SA Voices From the Field

If you're looking to better understand the evolving landscape of civic discourse on college campuses—and why it matters more than ever for higher education professionals—then you won't want to miss the latest episode of "Student Affairs Voices from the Field." Hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton and featuring guest Jill Dunlap, this episode dives deep into the challenges, opportunities, and innovative solutions for fostering constructive conversations and civic engagement in higher education.

A timely conversation, the episode opens with Dr. Jill Creighton welcoming Jill Dunlap back to the podcast and noting the sea change in student affairs policy and engagement work since her last appearance. Jill Dunlap, who has been with NASPA for nearly a decade and now oversees policy and civic engagement, brings first-hand insight into how students are reacting to new policies, especially those affecting graduate student borrowing. As she shares, many students aren't fully aware of major policy shifts that could impact their future opportunities, underscoring the need for student affairs professionals to step up as guides and advocates.

Central to their conversation is NASPA's upcoming "Civic Discourse on Campus Virtual Summit"—a brand new, fully online initiative designed to gather campus leaders, policy experts, and innovative practitioners to share tools, strategies, and research for nurturing robust civic dialogue in campus communities. Both Dr. Jill Creighton and Jill Dunlap stress the significance of equipping students to engage respectfully across political and personal differences, especially in a climate marked by polarization and the aftermath of the pandemic.

Listeners gain an insider's perspective on what the summit will offer: keynote presentations, breakout sessions on measuring the impact of civic dialogue, facilitating deliberative forums, partnering with faculty, and more (06:12–13:14). Student affairs professionals at every level will find relevant content, whether they're administrating at the VP level or working directly in residence halls. Importantly, all sessions will be recorded and available for later viewing, making the summit accessible for busy schedules.

This episode is packed with actionable ideas and authentic reflection on the responsibilities student affairs professionals share in shaping the next generation's civic life. As campuses brace for high-stakes election cycles, and as societal challenges spill over into collegiate life, the tools and support discussed here are essential.

Whether you're a campus leader or an aspiring practitioner, tune in to be inspired—and consider joining the conversation at NASPA's Civic Discourse on Campus Virtual Summit this May. Listen now and get equipped for the important work ahead!

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 14, continuing our conversation on the value of Student Affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. Sheher hers your essay Voices from the Field host. Welcome, Jill, back to SA Voices.

Jill Dunlap [00:00:29]: Thanks for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:30]: We are live at the annual conference, so for our listeners, you might hear a little bit of different audio quality because we're trying a new setup, but we're also here in person. I almost never get to see our guests in person, so I'm very happy to see you.

Jill Dunlap [00:00:41]: This is so great.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:42]: We had you on the POD almost four years ago now to talk about some of the work that you were doing around Title ix. And now we're back to talk about a brand new NASPA initiative called the Civic Dialogue Summit. I'm really excited to learn more about that, but it's been a minute since you've been on the pod, and since then your role has changed. Can you tell us a little bit more about you and how you got to your current seat at NASA?

Jill Dunlap [00:01:03]: Yeah, absolutely. So I started at NASA. Oh my gosh, I think it's going to be 10 years this November. So I've been here a minute, and since the time that I last spoke to you all, I have added policy duties and civic engagement to my portfolio. And that was just due to different staff transitions and sort of me saying, hey, I'm available and would love to do some additional duties while I'm at NASA. I also teach political science as an adjunct. And so it's a nice way for me to bring what I'm learning here to the classroom and vice versa. And what my I'm hearing from my students about some of these issues to the work that I do at naspa.

Jill Dunlap [00:01:33]: So I it's a really beautiful blend of work that I am, I am fortunate to be able to do.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:37]: So when you're teaching, what are you hearing in the world of students that you're bringing back to naspa?

Jill Dunlap [00:01:41]: You know, they like just sort of what they're tuned into and what breaks through in terms of policy. I'm doing a presentation this afternoon at the annual conference talking about the new limits on graduate student programs. Right. And so their understanding of that, I think, is at the very infancy and so thinking about, oh, wow, what how do we, as NASA and especially in the policy space, guide student affairs professionals with Letting undergrad students know this is going to drastically change what fields you can go into, depending on what resources you have financially to be able to pursue the degree of your choice. And so these are some really significant changes, and I think some of those haven't broken through yet to students at the undergraduate level. And I think it's our job as student affairs professionals to help them understand that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:21]: We just did a great episode with Melanie Story, who is the president of NAFSA on some of these policy changes. And just then on Saturday, I was co teaching one of our pre cons for the Public Policy Division and we talked all about the OB3 federal financial aid changes. OB3 stands for the One Big Beautiful act, also known as HR1. But what Jill Dunlap is referring to is really all of this information around new borrowing limits and lifetime borrowing limits for graduate students. And there's a different cap for professional students. It's very confusing. The long story short is that most students will no longer be able to borrow for the full cost of attendance in their programs, which is going to have an incredible ripple effect on who can access that type of education or on what those programs can cost where the list is really long, not even really sure what the impacts are going to be in full yet. We do know that they're going to take effect this year, next year in 27, and the last rules will be introduced in 28.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:15]: So it's just going to be a very different landscape.

Jill Dunlap [00:03:17]: And it's all the more important for students to have civic agency. Right. And to be able to understand this and understand the power of talking to policymakers about these things on the front end and also in the implementation phase of what's happening around us. So very timely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:31]: So let's talk about the NASPA summit that you're leading along with a couple of campus partners called the Civic Dialogue Summit. So why don't we start with what the basics of what is it?

Jill Dunlap [00:03:40]: Yeah, I think, you know, this work has been happening for a really long time. So I definitely don't want it to seem as though NASA's jumping in and like leading the charge on this. I think what we've done with this event, and it's the first time we've done this, especially in the virtual space, is really trying to bring together all the partners that are doing really great work because I think campus campuses sort of buzzy and at this point really kind of bipartisan and we're clinging to things that we can do that are not raising alarm bells for policymakers. And this is one of them. And so I think both sides agree, both, you know, political parties agree that students ability to have challenging conversations with people who think very differently from them is an important skill. And so let's like come together around that and take this moment where we have an opportunity to move forward on some of those things where we may not in other areas and give campuses and campus professionals just the tools and resources and awareness of who's working in this space so that they can develop really robust programs on their own campuses. And so I think this is the culminating event where we're doing that and we're bringing together some really important thought leaders in this area.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:39]: This sounds like a really great opportunity for campuses to participate. Where is this going to be held?

Jill Dunlap [00:04:43]: It is online, so anybody can attend. And I know that there are folks with different travel restrictions. And so to me, there's a real equality of opportunity to attend this. It is on Friday, May 8, and I believe that it starts at 11 Central so that we are not too early for our west coast partners. And it runs all the way through into the afternoon. And so we'll have one keynote kickoff presentation and then there'll be a series of breakout sessions. So folks will have different options to choose from throughout the afternoon.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:11]: Can you talk a little bit about how much this might cost for members?

Jill Dunlap [00:05:14]: Yeah, I think it's a really reasonable cost for folks to be able to come. Early registration runs through the end of March, and for members it is 1, 99, and it is 2. 99 for non members. And also because we really appreciate and value the work of students in this area, there is a student rate of 70, $79 for early registration.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:29]: What might I expect from the participant experience?

Jill Dunlap [00:05:31]: I think you can expect, like I said, a lot of thought leaders in this space who are doing really important work and really from a broad range of perspectives. So thinking about folks who want to host deliberative forums and what does that look like and how do you measure the effectiveness of those two? How are we capturing data about the impact of students who are developing these skill sets? How do you scale some of this work so that you can run it across first year experience programs or in residence halls? There's a session focused on how do we partner with faculty to infuse civic discourse into a wide range of curriculum. It doesn't just have to be the 101 classes that we can really talk about, some of the debates in our chemistry classes and the different schools of thought and how do we just really infuse this skill set throughout a student's entire journey at an institution.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:12]: I'm just taking a look at the schedule and what I'm seeing are a lot of really great external higher ed partners. And I think normally with a lot of NASPA events we see people coming from different campuses, but this is really exciting to see common ground here from some other external folks who are bringing their skill set into our world. So can you talk a little bit about any of the partners that are presenting?

Jill Dunlap [00:06:31]: Yeah, we've partnered with all of these folks before in different capacities. So we have in years past had a place based civic learning and democratic engagement conference. Some of these folks have presented there. I think the reason that these folks were selected is that they are just approaching this from a really robust and diverse array of perspectives. And so again, you know, there's some folks who are working with faculty, there are some folks who are working with measurement and data and scaling up. And so to me, each of the folks that are represented and coming to present, each of the organizations that will be there are just a demonstration of really important work that's happening at the national level. We do have someone coming from a campus as well to talk about how do you do an entire class on civic discourse. And I think some folks are like, I could do that at my campus.

Jill Dunlap [00:07:11]: You know, I'm a smaller campus, like what do I need to know to make that happen at my institution? And so I think we have a really good mix of both the campus level perspectives as well as the folks that are working at scale across a wide range of institutions across the country. So I think it'll be a really nice marriage of those different perspectives in a one day event.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:27]: And this event is both breakout sessions and keynote sessions throughout. So attendees will have some sessions where everyone's together, some sessions where people, people get to choose between two or three topics. So if I'm an attendee and I really want to go to one and it's happening at the same time as another, can I access them?

Jill Dunlap [00:07:44]: You sure can. That's actually also the beauty of a virtual summit is that all of the sessions will be recorded. And so anyone who registers, even if you can't attend on the day of, which I know I shouldn't say that, because the goal is that you would attend the day of, because I do think some of the breakout sessions will have engagement opportunities in breakout rooms. And so if you're wanting to come and hear what other campuses are doing or connect with other people that are doing this work and you're thinking, I didn't know that there were other people that did these same things at other institutions, or I know that that campus is similarly situated to mine. It would be a really great networking opportunity for those who attend live. But if you wanted to see all of the sessions and you can't, you know, physically be at all of them, they all will be recorded and they'll be on demand and available for a year after the actual live event for folks who register.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:23]: If I am new to naspa, how is this different than maybe some of our other virtual offerings?

Jill Dunlap [00:08:28]: Yeah, I think sometimes we get very specific in the virtual offerings. And to me, this is something that is really the. The purview or the responsibility of everyone. If you are working with student government, you want them to have civically engaged conversations. If you are advising student organizations and they are bringing controversial speakers and you have a different student organization that wants to protest that. And again, not that we're discouraging that, but really everybody has a responsibility, I think, from student affairs perspective, to help students figure out how to engage with one another. It is not just faculty, it is not just in the classroom. We see the body of activities that students engage in outside of the classroom.

Jill Dunlap [00:09:01]: And to me, civic engagement and civic learning and especially civic discourse is the job of everyone in a student affairs role. So for me, this event, I think, brings together enough information that will be useful to, for decision makers at like AVP VP level, but also folks who are working in the civic engagement office or are in a res hall and they're like, how do I get roommates to talk to each other? I mean, there's really some very individualized skill building that is being discussed in some of these sessions. And so I just think it's so applicable for everyone. So if you're new to NASA and you're like, I don't do civic engagement, that's not in my title. It doesn't mean that you won't benefit from some of these sessions in terms of your engagement with students. And we know that they're struggling. These students in our, in our classrooms and on our campuses are coming out of COVID and already struggling with how to engage with one another, much less in a really, really polariz environment. And so when everything becomes politics, this is going to give folks a lot of food for thought and also some really tangible takeaways about how to help students just develop this skill in a way that is really, I think, beneficial for themselves and the campus community as a whole.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:57]: Definitely. Really timely. Yeah, you mentioned about the polarization of perspectives that we're seeing on campuses now. And one of the missions of higher education has always has been to help people understand each other from different life perspectives and critically think about things. And I think those of us who are working in student affairs now didn't probably have that same collegiate experience where it was probably not as tense, it was just as serious, but probably not as tense as today. And so this is an incredible toolkit that we could probably all use right now, regardless of where we are in the world.

Jill Dunlap [00:10:27]: Yeah, well, and I would also just say I think the timing of it is really especially important because I think as we're heading into a midterm election that is already, like in the primaries, getting very heated. If we can help students engage across difference in the middle of a very important election year, I think a lot of civic engagement offices just think that the only thing that they need to focus on is voter registration and turnout out. And to me, we're missing the sort of building blocks that get students to the idea that voting is important or a part of their civic ethos. And so for me, this is the opportunity to build those building blocks for students. But in a year where we know that they're going to be faced with a lot of political content and the ability to think differently or accept other points of view and incorporate those into how you are approaching the election, I think is going to be really important.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:12]: It's become increasingly important to learn to listen, to seek to understand. And that's a skill set that's been a little bit different lately. And I appreciate what you're saying about COVID and how that's affected students engagement with each other. And we're now six years past the start of COVID which time changed. For me personally, I think time changed for a lot of people in the last six years. But these are students now who didn't do Covid High School. They did Covid Middle school or maybe even late elementary school. And those were extremely formative years in terms of learning to communicate at probably one of the most difficult times to be a human being in life, combined with.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:46]: With digital addiction and a whole bunch of other things. And we've forgotten how to talk to each other. So I'm very appreciative that this is coming out. And I want to correct myself. I earlier said civic dialogue Summit, it's called Civic Discourse on Campus Virtual Summit. So if you're googling for something on the NASA website, civic discourse are the keywords that you're going to want to use to find this program. And I mentioned earlier that there's quite a few sessions that are both either simulcast or a pathway selection. So I just want to share what those are to get people excited.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:16]: We've got Civic A Crucible Moment for Democracy. The next one is is your campus built for Constructive Assessing Pathways to Stronger Civic Health? The one that I'm most interested in is can deliberative forums lower the temperature? And that is such a key framework right now for our campuses. The next one is Leading through campus Conflict, a frame for responding to student demands and concerns which anyone who has a highly significantly active student population could certainly benefit. We have from evidence to impact how research informs scalable civic dialogue on campus. Scalable being an extremely key word, different from when you're working with a small student population versus when you're maybe working with a large group of students who have a set of things that they're asking for. We have beyond good Conversations, measuring and acting on civic discourse's impact. It's a summit session and I'll give a shout out to the speaker, who is Catherine Solano, who's one of my favorite collaborative partners in the Public Policy Division, Space Place. She's an excellent practitioner.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:14]: We have Building Sustainable Campus Collaborations, then Building Essential Skills for Civic Life and Leadership, and finally State and federal Policy Trends on civic Discourse. So if any of these things sound interesting, you, we strongly encourage you to check it out again. Civic Discourse on Campus virtual summit happening at the beginning of May. I know for me that's also move out weekend for students. Jill, is there anything else that you want people to know about the summit or kind of the context around it?

Jill Dunlap [00:13:41]: You know, I just think even again, back to the policy space, that some of the changes in focus of the current presidential administration have been towards civic discourse. And so we saw for the first time some grants from the Department of Education. I think some of those funds were pulled from places that other people will miss those funds. So I don't want to say that it's necessarily all good, but to the extent that they are showing a focus on civic discourse, one of the grantees from the Department of Education is one of the presenters. So again, the idea that the government is investing in this and so to the extent that this work has been happening on campus, this is not new, but that we can elevate and highlight and really learn from one another and learn about what tools and partners are in this space so that folks just can move forward from here and I think come away with some really good ideas and taking a fresh look at what they're doing at their own institution. So that again, heading into the fall, especially with the midterm elections, that it's so much more than about voting. It really is about helping the institution and meet its mission, oftentimes which includes civic engagement quite frequently. And I think this is one of those tools that we are able to provide the profession to do that well.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:39]: I'm also seeing a checkbox for continuing education credit credits. Is that a possibility?

Jill Dunlap [00:14:45]: Yes, I believe that we are announcing which ones will be which the summit will fill, but at this point for sure it will be the CSAED credits for anybody who attends this. If you are a part of the certification program.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:55]: Well, I am looking forward to this program becoming a reality. I know I'm looking forward to learning from it as well. For those of you who'd like to sign up, search again for Civic Discourse on Campus Virtual Summit, which will happen on May 8th. 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 world.

Speaker C [00:15:14]: Hey Joe, glad to be back in the NASPA world and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA as we've been learning about today. The 2026 civic discourse on Campus Virtual Summit is coming up really soon as colleges and universities work to support student learning and engagement amid an evolving landscape around free speech, academic freedom and political expression, the need for thoughtful, principled approaches to civic discourse has never been greater. The 2026 civic discourse on Campus Virtual Summit brings together higher education leaders, student affairs professionals and dialogue practitioners to explore the evolving landscape and share evidence informed strategies for cultivating healthy campus climates. This Virtual Summit is happening Tuesday, May 8, 2026 from 11:00am to 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time and you can register today on the NASPA website. Just go to learning.naspa.org to register today. The NASPA Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Virtual Summit is coming up on Tuesday, May 19 from 11am to 4pm Eastern Standard Time. The 2026 NASPA Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Summit will provide campus and organizational leaders with the knowledge, tools and strategies needed to drive meaningful campus wide change in sexual violence prevention and response. Featuring expert led session and evidence based practices, the Summit will equip participants to advance holistic approaches that center prevention, elevate survivor support, strengthen equitable services for respondents, and embed equity, safety and well being into the fabric of campus life.

Speaker C [00:16:58]: If this sounds like a learning opportunity that you want to take advantage for yourself or for your staff. Go to learning.naspa.org to find out more. The 2027 Annual Conference Focus Area Virtual Information Session on Adapting with Purpose and Agency in the New Era of Student affairs is happening on May 8th at 1pm Eastern Standard Time. This session introduces the focus area Adapting with Purpose and Agency in the New Era of Student Affairs. In this session we will cover the themes of governance and compliance, strategic partnerships, emergent student populations, and aligning student affairs work with institutional goals. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and gain clarity on how to frame your proposals for the NASPA 2027 conference within this focus area. So if you're planning to attend the 2027 conference and want to present, this is a great opportunity to be able to learn about one of the main focus areas of the conference so you can be ready to submit when the when the submission period opens. You can sign up for this [email protected] Every week we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening association.

Speaker C [00:18:11]: 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 the 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 ident for yourself. Where do you fit? Where do you want to 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 [00:19:32]: Chris, thank you so much for continuing to keep us updated on what's going on in and around NASPA. And Jill, we have reached our lightning round, which we know you've done once before, so we change it up on you and we have a little bit of a different set of questions. Seven questions, 90 seconds. All right, are you ready? All right, number one, last time you told us your entrance music. If you were a conference keynote speaker, would you like to change your song?

Jill Dunlap [00:19:54]: Yeah, I think so. I, you know, got really invested in heated rivalry, so it's probably something from that soundtrack. I don't even know that I have a specific one, but it would definitely come from that show.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:02]: Number two, what was your undergrad degree and do you use it in your work night now?

Jill Dunlap [00:20:06]: It was journalism in Spanish. Sadly, I have not kept up with the Spanish, but the journalism taught me how to write, and I use writing every single day.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:12]: Number three, your guilty pleasure TV show binge lately?

Jill Dunlap [00:20:15]: Oh, let's just go back again. It's like a reheat of heated rivalry.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:18]: Number four, if someone visits your city, which is Chicago, what is the one place that they must eat?

Jill Dunlap [00:20:24]: Oh, I think it's Cindy's Rooftop. The chef there was on one of the most recent seasons of Top Chef, and the views from the top of that restaurant are amazing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:32]: So not deep dish, then.

Jill Dunlap [00:20:33]: They can. If that is your jam. People have very strong feelings about that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:38]: Number five, your favorite work related podcast.

Jill Dunlap [00:20:41]: Oh, gosh, I listen to too many. I listen to all the podcast of America pods because I, as part of my job, have to keep up on policy. And it's not biased, but I do like their series of podcasts that they put out.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:52]: Number six, your favorite not work related podcast.

Jill Dunlap [00:20:55]: Oh, my gosh. Now see, that's a hard one. I do like Hysteria. It is still a crooked media podcast, but the women on that used to work for the Obama administration. They just have some really good deep cuts on what's happening in the world around us.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:07]: And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Jill Dunlap [00:21:11]: You know what? I would like to give a shout out to the team that works with me in the policy area, and that is Janae Chandler, our vice president, and Diana Ali, who I think was on a recent episode as well. But those two I work with regularly and without their brains, we couldn't do what we do. So I'm really appreciative to be surrounded by such thoughtful leaders.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:27]: Definitely a double shout out to them and to yourself. I think the policy squad and NASPA are some of my favorite colleagues that I get to work with. I love everyone who works there, but the three of you have always been such incredible colleagues and for many years now.

Jill Dunlap [00:21:39]: Yeah. Oh, we feel the same about you. Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:41]: Oh, thank you. Over the years, Jill Dunlap and I have been in a lot of meetings together and somebody always says Jill. And both of us go, what? Jill, if someone would like to reach you after the show, how can they find you?

Jill Dunlap [00:21:52]: Just via my NASPA email. I'm at J Dunlap, which is D U N L a [email protected] Jill, thank

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:57]: you so much for bringing your voice to us and sharing with us for the second time. We really appreciate it.

Jill Dunlap [00:22:02]: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:03]: Having me. This has been an episode of Essay Voices from the Field brought to you by naspa. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email us@sa voicesaspa.org or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topics and guest suggestions always.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:30]: We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. 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.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:56]: Catch you next time.

If you're seeking powerful examples of student affairs' impact and actionable ideas to support today's college students, the latest episode of SA Voices from the Field is a must-listen. Host Dr. Jill Creighton welcomes Alexa Wesley Chamberlain (Director of Research and Strategy at NASPA) and Dr. Kira Gatewood (AVP of Student Life and Dean of Students at University of Houston Downtown) for a conversation focused on the NASPA-TIAA Micro Grant Program and its transformative effects on campus communities.

TIAA Micro Grant Program: Fueling Emergency Aid Initiatives

Led by Alexa Wesley Chamberlain, the TIAA Micro Grant Program provides $10,000 grants directly to campuses as emergency aid for students in crisis. Alexa Wesley Chamberlain explains how this initiative, rooted in NASPA's longstanding research on emergency aid, addresses basic needs like housing, food, childcare, and sudden financial emergencies. By supporting five institutions (selected from over 350 applicants), NASPA and TIAA aim to spotlight interventions that boost student persistence and success.

University of Houston Downtown: Serving Parenting Students

A highlight of the episode is Dr. Kira Gatewood's detailed look at how UHD is using its grant to support pregnant and parenting students—an often-overlooked group facing unique challenges. With over 70% of UHD's students being first-generation and many juggling caregiving responsibilities, the grant has enabled direct financial support and, maybe even more importantly, fostered a sense of community. Through stories of resilience and solidarity, Dr. Kira Gatewood shows how the micro grant helped students navigate grief, celebrate achievements, and feel truly seen by their institution.

Bridging Policy, Research, and Impact

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Jill Creighton, Alexa Wesley Chamberlain, and Dr. Kira Gatewood emphasize the importance of connecting research to daily practice, sharing stories and data that advocate for the normalization of basic needs support in higher education. They call for student affairs professionals to apply for future grant cycles and, above all, to keep listening to students' evolving needs.

Why Listen?

This episode is a rich source of inspiration and practical advice for anyone working in higher education. Whether you're exploring emergency aid options, want to build inclusive student support networks, or are searching for a reminder of why student affairs matters, don't miss this candid, hopeful discussion.

🎧 Listen now to learn how emergency aid is shaping student success and discover strategies to bring back to your own campus!

