SA Voices From the Field

We are taking a few weeks break this season as Jill Creighton and Christopher Lewis will be heading to Boston to meet those of you that are going to be attending NASPA's Annual Conference. We have a number of additional amazing guests coming laster this season. Stay tuned as we will be back in a few weeks!

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This week on SA Voices From the Field, we interviewed Dr. Janelle Rahyns about her own experiences leading efforts for NASPA in international student affairs.

Dr. Janelle Rahyns serves as the associate director for global initiatives and virual learning at NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. She supports the association's international initiatives such as NASPA's Global Division, the MENASA Advisory Board, the MENASA NASPA Conference, the Global Summit on Student Affairs and Services, the International Symposium, the International Exchange Program, and assists in the support of the Latin America and the Caribbean Advisory Board. Prior to joining NASPA, Janelle served as the Assistant Dean at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, and the Resident Director at the University of California Los Angeles. Her research interests focus on African American college students, comparative study abroad experiences, international student affairs, and race and ethnicity in study abroad.

Janelle holds a Ph.D. in Social Science & Comparative Education with a concentration in International & Comparative Education from the University of California Los Angeles, an M.Ed in Student Personnel in Higher Education and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida.

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This week on NASPA'a SA Voices From the Field podcast, we interviewed WP Wahl about his own experiences working in South Africa.

Dr W.P. Wahl has been involved in student affairs for 21 years, and currently serves as Director: Student Life at the University of the Free State (UFS), in central South Africa – a position he has occupied since October 2016. During the past two decades he has been involved in numerous transformation projects, involving highly diverse student communities. From 2017 to 2019 Dr Wahl directed, in collaboration with a co-director from the United States, the annual ACUHO-I Student Housing Training Institute in South Africa. During 2021 and 2022 Dr Wahl served as the principal investigator of a national research study on student-centred universities for the Transformation Strategy Group (TSG), Universities South Africa (USAf).

He is well published and his scholarly focus centres around creating campus environments that are conducive to student learning, development and success, especially students hailing from disadvantaged backgrounds. Dr Wahl served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology (JCEP) during 2021 and 2022, as well as editor of the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA) for the past seven years. He also supervises Masters and PhD students in the Faculty of Education, UFS. His most recent book, co-authored by Louis H. Falik, (Accommodating Marginalized Students in Higher Education: A Structural Theory Approach) will be published by Routledge in 2023. He is married to Siobhone and is the father of three children; Judah, Joshua and Milcah.

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This week on SA Voices From the Field, we interviewed Baishakhi Taylor about her own experiences working in Abu Dhabi, after years working in student affairs within the United States.

Baishakhi Taylor is a member of the University's senior leadership team and oversees the Division of Student Affairs, which comprises the following departments: student life, the career development center, community outreach, spiritual life and intercultural education, the student health center, student success and well-being, and athletics.

Baishakhi holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Kentucky, a master's degree in Women's Studies from the University of Northern Iowa, and master's and bachelor's degrees in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India. She is fluent in several languages, including Bangla, Hindi/Urdu, and German.

Prior to joining NYU Abu Dhabi, Taylor served as the Dean of the College at Smith College in Northampton, MA. She oversaw academic advising, international students, student affairs, residential life, student engagement, health and counseling services, athletics, career services, and disability services.

Baishakhi joined Smith College from Middlebury College, where she served as Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, and as Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies. During her tenure at Middlebury, Taylor co-led the Alliance for Inclusive Middlebury, a presidential committee charged with developing a strategic plan for making inclusion a priority for the institution.

Prior to her work at Middlebury, Taylor served as the associate dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University and the program director of DukeEngage-Kolkata. She was also a member of the faculty at the Duke Center for South Asian Studies.

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This week on SA Voices From the Field, we interviewed Dr. Dave Stanfield about his own experiences working in Singapore, after years working in student affairs within the United States.

Dave Stanfield is Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Yale-NUS College in Singapore. Dr. Stanfield oversees residential education, campus life, student services, career services, study abroad, intercultural engagement, and student well-being.

Since joining Yale-NUS in 2019, Dr. Stanfield has engaged deeply with the Yale-NUS student body to enhance student life and create an innovative and distinctive residential curriculum. His leadership of the student affairs team has centered around fostering a sense of belonging for all students, enhancing student support structures, and enabling collaboration across campus units. Dr. Stanfield has extensive student affairs experience in the context of international higher education partnerships, as he also served on Carnegie Mellon University's campus in Doha, Qatar (2006-2011), where he was Director of Student Activities and First-Year Programmes.

While pursuing his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration, Dr. Stanfield was a research assistant at the Boston College Center for International Higher Education; his research focused on innovative transnational higher education strategies and organizational structures. After completing his doctorate, with an appreciation for the importance of international educational research and assessment, Dr. Stanfield joined the Council of International School (CIS) in Leiden, Netherlands, as Head of Research and Development. He helped develop CIS' International Accreditation protocol and created resources to support member universities in achieving their international student recruitment goals.

