannon Ellis was the president at the time or the chair of the board now. And Teresa Powell that since passed away was at Temple, and she is becoming the the chair of the board. I said to Theresa, and we are closing, I wanna do something to help you in your your positivity. So they had I said, okay. Sure.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:24:05]: Boom. They wanna hear, you know, that's national director of massive networks. So those were very little social, if we accept NAST. How I said, oh, sure. Okay. I can do that. As we were going through the transition, because you come here as elect and then you become the national director. So while I was in the Atlanta status, I can recall from a student and Theresa, She also had my own education director.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:24:31]: She also had my own education in the college tomorrow, so I knew. I think I can. I'm never a mentor. And they said, we got this really neat idea. We want the networks to grow. We want the networks to become UNESCO's entree into the profession for individuals and to kind of create these affinity groups. And we want them to be acknowledged communities. Are you going to stay with us, you develop these? As Crystal knows, you don't have to say no to any one of those.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:24:59]: Yeah. And so I did, and I started out making that transition from networks to knowledge communities. And I will tell you, Jeff, at the time, when this happened, you will not have any more than 12 communities. How does this happen? You have over everything. Over the hundred likes. So it's amazing as the grandmother of the Casey to see how many children. I would

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:22]: just let you know in the audience, we're just going in for a number of at least one Casey or at least, like, I don't know, like, five,

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:25:28]: I think. And to Gwen's credit, she has this vision, and she can articulate it in such a way that it helps to really set the stage and set the foundation for this is what we should create. We knew the knowledge, peace, we knew the networking was still important. And there were some networks that it was a little bit of a struggle to get them to make that shit, especially if their dad would be based ones. It was, you know, it was more of a daddy or wasn't acknowledged. Well, how can we partner? And we keep doing it, and it's successful, honestly, because we're getting ready to celebrate twenty five years of knowledge candidates. Mhmm. So I'm going fast.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:26:03]: That's amazing. I feel like you're NASDAQ team is good. Yeah. Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:07]: You also sent time in the region to your advisory board. You spent time in the foundation board. You so weaving your way through NASCLA, do you have any advice for professionals who are looking to become more adult?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:26:17]: Sure. Connect with someone. If you see someone walking down the corridor or you hear a speaker, well, don't be afraid to step up to that person and say, I just dreamt to speak. I would like to chat with NASPA and how I can get involved. Our president, Amelia Purnell, is awesome. She's very approachable. Kev was the same way. The NASPA board of directors are a terrific group of people.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:26:43]: Having Sarah Devs chair of the foundation board getting involved in fundraising, fund development. There were so many people who know so much about NASPA that it's easy for someone who is new to the association to say, hi. I'd like to be involved. Go through the commons area and just chat with anybody. They'll pull you in. That's possibly pulling folks in. And then we could do one thing. It's not that hard to present a program or go to a region or get for KC unit that is Glenda and just offered volunteer at the moment.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:27:16]: But this all it took was one step. And then here you are, forty five years later as the grand mayor of Nazareth.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:24]: Well, Betty, this season of our podcast is focused on the past, present, and future of student affairs. So we're out seeing Oliver has the season to respond to one question each on past, present, and future. So I'm gonna ask you first, in our past, what's one component of the history of student the question that you think we should continue to carry forward or alternatively can let go? You know, it makes me think back to