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 14 continuing our conversation on the value of Student Affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. Sheher hers your essay Voices from the Field host today on SA Voices. I'm pleased to welcome two guests, one from NASPA and one who's a campus based professional. Our NASPA professional today is Alexa Wesley Chamberlain, who's the Director of Research and strategy at NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:37]: In her role, she leads NASPA's research portfolio, manages grant funded research initiatives, and prior to joining naspa, she focused on federal post secondary education policy and institutional finance strategies through internships at the Lumina foundation, the Institute for Women's Policy Research and the US Department of Education. Alexa holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy and a Bachelor's degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Our second guest is Dr. Kira Gatewood, who self identifies as the educational architect. Dr. Gatewood is a dynamic force in higher education, serving as a masterful educational architect with unique talent for analyzing complex institutional challenges. She designs and implements creative, practical solutions that foster student success and organizational excellence. Her academic foundation, a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Columbia College Chicago, an MEd from Loyola University Chicago and an EDD from Arizona State University, fuels her innovative approach.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:29]: At asu, she engineered the Landmark Endowed Gatewood NPHC Scholarship for Excellence and architected the Sankofa Early Start program, achieving a 94% persistence rate. Today, as the AVP of Student Life and Dean of Students at the University of Houston Downtown, she oversees a comprehensive portfolio and architects the Holistic Student Experience. Her division includes Student Leadership and Involvement, Veterans Services, Sports and Fitness, the Dean of Students, Office Counseling Services and Student Health Services. She strategically builds the ecosystem through grant funded innovation, expanding student advocacy, launching a first generation support system and constructing the Gator Resource center to address basic needs including the Gator Mart food pantry. Her most integrated design is the Gator Health Portal, a digital infrastructure that unifies the newly built Student Health center with its whole medical team and student counseling services. An accomplished author and the ASU 2023 Greek Advisor of the Year, Dr. Gatewood's designs are student centered, equitable and built to last. She doesn't just administer, she architects the environments where students and institutions thrive together.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:32]: KE and Alexa are going to be working together to tell us about the NASPA Mini Grant Program or the TIAA mini grant program and how that's influenced the University of Houston downtown. The grant cycle is about to open once again. So we hope that you enjoy this episode and learn a little bit more if you and your institution want to apply for the mini grant. Welcome to the show. Alexa.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:02:52]: Hi. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:54]: And Kira, welcome.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:02:55]: Good morning.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:56]: It's always such a delight for us to be able to feature NASPA staffers on the show. We don't get to hear your voices enough, but we know how hard you're working behind the scenes. And then today we also have Kiara, who's one of our amazing student affairs professionals who's currently working in Houston. Today we're talking all about the new micro grant program that NASPA has introduced and we have this great partnership in Alexa who is leading that program for NASPA and Kira who is one of the micro grant recipients. So we're going to be talking all about how that has affected the campus. But before we get into all of that, we'll start with our traditional opener. Alexa, we'll start with you. How did you get to your current seat at naspa?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:03:31]: Sure, NASPA has been my professional home for eight and a half years now, which is so wild to say, so much life has happened at that time, but around how I got here. My internships are really still a big part of my bio, even eight and a half years into a full time role. But it's because they really do play a part in my story. So in undergrad one of those internships was at a university affiliated research consortium about counterterrorism and the power of communications with that like do words matter? How true is the idiom? Talk is cheap. And so I co did interviews there and really figured out I had a knack and interest in the social sciences space and particularly research in understanding and addressing social issues and the importance of data in informing strategies to overcome challenges. I knew I needed to hone my skills more and explore possible avenues for this. So I went straight into grad school for public policy, which is where I interned at the Institute for Women's Policy Research. I focused on a student parent success initiative.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:04:25]: There I learned about on campus childcare financing strategies and all the challenges that come with that and of course the need for better supports for single mothers on campus in particular. I then narrowed my focus to higher ed where I interned at the Education Department. There I was exposed to policy conversations about things like college scorecard, consumer facing, information tools for students, what metrics are considered in policy considerations like around gayful Employment and then I led. This led me to the Lumina foundation, who's a funder of some of NASA's research today. And that's where I focused on things like today's student campaign and building awareness about who today's college students are. We all know there are so many often or so often part time students, students who work, students who are veterans, who are parents, who are first generation and the need for both policymakers and practitioners to really check assumptions when we're designing supports with these college students in mind. From there that I was introduced to the association world, which is where how I came across NASPA and how associations really are so critical in ensuring decision makers are aware about the needs of practitioners and students, how their policies are affecting them on the ground and what promising practices could potentially be uplifted and scaled nationally. So I'm really drawn, I was really drawn to NASPA given the focus on student centered supports in particular and how so much of the work that student affairs does is ensuring that students with marginalized identities are supported and centered in the work that we do.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:05:42]: So my role has evolved. I'm not a little bit less on the policy side and more focused on connecting research to practice and understanding what resources our members are needing and what topics are top of mind like basic needs, supports and how to advance emergency aid really is a critical support in a broader student success strategy.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:57]: And Alexa, can you share with the NASPA members what you do on a day to day with naspa?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:06:02]: Sure. So it really varies day to day. A lot of my work I section it into pieces. I think one part is the planning and conducting original research. So thinking through like I mentioned, like what are, what is top of mind for our members? What, what are they working, what barriers are they facing? What good work are they doing that needs to be elevated and how does that translate into what we can learn and elevate for the field nationally? So it's either conducting interviews or designing administrating surveys. It's thinking strategically about okay, now that this research is done, how do we get it out to the field? How do we really tailor our data into resources for specific professional levels and types? Even thinking about resources that make sense for community college versus how does this translate for a large public four year. So keeping audience in mind, another part of my work is supporting some of our grant funded research and projects like the TIAA grant that I know we're going to talk more about and thinking through how to how all this again, what are the implications here with gosh what do I say? How to connect again, research to practice as after we conduct this work, how do we ensure that it doesn't just sit on a shelf, that it's really actionable and has impact for our members.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:09]: And Kira, we're so glad to have you on the show as well. Joining us from the University of Houston downtown, how did you get to your current seat?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:07:17]: Yes. So I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. How I got to my current seat is that, you know, it all starts as a student worker. I was exposed to higher education as a profession, which was not something that I had considered before. I wanted to be on Broadway. So as a student of performing arts, I spent a lot of time just working on crafting that art of performance. And I had a mentor, Dr.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:07:41]: Kimberly Weatherly, who mentioned to me at one point, what are your plans after graduation? What do you want to do? And I honestly didn't know. I had no clue. And she said, start with what you think you can do. And I naively said, I can do your job. She said, you need to get a few degrees for that. And so she really made it an educational moment for me and walked me through. This is what grad school is like. This is what the profession.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:08:08]: This is how you get into the profession. This is how you develop yourself as a professional. And I think over time I've learned how to bring my authentic self to the job. But I always think back to that moment of saying the first thing that came to my mind out to Dr. Weatherly. And so I've spent a lot of time. I initially started out at Barrett, the honors college at Arizona State University. And I enjoyed my work with academically high achieving students and especially those who come from historically marginalized communities who find themselves finding community and really developing who they are and stepping into their own.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:08:48]: And so after that, I ended up moving out of the academic college and into the university work in the dean of students office. And when you are sick, I had gotten Covid during the COVID times and sometimes you get a bit of audacity from your fever. And so from my fever, I applied to this position just kind of on a whim and I was surprised and they interviewed me and I'm excited to be going into my second year here making infrastructure that I think is going to be higher, highly impactful for our students here at uh.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:21]: I love that you can say with the level of fact that you becoming AVP Dean of Students was literally a fever dream. That's great. It was well we were all brought here today to really talk about the TIAA micro grant program, which is a fairly new initiative for naspa. This year's cycle has just closed, but there will be hopefully future cycles. Before we talk about specifically what UHD is doing, I'm wondering if Alexa, you can share with us what is this program?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:09:46]: Yes. So I'm going to fit it in the context of our emergency aid portfolio. So our work on this goes way back. We issued a landscape analysis report all about emergency aid back in 2016 as part of an effort to really understand like what makes a high quality emergency aid program, what are those key components there, how our campus is delivering it, what are opportunities to really further the impact of emergency aid on student persistence. Since then we've continued to think about resources and the role of student affairs in the basic needs space. But now we're really revamping that work, I think in part after Covid and the higher education emergency relief funds being used for emergency aid, the use case and the use case for IMPACT and the need for institutionalizing emergency aid has really grown. For those who already have programs in place well before the pandemic, the work for them has really evolved and improved. So as it seems like it's being increasingly incorporated into campus strategic planning as we think about basic need supports as a really important piece of a broader student success conversation.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:10:43]: And so last year we received funds from TIAA to award five institutions with $10,000 in funds to provide emergency aid directly to students. We received almost 350 applications, which I think speaks to the high demand and need for funds in this space. That's where I was introduced to Dr. Gatewood at the University of Houston downtown. The four other recipients there are Community College of Aurora, LaGuardia Community College, Grambling State University and South Louisiana Community College. With this grant, we were looking at institutional readiness and distribution capacity. So to what extent do campuses have the capacity to receive and distribute funds directly to students? A lot of folks have food pantries, for example, on campus. And while this is certainly a really great piece of emergency aided basic needs supports, we were looking for direct funding opportunities.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:11:31]: So we wanted to look at capacity. We wanted to look at how well campuses were identifying and addressing the needs of first generation and low income students. In particular, how well do they understand the needs of their students and are connect the emergency aid to those needs? And finally, we also wanted to understand impact potential. So how well can an institution gather and use data to understand the impact on student success and how well does this fit into their holistic student support strategy. And so at the time of this podcast being released, we've received great news that we will be relaunching this award opportunity in early March. So we're very excited about that. At the same time, we'll also be launching an updated emergency aid landscape survey to really deepen our efforts in this space and understand how the field has evolved again to identify those promising practices that we can elevate to inform resources that we can for professionals who are looking to either create an emergency aid program from scratch to sustain their work, looking to advance it. So we're excited to really explore more in this area.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:28]: That's super exciting that there's another round of funding coming. Want to clarify? This is the same TIAA that manages a lot of our retirement plans, right?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:12:36]: Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:36]: That's exciting that they're entering into a direct service space and especially with your background with prior foundations, it's really exciting that you're able to kind of bring all of this together for campuses directly. I would like to ask we're only featuring University of Houston downtown today. You mentioned the other four recipients out of the 350. What made these five stand out as kind of the superstar ones that were going to get this funding? And if I'm a campus that wants to apply in this next cycle, knowing that there's still things in development, what would make me stand out?

Speaker D [00:13:04]: These institutions really did demonstrate attention to six capacity pillars that NASPA has outlined in previous emergency aid research, with the first one really being around management and ensuring that in their review process for aid applications that come in that they have that cross functional representation and perspectives. They have someone from student affairs, financial aid, the business office, the foundation, if that's applicable, maybe even a representative or two from from the student population or sga to really ensure that various aspects of student needs are considered and included as part of their emergency aid application review and awarding process. The second one would be around consideration of policy implications and recognizing the need for that flexibility when they're distributing emergency aid to their students. Really ensuring that there's a way to address urgent expenses for students without unintentionally reducing their eligibility for other financial aid funding. Another one is around assessment to take that multifaceted approach to not only examining patterns around student need and understanding who their students are on their campus to ensure that emergency A programs are tailored to these needs, but also leveraging data to measure success and continuously improve upon the quality of their offerings. There's also a focus around technology, be that a homegrown system as simple as using Excel in an intentional way to a case management type technology platform. Really with the functionality and ability around centralizing their various emerging basic needs offerings to really ensure that streamlined approach and process for students on the front end and that documentation needed for follow up supports and referrals are gathered. Fifth, I would say with the sustainability in mind, we also heard about institutions leveraging their strategic plans around student success and well being as a case making tool for why Mercy Aid is really critical to the mission, values and goals of the institution to really help make those working on this program make those clear connections to other initiatives on their campus as well.

Speaker D [00:14:55]: And lastly there is that communication and awareness building piece and we know that there's almost always a need for greater balance between the amount of emergency resources that are available and the demand from students for these. There is a strong case to be made about how emergency aid and basic needs resource centers can really serve as that opportunity to build community and connect students with each other and other campus resources as a resource hub.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:15:18]: Fantastic.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:19]: Well Kira, you were the lead for University of Houston Downtown in terms of getting this program applied for, funded and ultimately implemented. UHD's focusing on pregnant and parenting students. Can you tell us a little bit about this particular priority and what about this particular micro grant made it the right match for uhd?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:15:37]: So I think my team has been extremely thoughtful about how we want to serve our students who have basic needs challenges. And I think one of the things that makes Unique unique is that 70% of our incoming class is first generation and we have a high population of transfer students. We are a commuter campus. We don't have students who are residential students are prioritizing their education, but they also have competing factors that they're having to balance out in order to prioritize that education. And so the majority of our students actually go part time rather than full time. And so when we're looking at our student profile, talking to the students and hearing what are the things that they also need to prioritize because it's education. And a lot of times we're hoping that students are able to do education first, but for our particular population it's education. And and so as we started to unpack the whole student, we realized they had priorities and responsibilities like family responsibilities and whether they were a caregiver for a parent or a relative or a sibling.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:16:52]: We also recognized that they also be parenting and so we call them first generation plus. So these are all those additional factors that go into their identity that creates this complex Structure in which they need to thrive in. And so we have to address everything that comes along with that. And so we thought that our parenting students, it reaches parenting and like parenting and first generation parenting. And I'm in a minority population parenting and I'm a commuter student parenting anima transfer parenting, anim non traditional age. So it just gave us an opportunity to really create community amongst our students who really could benefit from building that community.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:40]: So when we think about how this grant opportunity came about and you decided to apply, what has the impact been in terms of receiving the funds and what have the students experienced as a result of having this additional resource?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:17:54]: The impact. So the impact I think about in two separate areas. One, the impact on how we view our work. So as a practitioner, we're looking at best practices and the way we've done higher education. I think this micro grant has honestly peeled back the rose colored glasses of. We figure this out because it has caused us to face some of the friction points that our students are truly having to deal with. And recognizing that we don't have a completed the answer we don't have a one size fits all approach. We always say these unprecedented times.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:18:30]: And so now these unprecedented times have become very precedent. And so have we evolved how we address student work. Have we evolved to the precedents of unprecedented times? And I think this work has caused us to really reevaluate how we approach our student support and what student success really is and what it takes to achieve that. The impact for our students has been obviously the financial support, but also also the building of community. We spent a lot of time doing small programs to bring this community together. So they recognize that they're not the only one, they're not the only parenting student or caregiving student. We realized that the value in developing that village or community was more impactful than providing the $500. It was in a sense providing that bolster of confidence that I can face this, there are other people I can ask for help, there are other people, other resources.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:19:34]: The people become the resource. And so we did a lot of community building and in doing that we're able to support students. I think, I think of one in particular student, this past recipient. They graduated and I'm proud to say they graduated with a 4.0. But they received the grant because a week before graduation they had twins and one of the twins passed away suddenly and the student didn't want to come to graduation, understandably as in grief and a new space that they had to navigate. And one of the things that they had not thought about was having to pay for funeral services, having to all the expenses that come along with death on top of grief in what is supposed to be a very exciting time. And this student, because of the community that we built, the student felt encouraged and felt okay to it was okay to celebrate the graduation but still have carry the weight of grief. And it was a yes.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:20:36]: And we are celebrating and grieving. And so I think about how we were able to support that student not just in the financial piece of their expenses, but I also think about how we were able to show them that having community support is also valuable, is also in these times of challenge, is also a benefit. So there were students who were cheering them on as they crossed that stage. And we were cheering them on as they crossed that stage. I also think about another student who received the fall. We've split ours into two fall and spring awards. And so one of the students in the fall said, I didn't realize that you cared about graduate students. And I kind of chuckled when they said it because I was like, of course you're a student.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:21:24]: We care. Thought process was that as a graduate student they're supposed to have it figured out, they're supposed to be on a different level. And while that's a self, self imposed standard, I think a lot of students have have that that thought of I'm supposed to have it figured out. I'm, I've picked a major, I have decided to further my education. And as a graduate student I'm. This is just supposed to be the icing on the cake. And so this student really said, I feel seen as a first generation parenting graduate student. I didn't even realize you cared about us.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:22:01]: And that was shocking. So I think it made us think about how we get information out to students, how we get information out to our graduate students, how are we taking care of our graduate student population? And are we only marketing to undergraduate students? Like, are we marketing in ways that our undergraduate students are receptive? But how are we marketing and being really intentional about letting the students know that as a student, whether Undergraduate, graduate, post BAcc, you have support that's so real.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:32]: I think that's something that I'm trying to work through at my campus as well, which is how do we get our graduate students to feel included and not added on? And I think that's something that we struggle with kind of as a profession because the original versions of student support, I think the origins of our profession are that traditionally aged student population. And I can remember feeling As a graduate student myself. Well, that's not for me. That's for undergraduate students. And I felt that even more deeply because I was getting a master's in student affairs, which is, I think, the ultimate irony. Like I'm supposed to be part of the administration, but also part of the student population. It's very confusing. So I completely empathize with that framework of going, oh, I should be included in this, right? Absolutely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:11]: I'd love to talk a little bit more about the details of this micro grant. Alexa, you mentioned that direct funding was a really important component of award. Kira, you've mentioned that the award is $500, which can go to fund a number of direct things I'm seeing be like transportation or formula, baby food technology, medical bills. And the list is quite lengthy, as long as it's a fundamental need. But if I am able to receive this grant as an award, how much does my institution get for the term or the year and how much can I pass on to a student?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:23:40]: So it is 10,000. That is purely for student aid. Yes, we recognize that in the grand scheme of things, I'm sure it will go very fast. But the hope is, and which I think Kira has highlighted well, is that these funds can be used as an impetus for larger universities, university conversations around emerg. But yes, to your point, ultimately, the $10,000 are meant to be chunked into a maximum of $500 awards in Mercy to directly go to students.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:07]: And Kira, how did UHD decide a framework on how you pass on the award? Because I think we're in this space where fundamental needs have been rising for students over the last several years. We probably have more students with need than we have awards available. How are you prioritizing and deciding who gets to receive?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:24:24]: Absolutely, we are using this in conjunction with other support that we have at the institution. We had been the recipient of a FIPC grant through the Department of Education, and so that was specific to basic needs. Transportation, food, shelter. Those were the three categories. What we recognized is how we talked about the aid was more of. Of a solution rather than a tool. And so after we focused once we changed our verbiage and we had to coach our faculty, staff and students on what the aid is supposed to be. So we combined the application with single stop.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:25:10]: And so single stop is benefits aid screener. And so you apply and say, I have this need, but also here are my demographics. And we tell you, by the way, did you know you were eligible for these specific state and federal resources based on your demographics? We Want the students to not feel like we're handing out band aids. We want the students to feel like this is more of an energy drink. This is more of an infusion of support. You are getting an IV of support, and so you can feel stronger, you can go on just a little while longer. You can see the hope because we have bridged, we've bridged that gap. And so for us, it really was about making sure that students understood that emergency aid truly is an aid and not a final solution.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:26:05]: And so we wanted them to have the mental capacity to take on the challenges that they were facing. And when you have basic needs, barriers, when you are responsible for another life, it compounds that frustration and it compounds, compounds your ability to, or your desire. It compounds your desire to solve the problem. And so we wanted them to feel like they're. We wanted to give them breathing space to think through.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:30]: So this is more of an opportunity to have a safety net for a moment. But it's not designed to be a long term solution. Fair enough. So as we look at this in whole, is there anything that you wished you could have done differently with the funding or the program now that you've been implementing it?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:26:45]: I wouldn't say that I wish that we would do anything differently because. Because we learned. We learned our impact has grown. Our students are more aware of our resources. They're feeling seen, they're feeling heard. What I think it's not a wish of change, it's a wish of extension. Like, I wish we could echo the work that's being done, and I wish we could partner more and support other institutions in developing opportunities like this.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:13]: And Alexa, what are you looking for on the NASPA side once the grant has been administered in terms of accountability from the campus or stories from the campus, et cetera?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:27:24]: Yeah, I mean, to be totally frank, I know that accountability, I feel like, is a strong word here. I think I would. More so, we are asking that recipients engage in a couple interviews with us to tell their story, to talk about lessons learned, to talk about what they've understood, about what impact the grant has played in the hopes that we can use these to inform form a case study report to really highlight. Here are some common challenges that folks have faced. Here are, here's what they've done. Here are strategies that they've used that has, have seemed to work again, in the spirit of trying to build connection in this space so that folks who are reading in this, who are building their own emergency programs or continuing them on, can say, I see myself in that campus and what they're doing. This is what they've tried. Let me connect with them to see if I can learn more about what worked well for them.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:28:11]: I think the hope is with this body of work work is that I'd love to get to a place where we can foster more peer to peer learning opportunities. Maybe using the research as a way to build in like an agenda for a conversation, for a day long conversation, a virtual conversation with folks about like. Here are common threads throughout the emergency aid survey that we just conducted. Here are what research looks like some practice as we dive deeper into what specific campuses are doing with emergency aid. Here is where the work needs to go moving forward. Let's, you know what I mean, talk together about from a funding perspective, where more funding is needed, what additional research is needed, where we can continue to embed emergency aid in our institutions like basic, larger, basic need support strategy. And so yes, I mean I recognize that institutions are already doing so much and this is most likely they are threading this grant with other grants or institutional funding that they've received to bolster their work. So it's not necessarily that the ask for reporting is so high.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:29:09]: It's more like we are asking them to distribute these funds and we want to know like, did it impact a direct student? You know what I mean? How is this playing into your institution's long term plan around emergency aid? Something like that? I'm not sure if I said that so well for the podcast, so I'm not sure you're under my knees. Splice and dice that a bit.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:28]: Kira, is there anything that you'd like other student affairs professionals to know if they want to apply for this grant cycle?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:29:34]: Do it, don't wait. I think the hardest part is getting started, right? And you can't count yourself out. Let Alexa say no. But I think I'm so excited and happy because all of the students who received the microgreens are enrolled for the upcoming spring and we had two who graduated. So I see the impact. I see the ability to just have that pause to breathe and move forward. And so I would say institutions go for it. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and listen to the students, like listen to what they need.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:10]: And then for either of you, is there anything else that you want to make sure that our NASPA members know about this program, about the opportunity or

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:30:17]: about the impact it made our president happy. I think it also brought to cabinet, it brought a level of conversation of unpacking what we've been doing. So it's not just a student affairs approach from the student life side, from student success student life, my division, I think now the other divisions are also. It opened up the door for the conversation of how we're addressing our parenting and caregiving students.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:30:42]: And I think I would just echo that. This is one piece again of a portfolio around basic needs supports. And we really appreciate the learning opportunity to not only be able to give funds to campuses to give these emerging aid supports to students, but that they're willing to share their knowledge back with us in hopes that we can again disseminate that out to the field.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:00]: I think this is such a great example of demonstrating the value of student affairs to not only our students that we serve, but also to the cabinet, as you mentioned, or other external stakeholders. So I think this is a nice place to ask our theme questions. So our first one is, is when you think about the value of student affairs, what comes to mind first and why?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:31:21]: Go back to the potential and promise of higher education really being able to serve as that engine of upward socioeconomic mobility and tool for reducing racial and social equity gaps. I think student affairs in particular is so impactful in that at its best, our programs and services are designed with that promise in mind. And that we're meant to specifically support students who all students, but also specifically those who hold marginalized identities in a larger system that was not initially designed with their experiences in mind. I of course, think of things like emergency aid programs and the great work that Dr. Gatewood's team is doing to consider how one program can be a piece of a network of supports. And to borrow from something that I learned while interning at Lumina. Program officer shared that the hardest thing about college should be the learning and the coursework and the rigor there. It shouldn't be that you can't fix your spare tire to drive to class, that your required advising session is only offered like from 9 to 5 while you're working, or that you can't afford childcare to go to school, things like that.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:32:20]: And so in thinking about ways the student affairs are able to help students overcome those institutional and systematic barriers, I think is really, really key. And in going back to even making the connections between here's what I'm learning in my coursework to my co curricular experiences, here are my experiences as a student parent, that these skills that I'm learning, they're all connected. And to help them tell their story in a meaningful way as they are searching for those employment opportunities that really align with their interests and the breadth of skills that they're bringing and learning inside and outside of the classroom.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:32:52]: That was amazing. When I think about the value of higher education, I think it's the bridge to intellect and application. Go, you learn now. You figure out how to do with all of you. So the value of student affairs is we're providing that bridge between the two, which is who I am learning to be and who I actually am.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:17]: I really appreciate that framing. I'm going to seal that one.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:33:19]: Go right ahead.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:20]: Our second question. Can you share a specific story or moment when you saw the value of student affairs come to life? And Carrie, you've already shared two beautiful ones as well. So if you want to just say refer back, that's fine, but if you have another one, we'd love to to hear it too.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:33:33]: I lean on Dr. Gatewood for that. I feel like you'd have great ones. But for me, I go back to conversations that I've had with students, with interviews and focus groups, and how often I hear a story about an administrator or advisor or someone who they see as the institution, as a staff person being in their corner and when they feel like they're noticed and how much being noticed dictates the quality of their experiences and how much they feel like their institution cares about them and that it's not only like a nice feeling, that it truly does have a relationship with their persistence rates and their retention rates. When they feel like their institution cares about them, they're more likely to thrive. And when they're thriving, they're more likely to persist and succeed. I think about, again, the importance of student affairs in ensuring that that quality of experience is felt throughout the campus, not just in certain, like, microclimates or pockets on campus and just the potential and opportunity there to really ensure that that student centeredness is felt in multiple spaces throughout the institution.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:34:31]: There are lots of stories, and I students story matters, but you get these glimmers of reassurance that what you're doing is working, that what you're doing is making an impact and a difference. And so think. I think what's interesting is at uhd, we have a high staff alumni population, and they are so proud to give back to the institution and to work here. And whenever I interview an alum, it is, you know, the first question is, always tell me a little bit about who you are and why you want to work here. And the why I want to work here is because they're always saying, oh, UHD gave me, and now I want the opportunity to give that to someone else and how I felt. I want someone, another student to feel that way. And the unselfish altruistic piece of that is consistently inspiring. So that's.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:35:24]: Yeah, I don't. Not one in particular story but just a value of people wanting to come back to give.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:29]: And our third question which is what do you think students affairs needs to do to be better understood and better seen in today's educational environment?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:35:38]: I think I go back to how central a student's sense of belonging is on persistence and retention and that that shift in their mindset about how their experiences or assets, assets and a reflection of their skills supports their ability to articulate these things and graduate to get that career that they're. That they're looking for and carve out their path. So I think storytelling about so, so data and storytelling as far as all these various programs and supports how they are bolstering belonging, affirming identities and experiences and the connection between that and persistence, graduation and employment afterwards.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:36:14]: The first thing that came to my mind I chuckled a little bit when you asked this question because the first thing that came to mind was speak truth to power. And I think Alexa really hit the nail on the head with the data and storytelling and that is how you speak truth to power. I think we have to to acknowledge that college higher education in general is still a privilege. But at what point does the education become a community commodity and how do we integrate that thought process or that ideal? I think that's something we're really going to have to stop seeing it as a privilege and start seeing it as a community commodity.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:53]: That is a right from the public policy nerd perspective. So Alexa, your degree is in public policy? My doctor's in public administration. We talk a lot about public in private excludable and non excludable goods. And the reality of K12 in the US is that it's a public non excludable good. But as soon as you get to higher education, for some reason it's been framed as an excludable good. And some of it's public, some of it's private. But at the end of the day, because it's been excludable, it's also been subject to market and a number of other things that doesn't have the same pressure that the K12 space has. So it's an interesting puzzle to solve because there are other countries around the the world that have made it a public non excludable good or at least accessible and affordable.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:33]: I just saw Yale's making their tuition free for any family that's earning under 200,000 USD a year. And so that's a fascinating development in our industry. So lots of that that we could have tons and tons of discussion about. But for now I'm going to toss it over to producer Chris to tell us about what's going on in and around NASA. It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on on in the NASPA world.