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This week on SA Voices From the Field, we interviewed Jennifer Hamilton about her experiences working in student affairs and leading efforts to connect Canadian student affairs professionals together.

Jennifer Hamilton is the first-ever Executive Director of the Canadian Association of College & University Student Services. CACUSS is a non-profit association with over 1400 members in Canada. Jennifer has served in this staff leadership role of Canada's student affairs association since 2011.

Jennifer has a BA in International Development/Agriculture from the University of Guelph. She has a MS from Colorado State University in Student Affairs in Higher Education. She is a current student in the PhD Program in Higher Education at OISE, University of Toronto. Her research is a grounded theory study to understand how Canadian Student affairs professional staff develop competencies.

Prior to joining CACUSS, she worked as a student affairs professional for 15 years in the areas of leadership development and student life, career services, academic advising, orientation programs and international student services. She worked at OCAD University, University of Toronto and Portland State University. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her partner and 2 children aged 14 and 16.

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This week on SA Voices From the Field, we interviewed Omneya Badr about her own experiences working in student affairs as well as directing efforts of student affairs professionals working in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.

Omneya Badr is the current director of MENASA NASPA. MENASA is the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia region of NASPA. She is a Student Affairs enthusiast who sees a huge potential for growth in the region. Omneya Badr holds the position of Senior Academic Advisor at Qatar University and previously was a lecturer and faculty advisor at NYIT Bahrain (New York Institute of Technology). Omneya has gained a culturally diverse experience studying, teaching, and working for over 20 years in the USA, UK, Egypt, Bahrain, and Qatar.

Omneya is a frequent presenter at NASPA and NACADA conferences. Her research interest is culturally based on Academic Advising, branding higher education, MENA First-generation students, cross-cultural communication, Student Success initiatives, FYE, and education as a soft power.

Omneya holds an MBA from the University of Bath – UK, a Certificate of Entrepreneurial & Small Business Operation from the Academy of Arts, California - USA, and a BA in Management from the American University in Cairo - Egypt. In addition, she recently acquired a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida - USA. As an educator, Omneya is highly interested in developing professional development venues in the MENA regions and encouraging Student Affairs Professionals to research and share knowledge.

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This week on SA Voices From the Field we interviewed Dr. Raphael X. Moffett about his own experiences working in China after many years working in student affairs within the United States.

A native of Washington State, Dr. Raphael X. Moffett began his career in higher education working in Residence Life at Clark Atlanta University in 2002. He was inspired by working with college students and made the decision to pursue a career in student affairs. During the past 20 years, he has gained valuable experience serving in progressive leadership roles at Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, Morehouse College, and Trinity University. Known as an inspirational leader, Dr. Moffett has also served in senior leadership positions as the Vice President for Student Services at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas and the Vice President for Student Affairs at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma, and Dean of Students at Duke Kunshan University in Kunshan, China.

Currently, Dr. Moffett serves as the Chief Student Affairs Officer at the Schwarzman Scholars program located at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. In this role, he is responsible for strategic initiatives that support the holistic development of graduate students from 32 countries. Dr. Moffett is also the Founder of Inspire YOUniversity, LLC, a consultancy supporting universities, sports teams, corporations, faith-based organizations, and non-profit organizations to become the best versions of themselves.

Dr. Moffett is a visionary that is committed to serving others by providing opportunities for students and staff to define success for themselves and pursue their goals. He is known in higher education as being a servant leader who is personable and values driven. He believes every person has the ability to achieve professional success and personal growth with the proper guidance and support.

Dr. Moffett earned a B.A. in English and Education from Washington State University. He earned a M.Ed. and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Clark Atlanta University. In his leisure time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and son, visiting family, reading, watching and playing basketball, calligraphy, music production, trying new restaurants, and traveling.

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This week on SA Voices From the Field we interviewed Melanie Buford and Dr. Michael J. Stebleton, editor and authors of an upcoming new book Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Career Education.

Melanie Buford is an Author, Career Consultant, and Teaching Specialist for the Leadership Minor at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. She is lead editor of the recent release Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Career Education - an international effort to evolve career preparation in higher education . Her work has been featured on EdSurge, Puttylike, Truity, and Happen to Your Career. Melanie received the Ralph W. Tyler Award for outstanding research and the Kenneth B. Hoyt Career Education Practitioner Award for innovative practice. She earned her Ed.M. in Human Development from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Michael J. Stebleton is Professor of Higher Education in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, USA. His research and teaching interests focus on college student development and career development with an emphasis on the undergraduate experience and student success. His work has appeared in numerous venues including: Journal of College Student Development, Journal of College and Character, Journal of Career Development, and The Career Development Quarterly. Stebleton is a Merit Award recipient through the National Career Development Association (NCDA). Stebleton is co-editor of the recently published book, Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Career Education, by Routledge (2023).

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Happy 2023! We are very excited to be preparing for Season 8 of SA Voices from the Field. This season we will be doing something different. Take a listen while Jill Creighton and Chris Lewis talk about the new season.

Please subscribe to SA Voices from the Field on your favorite podcasting device and share the podcast with other student affairs colleagues!