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:27:47]: my graduate courses, and my doctoral courses in higher education and when we talk about student affairs and the way a casting affairs came towards us And it was all about taking care of her students. And as people who have worked for you know, first, second, last is always about students. And we should never use that sleep because the work that you do is helping to enrich that at whatever stage the marital graduate they are. I think student affairs is really embracing students even more so because of the basic needs that we talked about, the differences in their learning styles, the language they interact. We certainly have COVID students now. For years, social and emotional learning is a challenge because they haven't had that experience to the extent of early sphere. So if we keep the students first and foremost in our line of sight, then I think that the student affairs profession will continue to do the right one that we do. I also think something that got to let go of is not paying attention to our staff.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:28:51]: And we tend to focus on lunch with students that we forget that the statins giving twenty four seven of their time, and I'm gonna take care of our staffing. It's kind of what we heard in our opening session from Amelia. It's and was awesome. They were really strong when we talked about the joy and the pain. We're all experiencing one as professionals. And sometimes we just put that behind us because I'm gonna really focus on those students. So I'd say, don't let that go. Key fellows will be far.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:21]: Into the choices, what's happening in the field right now that's going well for student affairs?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:29:25]: There's a whole new crumb of these student affairs professionals coming up. In spite of challenges to be in our profession, we've got the younger generation that's really excited about our work. They've had a really exciting college experience as undergraduates. They wanna be a part of Booking Jeep on a daily basis. I think that that gives me hope for in the future, because the present is really incubate a whole crop of senior Garrett's professionals that will feature a profession of our so kinda AT and T questions at

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:56]: once they're in and out. And looking at the future in an ideal world, what

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:30:00]: does the needle need to do to cry towards our future? Mhmm. Especially now, I know this question may have hit different. Yeah. I have

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:07]: a little bit of sound.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:30:08]: Yeah. Def we tend to continue to have to justify our existence and our worth and our value. And I know that NASA has got a task force, right, you know, that is really taking a look at strategic planning and setting the the the course of our future and trying to understand not just the work and value of going to college, but the work and value of student affairs. And I think that we have to stop apologizing for who we are and getting the rest of the world to understand that you all can't exist with Alice. And I think student affairs has got to stay strong with that. That, yeah, we are the ones that you will call when there is a crisis. We are the ones that you will call when you need to figure out something to empower the whole student. We are the ones who are willing to hear the differences of the lives of the students throughout their entire career.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:30:53]: So we need to stop apologizing for who we are and really tell people, you need us. So leave us alone. And don't tell us how to do our jobs. We know how.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:31:17]: Or NCCWSL unites college women and gender nonconforming students from across the nation for a transformative experience in leadership development, networking, and inspiration. Tailored for undergraduate students who identify as women or outside the gender binary, NCCWSL provides a welcoming and empowering space for to build leadership skills, connect with peers, and find inspiration to drive change. Through engaging workshops and hands on activities, NCCWSL challenges and inspires attendees to make meaningful impacts on their campuses and communities long after the conference ends. The conference is happening May 28 through May 30 in College Park, Maryland, and the call for proposals is currently open until 04/07/2025. If you are a speaker, facilitator, educator, or a student that wants to submit a proposal for the conference, we encourage you to submit your proposal by April 7 to be able to be considered for that. The four learning outcomes that the conference is focusing on is awareness of self and others, career engagement, civic engagement policy and advocacy, and leadership development. Again, April 7 is the date to be able to submit your proposal and encourage you to do just that. You can find out more on the NASPA website.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:32:42]: The NASPA emergency aid micro grant initiative is currently open. The application opened the application opened on March 25 and closes on 04/08/2025. Unexpected Unexpected and emergency expenses remain a persistent barrier to on time college completion and student success. A staggering number of students, particularly those enrolled at public two year and most minority serving institutions, report that they would be unable to come up with $500 within a month. NASPA has a deep commitment to addressing basic needs of college students, and we recognize the importance of emergency aid programs in supporting the persistence of students facing unexpected financial crises. This year, NASPA is awarding two and four year accredited institutions with emergency aid micro grants sponsored by TIAA. NASPA is awarding selected institutions with up to $10,000 to provide emergency aid resources directly to students. To apply for this, you can go on to the NASPA website to complete a application form and expect to receive a link to the contact for all application correspondence and only one application per institution will be accepted.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:34:02]: Again, find out more about the NASPA emergency aid micro grant initiative on the NASPA website. Finally, today, there's a new culture of respect webinar that is happening called evaluating title nine cases without gender bias on 04/17/2025 at 3PM eastern. Researchers find that essentially all reports of sexual abuse are credible, but the vast majority of title nine complaints end in inaction. In this workshop, doctor Nicole Badera will reflect on her year long ethnographic study of one university's Title IX process and explore the reasons that Title IX administrators hesitated to intervene in clear cut cases. Specifically, this workshop will focus on the role of gender bias throughout the Title IX process. Throughout the Title IX process, including staff interactions with complainants and respondents, expectations guiding informal resolution, assessment of evidence in investigations, sanctioning decisions, and provision of supportive measures. You can find out more and sign up for this great online learning opportunity in the NASPA online learning community at learning.NASPA.org. Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:35:19]: So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself where do you fit? Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, Hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that. Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association, and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:41]: Chris, thank you so much for letting