Speaker E [00:37:57]: Thanks Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA today. I'm going to be sharing a couple of professional development opportunities as well as some additional things for you to read and learn from that have just been released from naspa. First and foremost, there is a brand new toolkit that will help you to better understand psychedelics in higher education. This toolkit offers student affairs professionals clear evidence informed guidance on psychedelics in higher education. Grounded in harm reduction, it outlines key substances, effects, risks, legal issues, and student use across academic, social, spiritual and therapeutic settings. The toolkit clarifies roles, boundaries and reporting responsibilities so you can navigate complex conversations and support student well being with accuracy and care. You can find out more about this brand new toolkit that is available on the NASPA website, go to learning.naspa.org There is a brand new brief that was just released called Spacing It Right Designing Higher Education Institutions for Student Success.

Speaker E [00:39:07]: In this brief, it examines how the intentional design of campus environments can directly influence student learning, belonging and success by fostering inclusion, engagement and community across higher education settings. This brief draws on research and practitioner expertise and outlines a comprehensive framework of 12 key attributes for assessing how physical spaces alongside institutional culture and structures shape the student experience. Institutional spotlights throughout the brief also help to illustrate how purposeful design decisions can build community community and foster transformative learning. You can download this brief by going to the NASPO website, going under Research and publications and then reports and issue briefs. Coming up on May 8, 2026 is the 2026 civic discourse on Campus Virtual Summit. As colleges and universities work to support student learning and engagement amid an evolving landscape around free speech, academic freedom and political expression, the need for thoughtful, principled approaches to civic discourse has never been greater. The 2026 civic discourse on Campus Virtual Summit brings together higher education leaders, student affairs professionals and dialogue practitioners to explore the evolving landscape and share evidence informed strategies for cultivating healthy campus climates. Again, this summit is happening on May 8th.

Speaker E [00:40:39]: It starts at 11:00am Eastern Standard Time and offers you learning throughout throughout the day. You can find out more about this amazing event in the NASPA online learning community. Go to learning.naspa.org to find out more. The next professional development event that I thought I would share with you Today is the 2026 Mid Level Administrators Conference. This is happening June 11th through 13th in Providence, Rhode Island. The 2026 NASPA Mid Level Administrators Conference is a dynamic professional development event designed to provide mid level student affairs professionals with the opportunity to eng 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, along with strategies to improve professional practice and networks to advance your career. This conference is designed for student affairs professionals who serve in roles between but not including entry level positions and avoid DP and the equivalent roles.

Speaker E [00:41:46]: Additionally, professionals who have been serving in entry level roles for at least five years are welcome to attend. The early bird registration for this conference ends on May 1st, so I highly encourage you to go to events.naspa.org and check out this conference today. And finally today I wanted to tell you about the 2026 NASPA M. Ben Hogan Small Colleges and Universities and Institute this is happening June 21st through the 24th at Sarah Lawrence College. This institute, which is hosted biennially by NASPA's Small College and Universities Division, the M. Ben Hogan Small College Institute is a highly engaging and tailored experience designed for student affairs leaders shaping the future of their campuses. Over the course of the Institute, participants will dig into the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing small colleges today while exploring innovative strategies, exchanging ideas, and building meaningful connections with peers who truly understand the unique context of their work. The Institute's schedule features a combination of expert led sessions focused on the most pressing issues of 2026 and flexible community sessions that allow participants to explore real time challenges and share insights drawn from their own campus contexts.

Speaker E [00:43:03]: At its core, the Institute is built for leaders at small colleges and universities typically def find as institutions with 5,000 students or fewer. That said, if you see yourself in this experience and believe it will support your professional growth, you are welcome to join. If this sounds like a professional development experience that you want to find out more about, I highly encourage you to go to naspa.org, go to events and Online Learning and check out the event and all the information about it. The early registration deadline does end on May 13th and you do not want to want to miss this powerful learning experience. 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 the knowledge community, giving back within one of 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 want to 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 my myself in that knowledge community.

Speaker E [00:44:35]: 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 association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:05]: Chris, thank you so much for another great edition of NASPA World. We always appreciate you keeping us informed on what's going on in and around naspa. And we have now reached our lightning round where I've got seven seconds for you to answer. In about 90 seconds, we're gonna have Kira, then Alexa go. So I'll ask question one, then Kira will answer, Alexa will answer. Just so you know who's talking. All right, question number one. One.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:29]: Wait, are you ready?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:30]: So nervous, but yes, I'm ready.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:32]: All right, question one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:37]: Beyonce. Anything. Beyonce.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:45:39]: Make your own kind of music by Cass Elliott.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:41]: Number two, when you were five years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:44]: I was going to be so embarrassed. Okay, Sorry, Mom. I told my congregation at church that I wanted to be a garbage woman

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:45:50]: for me to be a lawyer.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:52]: Number three, who's your most influential professor?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:55]: Dr. Kimberly Weatherly and Dr. Daniel Maxwell. Yeah, they, they're amazing people. Look em up. They're on LinkedIn.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:02]: Mine would be the Doctor Amelia.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:04]: She's so cool.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:05]: She was my supervisor for like seven of these years and I learned everything from her.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:09]: She is one of you. Just look at her. You're like, gosh you're cool.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:13]: Shout out to our president of NASA.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:15]: I love it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:15]: Number four, what is your essential student affairs Reid?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:19]: Well, my team just read Move youe Bus and that's Ron Clark. And also shout out to Vijay Pe the Alchemy of Talent. That's also an amazing read.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:29]: Square Pegs in Round Holes by Fred Bonner or anything by like Trustee where she wrote about lower ed. I really. That's a less student fair specific, but it really shaped a lot of my life.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:40]: Number five, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:43]: Bridgerton, Miami Traders on Peacock.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:45]: Oh my goodness, I am so obsessed with the British Traders. It's so good. Highly recommend the British series. I like it a lot better than the American one. Now, number six, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:55]: Respectable and ratchet.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:56]: Ugh, I don't have time for podcasts anymore. I wish, but I listen to clips, so. Clips from interviews from Omandi's the Cutting Room Floor or Amy Poehler's Good Hay.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:04]: And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give personal or professional team?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:47:09]: Because the work that I do, honestly, I could not do it without my team because I like the fact that they feel confident and challenging and we build together.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:47:19]: NASPA Research and Policy Team. A great group of really smart humans who care a lot about our work. And my daughters, Sophie and Gemma.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:47:26]: I feel like a bad parent. Okay. Hey guys. Carter Parker. Guess you're going to Yale because apparently it's amazing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:33]: It's been an incredible conversation with you both. I know I have learned a lot and I've learned specifically a lot about how fundamental needs are being operationalized differently at uhd. If anyone would like to reach you after the show, how can they reach find you?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:47:46]: Thank you so much for having me. They can reach me at my email

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:47:48]: achamberlinaspa.org you can reach me at Gatewood K G A T E W O O d k@uhd edu or you can hit me up on LinkedIn.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:59]: Thank you both so very much for sharing your voices with us today.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:48:03]: Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:08]: This has been an episode of Essay Voices from the Female brought to you by naspa. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening now.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:38]: It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton, 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 latest episode of NASPA's Student Affairs Voices from the Field podcast, the conversation dives deep into one of higher education's most timely topics: What does a successful flexible work environment look like in student affairs today and in the future? This episode, recorded live at the 2026 NASPA Annual Conference in Kansas City, captures a chorus of perspectives from student affairs professionals across the country and around the globe, each sharing insights on how flexibility is shaping the present—and the promise—of our profession.

A key theme that echoes throughout the episode is the shift from the traditional 9-to-5 on-campus model to one that centers both staff well-being and student needs. Alan Thompson highlights this shift, noting that "the typical nine-to-five...is no longer going to work with the way the world is shifting around us" 00:00:50. Flexibility now takes many forms, from remote and hybrid work, to alternative scheduling, to using digital tools like chatbots for student support outside normal hours, as mentioned by Enoke J. Agyei.

Supporting staff as whole people is another recurring message. Kerry Greenstein underscores the importance of supervisors who "are understanding and able to support their teams," allowing staff to do what they need to be their best selves for students 00:02:11. The theme of trust and autonomy surfaces in Mishka Murad's comments on letting employees choose their work settings and hours to find individual productivity and balance, so long as the work gets done.

Many contributors advocate for meeting students where they are—digitally, asynchronously, and outside the office walls. Dan Volchek and Diana Sims Harris both suggest that student affairs professionals must adapt to students' diverse schedules and preferences, ranging from in-person to online interactions. At the same time, contributors recognize the challenge of designing flexible policies that remain inclusive, equitable, and responsive to both staff and student needs.

From practical solutions like cross-training backups and honoring comp time, to broader reflections on rethinking institutional culture, the episode brims with wisdom for every level of the field.

Whether you're a new grad or a seasoned dean, this conversation is a must-listen. It's packed with concrete ideas and heartfelt stories about finding work-life integration in student affairs. Tune in to SA Voices from the Field and explore how flexibility is not only redefining our work, but also sustaining our passion for serving students—today and into the future.

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 14 continuing our conversation on the value of Student Affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. Sheher hers your SA Voices from the Field Host welcome back to another episode of SA Voices from the Field Today is our third episode that was recorded live and in person at the Kansas City, Missouri 2026 annual conference. We asked you about the third focus area for the conference, which was about workforce trends and the future of the profession. The question posed was what does a successful flexible work environment look like in student affairs today and in the future? Here's what you told us.

Dr. Alan Thompson [00:00:50]: Alan Thompson at the Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington Director of Academic and Career Advising Having a flexible work environment is so important to the professionals who work in student affairs today as well as the future. The typical nine to five, five day or six day work week that we were once accustomed to in years gone by is no longer going to work with the the way that the world is shifting around us, it is important that we as professionals have a work life balance and oftentimes that means that having a flexible work schedule, working different hours throughout the day or even various days of the week, being able to work remotely two or three days a week, is very, very successful in creating an environment in which student affairs employ, want to work and are available to work given the many complexities that we have outside of the typical work environment.

Kerry Greenstein

Kerry Greenstein, Sweet Briar College I'm the Dean of Student Life. A successful work environment to me looks like supervisors who are understanding and able to support their teams, allowing them to come late, take time, really do what they need to do to be there best selves so that when they are present and helping the students that they serve that they are really at their best and able to serve them as best as possible. Hi everyone, my name is

Gada Endick [00:03:08]: Enoke J. Agyieu. I am a second year graduate student of the Student Affairs Administration Program at Michigan State University. I'll be graduating in May and I am glad to share my perspective as a new professional and a new grad. How I see flexible work environment is using technology and data to help students with services even without the physical appearance of professionals. With the age of AI, we can have chatbots and other technologies that can respond to student needs while professionals are not in their offices or they are not having a direct interaction with students and I think that is the way to go in the future as student affairs professionals. Be at the back end monitoring student trends and their concerns and how best students can be referred with in person and face to face services. So basically that is what I can share and I can see that profession have a great promise for some of us as early career professionals.

Mishka Murad [00:04:23]: My name is Mishka Murad and I have worked in student affairs as well as worked as an adjunct instructor. I'm originally from Pakistan and I've worked in Pakistan, Thailand, Mexico and the US Online classes suddenly because of a snowstorm. And so just having that ab ability to be able to adapt, I think is a really important skill that we're able to then give to students as well. So I think a flexible work environment is that ability to say I need to work from home or I'd like to work from home because I don't do so well with a chatty environment and I really want to zone in. Or guess what? I wake up at 5am every day and I'm most productive at 5:30. And I definitely don't want to come into the office, but if I'm working from home, that's possible. So I think it's really understanding that it's all the work we really do for students, which is they learn in different ways, they, they need different kind of advising. We show up for them at different times, on different days. Just bringing that into the world of student affairs where the same is allowed for us. So I too can have that flexibility. I too can work a particular hour that I might work well. And more than anything, a successful work environment is not just saying you can do these things, but is trusting people that they will do these things and they are doing these things. And so I believe that it's not just what is offered to you by an institution, but it's the kind of faith your dean and your supervisor have in you.

Gada Endick [00:05:14]: I'm Gada Endick and I'm the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life at Rutgers University. And we focus on creating an interconnected graduate student experience across our eight grad schools. So we're here to kind of improve the quality of life for graduate and professional students, serving their diverse needs, fostering a sense of belonging, and really helping them just make the most of the many resources Rutgers has to offer. So we do programming that's designed to connect students across their disciplines. We provide spaces for them to meet and gather, and we also focus on events and initiatives that celebrate their contributions, their achievements, and amplify their voices. A successful flexible work environment in student affairs today, I think recognizes that the work is both relational and adaptable. It balances the need for in person student connection with flexible options that support staff well being, productivity and trust. So in the future, the most effective environments, I think we'll focus less on where work happens and more on impact and empowering the professionals to serve students well while sustaining their own well being.

Adam McCready [00:06:24]: Hi, I'm Adam McCready. I use him his pronouns. I'm an associate professor in higher education programs at the University of Connecticut. Again, if we need to meet students where they're at, part of that is realizing that the 9 to 5 workday and having folks in person on campus is not meeting students and supporting. We need folks who are going to be in those face to face roles at on campus events and programs, but requires flexible work hours. There are plenty of folks in our field who can do their jobs successfully remotely. And if we want to retain and support folks specifically who were able to do their jobs successfully through the pandemic and beyond, we need to recognize that the in person only work experience is not the realm of success in the future. And for students who are coming into higher ed and then moving on into work in our field, thinking about it through that lens of in person work does not meet the reality of their identities at this point in time.

Andrew Finn [00:07:19]: My name is Andrew Finn and I am the assistant director for Graduate Student Programming and events in the center for Student Involvement at Northeastern University on the Boston campus. There's two approaches to this question. I'll look at it from a staff lens, but also a student lens from a staff lens. I think if we're talking about flexible work, I think it really comes down to staff being able to do the kind of work that they feel they can best do with students in a variety of different environments, not necessarily just an office, but outside of it. Not necessarily alone, but together in collaborative groups that are interdepartmental. Flexibility is not just about space though. It's also about getting a really wide perspective on what we can do as student affairs professionals to help students. And that perspective really comes from increased collaborative opportunities that are cross departmental and cross disciplinary. When it comes to, you know, students and flexible work environments, I think a lot of that flexibility is going to come simultaneously from bringing together asynchronous and synchronous engagement models, both digital and physical, in other words, in person and online, as well as hybrid and really using a lot of those models to quote unquote, meet students where they are when they're being bombarded with so many different engagement opportunities on so many different platforms simultaneously. I think it's important to understand that students have so many possibilities to connect with campus and those around them that we need to provide a lot of different avenues for them to engage in a lot of different ways, whether it's online or in person. That would make it as flexible as possible and help students ultimately connect more in the longer term.

Dylan Dermeyer

Hello, my name is Dylan Dermeyer. I am from Angelo State University and I handle clery compliance and student conduct, including academic misconduct. I think if you're going to be in a career for a extended, extended period of time, especially as many of us are in higher education with the pursuits of retirement in our universities, I think you need to make sure you are balancing a fair work life balance. And as we become higher in our positions within the university, it ultimately makes it harder for us to be away from the university. So I think part of that is training reliable backups, making sure that you have clear standard operating procedures so you can step away and have seamless transition periods.

And ultimately when you come back, everything should still be right where you left it or even further down the road. And overall, I think it is important for people to get out side their university, see new things, take courses that may not be directed for higher education, but more the corporate world because these help us balance us as individuals and as a whole. So overall, I think it is important that people get out of the office, get time on vacation, get time at conferences and find a whole well round being and also definitely support your local sports at your universities. That is always a big one for me. Go Rams. A successful, flexible work environment in student affairs today and in the future I think heavily relies on communication and overall comfort in the office. I know with supervisors it's really up to them to kind of create that space and create that opportunity for their employees and supervisees to feel comfortable in doing their work. And I believe it's it starts with the environment that we work in that can help improve the students that we work for.

Romando Nash [00:10:56]: Romando Nash Vice Provost for Student Affairs Washington State University I think a flexible work schedule is one that makes sure that we're providing the services that we need to provide for our students. Without doing that, then we're not doing anything right. I think that there's a mixture of remote potentially and then a mixture of folks having to be in person and figuring things out. But I also think that there's a need for us to shut down at 5 o' clock on most days while still being as in person and as present as we can be for the students that need us to be in that way and in that vein.

Brianna Morris

Hello, my name is Brianna Morris. I am from Richmond, Virginia and I currently serve as an Assistant Director for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. A successful flexible work environment in student affairs it will look like prioritizing outcomes, well being and sustainability for a person while also prioritizing the student needs by doing like more of a flexible work schedule, prioritizing outcomes, well being and sustainability as a professional while also making sure that the students are learning what they need to learn more of a flexible schedule hybrid administrative work will be better because that will take away from the burnout that we do receive and professionals in student affairs. Hi everybody.

Karin Gomez [00:12:19]: My name is Karin Gomez. My pronouns are they she. I am a student program coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin with the scholarship program titled UT for Me powered by Dell Scholars. I feel that a successful flexible work environment for today and in the future would consist of institutions really prioritizing the needs of the staff members. Some staff members are parents, some are single one income households, some have dependents and vice versa. And so some people need to work from home, some people need to work from another state at some point. Some people need to be able to have a space where they can retreat to that isn't necessarily campus or an office. And so having those as opportunities and availability and that freedom for them to decide, okay, today I think I really need to work from home in order to really focus on this project. Or I have a lot of student meetings and I would really prefer to have them in an online modality because I am immunocompromised or something like that. Of course it's not an all exhaustive list, but I think that having that flexibility in general and basing it off of the staff's specific needs that would benefit the work environment overall in student affairs.

Michael Allensworth [00:13:10]: I'm Michael Allensworth from Michigan State University. I think a flexible work environment looks like fitting the work shifts and the needs to the position. And so we may not need every position on campus five days a week. And there might be some positions that we do need on campus five days a week. So how can we as leaders assess and determine when and what positions we may need on campus to best support our students?

Taylor Cercone [00:14:17]: Hi, I'm Taylor Cercone. I work at Eastern Kentucky University as a residence hall coordinator and housing and residence life successful flexible work environment. Currently at Eastern Kentucky University, we are Very flexible because of the job position as a residence hall coordinator and working in housing, it can kind of feel like you're working non stop. What we do currently is taking a day off after being on call for a week straight or a few days straight. Being able to reconnect with ourselves, pretty much taking the time for ourselves to not create the sense of burnout so we can better serve our students. I think that this is very important because working in higher ed I feel like we're constantly on and we don't get to kind of turn off as much as we would want to. I think being able to take the time self care being away from the job, especially living on campus in the residence halls that we oversee, being able to take the time away from the campus itself to then better come when we come back to be better to aid the students in the future. I feel like a lot of departments should kind of enforce this, take this into play, into practice because it's better serving the employees who can better serve the students and their success in college and being able to be there 100% because anybody at 50%, I'd rather send you home for the day and then get you back at 100% so we can be more successful overall. I think that would be something to look forward to into the future and to bring into play.

Gada Endick [00:15:46]: Foreigna Mazalu I'm the Secretary General of the European University College Association. We are based in Brussels in Belgium. It's a European network of universities, colleges and halls of residences doing work, trying to promote the student affairs profession in Europe. Successful flexible work environment. That's a tough one because European institutions are very different all across the continent and flexible work in a student facing profession is not an easy recipe. So I would say look at different traditions, different lifestyle, different cultures and really try to personalize. That's an easy answer, but take the time to think about what your people need and try to be flexible in the mindset. Also take into account new generations coming into the workforce and have an open mindset around their needs and expectations. Sometimes as middle management or senior leaders, we think that we know it all and our experience give us the way to decide. But I think that we have to be humble and take into the account what the new colleagues, the new generations coming into the field have to say. And we have a duty to make a work environment that works for all.

Jordan Payton [00:16:46]: Hello. Jordan Payton from Ohio State University, a third year PhD student in engineering education. A successful flexible work environment. I think a lot of it today is about acknowledging that Some people work best in different environments sometimes. Sometimes it's from home, sometimes it's when they're traveling to conferences. I think the 9 to 5 structure is so rigid. It's very old school. And I think it's okay to look at things from a different point of view. You know, maybe it's 10 to 6, a lot of us are commuter students or we have kids, you know, that we need to drop off at school like 8am and so then we end up late to work or, you know, we have to do the parent pickup stuff, three which means we gotta leave work early or coordinate with somebody else. So I think it's about being okay letting people work from where they feel most comfortable and also most productive as well.

Dan Maxwell [00:17:27]:

My name is Dan Maxwell. I serve as the Vice President for Student Success and Student Life at the University of Houston Downtown. I think our reality in today's world is that flexibility is going to be key. How do we meet our students where they are? And that may not be traditional. Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and so how do we support staff who may need to be in spaces past five o' clock or in some cases when we're hosting events for students on the weekend? So as we think holistically about meeting our staff where they are, I would encourage us to begin to think about what does flexibility look like and still get us what it is that we need to do to make an impact on our student lives.

Diana Sims Harris [00:18:11]: Diana Sims Harris from IU Indianapolis. So a successful, flexible work environment today in student affairs and into the future, I feel like that's one that is responsive and centers student needs first and foremost, but also prioritizes staff engagement and work life integration. I think you can have a vibrant in person culture from, for example, and also allow for some remote opportunities for students. I oversee academic advising in our school and one of the things that we track is how often students want to meet online, for example, and we currently have over 50% of our student appointments online, even when we give students the option to come in person or to attend online. So allowing for some remote work, if that's an interest of a staff member is a really great engagement and retention tool that still centers and meets our student needs. Again, I think it's important just for us to continue to be responsive to what the needs of our students are and be willing to change and be flexible in the future, because what works now may not be the same in just a couple years. Good afternoon.

Dr. Mimi [00:20:00]: I am Shawnya Rain Coleman, better known as Dr. Mimi Vice President and Dana student at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. What does a successful flexible work environment look like in student affairs today? In the future, we have to be flexible. I tell people all the time, Student affairs is 24 hours a day. There is not one time that I can say that we are off work. We're not. We're seven days a week. Seven days a week. Even on the holidays and even when the students aren't there, we're still hard at work trying to create spaces for our students so when they do come back, they have that welcoming environment where they have a place where they can call home away from home. So what's flexible for us? We're not looking at what time you get in at 8 o' clock and what time you leave, because we know we're there when we're called upon, we answer the call. So flexibility for me is making sure that there is workplace balance, making sure we're meeting our needs, whether it is our physical needs, our mental needs and our spiritual needs. We're going to make sure that everybody is held accountable in finding their balance so that we can work effectively in meeting the needs of our students. So again, flexible work for me is not being there at 8 and leaving at 5, but being there when we're called upon and being present during that time.

Ray Handy [00:21:35]: Ray Handy Associate Dean of students at the University of New England in Portland, Maine Flexible work I'm kind of, as I've said, hard school on this, I think, depending what level you're at. But student affairs has much flexibility built into it. We work long hours, true, in many areas, but we also have a lot of flexibility in our workday schedules and things. I think if there's anything the higher you climb in that ladder of professional areas, many times the paperwork takes over. And I think if there is an opportunity to have some flex days, to be able to get those emails answered and to do the paperwork, that would be something that would be advantageous to folks. But I do think overall it's one of the reasons I'm in student affairs. It's flexible. It's great. You have the opportunity. You don't have to sit behind a desk every single day, so you're out and about. And best thing is you get to work with students.

Brett Peterson Bruner [00:22:09]: My name is Brett Peterson Bruner. I serve as the Associate vice, vice Provost for Student Success and Persistence at Wichita State University. A successful flexible work environment today in student affairs and in the future looks like truly meeting students where they're at, not waiting for them to arrive in our offices, but meeting them at various parts of the campus community.

Rachel Amaro [00:23:03]: My name is Rachel Amaro. I am the admissions and academic advisor for the Department of Educational Leaders Leadership at Cal State Fullerton. I think a successful flexible work environment in student affairs includes the incorporation of remote work. I think that while the pandemic sort of forced us out of our regular spaces of office, I think it really taught us that we can still be effective and do our jobs from anywhere we are. I think that it helps in terms of the environment. I think it, you know, reduces sort of people's, not just their commitment commute time, but the use of cars and transportation. I definitely noticed a change in my area in terms of the traffic and now we've seen an uptick in traffic and everything. So I think remote work helped even wider scope than we can imagine. And I think it helps us with our time management. I feel like when I'm able to work from home or someplace else, I'm still getting a ton of work done, but I'm doing it at a different pace and sometimes even with more focus because I don't have people interrupting me or I'm not getting interrupted. I just. I'm able to focus a lot better. So I think we need to have a good balance of allowing people to have that freedom and that ability to feel like they can be relaxed and still come into the office and enjoy the office environment.

Hanisha Dushara [00:23:47]: Hi, my name is Hanisha Dushara. I am originally from South India, but went to University of Cincinnati to get my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. Currently I work as part of business system strategy team at NASPA. A successful flexible work environment both currently and in future. The way it should be is focusing on work life balance both for professionals and college and personal life balance for students as well. For a professional, definitely having work environment that works for them and not them fitting into the work environment would be the focus that I would highly recommend. And I think they should also think about the workloads of how much they're taking on. Because taking on high workloads would just often lead them to burnout which is detrimental to their actual focus of supporting students better. So they need to take care of themselves, so take care of their physical and mental health to be able to support students better and do their job. And I would say should focus on well being and sustainability of them as supporters and going forward in the future, like better integrating the digital tools that are available at their disposal and help them use them and understand them better so that they can do their work properly would be the other thing and that would very much help them succeed in their profession and will help be flexible, help them have a flexible work environment.

Hi, I'm Jeanne Masterdicasa and I'm Assistant Provost and Director of Institutional Assessment at the University of Florida. I think really getting your hands around what work needs to be done in the office, what work needs to be done when students are not around, etc. I do know that student life in general, although many of us have to be at work at 8am, students are not there. So there really needs to be an understanding that there's administrative work that needs to be done, preparation work that needs to be done, meetings. But I think it's really going to be a little more focused on flexible hours and a little less on sort of the traditional mindset. The other thing is I do think the younger generations are not going to put in a lot of uncompensated work and we need to be prepared for managing that.

Ethan Williams [00:26:16]: My name is Ethan Williams and I work at University of North Texas Health Science center in Fort Worth, Texas. As far as a flexible work environment, I think that that is very important to attract new people to the field. I've worked in both. I currently have a two day a week hybrid schedule which is pretty nice because I have a young family and with our different needs, it's really flexible. Granted, I do get more work done when I'm in the office. I think that there's a big value. I would never want to be fully remote. I think that there's such a value in being able to talk to your peers and obviously we're in student affairs for the students and I get a lot of energy from interacting with the students. But I think that having a flexible mindset about what work looks like would greatly impact the field as to bring new new talent in and evolve with the changing work landscape just in the field.

Chris Hall [00:27:04]: Hi, I'm Chris Hall. I am the Director of Residence Life and Student Housing at Georgetown University Law Center. Well, for us a successful and flexible work environment right now looks like we have some people within our department who are remote, others who are hybrid and others who are working day to day in the office. And to be completely honest, I think that there are some feelings where that that is not equitable between the different groups. It's understood why some people can do that and Others can't. But I think it is necessary, you know, to be able to do that. We don't have the space for everybody to be on campus anymore. And so some people who truly can work remotely, that allows them. I think what would be really nice would be to be able to have a little more of a flexible schedule. I think that would be the one thing that we could do that we're not necessarily doing at this time.

Tiffany Riggers Peel [00:27:56]:

Hi, I'm Tiffany Riggers Peel, Associate professor of Higher Education at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. I think in student affairs today and in the future, we really need to think about counteracting ideal worker norms by providing opportunities to work remote without penalty or use of PTO and offering opportunities for folks to share time and spaces. So hoteling when necessary and giving them the opportunity and trust to work from home and work from the office to allow them that flexibility so that they can really create spaces of welcome for students on campus, but also have the opportunity to work appropriate hours so that they have time for family and a successful personal life so that they don't get burned out and leave the profession.

Jackie Yun [00:28:45]:

Hi, I'm Jackie Yoon and I serve as the Assistant Vice President of Student Experience at Emerson College in Boston. I think we need to understand what needs to be done to support students, and probably a lot of that needs to come from asking students and evaluating our work. But I think in order to prevent burnout and to make sure that student affairs professionals are also supported, we need to think about what the workplace looks like, what the hours look like, and we probably need to be more flexible, nimble, and we need to see that the profession has evolved. It's not always going to be the same way that we sort of grew up in. In student affairs, it's changing, and I think it really comes down to are we doing good work with students, are we meeting them where they're at? But because the profession can be pretty exhausting, can have long hours, can have a lot of nights and weekends, we probably need to be more flexible or folks are not going to choose the this vocational path because there's other professions that give that flexibility. And so we're going to have to be creative in thinking about our metrics of what we expect from our staff and ourselves so that we can continue to do the work and do it in an energized way.

Dr. Amy French [00:30:28]: This is Amy French from Bowling Green State University. A successful, flexible work environment in student affairs today respects boundaries. Boundaries allows for recognizing when professionals work late and then have early mornings that perhaps they have the latitude to make healthy decisions throughout the day, where they may have some space in their workday to perhaps go to the rec center to eat healthy meals, to do some mindfulness strategies. One thing that I've started doing is more crafting and watercolor. And so even having a space on campus where not only students can have mindfulness spaces, but also the professional staff have those spaces that in between meetings and busy schedules and late nights, there is some rejuvenation space.

Dan Volchek

Dan Volchek, Harvard Griffin Grad School of Arts and Sciences and finally, for question number three, we often say that student affairs is a student facing organization, so we need to be on campus to be with students, but that's not necessarily what students want. Students want to be able to deal with things on a virtual basis. So creating FAQs on websites, virtual office hours, ways students can contact and work with student affairs staff that aren't necessarily on campus five days a week would be a great thing to look at as well as what the communications methods are. We've moved into email, but are we going to do more with more instant messaging type systems so that students can contact us and we can respond back in those methods?

Katherine Hall-Hertel

Katherine Hall-Hertel, UNC Charlotte and the issue of flexible work environment in student affairs is such a loaded question right now. Many of us are having pressures from our system office or just our institutions, our elected officials, to make sure that we are serving the taxpayers by being present on campus. And that's all fine, but it doesn't support the needs of our staff and our workforce. And so I think it's a real challenge that we need to grapple with because we need to take care of our people as well as our students.

Dr. Scott Peska [00:32:16]: Hi, this is Scott Peska, the assistant provost of academic and student success at Waubonsie Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois. So what does successful flexible work environment look like in student affairs today and in the future? Well, I think that it's I guess the way I would answer that question is flexible work environment is being able to be adaptive to the types of classes that students are taking. So if they're in high flex or if they're online classes, we need to make sure we have support systems and services that are available in each of the way that students are there and being able to make sure that our facilities, faculty and our staff especially have the support to engage with students those ways. This is John Gardner from the University of South Carolina and from the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education. Well, I think I'm already seeing a number of aspects of it. The many student affairs colleagues are are no longer segregated into units where they're their only colleagues for each other. Many of them are now assigned out in other academic units. I'm really not sure about this. I don't think and now I need to so I'll revisit this.

Caitlin Talbot [00:33:41]: Caitlin Talbot, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign Assistant Director of Graduate Professional Programs for Bioengineering A successful flexible work environment to me means folks are recognizing and supporting remote and flexible work. Covid has happened. It opened the doors for folks at all levels to find new work environments. For me, there's so much work that is collaborative in the office, and when I am remote, it allows me to sit and work uninterrupted, aside from the occasional scratch for the dog. But overall it allows me time to focus, which is definitely what I need.

Dr. Lori White [00:34:40]: My name is Lori White. I am the President of DePauw University. I am a former NASPA board chair, and I served as a vice president for student affairs for 13 years and a flexible work environment for student affairs today and in the future. Certainly we want to be a profession that enables people to live a good life, to be able to have that, you know, proverbial balance, to be able to have families, and yet at the same time, our work means that we have to show up in person to be able to interact with our students. And so I think we have to ask ourselves today, what does it mean to be a successful student affairs professional, still showing up for our students in person and yet allowing for the opportunity for people to do the work and still have some sort of balance in their lives and families?

Karen Riedel

Karen Riedel, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign I'm the Assistant Director for Graduate Programs for Bioengineering the events of the last five or six years have shown us that remote work can work. With an increasingly diverse graduate and professional student population, it's important to have the flexibility to meet them where they are on campus, online at hours that can accommodate working students. Students have issues outside 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, and we need to be able to meet their needs.

Dr. Keegan Newkirk [00:36:19]: Hi, Keegan Newkirk from the College of DuPage. I'm a president vice vice president for Student Affairs. A successful flexible work environment looks like really just hitting the pause button during your day to reflect on your work that you're doing. I think if you need to take a long lunch to reflect, or if you need to run a quick errand, it's absolutely okay. We work long hours, but I think putting it into Perspective we don't always have to work those long hours is really important. Foreign

Marlee McGeehan

I'm Marlee McGeehan. I'm the graduate Student Affairs Coordinator in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. I think that remaining open to remote and hybrid work arrangements is super important now and will remain important in the future. Recognizing that our our students often prefer to meet from their apartments or their labs or a coffee shop and we don't always need to be physically present to be supportive and impactful and emotionally present in our students lives.

Serena Stujavent [00:36:59]: Hello, my name is Serena Stujavent. I currently serve as the Assistant Director for Commuter Student SAS at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A flexible work environment for me in student affairs looks like a place where my supervisor recognizes recognizes me as a whole person and doesn't ask me to not be that person in the workplace. So acknowledging and supporting whatever unique needs I may have and meeting me where they are realistic things, of course, still helping me identify ways that I can be successful and still show up in my role and in my career, but also managing the unique realistic circumstances I may be dealing with or navigating.

O' Keefe Johnson Rayner [00:38:28]: Hi, my name is O' Keefe Johnson Rayner and I'm the Assistant Director of Graduate Student Involvement at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Having worked in residence life in the past, I know what it means to live where you work. And I think anybody in student affairs can recognize just how much we live in our work. Regardless of the area, whether you're in residence life or in campus life or any kind of engagement with student affairs work. Recognizing that we really do live in our work and of our work, we take it home, we come back to it, it's not really something we put down. I think recognizing that if we make our work environments a place that we want to be, that respects our autonomy, that believes in our ability to do really good work individually without close monitoring or without unnecessary roadblocks. I do believe that people want to do good work. It is really great intrinsic motivation to love the work that you do. And the more trust there is in our ability to work and to engage in whatever that might look like, the more likely you're going to get good quality work. And so when it comes to a flexible work environment, recognizing that I can get work done just as well in one environment, you know, whether that's at home or outside or you know, in my own timing, as long as it's done by a certain time, I think that working in that way and being flexible to recognize that really great work can be done when there is room for creativity and there is, there's investment in trust for your professionals and your employees, I think that's a really good direction to go.

Dr. Jamie Washington [00:39:46]: Hello, I am Jamie Washington. Pronouns he, him and his. And I am the President Emeritus of the Social Justice Training Institute and the president of the Washington Consulting Group. As I consider who would be doing all of this and what does flexible work environment look like in student affairs today? It would be a work environment that recognizes student life that's much broader than what we kind of grew up with in traditional four year nine to five offices and maybe longer just for some student life folks who were doing advising and programming. But it would be looking at how we not only serve not students, just student services, but student wellness and support. That when beyond the traditional workday that created flexible work environments, which might mean a half day in the morning and then maybe a half day later in the evening, but things that worked in terms of the life experiences of the workers.

Lauren Zelinski

Hi, my name is Lauren Zelinski. I am the Associate Director for Student affairs in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Office of Graduate Studies. Student affairs departments have to prioritize flexible work arrangements for their staff for better retention and to stay competitive with hiring new staff. It would also help with burnout of current staff members.

Jeff Knapp [00:40:56]: My name is Jeff Knapp and I am at the University of Nebraska Medical center and I am the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services. With a successful and flexible work environment, we just have to look at what the needs of our employees are. And they are people first, they are families first, they are so many other things first. And we have to put that first in a way that allows them to do that, but also do their job because they want to do their job, they want to do well. And so sometimes that's flexible work schedules or varying things. And I think we just need to take a broad approach and not be so rigid in our approach to employment practices.

Michelle Burke [00:41:53]: Hi, I'm Michelle Burke. I'm the director of Post secondary Programs and Partnerships with the Michigan center for Adult College Success based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I've been higher ed adjacent now for about a dozen years. When I worked on campuses it was very much a 247 mindset. And I worked in student life for most of that career and it was you were there when the students were there, which is night and day. And I worked in different environments. One environment was very inflexible, that no matter how late you stayed the night before you had to show up at 8:30 the next morning and Then I worked in other environments and I led an environment that was much more flexible. And that's crucial to make sure that your team has time for their families and time for pursuits outside of work. That's something I didn't really enjoy in my career, that I wasn't able to pursue a lot of interests outside of whatever was going on in my campus community. I still work in higher education, but I don't work directly on a campus. I'm very much enjoying being part of the community that I live in. And it's important to give all student affairs practitioners the opportunity to do that and to be part of the community beyond the campus so you can be flexible and you can still be fair. And it's really about understanding as a leader who each of your staff members are and how the whole team can work together. And sometimes some team members will pull ahead to accommodate someone who needs the extra space and time. But if you're doing that in a way that can be beneficial for everyone, you'll be in a better spot than if you just demand, demand, demand from your staff.

Dr. Ed Cabellon [00:43:35]: Hi, I'm Dr. Ed Cabellon, interim vice President for Student experience at Frederick Community College in Maryland. For me, success would be defined as exceeding student expectations and improving student outcomes that meet the institution's mission.

Tiffo Carmichael [00:44:26]: Hello, my name is Tiffo Carmichael. I work, I work for the University of Texas at Austin. I'm the graduate program manager for the interdisciplinary life sciences graduate programs in cell molecular biology, biochemistry and microbiology. Flexible work I think is really critical in higher education right now because again, I guess speaking from my institution's place, space is always a huge issue. We're a very large university. We do not have really much space to be able to become any larger, at least not in our current configuration. And but student population is growing and our needs are always growing. And so we have to find a way to make that work logistically. And so I think flexibility in how staff do their work, especially also because of the fact that we're a state run, we are limited in how we can offer salary and compensation and other way and things like that. And so having flexibility in work schedule can be such a benefit to people that allows them to meet their needs in ways that are not associated with financial compensation. If you can allow it so that a parent can work, flex to schedule and be able to pick up their kids and save that money on childcare, then maybe they don't need to worry about getting that higher paying job or being able to take care of their elderly. Parents or whatever. So I just think, to me, what does it look like? I mean, I think literally flexible schedule for so many people. I think you should be able to come in and say, this is the work that needs to get done. This is what we expect. You know, we expect it to be, quote unquote, a 40 hour work week. And what that work week looks like is up to the needs of the deadlines. And if people want to be able to flex that work from home, work long hours, you know, before something, but then take a day off afterwards, I think, I think the important thing is that we get the work done and that we do it in a way that allows people to live their lives. They feel like they have the capacity to continue to get the work done in the future. And so therefore they don't get burnt out. And you then have massive turnover and institutional loss. And it's just bad all around. And I think flexibility is the way we have to go.

Dr. Brooke Hildebrand [00:46:01]: Hello, I'm Dr. Brooke Hildebrand, clubs, and I am the program coordinator, coordinator and assistant professor for our Higher Education Administration program at Southeast Missouri State University. Boy, that's tough. My daughter Avery is a hall director at Southeast Missouri State. I mean, she literally lives where she works. She works where she lives. And so I think that is a thing student affairs professionals have struggled with, regardless of their position, is having that good work life balance. So I think anything that we can do to promote well being and to reduce burnout, the emotional exhaustion and the depersonalization and the lack of personal accomplishment that comes with burnout. And if that means having some work from home days, if that means changing our schedule so that we work longer some days and then don't come in on other days, I think there's a lot of possibilities there.

Olivia Callahan [00:46:40]: My name is Olivia Callahan and I'm the alumni manager for the Computer Science and Engineering division at the University of Michigan. I think that a successful flexible work environment for student affairs can really depend on the position. But for those of us that might be working after hours or on weekends, flexible work really provides us the opportunity to again reserve capacity as individuals and being able to work remote on days when we maybe have to come in person on the weekend, being able to work remote on the weekdays is really helpful to again, really help us maintain our mental health and being able to make work flexible and prevent burnout. Maybe a hybrid environment. That's what I personally work with and I really enjoy the hybrid environment because it gives me the opportunity to connect with both students and my colleagues in person. And maintain those connections in community while again being able to prevent burnout and have capacity by being able to work from home.

Dr. April Perry [00:48:16]: Hi there, I'm Dr. April Perry. I'm a professor of Higher education at Western Carolina University. I think that this is a question that we absolutely have to bring to the center of the conversation. As Millennials and Gen Z come into the workforce, we want flexibility. We need flexibility. And I think we have to recenter what the traditional work day and work week looks like and offer services to employees to frankly keep the sustainability of our industry and higher ed over.

Dr. Rolanda Horne [00:48:54]: My name is Dr. Rolanda Horne and I am the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. A successful flexible work environment in today's age and in the future, how does that look for student affairs? Well, we have to make sure that our students are taken care of. We have to make sure that we're servicing them and that there are no gaps in the services that we're providing. So flexible work schedule environment will entail all of the managers ensuring that our employees at every level have an opportunity to choose maybe one or two days a week where they can possibly work hybrid schedules or maybe a telework schedule, but at the same time making sure that our students are getting what they need. Maybe at times having blackout days where like, okay, during peak registration times or graduation times, there are no flexible work schedules because all hands are needed on deck to service our students. But providing an opportunity where people can work from home or even come to work and maybe work at the coffee shop while ensuring that our students are taken care of.

Paul Rossi [00:50:22]: Hello, my name's Paul Rossi. I work at the University of the Arts, London and part of the Omoshi association in the UK for leaders in student services There flexible work environments in student affairs today should be kind of mirroring what is expected by and for our students. The idea that everyone leads an office work hour set has been really challenged by the pandemic, and I think flexible working arrangements that have been brought in place post pandemic are going to have to move into continual, refined modes of thinking in order to ensure that future work patterns not only serve the institutions, but serve the students that we're looking to provide services and support for. This will be different in different fields of operations within institutions, but I think the conversation in those that can be more flexible have only really just begun properly and there's still a lot of work to do on that.

Sam Miller

Hi, my name is Sam Miller. I'm the Assistant Director for Student Engagement at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Successful flexible work environment means looking at the employee holistically. It's taking advantage of the time that we have while at work and also taking advantage of the time that we have away.

Gianluca Giovannucci [00:51:34]: My name is Gianluca Giovannucci. I come from Italy, Europe. I am the president of European University College Association, a Belgium based association that connects residential colleges universities in Europe. We are working in 18 European countries. A flexible work environment means that your staff can join you in person during the week, but also work remotely. We call this in Europe smart working. But we think that really in person environment is absolutely necessary required to be in touch with your colleagues and to better understand each other and cooperate to obtain new goals and new achievements. So I mean that there is a possibility of a remote job time, but you need also to be in person together in the office and to talk one to one.

Antonia McFarland [00:52:30]: My name is Antonia McFarland. I am Assistant coordinator for our Residential Conduct and Community Standards office at Stony Brook University. A successful flexible work environment looks like taking care of yourself and leaving where work needs to be. That looks like removing yourself at certain points, asking for help, delegating help, not always trying to be a superman and do all the things at work, but knowing how to delegate that and knowing what energy to put and place. It is really important when it comes to having a successful work environment.

Dr. Carrie Montgomery Orozco [00:53:21]: I'm Dr. Carrie Montgomery Orozco. I'm an adjunct faculty member at the University of Florida's online Student Personnel in Higher Education program. For me, a flexible work environment is one that really is respectful of the humanity of our workforce. So in the environment now of return to work for a lot of people and the flexibility of some remote work has maybe gone away. I think it's important to really take the lessons that we learned through Covid and having to do that very quick pivot and think about what can make sense for people and for people's lives that can help retain people to our field. Because the lack of flexibility that we are going back to is, I think, a driving force for people potentially not wanting to stay in our field. We have to recognize people's lives and have some flexibility in there that can sustain our workforce and sustain our profession.