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:42]: us know what's going on in and around NASPA. We always appreciate your update. And, Betty, it is time for our lightning round.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:36:51]: What about seven questions in about ninety seconds? Okay. Ready? Yep. Alright. Question number one. If you were a conference keynote seeker, what were your entrances be? Fantasy. Bright Earth Moon Fire. Number two. When you were five years old, what did you wanna be when you grew up? A library.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:37:06]: I loved books. I loved being in the library and it started when I was very young reading.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:12]: Number three. Who's your most influential professional mentor? Gwen Dungey. Number four, and your last question,

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:37:17]: your essential student affairs read. So it's really funny because I get an interim a yearning, and I made the staff read Amelia Parnell's data book because David is so critically important to the work video now, and they had no idea about David and Sedo Harris.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:33]: Number five. The best TV show that you've been vinging, like The Pit.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:37:37]: I haven't heard that. Oh, you have to see The Pit. It's an emergency room in Pittsburgh, and it's like modern day era VR. I mean, apparently, the people in in emergency rooms of it, it is the most realistic version. Yeah. Aside from that, I watch zero again, which is very applicable what's happening in today's topic. Right? You've seen it? Number six. The podcast you expect the most Alice's

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:00]: week to in the last year.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:38:02]: This one. Oh, I've never known podcasts before. Okay. I'm old school. I'm I'm I'm I'm People are. We're not giving you these bags. And so when you all contacted me to do this, I said, oh, I gotta listen to a podcast. So I went on the site and then listened to your podcast that Mike's Yahoo did.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:38:19]: Mike's person was Jay. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Awesome.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:22]: And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give personal or professional?

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:38:27]: So I wanna give a shout out, but never hear it really. I'll make him, to my partner in life, Tyrone. He has been with me for over forty years through his journey. And without him and his support, his understanding, and willingness to be second class to my profession, I wouldn't be where I am today. I also wanna give a shout out to my staff because what I can get to accomplish as a professional, I couldn't have done it without the normal team. At County College of Morris, as I always said, we had the best, the best team on the college campus. They were so and any of my staff from County College of Morris get an opportunity to hear because it's it's one of them.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:08]: Buddy, I so appreciate getting to learn more of their story today and kind of hear the reflections on a four decade career and see if there's how things have changed, how things are kinda the same, and we're leveling now. So you just fit so beautifully in this season of the past, present new future of student affairs. And once again, congratulations on your life. It's a student who is Jeremy.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:39:26]: I would appreciate that. If anyone would like to fit from

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:29]: a conversation with you after this episode, but it was happy to be fine here.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:39:32]: So, I am on LinkedIn. Apparently, I'm on Facebook too, but I spend more time on LinkedIn for more professional visits. And you could always look me up in the in the NASA membership directory, send me an an email, shoot me a text message. I'm more than happy to. Betty, thank you so much

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:46]: for sharing your voices. That's the name.

Dr. Bette Simmons [00:39:48]: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to pray.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:55]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill l Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton. That's me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:35]: Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.