Trinity Miller

Hello, my name is Trinity Miller and I am an assistant coordinator from Stony Brook University University. I think a successful flexible work environment looks something like hybrid. I believe that since the pandemic has really changed how working in corporate America is, I believe having that ability to be hybrid, some days to work from home, some days to work in the Office. I find out that sometimes working from home is beneficial because it gives you an ability to create your independence, your ability to be flexible, your ability to work at your own pace. And being able to work from home also allows you to be able to recharge in addition to then going in the office and being able to connect with your peers. I think it's a really well balanced situation to be able to do both. So I feel like a flexible work environment would be one that is hybrid.

Dr. Art Munin [00:54:42]:

I am Art Munin, Senior Associate Vice President at Liaison, working exclusively with graduate programs. And then last one, what does a successful flexible work environment look like in student affairs today and in the future? None of these jobs are 9 to 5. I spent most of my career as a dean of students. We need to be able to have the flexibility to work from home. We need to be able to have the flexibility to work after hours and then be able to have the flexibility to take care of ourselves. One thing that I always prided myself on and I challenged myself staff to do is that I worked out over the launch hour. I would go to student rec to be able to spend time working out. So not only could I be taking care of myself, but spending time in community with students.

Daelyn Doe [00:55:26]: My name is Daelyn Doe. I use she her pronouns and I'm the associate director for the Women in Science and Engineering Residence program at the University of Michigan. I think as far as a successful flexible work environment looks like, honestly it's different for everyone. And I think we really have to be willing to meet people where they're at and provide flexibility that meets folks in the moments that they're in. Everyone's going through different experiences in their personal life and so trying to understand that each person's experience is unique. And so we really have to think about the support that we have and especially as supervisors, really helping our supervisee navigate their own personal experiences. And so just being willing to provide that flexibility and whatever that looks like for the individual.

Dr. Kimberly Goldsberry [00:56:13]: Kimberly Goldsberry, Vice President of Belonging, Engagement and mission at DePaul University a successful flexible work environment in student affairs today can range from just knowing that you have the ability to ask for, offer flexibility, to truly having a position that's designed and structured in that way. At my institution, we hire everyone to be in person with flexibility, so we don't treat one unit exactly the same way as another because their work differs. And by having that openness to flexibility, we can create a successful pathway for our staff to work and achieve the goals we have as a department but also know their whole work experience is increased in value by having flexibility built into it.

Carly Matthews

Hi, my name is Carly Matthews and I'm an Area Coordinator in Residence Life at Rollins College in Orlando, Florida. And for me in Residence life, I work on an on call capacity, so after hours, so flexibility for me would be surrounding that. Not all student affairs professionals have the wonderful opportunity to be emergency personnel or support students mainly facing crisis situations.

So staff mental health is also something that is deeply important to me and needed for the success of the field as well.

Dr. Les Cook [00:57:48]:

Les Cook Chancellor Emeritus, Montana Technological University Assistant Successful work environment for student affairs would look similar to what when we talk about all the time serving students and meeting students where they are, we need to also think about meeting employees where they are. Long gone are the days when you worked 16 hour days all week, you spent all weekend doing the work and took no time for yourselves. And as student affairs staff, for too long we've spent our lives taking care of others and now it's time that we turn the mirror back on ourselves and think about how we take care of ourselves. As Susan Komives once said, take care of yourself first and the rest will follow. I think that we need to live that life and we need to think about how we incorporate that into our work life and student affairs.

Amarette Ranieri [00:59:03]: Howdy. My name is Amarette Ranieri and I am an Assistant Managing Director at Texas A and M University working with Mays and Business school. And what does a successful flexible work environment look like? I feel like I'm pretty lucky in the sense of where I'm at right now, but I think allowing staff to have flexible schedules so if they have a student org meeting at night, then they either adjust their schedule that day or the next day or figuring out where they're truly working 40 hours a week and not working 60 plus hours because they have to be after hours for those student org meetings or figuring out what does that look like if they need to adjust their entire schedule. And of course always remembering that people have lives outside of work and so understanding when things come up and life happens, things happen, people get sick, people die. Like all of those things are important. And so remembering that is vital. And I think some of the best places of work that I've been have all taken that into consideration and treated me as a whole person and not just a worker and a cog in the wheel like they see my full self. So I think that's really important.

Eddie Howard [01:00:30]: My name is Eddie Howard. I serve as Assistant Dean for Student Success and Enrollment Management at The University of South Carolina, Sacahatchee, which is one of the branch campuses of the University of South Carolina with a two year campus. A successful work schedule environment for student affairs, in my opinion would be one that really where student affairs professionals almost need one or two shifts, a morning shift, an afternoon shift, even a late shift, so that we're at full capacity when we work with our students. I think some of us work 60 to 70 hours a week and we're not always bringing our best selves. But if we could find a way to finance a situation where there were more than one person doing the same job but coming in with their full self, an evening shift, a morning shift, where the students could be supported almost 24 hours a day, and that would allow us as professionals to have the time that we need to recharge and replenish. So totally optimistic, but that's my thought.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeier [01:01:31]: Hi there. This is Julie Payne Kirchmeier. I am president and CEO of Edgefield Group. And as far as flexible work goes, I know this is a debate in person, not in person, in person, remote. We need to look again, if we send to the student what is best for them. We can't be 8:30 to 5 anymore in a few physical location on one part of the campus. We need to blend our approach where we are leveraging technology and data, where we are centering student success and supporting it as a structural component of the institution. And really then saying, all right, what do open locations need to look like on campus? How do we need to train our staff to probably be more generalists than they've been recently and then be accommodating? So it can't be that we're all remote. When do we need to be in person, when do we not? But be honest about that conversation. And just like we center students and student success, how do we center our staff and help them be successful as well?

Dr. Melinda Stoops [01:02:45]: Hi, I'm Melinda Stoops and I do coaching and consulting for higher education. I've worked in higher ed for over 20 years in Region 1, and my most recent role in a campus setting has been as AVP for Student Health and Wellness. Since COVID we've thought a lot about what our work life looks like in student affairs and specifically working remotely or hybrid or in person. And I don't think there's one exact way that all campuses will work because each campus and each system is unique and we need to respect that and be responsive to that. And at the same time, it would really benefit us to look closely at possibilities and opportunities. Just because we've always been fully in person except for Covid, doesn't mean we have to continue that way. And in what ways can we be flexible to recognize and support staff who sometimes need to be home and work from home because of of personal obligations or have a long commute and even remote work one day a week could go a long way in terms of their personal wellness and stress levels. And so I think we need to look at the big picture of our organization and that if you're a traditional on campus situation, of course you need people on campus, but do you need everyone on campus every day, or can you balance remote or even a hybrid with shifts being different? If someone does a lot of evening programming, do they always need to be a 9 to 5 and work late, or would they be better working a 12 to 8 schedule? So I think creativity and thinking outside of the box is key. A flexible workspace to me, honors work, life, balance, the fact that this is a demanding profession and so it has flexibility. It understands that you have ebbs and flows in the work and that it's respectful of that and help students make the most of their time by also maximizing our time and giving people that grace and flexibility. So it looks like comp days or work from home on certain slow periods when you can, and then with the shared expectation that you're showing up when you need to be there.

Seth Matthew Fishman [01:04:36]: Seth Matthew Fishman, Villanova University I am a professor of Higher education leadership and the Assistant dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. You know, Covid really made us think about flexible work environments. What does that really look like in terms of hybrid online activities? What things can be delivered to different audiences at different time periods? And then also how are we negotiating what it looks like to actually have in our work contracts? What a typical day is thinking about personal time and compensation time and being more flexible with how we allocate paid time off.

I'm James Quisenberry at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. A successful, flexible work environment in student affairs today needs to recognize that people need time for themselves. And so we need to give people grace and time to reach out. Charge.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:05:35]: Thank you to all 60 of you who shared your voice with us on the podcast. We really appreciate you letting us run up to you and ask you to participate and share your thoughts with us. It was an incredibly valuable experience for all of us and I hope that our profession can benefit from the responses you gave us. There were three total episodes on the focus areas, so if you missed the first two. They should be back in your feed now. Thanks so much for speaking to us. This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field brought to you by naspa. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us.

Dr. Jill Creighton [01:06:08]: If you'd like to reach the show, you can email [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a a five star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the 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 [01:06:38]: 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.

Season 14, Episode 8 of NASPA's Student Affairs Voices from the Field podcast brings together a powerful chorus of perspectives from student affairs professionals, leaders, and educators, all answering a central, urgent question: How can student affairs use data and technology to better serve the profession? This episode is a must-listen for anyone committed to the future of higher education, offering both inspiration and practical insight for advancing our field.

A tapestry of voices emerges, revealing several clear themes. First, the call for intentional and strategic use of data rings loud and clear throughout. Alan Thompson identifies the importance of keeping up with evolving technology to positively impact the student experience and emphasizes the critical nature of knowing who our students are and what support they need. Others, like Gada Endick, advocate using data not just for compliance or recordkeeping, but to proactively search for gaps in student belonging and to build more intentional communities.

Second, embracing technology and artificial intelligence as tools for both efficiency and connection is a recurring thread. Dylan Dermeyer, among others, highlights how AI can free professionals from routine tasks, affording more quality time with students. This shift allows practitioners to focus on building meaningful relationships—the heart of student affairs work. Romando Nash encourages leveraging AI so staff can spend less time on paperwork, and more time face-to-face with students.

Another consistent theme is the necessity of collaboration and data sharing. Several contributors emphasize that data must not remain siloed. Brett Peterson Bruner voices the need to share information across campus, advocating for collective wisdom and integrated decision-making: when student affairs, academic, and institutional researchers join forces, the whole campus community benefits.

The importance of professional development and training is spotlighted as well. Michael Allensworth and Antonia McFarland argue that data and technology skills should be woven into graduate preparatory programs and ongoing staff training to ensure everyone in the profession can grow, adapt, and thrive.

Finally, the episode calls for a human-centered approach to data. Mishka Murad reminds us that behind every number is a student story, and Dr. Rolanda Horn advocates using data as storytelling—a tool to highlight successes, identify gaps, and advocate for the value of our work.

For those seeking guidance, inspiration, or a pulse on where student affairs is headed in a rapidly changing world, this episode delivers. Tune in to hear your colleagues grapple with the challenges and opportunities ahead, sharing strategies that can help us all lead with data, technology, and most of all, heart.

Ready to dive deeper? Listen now to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, Season 14, Episode 8!

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 14 continuing our conversation on the value of Student Affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. Sheher hers your SA voices from the Field host. Thank you for coming back for our next episode of Essay Voices from the Field. Today we're going to be featuring your responses to our second question that we recorded live and in person at the 2026 annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Our second question was about the focus area of data technology and return on investment in higher education and student affairs. We asked you how can student affairs use data and technology to better serve the student affairs profession? Here's what you told us.

Dr. Alan Thompson [00:00:38]:

Alan Thompson at the Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington Director of Academic and Career Advising the use of data and technology in student affairs student life is so imperative. The way that technology is shifting and growing and changing today, student affairs needs to stay abreast and stay par with the various systems that can have a positive impact on students experiences and so the use of data knowing who our students are, what services that the institution is lacking to support our students, but making sure that we are using that data is critical to the success of the profession.

Cary Greenstein

Cary Greenstein, Sweet Briar College I'm the Dean of Student Life. I would make sure that student life and student affairs staff are led to be senior Student affairs or senior cabinet members at any institution so that they could really have the authority to lead and run everything from CARE teams to student success and all the other things that are really needed to help improve student success. And so really it's about how we set the organizational structure. I would say that we can really use data to help serve the profession by really making sure that we have so much information, our platforms provide so much for us that we can use that to then better understand our students, better understand their needs and how we can better serve them and support them with whatever challenges they're having.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:47]: Hi everyone, my name is Enoke Agyei I am a second year graduate student of the Student Affairs Administration Program at Michigan State University. I'll be graduating in May and I am glad to share my perspective as a new professional and a new grad. Data and assessment is the way to go because it give us what we are not seeing, give us the hidden treasures of how we are able to support students and technology is here to facilitate our work with Predictive analytics for us to know the early signs, to come on board with proactive measures before students fall through the cracks. So I think the data and assessment should not be seen from that perspective of compliance, but rather to develop it as a culture to help a student. So more of helping students a proactive measure than to see it as compliance measure.

Mishka Murad [00:04:04]: My name is Mishka Murad, and I have worked in student affairs as well as worked as an adjunct instructor. I'm originally from Pakistan, and I've worked in Pakistan, Thailand, Mexico, and the US when it comes to data, I will say I am a person who really values qualitative data. I really appreciate numbers, but I think what is crucial is to get the stories behind the numbers. And so when we collect data on things like belonging or collect data on student organizations and people feel like they're being represented in these student organizations, or if classes are the way that students want them to be and they're getting the sort of courses that they want to get, I think it's other than just numbers really, unpacking what those numbers are saying, where they are coming from, what are the stories that they're telling, and learning more about the student experience through these stories. I believe in the power. When we say data, I think people think of number, they think of percentages, all of these really fancy things that I am not very good at, like statistics. But I really appreciate the fact that I think education first and foremost and student success comes in the ability to learn lessons from storytelling and from experiences. That's what education looked like, you know, when our families would tell us stories and their families would tell them stories. And so really, to use more off that qualitative data, I believe is crucial.

Gada Endick [00:05:15]: I'm Gada Endick and I'm the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life at Rutgers University. And we focus on creating an interconnected graduate student experience across our eight grad schools. So we're here to kind of improve the quality of life for graduate and professional students, serving their diverse needs, fostering a sense of belonging, and really helping them just make the most of the many resources Rutgers has to offer. So we do programming that's designed to connect students across their disciplines. We provide spaces for them to meet and gather, and we also focus on events and initiatives that celebrate their contributions or achievements and amplify their voices. Student affairs can use data to better understand where graduate students feel connected and where they may be feeling isolated. So looking at things like survey feedback and engagement patterns helps identify gaps in belonging across programs and student groups. When we use that insight well, we can kind of create more intentional opportunities for community and support.

Adam McCready [00:06:13]: Hi, I'm Adam McCready. I use he, him, his pronouns. I'm an associate professor in higher education programs at the University of Connecticut. Regarding data Use technology. As someone who does a lot of work educating future practitioners in our field on assessment, we just have so much data already that is vastly underutilized in our field. And if you look at some of the work even from like Nick Bowman at University of Iowa with looking at the meal index or the M index or swipes, there's just so much more we can do with the data that we already have. And I think that we often think about that we have to collect more data. And I think part of it is just really better thinking about the data we've collected already and how we're utilizing it. That and the fact that we need to engage actively with artificial intelligence and think about how we are leveraging AI to improve our support of students and to meet them where they're at and support their success. And lastly, as someone who does social media research, we need to meet students in their reality. Their identities are ubiquitous, both in person and online, and to only think about in person engagement as a fallacy. At this point, we need to better engage students in the online realms, whether it be social media or other virtual platforms, in a way that meets them. And if we're bridge building, we need to meet them where they're at.

Andrew Finn[00:07:02]:

My name is Andrew Finn and I am the assistant Director for graduate student programming and events in the center for Student Involvement at Northeastern University on the Boston campus. Student affairs can become more data driven. I think student affairs could really stand to use data in a way that really captures a lot of different populations and all of their intersecting identities and backgrounds and beliefs. In particular, I think student affairs could use data in a way that really brings together stakeholders who do not work with a lot of these students face to face, and it can bring them together into the room with something like data to really look at the hard facts of what the student experience is like on the ground from those who work closest with them, and as such increase resources and support for those students earlier on.

Dylan Dermeyer [00:08:19]: Hello, my name is Dylan Dermeyer. I am from Angelo State University and I handle clery compliance and student conduct, including academic misconduct. Ultimately, I think universities need to be embracing new technology, especially in the realms of artificial intelligence. I think we're seeing more students using these on their papers, on their work, and instead of being behind the times and trying to act as if these are unfair advantages. Rather be proactive and start realizing that these are the tools of the industry and in a culture and climate where budgets are already restrictive, using technologies can amplify each amount of work you do. Is somebody who's studied economics, I would say anything that can make us more productive is going to increase not only our value to our team, but also increase our bottom line. So overall, I think student affairs needs to take a more comprehensive approach into how to use artificial intelligence and other forms of technology that can make them more proactive in situation. I believe student affairs can use data and tech to better serve the profession by continuing to improve our outreach and the way that we interact with students on a daily basis and reach larger audiences.

Dr. Romando Nash [00:09:50]: Romando Nash Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Washington State University we have to figure out ways to get AI involved in our profession. I think there's opportunities for us to allow it to help us do the things that are the things that frees us up to be able to provide our students more of our face to face time. And I think today's students definitely need that as well.

Brianna Morris

Hello, my name is Brianna Morris. I am from Richmond, Virginia and I currently serve as an Assistant Director for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Honestly could better leverage data and technology by moving beyond simple reporting towards strategic predictive. I do know that many departments collect valuable data like conduct trends, engagement metrics, retention indicators, but that information is not always connected across systems. I do think that it's equally important to demonstrate the impact of student affairs work like showing programs, interventions, student engagement because it all contributes to retention, persistence and graduation. So just when the data tells our story clearly, it strengthens the profession and I think we could use technology a little bit better just to be more invested and intentional with students.

Karin Gomez [00:10:55]:

Hi everybody. My name is Karin Gomez. My pronouns are leishi. I am a student program coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin with the scholarship program titled UT for Me, powered by Dell Scholars. I believe that student affairs can use data and tech to better serve the profession by providing different rates of investment and showing us the return on investment, letting us know that matriculation rates dependent on student success resources, what's available at their institution, what kind of financial wellness was offered. We can kind of cross reference these different things and see what lines correlate with each other and try to implement further change that can best suit students in the long run to make sure that we're supporting students as much as possible.

Michael Allensworth [00:12:00]: I'm Michael Allensworth From Michigan State University. Data and tech are incredibly important and I think one way that we can use them to better serve the profession is include some additional training in our master's preparatory programs. We need specific classes that help us consider and think about how data are used and how we can use artificial intelligence and other features to help better prepare us for our positions.

Mirela Masalu [00:12:56]: Hello, my name is Mirela Masalu. I'm the Secretary General of the European University College Association. We are based in Brussels in Belgium. It's a European network of universities, colleges and halls of residences doing work trying to promote the student affairs profession in Europe. Regarding how student affairs use data and tech to better serve the profession, we can see that in Europe it's very slow. The integration of data and tech in our profession is slow and perhaps less creative than we see around the world. And, and we can dedicate more professional development funds, put the money where our mouth is, and provide more professional development for people to understand how to use data and tech.

Jordan Payton [00:13:47]: Hello. Jordan Payton from Ohio State University, a third year PhD student in engineering education. I think this plays on data desegregation, just something that I study a lot in my current doctoral studies. I think that data has a very strong place to better serve the profession. But I think a lot of it comes down to what we publish and how we use this data and technology. It's often behind paywalls. You know, students want, and even professionals like staff members in higher education, they want to read journals, they want to read cutting edge studies over, you know, what's happening in the field. But a lot of these things are behind paywalls. And if you don't come from an R1 institution, your university may not have access to, to the data or the journals that you want to read to stay on top of these things to best serve student affairs and the profession itself. So I'd say it's good to have, you know, a lot of publications about research, but again, making sure that can be disseminated and put somewhere else that's accessible and free for students and student affairs professionals to read this stuff. A lot of us will publish scholarly papers as PhD students and then we'll do a PowerPoint presentation that'll get recorded, that'll get published, published somewhere else behind another paywall. But we need to remember, like, let's write summarizing papers that say, you know, what are the big key points? What are findings? What are practical things that could be implemented every day for our professionals.

Dan Maxwell

My name is Dan Maxwell. I serve as the vice president for Student Success and Student Life at the University of Houston Downtown Data is so critical as we begin to make more informed decisions about about how we use our resources to move forward. Data can tell us not only who is coming into our spaces and who we're serving through our programs and services and activities, but in many ways tell us who we're not serving. And I think it's important for us to begin to think about how do we get people into our spaces and places where we can support them and for whatever reason, they're not currently coming to see us.

Diana Sims Harris [00:14:58]: Diana Sims Harris from IU Indianapolis so there's lots of different ways that student affairs can use tech and data to better serve the population. One of the things I've seen a lot in my current role is using artificial intelligence and other tech to assist with some time intensive processes and then free up that time for more meaningful contact with students. So one of the things we know about student success is oftentimes that connection with another person is so key. And I found that tech can really again free up that time so you can build in more meaningful conversations, more connections with students, more higher level work, and that tech can help with some of those processes. Things like early alert intervention programs, all of those things are really critical.

Dr. Mimi [00:16:19]: Good afternoon. I am Shanya Wren Coleman, better known as Dr. Mimi, Vice President and Dean of student at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. Data usage is important because I personally want to know what's working, what is in need of improvement, and what never to do again. What is our win? Data will tell us what is our win. So we have to use, effectively use data to make sure that we are getting the win. When we are creating these spaces for our students to feel like they belong at our institution. The programs that we build, the activities that we have for them, we need to make sure that there's a win and data will show us that.

Ray Handy

Ray Handy, Associate Dean of Students at the University of New England in Portland, Maine as far as data, I think that we use data very differently from how our students use data. And so I think it's a constantly changing and evolving process and something that we need to be at the level of where our students are at in order to better communicate with them and to utilize the tools that are out there. And if we do so, then we're going to be better as practitioners and as providing services back to our students.

Brett Peterson Bruner [00:17:22]: My name is Brett Peterson Bruner. I serve as the Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Persistence at Wichita State University. Student affairs can use data and technology to better serve the profession when we share data, rather than hoarding data, but sharing it across campus to all of our campus partners.

Rachel Amaro [00:18:17]: My name is Rachel Amaro. I am the admissions and academic advisor for the Department of Educational Leadership at Calvary Cal State Fullerton. When it comes to data and tech, I think we're really in a desperate need again for more solid information about a wider variety of the student population. I think that we often forget all the nuances of the different types of students that we serve. And in order to truly capture what improvements we can make to the student experience, we really have to open up our views on who they are and understand understanding what the needs are. And I think obviously AI has become a real massive topic. And so I think we need to really open ourselves up to what that can do to help us and how we can encourage students to use it as a tool but not rely on it to help get them through anything in particular.

Hanisha Dushara [00:19:28]: Hi, my name is Hanisha Dushara. I am originally from South India but went to University of Cincinnati to get my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. Currently I work as part of Business System Strategy team at NASPA to serve student affairs better use data and tech. The one thing that I think everyone should focus on is how to use the data to identify early patents if a student Students need help. Most of the times students and professionals, they react after a problem grows very huge. That's when we notice. But oftentimes they do start very early with little signs which are obvious when we look back but not obvious during the time. So maybe missed classes or they need like help but are struggling to reach out. That manifests in like different ways of not engaging enough properly or missing assignments, all these things. So I think using data to track these and reaching out if student professionals can do anything to help them overall for students would be amazing. And technology can help organize all these resources in one place and pass out this information better so that these all help support in decision making both for professionals and students.

Jeanne Masterdicasa

Hi, I'm Jeanne Masterdicasa and I'm Assistant Provost and Director of Institutional Assessment at the University of Florida. The idea of how can student affairs use data and tech to better serve the profession? I think what I've been hearing a lot at this conference about is doing better with a data lake with sharing data amongst student affairs. But interestingly all I've been hearing about is keeping it within student affairs. So make sure you look for ways to use your data to better serve the profession externally on your own Campus as well. There's a lot of great work work that happens and you have the data. Just make sure the academic side of the house knows about it.

Ethan William [00:20:49]: My name is Ethan Williams and I work at University of North Texas Health Science center in Fort Worth, Texas. As far as data and technology, I think that incorporating some of the aspects that we can learn from our faculty counterparts as far as learning outcomes goals, I think a lot of that stuff in the past people have thought that a lot of our events are more social, like how do we judge that? But I think that setting learning objectives, even if it is a student, will make one friend at an event. I mean that's a learning objective that you can measure and survey at the end and can be a part of proving to leadership that your event was a success. Because I heard someone say one time that assessment and student affairs is how we prove our jobs and justify our worth and the academic programs have grades and things like that that they're able to easily prove what their value is. But on our end, I think that we should look for new ways to use data to justify and promote our services, to advocate for a student experience.

Chris Hall [00:22:03]: Hi, I'm Chris Hall. I am the Director of Residence Life and Student Housing at Georgetown University Law Center. I think we're actually making good progress on using data and tech to better serve the profession. I'm seeing it on a daily basis where we have now brought in different systems and different programs that have allowed us to be more efficient. We've cut down on the paths that need to be taken for people to get assistance or support and I think as we streamline that further tech will be crucial in that. But we can't eliminate the human component obviously, so those can be beneficial to help us. But we need the human component still.

Dr. Tiffany Riggers Peel [00:22:57]: Hi, I'm Tiffany Riggers Peel, Associate professor of Higher Education at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. I think that we should utilize data and technology to make student affairs professionals jobs easier so that we can focus more on students well being and holistic success and identity development. That means things like using AI to do the mundane and day to day paperwork parts of our jobs while really giving us the same amount of time to meet with students to talk to them and get to know them better.

Jackie Yun [00:24:04]: Hi, I'm Jackie Yun and I serve as the Assistant Vice President of Student Experience at Emerson College in Boston. How can we use student affairs data and tech to better serve the profession? We need to not be afraid of data. We need to look at it and use it and understand it. And think about how it supports our decision making and how students succeed. And in terms of tech, I think I'm glad to sit in a space that is embracing technology and thinking about how it's going to transform industries and professions and work moving forward. And really just being honest about the fact that if we don't engage in conversations with our students about things like AI, they will be at a deficit when they're going into these professions that are starting to use AI heavily. And we need to it's a two part conversation because we have to talk about how technology is problematic, sometimes harmful, and some of the caution around it. But we also need to make sure that we are preparing them so that they are not behind when some of these industries are heavily using that technology.

This is Amy French from Bowling Green State University. Right now, I think a way that we can use data and tech to better serve the profession is to actually do a full blown data collection process between vice presidents of student affairs and the faculty to really identify some areas that we can better collaborate together to support our grad prep programs, because that truly is the future of our profession. And without a strong pipeline of trained professionals who understand and recognize the importance of student development theory, I feel like we're going to miss the boat.

Dan Volchek

Dan Volchek, Harvard Griffin Grad School of Arts and Sciences we need to look at historical data, how things were done, and evaluate them and decide if what was done in the past is the way to do it or if we need to do things differently and how we can use technology. Are there ways we can use technology to be more efficient in the transactional and operational stuff we do so we can spend a lot more time supporting students and supporting ourselves? Kathryn Hall, Hertel UNC Charlotte I also think the use of data and tech is changing so rapidly that we need to embrace the ways in which AI can help us do our jobs more effectively.

Dr. Scott Peska [00:26:14]: Hi, this is Scott Peska, the assistant provost of Academic and Student Success at Waubonsie Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois. So how can student affairs use data and tech better to serve the profession? Well, to me, the first thing that comes to mind is early learning, and we now have access to information that we've had through our LMSs that we can access much earlier. And you're seeing some really innovative institutions using it in weeks two and three to reach out to students who are not connecting, not logging in, or have perhaps a low assessment on a first test grade to be able to reach out and get them the academic support that they need right away.

Dr. John Gardner

This is John Gardner from the University of South Carolina and from the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education. I have no idea, but I'm wondering about the extent of partnership between student affairs professionals and those colleagues of ours that are active in the association for Institutional Research. Obviously there has to be a much higher level of commitment from the highest levels of the power structure on campuses to ensure that all the institutional employees are exposed to and have the opportunity to have a didactic instructional approach to the data that's being collected. And what are the implications of that for what we do with students, how we understand them, et cetera? The answers to it would be different if it was not only applied to student affairs people, but to academic people as well, and so that it was a more joint approach. It's almost like the question assumes the student affairs folks are going to do this as a deficit because it's not being done by and for the academic colleagues, which that obviously has to be fixed.

Kaitlyn Talbot [00:28:14]: Kaitlyn Talbot, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign Assistant Director of Graduate Professional Programs for Bioengineering Evaluate definitely evaluating data and technology, and not in a big way either, but doing small scale pieces, doing small works in terms of check ins with students to making sure that we're actually meeting their needs, that our events and resources are being useful to them and we're not just holding them to hold them.

Dr. Lori White

My name is Lori White. I am the President of DePauw University. I am a former NASPA board chair, and I served as a vice president for student affairs for 13 years. In terms of using data and tech to better serve the profession, we have never really been great about collecting data with respect to how do we prove that the work we do positively impacts student outcomes. So with all of the tools now available to us, especially with AI, there is probably much more we can do to lean into those tools to be able to articulate much better the work that we do and the impact that it has on student success.

Karen Riedel

Karen Riedel, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign I'm the assistant director for Graduate Programs for Bioengineering. We need to do a better job of capturing data, assessing it, and then sharing it with our colleagues and the greater student affairs community. Shared data will make a much larger impact than data that's just kept in a isolation. You might be able to make an impact with one program or something on your campus, but it's important to be able to share that so that impact can be felt broader across the community.

Dr. Keegan Newkirk [00:29:52]:

Hi. Keegan Newkirk from the College of DuPage I'm a vice President for Student Affairs. I think in Student affairs, we really need to use data to help us better understand our students, and we need to give staff the tools that they need in order to be successful and to give them the data they need to tell us who our students are and what do they need.

Dr. Marlee McGeehan [00:30:47]: I'm Marlee McGeehan. I'm the graduate Student Affairs Coordinator in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. I'm envisioning how we use data to support diverse and realistic career paths for PhDs and how data can help us understand what paths our PhD alumni are actually taking in various fields fields and how we can use that data to work with our departments and our faculty partners and inform recruitment, skill development, creation of new opportunities, and more broadly, redefining what constitutes success in graduate education.

Dr. Serena Stujavent [00:32:08]: Hello, my name is Serena Stujavent. I currently serve as the Assistant of Director for Commuter Student SAS at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Honestly, we can use the data and technology to meet our current students where they are, especially in the digital time that we're in now. Using social media and other engagement tactics in our teaching and the services that our departments offer. And overall, how we engage with students on campus would help us be more successful and help drive student success. Hi, my name is Okee Johnson Rayner and I am the Assistant Director of Graduate Student Involvement at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. When it comes to how student affairs can use data and tech to better serve the profession, the best thing I can imagine, especially as someone who's neurodivergent, is recognizing just how much data and technology can really assist us in learning how to work as the most efficient professional, while also recognizing that things don't always have to be as difficult as they might have been when we were coming up in our own college experience or our first professional experience. Something that I know I have benefited a great deal from was learning how to use different aspects or levels of AI to assist with administrative tasks. As someone with adhd, it is very difficult at times to keep up with the workload and being able to figure out how to utilize things in a way that allows me to lean into my own creativity, but assist with some of the potential roadblocks that might, might pause my creativity or my administrative strengths has been really, really beneficial. So investing in how we can use this in a professional space in a way that's appropriate but still allows us to be autonomous in our work would be great.

Dr. Jamie Washington [00:33:36]: Hello, I am Jamie Washington. Pronouns he, him and his. And I am the President Emeritus of the Social Justice Training Institute and the President of the Washington Consulting Group. As we consider data and AI and as we consider the opportunities that we can just streamline student experiences and make them just kind of one stop things, those are ways that we can make better what the experience is the students and add value to the college experience. Hi, my name is Lauren Zelinski. I am the associate director for Student affairs in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Office of Graduate Studies. There should be a centralized software database that all student affairs administrators have access to in order to provide optimal customer service to our students.

Jeff Knapp [00:34:52]: My name is Jeff Knapp and I am at the University of Nebraska Medical center and I am the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services. As I've gone into more leadership roles, I think that the student affairs profession, I think we have to look at the data and there's so much tech and AI and so many things that we can utilize in order to show what we do in many different ways. And so I always like to look at it from. I don't want anyone to ever ask me what our worth is or what our value is in what we bring to the university. I will show them first. And so the question becomes, well, how do I look at the programs that we have and how do I then take, take that and quantify it through data? How do I measure the measure and evaluate our programs and how do I share that with others? And so that's kind of my approach to things.

Michelle Burke [00:35:54]: Hi, I'm Michelle Burke. I'm the Director of Post Secondary Programs and partnerships with the Michigan center for Adult College Success based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. That's at the heart of the work that I do now is understanding who students are. And my center does a lot of research on data, both qualitative and quantitative, working with institutions to understand more about how they serve adult students and then also learning directly from the student voice about what students need. So student affairs needs to stop making assumptions about students and they need to get to the heart of it and get Student voice to be able to develop their programs and services.

Dr. Ed Cabellon

Hi, I'm Dr. Ed Cabellon, interim vice president for student experience at Frederick Community College in Maryland. I think we should share insights more broadly, highlighting the bias and limitations of our data, streamlining the business process to free up staff time for more student and staff engagement and also leverage both as catalysts for change.

Tiffo Carmichael [00:36:59]: Hello, my name is Tiffo Carmichael. I work for the University of Texas at Austin. I'm the graduate program manager for the interdisciplinary life sciences graduate programs in cell molecular biology, biochemistry and microbiology. I think data and data skills for personnel should be something that is more readily accessible and training. Obviously it depends on your institution, but I'm at a fairly large institution and we do in theory have access to some of these things, but it's not in a structured way. And so information, I feel like is constantly getting lost and skill sets aren't being grown. And so employee training and accessibility, again, everything comes back to communications and for accessibility to be able to improve ourselves. Because people want to improve. They want to do the best job that they can. And I feel like we need to be able to do that. So, yeah, teaching skills so that way people can build those things and be able to put their data to use. So that way they have something that will help support them afterwards.

Dr. Brooke Hildebrand Club [00:37:43]: Hello, I'm Dr. Brooke Hildebrand Club and I am the program coordinator and assistant professor for our higher education administration program at Southeast Missouri State University. I think that when it comes to data and tech better serving the profession, we have a lot of opportunities. Now my area of course is teaching and so I'm thinking about things that I use like nearpod so that I can make my classes Hyflex because I have a lot of working professionals pursuing my program. But I also have international students and military affiliated students and student athletes and students who want graduate assistantships. So with Hyflex, I'm able to offer my program in a face to face synchronous zoom and asynchronous online format. And so I think anytime we can think of how tech will better serve us and make things easier, that's what we want to do. We don't want to just have all the bells and whistles for the sake of having all the bells and whistles.

Olivia Callahan [00:38:50]: My name is Olivia Callahan and I'm the alumni manager for the Computer Science and Engineering division at the University of Michigan. I think that as student affairs professionals, we can use data and technology to better serve the profession, particularly in regards to regards to roi Return on investment Famously, student affairs professionals are very stretched thin. We love to serve our students and that might mean we are trying to connect them in many different events, many different opportunities. And by using data, whether that's maybe pre and post surveys and analyzing these surveys after events or some sort of engagement opportunities, or maybe tracking attendance, we can therefore go ahead and really determine which events have the most success, whether that's in terms of reach or in terms of engagement and how impactful it was on the student experience. That way we can reserve capacity for our student affairs professionals by really choosing what has the greatest roi.

Dr. April Perry [00:40:13]: Hi there, I'm Dr. April Perry. I'm a professor of Higher education at Western Carolina University. I think as a profession we have to be data driven. We have to make evidence based decisions, we have to talk to our students, we have to collect the data and use that to influence and direct our industry and how we support student success.

Dr. Rolanda Horn

My name is Dr. Rolanda Horn and I am the Vice Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. Student affairs can use data and technology to better serve the profession by using storytelling. Data is meant to give us a picture of what's happening, the good things that are happening, to identify the gaps in the services that we're providing to our students. And so we could use that data and technology to tell the story, to paint the picture internal in our different departments as well as from an institutional standpoint so we can identify the gaps and the successes to better serve our students.

Paul Rossi [00:41:04]: Hello, my name's Paul Rossi. I work at the University of the Arts, London and part of the Omoshi association in the uk. For leaders in student services, there are student affairs. Use of data is all predicated on asking the right questions. Institutions have found many, many ways of getting data together and there's probably a problem of too much data that's been created without the need to actually justify what it's being collected for in a broader sense. So better questions that interrogate the data, better technology that allows touch points in students journeys to be collected as data points seems to me to be a better way to both gather data, use data, and create the bigger impact for what our universities and institutions are going to need going forward.

Sam Miller [00:42:32]: Hi, my name is Sam Miller, I'm the Assistant Director for Student Engagement at the University of of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Data and tech would be better served in the profession with the use of AI and being able to automate processes that make us more student focused in our day to day.

Gianluca Giovannucci

My name is Gianluca Giovannucci I come from Italy, Europe. I'm the president of European University College Association, a Belgium based association that connects residents all colleges and universities in Europe. We are working in 18 European countries. Of course, data and technology are key in this moment also for what I mentioned before because if you can record, if you can access to videos that can help you in the one to one relationship with the students and you can use these utilities to better prepare for your job.

Antonia McFarland [00:43:40]: My name is Antonia McFarland. I am Assistant Coordinator for our Residential Conduct and Community Standards Office at Stony Brook University Student Affairs. In data and tech, I would say that professionals could be trained regarding data tech and using systems in AI and Excel and etc. To make processes and systems more easier and also more efficient. So then we all use them in our offices and in our institutions and that'll in turn make us more professional and more successful in what we do. Sometimes we don't all have the same experience or the same backgrounds, so and therefore it creates some type of gap when we don't have that same training. So making training for all of us, that would be really helpful.

Dr. Carrie Montgomery Orozco [00:44:23]: I'm Dr. Carrie Montgomery Orozco. I'm an adjunct faculty member at the University of Florida's online Student Personnel in Higher Education program. I think there is an opportunity to use technology and data to really connect the work that we're doing across functional areas in student affairs. We know that we work in silos at a lot of our institutions, probably all of our institutions, and we have all this data that we're collecting but not necessarily using to its greatest effect. And we have lots of technology available to us and within the same institution. We're often using several different sort of technology platforms to satisfy our own needs. But how can we integrate those things and be using the collective wisdom to really shape what we're doing and to be more effective for our students and also to be more efficient with our own work.

Trinity Miller

Hello, my name is Trinity Miller and I am an assistant coordinator from Stony Brook University. I believe that we can use data and tech to better serve the profession in terms again of marketing. If we kind of market the profession a little more, I believe that we can use that to better serve us, to get more outreach, to get others who are like minded and want to also be in the field.

Dr. Art Munin [00:45:35]: I am Art Munin, Senior Associate Vice President at Liaison, working exclusively with graduate programs. How can student affairs use data and tech to better serve the profession? I think it is through that longitudinal lens and actually sitting down with students in a qualitative fashion and asking them about what their experience is. We spend so much time telling students what we think they should be and spend so little time actually asking them what their experience is and actualizing that data.

Daylyn Doe

My name is Daylyn Doe, I use she her pronouns and I'm the associate director for the Women in Science and Engineering Residence Program at the University University of Michigan. I think as far as data and tech in the student affairs world, I think we really should be utilizing it to better tell our story and really showcase the important work that we do, especially in times right now, it's important for us to get the message out of the work that we do and the impact that we're having on students. And so I just think focusing on how to best tell our story and represent our profession in ways that get the message out there.

Dr. Kimberly Goldsberry [00:47:17]: Kimberly Goldsberry, Vice President of Belonging, Engagement and mission at DePaul University how I use student affairs data and tech to better serve the profession well, there's a lot of ways in which we do that. One is to help make sure the talents of our staff are freed up for the most complex and challenging circumstances our students. So utilizing technology to help students access services at the right moments in time so that the staff are freed up in ways that they can allocate more time to students in need is critically important. So technology can address some of those lower level concerns and needs for access to resources better than having to talk to a human in many cases. And given our strapped resources, freeing up that time of the talented staff that we have is very important. And I think it also helps our staff feel more valued and useful and contributory to student success. And in turn that helps the profession because so many people are attracted to be in this field by being able to be a provider of support and care and success for students because they experienced it themselves.

Hi, my name is Carly Matthews and I'm an Area Coordinator in Residence Life at Rollins College in Orlando, Florida. Our fields and our students are ever changing. Keeping up with what are some of those tools that can help us take off some of the load that is making things inefficient and becoming more efficient and give us more time to serve students is always going to be a better move for us as a profession.

Dr. Les Cook [00:48:28]: Les Cook, Chancellor Emeritus, Montana Technological University how can student affairs use data and tech to better serve the population? I think that for a long time in student affairs we were reluctant to talk about assessment and data. And I think that now the importance of data is critical in everything we do. We know what students do, we know where they go, and it's important that we have predictive analytics and data and technology to help us set the tone, set strategies, and be more intentional about the work that we do and the importance and role of student affairs in higher education.

Amarette Ranieri

Howdy. My name is Amarette Ranieri and I am an Assistant Managing Director at Texas A and M University working with Mays Business School. I think data, technology and tech are so vital to the work that we do. Keeping up with what are some of those tools that can help us take off some of the load that is making things inefficient and becoming more efficient and give us more time to serve students is always going to be a better move for us as a profession.

Eddie Howard [00:49:48]: My name is Eddie Howard. I serve as Assistant Dean for Student Success and Enrollment Management at the University of South Carolina, Sacahatchee, which is one of the branch campuses of the University of South Carolina with a two year campus. When it comes to technology, I think we should be focusing on data based decision making and data informed decision making as a better use of that word. A lot of times I think we make decisions that are not always in what I consider to be really immersed in the data that exists. I think we have a lot of tools to our disposal rather than just simply asking students, but looking at our student profiles, looking at the type of students we serve, helping students to understand the different institutional types and even as professionals, making sure that we're working at the type of institution that connects to what we can as professionals bring to the table.

Dr. Julie Payne Kirchmeyer [00:51:13]: Hi there, Julie Payne Kirchmeyer. I am president and CEO of Edgefield Group Data and Tech. This is a blend of what I just said a minute ago, which is understanding your student. But we can leverage AI responsibly to really move past even being proactive, which still requires a trigger to get flipped somewhere into anticipatory. So if we do part one, like I said, and we really know and understand our students deeply and stay connected with them and what their experiences are and create good learner journeys, we can actually anticipate things using AI and put in front of every student their next best choice for them. And it's, it's not creepy and I need people to get away from that. AI is not creepy. AI is a tool and it can be used incredibly effectively.

Dr. Melinda Stoops [00:52:13]: Hi, I'm Melinda Stoops and I do coaching and consulting for higher education. I've worked in higher ed for over 20 years in Region 1, and my most recent role in a campus setting has been as AVP for Student Health and Wellness. There's been a lot of talk in the past, past 10 years, probably 20 years, about using data better in student affairs, and I think that's still a growth area for a lot of people. I think a lot of people view assessment as challenging or something that is an add on to the work they do. And so I think the more we can continue to look at assessment as part of the process of the work that we do, that we want to really build that into everything we're doing as a natural part of that and not as an add on. And not everyone has to be an expert in assessment to do that well, that we all have different roles that we can play in that. And with tech, it's fascinating because technology obviously helps us in doing better assessment because we don't have to be statisticians anymore. We don't need to know how to run stats. Sorry, for those of you who are statisticians, I'm not pooh poohing the work that you do. But what I am saying is, is that there are lots of technologies out there that can do that data analysis for us, which is really, really helpful in lightening our load. Also, with just the booming of AI over the past few years, the more we can embrace that and use that as something that's additive to our work and not replacing our work can go a long way in serving the profession. I think. I think the innovative divisions and those in the field are using data. We know so much about our students, from their application through how they engage on campus to how they engage in the classroom. And those institutions who are on the cutting edge are leveraging the fact that students assume that the left hand knows what the right hand's doing and that we're using this data to best serve them. And so we're trying to get ahead and be sure that we're using that data to give the student what they need when they need it at the right time and place.

Seth Matthew Fishman [00:54:19]: Seth Matthew Fishman, Villanova University I am a professor of Higher Education leadership and the Assistant Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In terms of return on investment in data and technology, how to learn program evaluation, leverage the information, how to make decisions when you have incomplete information, and how to weigh out and balance resource allocation, thinking about academic assessment outcomes, and we want our students to learn and achieve. I'm James Quesenberry at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. I would use data to improve our service to students by personalizing things. I think we can look at artificial intelligence to accomplish that, but we have to be thoughtful and intentional in how we do that and.

Dr. Jill Creighton

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

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:55:48]: 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 a special episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field podcast, host Dr. Jill Creighton invites listeners to explore a vibrant tapestry of perspectives on reinventing student affairs for the future. Recorded live at the annual NASPA conference, this episode brings together over 60 passionate voices—from seasoned administrators to emerging professionals—all responding to the essential question: "If you could rebuild student affairs from scratch, what's one change you would make to impact student success?"

What emerges is an inspiring collage of themes, united by a commitment to student-centered change and innovation. One theme that resounds across so many voices is the necessity to break down silos—especially between academic and student affairs. Over and over, contributors envision seamless, integrated models in which faculty and staff collaborate to bridge classroom learning with co-curricular development. As Brianna Morris so succinctly puts it, "One way I would rebuild student affairs is by bridging the gap between academic affairs and student affairs to better serve our students."

Another powerful current is the call to prioritize belonging and community. Gada Endick suggests designing student affairs programs "around belonging and community as the core drivers of student success, rather than the outcomes of programming." This means intentionally crafting spaces and systems where every student—especially those from marginalized or non-traditional backgrounds—can forge meaningful connections and thrive.

Equity, representation, and accessibility surface as central pillars as well. Contributors emphasize representation within staff, the elimination of barriers, and the use of data to assess and adapt to the changing needs of today's students. Paul Rossi advocates for "co-creation" with students so that systems and supports are built alongside those who use them.

The episode also highlights professional development, support for entry-level staff, and the ongoing need to make student affairs visible and valued across campus communities.

These perspectives, from institutions nationwide and around the world, remind us that the work of student affairs is never static. It's evolving, dynamic, and fundamentally collaborative. If you're passionate about education, leadership, and helping students find their path, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

Tune in to this energizing episode and find out how you can help reshape the future of student affairs—one idea, one story, one change at a time.

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 14 continuing our conversation on the value of Student Affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. She her hers your SA Voices from the Field host. Welcome back to another episode of Essay Voices from the Field. Today we're going to be featuring first of three episodes that we recorded live and in person at the annual conference.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:36]: We're so thankful to over 60 of you who shared your voices with us today. We were able to ask you three questions, one each on the conference focus areas and today's question is on the focus area of redefining the profession and student success. We asked you if you could rebuild student affairs from scratch, what's one change that you would make to impact student success? Here are your responses.

Alan Thompson at the Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington Director of Academic and Career Advising One thing that I would change to have an impact on student success would definitely be making sure that the individuals, the professionals who serve the students reflect the population of students that they are meant to serve. That the faculty staff representatives mirror the student body so that the students who are coming to the campuses have a comfortable environment in which to be successful and ultimately thrive and graduate.

Hi everyone, my name is Enock Agyei. I am a second year graduate student of the Student Affairs Administration Program at Michigan State University. I'll be graduating in May and I am glad to share my perspective as a new professional and a new grad have a more integrated approach of how our profession collaborate with student affairs. I think the contemporary student come to a campus with more complex needs than academic affairs and student affairs to have individual outcomes and individual ambitions. I think if we we have a more integrated approach as to how both academic affairs and student affairs can collaborate and help students overcome challenges and do some proactive things to make student life better. I think that's what I'm going to do because from the inception of the profession, some of our founding documents just give the clear distinction between our field and academic affairs, which make field a bit subordinate to academic affairs, which is not meeting the need of our contemporary student.

Mishka Murad [00:02:20]: My name is Mishka Murad and I have worked in student affairs as well as worked as an adjunct instructor. I'm originally from Pakistan and I've worked in Pakistan, Thailand, Mexico and the us. And for me, what's really crucial about this question is that I've heard over the number of years that I've been in this work, the frustration sometimes with the similar mistakes that students are making over and over again. And so if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, I think I'd like to remind folks that there is a life cycle for students. And so even if we're hearing similar things or similar mistakes, that they're coming from different students and that each student is experiencing it differently and that we should be experiencing it differently and remember to see that humanity in students as well. And so I think when it comes to student success, instead of labeling them as problematic or as repeating behaviors, we realize that with each of these behaviors that might be problematic is an opportunity for them to do better and be better and not to give up hope, because we might have been in the profession for really long and we might feel a certain way about it, and to maintain that ability to really believe that at any point a student can change and can make a difference in how they move forward into the world.

Ghada Endick [00:04:00]: I'm Ghada Endick, and I'm the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life at Rutgers University. And we focus on creating an interconnected graduate student experience across our eight grad schools. So we're here to kind of improve the quality of life for graduate and professional students, serving their diverse needs, fostering a sense of belonging, and really helping them just make the most of the many resources Rutgers has to offer. So we do programming that's designed to connect students across their disciplines. We provide spaces for them to meet and gather, and we also focus on events and initiatives that celebrate their contributions or achievements and amplify their voices. If I were building a student affairs programs from scratch, I would design it around belonging and community as the core drivers of student success, rather than the outcomes of programming. So that means intentionally creating structures where every student, especially grad students, has meaningful connections with their peers, their mentors, and the institution. When students feel they belong, they're far more likely to persist, thrive, and fully engage in their academic journey.

Adam McCready [00:05:29]: Hi, I'm Adam McCready. I use him his pronouns. I'm an associate professor in higher education programs at the University of Connecticut. So student affairs from scratch. I would recommend that if we could do one thing to impact student success, I think we need to combat it from a more of a community wellness approach. And part of that from a community approach means that we need to be. Historically, we've talked about collaboration in our field. I think collaboration and Community oriented approach requires folks really communicating at a professional level. I think it also requires engaging more holistically with students and their communities on campus and their communities outside of campus, families, friends and the like. If we really want to impact student success, we have to understand their realities, their communities and the like and move away from approaches that are really thinking about student success from an individualistic approach and come at it from a more community oriented mindset to support them in their wellbeing.

Andrew Finn [00:06:07]: My name is Andrew Finn and I am the Assistant Director for Graduate Student Programming and Events in the center for Student Involvement at Northeastern University on the Boston campus. If I could rebuild Student affairs from scratch, something that I would really focus on is really building interdisciplinary community from the get go rather than having it be something that students are left to discover on their own over time. I find that the best and most meaningful connections that students often make, but not always, are those that are explicitly outside of their discipline early on because it expands the possibilities for how they view themselves and the way that they can impact the world through their professional development pathways. As such, students become more successful through a holistic lens rather than through a narrower and more carefully defined one early on.

Dillon Duermyer [00:07:36]: Hello, my name is Dillon Duermyer. I am from Angelo State University and I handle clery compliance and student conduct, including academic misconduct. If I was to read Rebuild Student Conduct and Student affairs from Scratch, ultimately what I would want to do is create a unit that has cross collaboration. I think it is oftentimes in our department where we're seeing that areas get siloed and ultimately we're not talking and communicating effectively across the departments. Although everybody answers to the vp, each of their sub departments can often not be collaborating in a full effort that helps us understand understand the problems that students are facing as a whole. Because often I think as we see as administrators in student affairs is problems in one area tend to lead to problems in another area.

My name is Kathryn DeMarinis and I am a residence hall director at Stony Brook University. If I could rebuild Student affairs from scratch, that could help change the impact of student success. I would want there to be more vulnerability in professional staff. I think that when students see us being level with them and breaking down barriers for ourselves, they find it easier to do it for themselves as well.

Romando Nash [00:08:52]: Romando Nash Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Washington State University I think I would rebuild just how we approach everything. I think that there's a need for us to become a lot more realistic in the things that we do, how we do stop being as prescriptive as we generally have been and really begin to just move things forward in the way that we should have been doing over the years now.

Hello, my name is Brianna Morris. I am from Richmond, Virginia and I currently serve as an assistant director for student conduct and academic integrity at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. One way I would rebuild student affairs is by bridging the gap between academic affairs and student affairs to better serve our students. I do feel that there is a gap in between and they usually work separately and not really together. And I do think that there is importance of both working together, especially to better help the student. We're all here to help students and so in order to make that transition more easy for the students, I think working together with academic affairs as student affairs will be perfect when it comes to the technology student affairs.

Keren Gomez [00:10:04]: Hi, everybody. My name is Keren Gomez. My pronouns are they, she. I am a student program coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin. With the scholarship program titled UT for Me, powered by Dell Scholars, we are able to benefit all students from all backgrounds, regardless. Think of it as a holistic way of rebuilding it up because if we are able to support our most. Our students who have the most need just from the beginning, then we're able to execute better things in the future for all students.

Michael Allensworth [00:10:58]: I'm Michael Allensworth from Michigan State University. When I think about rebuilding student affairs from scratch, one thing I would do is consider how can we bring vital resources to students, particularly in residential campuses, those who live on. So how can we have academic advising, health services, mental health services, right in the neighborhoods or the residence halls where students are living so that these folks can work with housing staff and other student affairs professionals to better support the students who are on our campuses.

Hi, I'm Taylor Cercone. I work at Eastern Kentucky University as a residence hall coordinator and housing and residence life. One change I would make to impact student success would be bridging the gap between residence life and academics, student activities, anything like that that involves students on campus. As a residence hall coordinator, I believe that we have more of an impact on students success in college.

Mirela Mazalu [00:12:01]: Hello, my name is Mirela Mazalu. I'm the Secretary General of the European University College Association. We are based in Brussels in Belgium. It's a European network of universities, colleges and halls of residences doing work, trying to promote the student affairs profession in Europe. And I would say that if I could rebuild the student affairs from. From scratch, one change that I would do in Europe is to really have a holistic approach to building learning outcomes to think about the student experience. Have the student affairs professionals in the room promoting student affairs with our academic colleagues. Make student affairs part of the mission and vision of academic success. Hello.

Jordan Peyton [00:12:50]: Jordan Peyton from Ohio State University, a third year PhD student in engineering education. I would allow students to really understand how their data is being used in student affairs to inform certain practices. And what I mean by this is when we look at collecting like Asian data, really disaggregating that and speaking to those communities about what kind of changes they see happening in their own data to best inform what changes are actually being made based on the data to help that community move forward in education, through education in higher education systems, really to impact positively the student success of those student groups.

My name is Dan Maxwell. I serve as the Vice President for Student Success and Student Life at the University of Houston Downtown. To think about the future of the profession, if we could kind of take a step back and maybe begin from the very, very beginning, I would worry less about the silos and more about the blurring of the lines. I have the ability right now in my position to work with both academic support services such as testing and tutoring and supplemental instruction and success coaches, along with our testing center and accommodations, along with all the very traditional student affairs work. And so I approach this work at seamless for our students with the hope that we are making high impact practices both in the classroom, in support of the classroom and outside of the classroom.

Diana Sims Harris [00:14:25]: Diana Sims Harris from IU Indianapolis. So if I could rebuild student affairs and make one change that would impact impact student success, I'm actually thinking about two changes I would make and one is more going back to the basics. As we started in student affairs, we started with much more generalist roles that have become more specialized over time. And I would love to see us continue to build those generalist roles that integrate both academic and student affairs into their work. I think especially as we move forward into the future, generalist roles are really able to be responsive to change even better. And that's going to prepare us more. I would also love to see Student affairs center assessment in our preparation programs even further. There's been a lot of progress in this area, but I think we need to do more to be able to tell our story, to tell the impact that we have in student success and then use that to even further our efforts. And especially in the next several years, being able to use data to tell our story is going to be critical.

Dr. Meme Wren-Coleman [00:15:38]: Good afternoon. I am Ishanya Wren Coleman, better known as Dr. Meme, Vice President and Dean of Student at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. Well, I would like to start with the foundation. And what I mean about that is, how did we first plan the connection with student affairs and academic affairs? I would like to look at all the variety of students that come to our campuses. How are we creating the spaces? How are we making sure that all of our students belong when we are partnering or bridging academic affairs with student affairs? Academic affairs, of course, talks about the classroom. Student affairs, of course, talks about how to make our students feel like they're at home, away from home. But we're going to bridge that because we have to make the connection because we're all a part of their lives. Academic affairs are in the classroom. Student affairs is outside the classroom. But when we work together as partners, we can make sure that all is inclusive. And when I think about the success that we could build working together and creating spaces and places for our students to feel belonged and connected to our institutions, it would take both of us through academic affairs and Student affairs to do just that.

Ray Handy [00:16:32]: Ray Handy, Associate Dean of Students at the University of New England in Portland, Maine. And I think as far as rebuilding student affairs from scratch, I would have it where there isn't this division of Student affairs and Academic affairs, that, that it's just all in the service of students. And so that there isn't this division and we're constantly working of how do we work with academic affairs? How does academic affairs work with student affairs? So I think if there is one entity versus these separations and folks going into their their own towers, I think that would be do us a good service.

Brett Petersen Bruner [00:17:45]: My name is Brett Petersen Bruner. I serve as the Associate Virginia Vice Provost for Student Success and Persistence at Wichita State University. One change that I would make to impact student success if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch would be to explicitly incorporate student success in every single employee's job description.

My name is Rachel Amaro. I am the admissions and academic advisor for the Department of Educational Leadership at Cal State State Fullerton. I think that I would change probably the or make improvements to the inclusion of more diverse students in the research of student development. I think student affairs, we've started with some grounding documents we call them, and we talk about how we can change them. But I think we need to start with all of those different students and really using information about them to really be able to hone in on what their true needs are.

Haneesha Dushara [00:18:49]: Hi, my name is Haneesha Dushara. I am originally from South India, but went to University of Cincinnati to get my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. Currently, I work as part of Business System Strategy team at naspa. So if I were to rebuild student affairs from scratch, the one thing that I would change is, is make the systems easier to navigate for both professionals and students. I think the systems and processes that we have right now, talking from a student's perspective, it is little harder to navigate. So I would focus on reducing these barriers in how these services are organized so that the professionals have more time actually supporting the students and less time navigating or explaining these complicated processes to the students or learning about it themselves.

Hi, I'm Jeanna Masterdicasa and I'm Assistant Provost and Director of Institutional Assessment at the University of Florida. I think if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, I would really begin by connecting it to how academic advising and the academic enterprise work. Because there's so many other opportunities to intersect with students. I think overall we are missing the bigger picture of how supporting and challenging students really can be. A large, giant success effort across both academic and student affairs.

Ethan Williams [00:20:10]: My name is Ethan Williams and I work at University of North Texas Health Science center in Fort Worth, Texas. If I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, well, I serve in the graduate and professional student space, a plug for the admin and graduate professional student services knowledge community, if you also serve in this space. But I think that my institution is unique in that we have centralized services for graduate students. And I think that that is something that I would seriously consider remaking from the ground because a lot of graduate academic programs are housed within a college. And often college colleges don't have the resources of centralized student affairs or the bandwidth to provide comprehensive programming for students in their programs. And I think that would greatly impact student success, having formalized staff members who are dedicated to serving graduate students, rather than, you know, faculty members who are already stretched with course load and things like that, who also have to plan orientation and also have to advise and do all of that kind of thing. So I think that would be a benefit to the field.

Chris Hall [00:21:15]:

Hi, I'm Chris Hall. I am the Director of Residence Life and Student Housing at Georgetown University Law Center. I think that that one thing that we could do to rebuild student affairs from scratch would be to actually make sure that we have people who understand student affairs in leadership roles. I find often you find people from the faculty coming into it, and while they may be excellent academics and they don't necessarily know student affairs, so I think that we want people who are coming up through the student affairs process to be the leaders of student affairs.

Hi, I'm Tiffani Riggers Piehl, Associate professor of Higher Education at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. One change that I would make to impact student success would be to reconsider the visibility of student affairs as a field from even in students undergraduate education really having folks promote and help students understand that the work that they do as student affairs leaders on campus is actually field, not just jobs that people do to help them throughout their college experience.

Jackie Yun [00:22:49]: Hi, I'm Jackie Yun and I serve as the assistant Vice President of student experience at Emerson College in Boston. So if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, a change that I would make to impact student success would be to rethink our categories of support at universities and colleges. For me, I think we need to be more integrated. So something I think about all the time is academic affairs and student affairs working together to advance student success. So I'm able to do this in that I oversee student engagement and student leadership and I think a lot about what students are doing in their co curricular life and how that impacts their professional development. And I really love that we work so closely with departments at Emerson to think about industry standards and how students are preparing for their profession. And to me that co curricular life is the practice ground. It's the laboratory for them to develop those skills and get really good at what they're going to do and to do it in fun ways with classmates and trial and error and be putting up the production, be making the film, be writing for the paper so that they can develop those skills alongside their academic curriculum. But I think typically in universities we're structured so separately that there's just not really good integration. So I'm always trying to figure out how we can partner with faculty, with departments, with curriculum so that because I don't think students see those lines, I think it's blurred for them. And I kind of wonder if we could make it even more blurred so that they're just the development and the learning is happening in all the spaces.

Dr. Amy French [00:24:00]:

This is Amy French from Bowling Green State University. And one change that I would make to impact students success is to ensure that when students arrive on campus that they have a clear path forward and an advocate that really values them, listens to them, checks in on them, similar to an advisor, but really kind of like what Bowling Green State University is doing right now with life design, where we're thinking about the current moment and needs of students, but also the future and where they're headed professionally and personally.

Dan Volchek, Harvard Griffin Grad School of Arts and Sciences I would look at student affairs from the lens of what we've done with other areas, and that is to combine and work closely with academic affairs and combine them, or not necessarily combine them, but bring them into a coordination. We've done that in the undergrad level with the first year experience type programs, and we need to start doing that in the graduate student level. However, it may be working from the other way, not student affairs approaching academic affairs, but academic affairs bringing the grad student student affairs people into their programs.

Kathryn Hall-Hertel [00:25:51]: Kathryn Hall-Hertel, UNC Charlotte and if I could really address rebuilding student affairs, I think the thing I would most focus on is the importance of collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs for our students. They don't make a distinction about where one division or office ends or begins, and we need to be better about collaborating.

Hi, this is Scott Peska, the assistant provost of academic and student success at Waubonsie Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois. You know, if I think about student success and one change that I would make, that if we're rebuilding from scratch, I would want to see us find ways to make the student success completely inescapable, not allowing students to have opportunities to fall through the cracks, mandatory orientations, mandatory advising opportunities where students have to connect and interact with us as the, I guess, wayfinding points as they go through the college experience.

Dr. John Gardner [00:27:51]: This is John Gardner from the University of South Carolina and from the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education. If I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, what's one thing to impact student success? I wish I had more time to think about all the three questions I've been given, so this is very much off the cuff. The student affairs profession was in effect, bolted onto a system that was already 300 years old, and some very early choices were made about where the modeling would take place for that work, namely in research universities. And I'm not persuaded now that that's where the model should be based. Other than that, you have a very complex division of labor there that shows how complex the challenges are of this profession. I'm wondering, if you were to rebuild it, would you supplement complement the graduate preparation in terms of credit instruction either elsewhere than colleges of education or in colleges in addition to the College of education? It seems that the issues that student affairs professionals are dealing with are so complex that students really require a broader and more interdisciplinary graduate preparation than they may be receiving, and one that could prepare them also to live a professional life where the work they do and the reward systems are so fundamentally different from the faculty, where the power and status still rests.

Katelyn Talbott, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign Assistant Director of Graduate Professional Programs for Bioengineering Rebuilding student affairs from scratch for me definitely would mean going slower, being intentional and considerate, making sure to consider all backgrounds and resources and needs to build what the students need. Programming, financial resources, student spaces, tutoring, free open air spaces, connections that really fit each person's specific needs to ensure all students are able to take advantage of the opportunities that lead to their success.

My name is Lori White. I am The President of DePauw University, I am a former NASPA Board chair, and I served as a Vice President for student affairs for 13 years. What change I would make to impact student success if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch is I would make sure that there was much closer alignment between academic affairs and student affairs. In fact, instead of having a hostile takeover from one of those divisions to the other, I would think about how could I build those divisions together from scratch such that they were equally working on all of the things that we know would positively impact impact student success.

Karin Readel, [00:30:21]: Karin Readel, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign I'm the Assistant Director for Graduate Programs for Bioengineering. In a dream world, student affairs would be more integrated and cohesive across our large, decentralized university. Silos still exist and make it difficult to support students holistically in the manner that they deserve to be supported.

Hi. Keegan Newkirk from the College of DuPage. I'm a vice President for Student affairs and if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, I think I would just give people time and space to be really creative. I have an incredible team and if they had time just to be creative, I think that would have the biggest impact on student success.

Marleigh McGechan [00:31:17]: I'm Marleigh McGechan. I'm the graduate Student Affairs Coordinator in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. As someone who works in graduate student affairs, if I were dreaming big and rebuilding from scratch, I would bake in intentional graduate student success support from the very start. And that's not programs or initiatives that are just open to graduate students, but ones that are designed for them and that target the unique way that graduate students progress through academic milestones and develop relationships with faculty and pursue professional growth.

Hello, my name is Serena Studivant. I currently serve as the Assistant Director for Commuter Student Cess at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Higher education is built on a traditional student model, so if I can make any changes, I would ensure that all institutions have Offices that support non traditional students from the beginning. So when I'm speaking about non traditional students, I would say commuters and adult learners are the first that come to mind. They have unique needs and most universities do not have offices for those two populations. So from the beginning, I would create offices that are supporting engagement for those students as well as continuing to keep the offices for residential students.

O'Keeffe Johnson Rayner [00:32:23]: Hi, my name is O'Keeffe Johnson Rayner and I am the Assistant Director of Graduate Student Involvement at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. If I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, a change that I might make that impact student success is specifically investment in the student affairs professional at the entry level and mid professional level. Part of the reason that I think this would be wonderful is because even in going to different NASPA programs since I have been here, one of the things that a lot of us have acknowledged is the value of investment by a professional who is either older than us, more experience than us, whether as a student or as a professional. And I think that it would be incredible if there was a greater investment by different aspects of leadership, different levels of leadership. Recognizing that the investment in their new entry level employees as well as their mid level employees, and specifically recognizing that the retention of these employees, enabling them to become that same professional who can shoulder tap other students, other professionals into a field that can be so rewarding and so, so wonderfully vocational for work that needs to be done, could be incredible.

Jamie Washington [00:33:59]: Hello, I am Jamie Washington. Pronouns he, him and his. And I am the President Emeritus of the Social Justice Training Institute and the president of the Washington Consulting Group. If I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, I would rebuild it with a team of the members who make help students successful, the reason that they go to college and what it is that they're hoping for. And we would all look at what all of our responsibility is in student success. And I would have student affairs folks in everything from the classroom to admissions and careers because all of that work really matters in terms of of impacting student success. The use of technology is one of the things that we have an opportunity to consider right now and certainly.

Hi, my name is Lauren Zelinsky. I am the Associate Director for Student affairs in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies. I would make all aspects of student affairs centralized for both undergrad and grad students to ensure the availability of equal resources for all student populations. I would also give student affairs administrators equal access to software and information that is shared with students so we know what information is being passed on to Them.

Jeff Knapp [00:35:00]:

My name is Jeff Knapp and I am at the University of Nebraska Medical center and I am the director of Counseling and Psychological Services. If I could rebuild student affairs from scratch. Well, I guess it's not even student affairs. It's just I think the faculty does a great job of teaching the students the skills that they were asked to teach them. But I think how do we combine the skills that perhaps from an emotional intelligence standpoint or from a mental or just, you know, overall wellness and resilience standpoint, how do we intentionally teach those skills in combination with the faculty so that the students are successful as whole people? So I think I would maybe ingrain the faculty piece and the classroom instruction with student affairs more ingrained than it is now.

Michelle Burke [00:36:26]: Hi, I'm Michelle Burke, I'm the director of post secondary programs and partnerships with the Michigan center for Adult College Success based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I think it's to important, important to consider students from all backgrounds sometimes, at least in my initial training to be a student affairs practitioner, it was very much about the traditional age student and students who were going to college full time living on campus. And we need to change the mindset that students come from all ages, all backgrounds. They aren't always full time students, but they have a desire to learn and achieve with a post secondary education. So if I could change one thing from scratch, it would be just that mindset of serving every student and not just the stereotypical different subpopulations, but that we really think about the impact of all students on a campus.

Hi, I'm Dr. Ed Cabellon, interim Vice President for Student Experience at Frederick Community College College in Maryland. For me, I really think that student affairs would not be its own division but integrated throughout the institution for greater college wide impact. It would remove the silos and the silo mentality from our work.

Tippo Carmichael [00:37:41]: Hello, my name is Tippo Carmichael. I work for the University of Texas at Austin. I'm the graduate program manager for the interdisciplinary life sciences graduate programs in cell molecular biology, biochemistry and microbiology. If I could change something for student success, the thing I would most want to focus on would be transparency in accessibility. I think that a lot of universities and colleges have a lot of programs that already exist and doesn't mean there doesn't need to be more. But what I often find is it's just that transfer of knowledge that gets lost. People don't know what is even already available to them, let alone what things are missing that need to be filled. So I would love to have infrastructure for Communication to promote transparency and accessibility. So I guess, actually, I guess my answer is communication. And so, yeah, I would love to see that, you know, whether it's having websites, forms, whatever, that help, boilerplate presentations, or things like that to help. So that way information can just get disseminated a little bit more cleanly across programs, departments, colleges, because people just don't even know what things already exist to be able to take advantage of them.

Hello, I'm Dr. Brooke Hildebrand, clubs, and I am the program coordinator and assistant professor for our Higher Education Administration program at Southeast Missouri State University. I did sort of rebuild our program from scratch when I started my role five years ago. But if I could rebuild student affairs affairs from scratch, one change that I would make, and this is a change that I made in my program, is emphasizing communication, public speaking, intercultural communication, organizational communication, rhetoric. Because that is something that we do so much as student affairs professionals and we have so many different audiences to communicate with. And so I just feel like having a good foundation in that could have an impact on student success because we would be better able to communicate all of the things that we need to communicate to our students to educate the whole person.

Olivia Callahan [00:40:36]:

My name is Olivia Callahan and I'm the alumni manager for the Computer science, Science and Engineering division at the University of Michigan. I think that if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, one change that I would make to impact student success would be to make some sort of mentorship program for undergraduate students mandatory. We see from many student affairs researchers at events such as the NASPA Annual conference how impactful mentorship is on the student experience. Time and time again, we see how our student affairs professionals individually impact students on A mentorship level and how having an individual mentor can impact student retention. Some students are able to have this experience, but a lot of times students aren't. So having this mandatory experience I think would be one way to reframe the college experience for our undergraduates.

Dr. April Perry [00:42:07]: Hi there, I'm Dr. April Perry. I'm a professor of Higher Education at Western Carolina University. And if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, the one thing that I would change to make an impact on student success is to make sure we elevate and highlight graduate and professional students equivalent to undergraduate student success.

My name is Dr. Rolanda Horn and I am the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. If I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, I would. One change that I would make is to ensure that the Department of Student affairs on all campuses had adequate resources to hire adequate staff to better support our students on a holistic continuum.

Paul Rossi [00:43:09]: Hello, my name's Paul Rossi. I work at the University of the Arts, London and part of the Omoshi association in the UK for leaders in student services there. If we started student affairs from scratch, I think one thing we would do is probably involve students in the creation of the systems and processes and support that they might need from the very beginning. Make it a co creation, co production piece that would curate a set of provision that would actually meet the needs as they perceive them while also ensuring the institutions got out of those processes and procedures the things that they need.

Hi, my name is Sam Miller, I'm the Assistant Director for Student Engagement at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. One change I would make to impact student success, rebuilding student affairs is to have a greater focus on mental health and campus counseling resources and making those available to our students.

Gianluca Giovannucci [00:44:26]: My name is Gianluca Giovannucci, I come from Italy, Europe. I'm the president of European University College Association, a Belgium based association that connects residential colleges universities in Europe. We are working in 18 European countries. So in this moment of the world, I think that one important change for the profession is that everyone who want to obtain their student success should be more intentionally working with a one to one relationship with students. So I think talk to them could be the motto for this profession in the future. So we need to approach every single student in the single situation in a one to one conversation. This is very important. I know this is difficult because we need many people working on this, but this the key from a real student success in this difficult moment with this new generation.

Antonia McFarlane [00:45:32]: My name is Antonia McFarlane, I am assistant Coordinator for our residential conduct and community Standards office at Stony Brook University. Change I would make is making it so that professionals take care of themselves so then we can take care of students and their success and know how to steward it and improve it. Sometimes that in student affairs we do not take care of ourselves and know how we can use processes to take care of ourselves. And then in that we don't have information that we can relay successfully to help with student success. So that's what I would do.

Dr. Kerrie Montgomery Orozco [00:46:15]:

I'm Dr. Kerrie Montgomery Orozco. I'm an adjunct faculty member at the University of Florida's online Student Personnel in Higher Education program. I would definitely want to spend more time listening to students in rebuilding student affairs from scratch. I think that the student needs are changing so often and the political landscape and the social landscape are changing so much that it's hard to retro retrofit what we currently do to meet the needs of students now. And so we keep kind of being behind the curve. So I think we really need to stop and listen to what students need and start over with that at the front. Because not everything that worked when the profession began is necessarily still working for today's environment.

Hello, my name is Trinity Miller and I am an assistant coordinator from Stony Brook University. One change that I would make for student affairs would be to be more visible. I believe a lot of the work that we do is behind the scenes and that can make it very difficult for students to reach out to support. I feel like we are a very much hidden resource, a hidden entity. So being able to be more visible to give students that opportunity to even explore this as a career path, I think would really help impact student success.

Art Munan [00:47:20]: I am Art Munan, Senior associate Vice President at Liaison. Working exclusively with graduate programs. I would actually have all of our data systems be able to talk to one another another and create a unified data layer to be able to see how we can actually utilize our data to best suit students.

Dae'lyn Do [00:48:15]: My name is Dae'lyn Do. I use she her pronouns. And I'm the associate director for the Women in Science and Engineering Residence program at the University of Michigan. If I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, I really think I would center mentorship for first gen professionals. As a student, I felt like I had a lot of support navigating what it meant to be a first gen student. As I entered the field, I felt like there were gaps in areas that I continued to have challenges with. And so I think trying to really focus on what that looks like as a first generation professional and really what that means and how to navigate some of those barriers in the field and just as a professional and finding community in that space as well.

Kimberly Goldsberry Vice President of Belonging, Engagement and Mission at DePaul University if I could rebuild student affairs from scratch, one change that I would make for student success, I would have from the beginning integrated academic and traditional student affairs UN units that could be serving in what has been traditionally both sides of the house. So whether that has some dual reporting accountability, but them being fully designed together from the get go.

Hi, my name is Carly Matthews and I'm an area coordinator in Residence life at Rollins College in Orlando, Florida. If I had a magic wand or could rebuild the profession, something I would do is prioritize first generation students. I think that we are seeing a greater effort to support this group, but it should be a strategic priority for the development and longevity of the higher education field.

Les Cook [00:49:49]: Les Cook Chancellor Emeritus, Montana Technological University so if I was rebuilding student education affairs from the ground up, one of the things that I would do is to try to figure out a way to incorporate student affairs student development training into everything that all of our faculty, our staff, everybody would have an understanding of the importance and value of student affairs to the organization, thinking about everything from people that work in facilities to all of your faculty to your donors. Everyone that is part of the organization knows and understands the importance of what student success looks like and is supportive of that.

Howdy. My name is Amarette Renieri and I am an assistant managing director at Texas A and M University working with Mays Business School. And if I could rebuild the student affairs professions from scratch, I think I would have career services integrated across student affairs and kind of make it a standard across student affairs for staff to be talking about career success and career development and the work that they do and kind of aligning it with career development. I mean, honestly, if I could redesign the university system, I would make career development something that reports directly to the president. But the question doesn't ask me that. But that's what my dream would be, is that career services comes from the institution top down and there would be like a VP that sits at the president's level in career services.

Eddie Howard [00:51:26]: My name is Eddie Howard. I serve as assistant Dean for Student success and Enrollment Management at University of South Carolina Sackahatchee, which is one of the branch campuses of the University of South Carolina with a two year campus. If I could change one thing and student affairs from the ground up, I think it would be the relationship between academic and student affairs that I would create an environment where that is seamless and there wouldn't be any silos between the two divisions. That our goal would be to serve students in success beyond the classroom. That classroom would be limitless. And I believe that's some of the issues that we have is trying to get those individuals to come together. At the end of the day, when it comes to serving students, students, students don't really care who serves them, what title you hold, what position you have, how long you've been in the institution. What they care about is their individual success and how you can help them navigate that.

Julie Payne Kirchmeyer [00:52:26]: Hi there. Julie Payne Kirchmeyer. I am president and CEO of Edgefield Group. And I would say the thing that would be central to rebuilding student affairs from scratch, if we're really going to impact student success, it's never one thing, right? It's so multifaceted. But I would say the first thing is we have to really know our learners. And it's not just about data points and it's not just about grouping them together. It's understanding who they are, the pathways that they follow and the friction that they encounter. And facing that boldly right now, we tend to hang on to legacy structures and legacy approaches.

Julie Payne Kirchmeyer [00:53:03]: And then we group students together in these singular identities and create pathways for them, which quite frankly, what it does is increases the cognitive load on our students and it makes it frustrating for them. So that's one is to really know the student and know the experience. And the second is that it has to be made a priority and a structural priority by university leadership. Student affairs is not an add on. We are not the catch. All, we are a fundamental strategic lever for student success. And when we are treated that way and brought to the table in true human centered design work around student success, that's when we succeed.

Melinda Stoops [00:53:55]: Hi, I'm Melinda Stoops and I do coaching and consulting for higher education. I've worked in higher ed for over 20 years in Region 1, and my most recent role in a campus setting has been as AVP for Student Health and Wellness. I think it's interesting that we get caught up in sometimes in higher ed the way things have always been. And in thinking about looking at student success and how that has evolved over time. One thing that could be really helpful is to look ahead to ways in which we can have more overlapping functions within student affairs. So less siloed in terms of one person working in one specific department versus another department or a specific set of roles or another, but that at some level we all have to be generalists and we all have to really understand what other people in the division are doing and in the university, but also be flexible enough to be able to sometimes respond to a need that may be in another department. And so I think the flexibility and considering it less of siloed and more fluidity would be really, really helpful. I would remake Student Affair Centering the student we are often siloed in our departments and think of service to students this way, but I think that a model that centers students and provides a variety of services around that student is a better model. We can rethink our structure from departments, units and who are the students that are focused and served.

Seth Matthew Fishman [00:55:33]: Seth Matthew Fishman, Villanova University I am a Professor of Higher Education Leadership and the Assistant Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Building a Student affairs program I'd really think about how we could consider student affairs in general, how to take care of ourselves first and teach self care, wellness and well being as part of the student experience in all preparation programs, but also how do we serve others.

I'm James Quisenberry at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and if I were to make Student affairs new from scratch, I would connect the services that are related so our students don't have to go chasing them down all over campus.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:56:42]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. That's me. Produced and audio engineered by Dr. Chris Lewis.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:57:07]: Special thanks to the University of Michigan, Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.

In Season 14, Episode 6 of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, host Dr. Jill Creighton sits down with Dr. Kevin McClure, author of The Caring University: Reimagining the Higher Education Workplace After the Great Resignation. This candid conversation is a must-listen for anyone invested in the future of higher education or passionate about changing workplace culture for the better.

From the outset, Dr. McClure grounds his message in lived experience, sharing his journey from student affairs professional to department chair and faculty member. What becomes clear is that his new book—and this episode—are rooted in genuine care: for staff, for faculty, and for the systems in which they work. He makes a compelling case that prioritizing employee well-being in higher ed needs to be a fundamental goal, not just a means to an end for better student outcomes

The conversation dives deep into the idea of "organizational care," contrasting it with the often isolating American emphasis on self-care. Dr. McClure introduces the lens of "squad care," asking listeners to reconsider how institutions themselves can become communities that collectively support employee thriving. He shares that although there are pockets of progress, the true "caring university" is still aspirational—requiring leaders to combine data, strategy, and a willingness to take bold action.

A concept that resonates throughout the episode is the critique of "ideal worker norms." Dr. McClure unpacks how outdated expectations, rooted in gendered and ableist assumptions, persist in our workplaces—often dictating who succeeds and who gets left behind. He calls for challenging these norms and embracing more flexible, human-centered models of work.

Listeners will come away with practical insights. The six pillars of the caring university—ranging from humanizing policies and prioritizing employee experience, to cultivating caring leaders—offer a tangible framework anyone can begin to explore. Dr. McClure emphasizes that meaningful change isn't about grand gestures; it's about taking swings, trying new things, and considering employee well-being as foundational to institutional success.

For new professionals eager for a bright future in student affairs, and for seasoned leaders seeking actionable ideas, this episode is rich with hope, clarity, and direction. Tune in to hear why caring for "the people who show up for people" should be the next big priority in higher ed—and how we can collaboratively shape more humane, equitable workplaces.

Ready to reimagine what's possible in higher education? Start by listening to the full conversation today!

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is Season 14, continuing our conversation on the value of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she/her/hers, your SA Voices from the Field host. Kevin, welcome to SA Voices.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:00:28]: Hello, I'm so excited to be here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:30]: You are another one of our conversations that we get to capture live and in person for SA Voices here at 2026 Annual Conference in Kansas City. So I know listeners, by the time you're hearing this, you're like, well, Annual was a while ago. We know, but we're glad to bring you these conversations. And so you, if you weren't able to be here, you get to be a part of it. And if you were able to be here, I know how ephemeral those spaces can be, and hopefully you can kind of revisit some of the information in Kevin's keynote speech. So Kevin, you have just spent an hour on stage, going through your new book, which is called The Caring University: Reimagining the Higher Education Workplace After the Great Resignation. You also did a book signing, so thank you for spending time with the members.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:01:09]: Yeah.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:09]: So we also know that you've been talking a lot, and we appreciate you spending one more hour with us.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:01:13]: Sure, absolutely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:14]: We always like to start by asking our guests, how did you get to your current seat? You're both a department chair and a professor.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:01:20]: That's right. Yes, but I started in student affairs as a staff member, so origin story in housing, and then I transitioned into a living-learning program at the University of Maryland called Global Communities, and that was the best job I've ever had. So I peaked a little too early. That was my first professional job, and I absolutely loved it, loved every minute of it, and got to work really closely with students and do all sorts of cool programming with them. And as time went on, Maryland really wanted all of their living-learning programs to have a faculty director, and so I kind of got bumped out of my role as a faculty director came online, and it was a moment where I said, I might need to think about continuing my education. I don't know exactly where I want to go, but I don't want to be limited in what I can do, and I don't want it to be the case that I get bumped from another job by virtue of not having a terminal degree. So I entered a doctoral program, was finishing that. I was applying to higher ed staff jobs.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:02:23]: I was applying to a couple of policy jobs, and just kind of tossed my name in for a couple of faculty jobs. Jobs, not really thinking that that was going to be a thing. And I ended up getting this job at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and I've been there for almost 12 years now teaching in our higher education program, and then within the last 8 months stepping in to become the department chair.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:46]: I know this is terrible and it will show that I am an elder millennial, but my biggest association with Wilmington is Dawson's Creek.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:02:52]: Oh yes, Dawson's Creek, and also One Tree Hill was also filmed there. So it depends on what you watch, what you grew up on, but we still will have gatherings of people that come Wilmington based on their love of the show. Most of them are elder millennial women, and sometimes the stars will come back and do like events and that sort of thing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:10]: Well, there you go, claim to fame, and of course a university in which you are.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:03:13]: We also have that. Yes, we have a beach. We have some other things too.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:16]: So I think that journey from practitioner to professor is one that a lot of new professionals or mid-career professionals are really interested in pursuing. Can you talk a little bit about that leap of faith from being a full-time practitioner to going, you know, I know I need this terminal for a job, but I also might need to not have a job while I get the terminal. Terminal?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:03:34]: Yeah, exactly. So I started doing my PhD while still working full-time, and I did that for a year, and it worked fairly well in the sense that I was keeping up with things. My wife was teaching at the time, and so we just were not seeing each other really at all. And as a consequence, we decided in the last couple of years of my doc program to move in and become house directors of a sorority house. And I also went from from being a full-time staff member back to being a graduate assistant. So we took on the financial loss of me not having a salary, but the trade-off was that I would be able to finish the degree faster because otherwise I think we were looking at a much longer journey as I was trying to kind of balance the two. And at the time we didn't have as many program options. Today there's a lot more program options for people who are working full-time.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:04:29]: And so that's how I made the decision to kind of step back and step into a graduate assistantship role again. And maybe not ideal from a career trajectory standpoint, but better for me to be able to finish my studies. And then we were off and racing from there.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:45]: So you finished the dissertation, you've got probably maybe an article or two under your belt at that time. Talk to us about going on the faculty search.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:04:53]: Yeah, I guess I had an article that I had published and I had dissertation stuff in progress. I was not prepared for a faculty job search. I had never done one before. I had never been a participant in one. I had done no programs for future faculty. I was in many ways what I would think of as kind of a long shot candidate. I got this interview at UNCW and I reached out to one of my mentors, Carrie-Anne O'Meara, and I had to basically say, I've got this interview, help me because I'm not ready for this. So she gave me kind of a crash course in the faculty hiring process and what I could expect and some of the questions that they might ask of me.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:05:35]: And I was very lucky in that they were looking for a particular type of person who teaches certain subject matter, and I was able to do that and apparently fit what they were looking for. I still tend to think they took a chance on me. I don't know that they would necessarily put it that way, but I was still very green in a lot of ways and certainly needed to do a lot of catching up to being a faculty member. So I spent that first year learning a lot of things the hard way and having to learn things that I think some of my peers were already up and up on by virtue of just having prepared for that type of job better than I did. But I got there eventually. I figured it out.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:14]: So what are some of those things that happen in faculty hiring that student affairs professionals might go, huh, I never thought about that before?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:06:20]: Well, for one thing, we do have typically some type of a teaching demonstration, something that would kind of signal that you're a good teacher, you've got some teaching experience. And so that can be a little bit different compared to other hiring processes that you might have been accustomed to. You're going to meet a lot of faculty across the entire department, and that doesn't differ necessarily from what you might experience in a staff role. But what is different is just faculty personalities, and you're going to meet a lot of different people, a lot of people who are not probably as professionally socialized in such a way that they know the types of questions that they ought to ask versus the questions they're not supposed to ask. And you're more likely to run into some folks that in the faculty world, we kind of over-index in neurodivergence. And so you kind of have to be prepared for all sorts of different types of questions and all sorts of different types of people. Beyond that though, I think the faculty job search, at least structurally, probably mirrors a lot of professional jobs. It's just obviously kind of what they're evaluating on is a little bit different.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:22]: So you're in this position and then you're developing as a researcher, developing as a scholar. COVID emerges in the world. And that kind of becomes the impetus for the book that we're talking about today, which is The Caring University. How did this experience that we were all having collectively inspire you to begin collecting the stories that would ultimately become this book?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:07:43]: One of the things that was a big motivator for me was I was seeing, noticing a lot of pain. There were a lot of people in our work that were really struggling, and we had folks that were being asked to work in dangerous conditions where they were really scared. We were losing good people. I had seen a whole group of students that we had educated in our program that were opting to step out of higher ed work, and I just felt that there was the need and really felt this with urgency, a need to put together something that could help so that we don't lose good people and that we were able to just ease that suffering that I saw. And so, yes, a piece of this for me was trying to capture people's experiences, trying to steward their stories, because I wanted people to be able to read the book and to say this is resonant, which is to say, this feels like higher ed. This feels like the people that I know. This feels like the experiences we've had. This doesn't feel like an academic book detached from what we're about and who we are.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:09:02]: And so there is throughout just a real conscious effort to try to weave those stories in as much as possible. And I wanted their voices to be part of this. I wanted it to be impossible for someone in a leadership role to look away or to brush this aside because it was written by a faculty member. I wanted them to read it and to say, these are the voices of the people in our world, and I need to give some attention to that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:27]: If you're a doctoral student nerd, it's very ethnographic in its approach, or, and autoethnographic in places. It also has quite a few vignettes of stories. So as a practitioner, to read it, I do think you've met that goal of not feeling like, hey, this is a faculty member telling practitioners what to do. It's more of, here are the stories of real practitioners, and how can the institutions around us kind of meet some different goals around human-centered supervision, human-centered organizational structures, et cetera. But before we get into that, I'm going to ask you, if you asked an AI bot to summarize your book, what would the bot say?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:10:00]: The AI bot would say that The Caring University is about organizational change in such a way that we better prioritize the well-being of staff and faculty, full stop. It is not prioritizing the well-being of staff and faculty so that we can better serve students. It is somewhat transgressively suggesting that supporting faculty and staff by itself is a worthy goal that should be part of what we do operationally. And so I make the case for why I think we need change, why that change needs to be organizational so that it speaks to our underlying cultures and our structures. And then I try to suggest a set of 6 overarching organizational changes that I think will help us better prioritizes the well-being of our employees. It's not going to answer every question. I certainly have not included every solution under the sun in this, but it offers something of a menu that a leader could look through and to say, hmm, there might be something here that we could try or adapt. And that adaptation piece is really important because by design, I didn't want this to be a change checklist where someone says, this is exactly what I have to do in order to get this outcome.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:11:14]: It's going to take a little bit more work than that. Someone's going to have to kind of sit with this and to say, what piece of this do I I think could work here, or maybe we'll take a piece of this and a piece of that, and then together that could be beneficial. And so as much as it tries to be a resource and offer those examples, it does call on us to try to figure out how this would fit within our specific context.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:35]: One of the things you talked about on stage was this mission that we need kind of the collaborative lens of both self-care and organizational care. In American culture in particular, there's so much individualism wrapped up in the way that we're supposed to care for ourselves. We this with people who are parenting. We see this with people who are managing illness and a number of different things where taking space for being a whole human can often be seen as not giving enough to an organization. And that's a cultural challenge that we have in America. And that's not specific to the US. As many of our listeners know, I work in the UK and there's a different set of values around work that happen, but still that individualized perspective is fairly common in capitalistic structures in general. So I want to echo also something from Melissa Harris Perry.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:23]: Who's another wonderful author. She has a book out called Sister Citizens, 10 years old now, maybe? That book's been around for a while, but she talks about squad care instead of individual care. I heard echoes of that kind of mantra when you were speaking to us earlier today, but I'm hoping you can give us some examples of when you've seen universities engage in that organizational squad care that actually helps humans thrive.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:12:44]: Yeah, it's a great question, and I have seen it show up in in pockets in lots of different types of campuses. As of yet, I can't point to an institution that I feel is knocking it out of the park. And that's kind of reality of institutional life where at the same time we might be making progress on an initiative, we're also still struggling in some other areas. And so I just try to be real about that. The places though where I have seen progress What I can say is there are often a couple of factors involved. One is they often have already been doing some things. So even prior to the arrival of this book, before I was doing any of this work, they likely already had a level of attentiveness to the employee experience that meant when this came to them, this concept, they were ready to roll with it in a different kind of way. Some of that is about leaders And I don't love to, first of all, put the responsibility for this on all leaders.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:13:46]: I also don't like to say that a leader is the one that's gonna pull all this off. But the truth is that some of the places that have really made progress on it, it's because they've often had a really strong, caring leader that already values this. They want to invest in it. And so it just makes everything a little bit easier when you're not feeling like you're in the middle trying to push for this, but there's no effort then from folks above you. If you already got the folks above you saying, hey, let's do this, there's a different kind of propulsion to it. A couple of other things that I've noticed that can make a big difference when you've got some good data to support what you're trying to do. And so that's a struggle for us in higher ed. We don't have great data on the employee experience.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:14:27]: And then places that have figured out how to weave this into a strategic plan. I'm not typically an evangelist for strategic planning, but when done well, you can integrate what you are attempting to do as an organization for your employees. And then there's some accountability attached to that because you've put out there, this is going to be a thing for us, and you're more willing to invest in it. It isn't quite the hurdle that otherwise might exist because you've got this document that kind of says, this is something we're going to try to hang our hat on. So all of the examples I have in the book, you will notice, are places where you see kind of bubbles of this activity happening, and not necessarily examples of, here is the caring university, I have found this place. There are a couple places that I'll be visiting coming up that I'm very intrigued I can't wait to go because there are a couple of places where the president is really invested in this idea and is clearly trying to make this a thing on campus. So I'll be kind of curious to see like, what does that look like? Are the effects of it or the outcomes much more evident when you even have that level of executive leadership support for it?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:32]: You talked a bit about the realities of student affairs burnout and the great resignation. Alongside a sociological phenomenon called the ideal worker, which I think might be something that's new for a lot of student affairs professionals because our bodies of literature don't always intersect. And also in contention with, I suppose, a set of workplace expectations that cause burnout and stress for people. So can you tell us a little bit more about that ideal worker? Because I think it's echoed everywhere in student affairs and how we might push against that.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:16:02]: Yeah, so the ideal worker is based in research from feminist sociologists who were attempting attempting to better understand really the gendered nature of organizations and why it was the case that we saw, for example, men who much more likely to be promoted versus women, much more likely to get a raise versus women. And part of the way that they made sense of that was through this concept of ideal worker norms. And they were able to call attention to the ways that we have this vision of the perfect worker, and it is almost reminiscent of of like a Mad Men sort of scenario where you got the male ad executives, they drive to work from their suburban homes at 7 o'clock in the morning, they drive into the city, they stay there all day, they have no expectations of caregiving responsibilities at home, the domestic domain is left to somebody else to manage, they are expected to be organization men where they are at that place and loyal to it for a long time. If somebody calls The expectation is you answer, you show up. And it was their way of trying to show us that it is still the case in so many jobs today that we still operate from that as the norm. And deviation from that norm means that you're not able to be, you're less likely to be hired, you're less likely to be promoted, you're less likely to win an award. And it's not fair to people who may need to take a break in the middle of the day for medication. It's not fair to people who are giving birth, and it means that we are losing out, I think, on talent because we still hold on to those norms.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:17:39]: We kind of grip them too strongly. And so by taking a closer look at professionalism as a construct, I think it allows us to kind of pause and to say, yeah, why do we think that a professional dresses like this, looks like this, acts like this? And what problem does it pose for us if somebody's a little bit different? Moving from that?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:55]: I think the answer is the patriarchy, right?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:17:57]: Right. I mean, yeah, there's some of it. There's that. And but it's interesting because there's lots of people that can sometimes grip and hold on to those constructs even when it's not serving them particularly well. But that just goes to show that when you've been socialized to a particular system, the whole idea behind a norm is that it doesn't strike you as particularly unusual anymore. And so I suppose part of this for me is forcing myself to unsettle some of those constructs and to be willing to ask some questions around, well, why couldn't somebody work 3 hours in the morning, work another 3 hours in the evening? As long as they're still getting their job done, they're still present, they're engaged, what difference does it make to me if they need to take a break in the middle of the day because that's good for their health? Or what difference does it make if they need to be home at 3 PM for their kids to come home, get their kids settled, and then they I might still do a meeting or do some work later on. That flexibility doesn't seem to harm me, and it doesn't seem to prevent the possibility for great work to happen.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:55]: I hear that kind of a line within student affairs. We often say that quality assessment does not necessarily mean only counting who shows up to a program. Kind of the same thing, quality work doesn't mean who's sitting in their seat from 9 to 5. It's more about what was the impact of what was happening in that day or that event Right, absolutely.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:19:14]: Yeah, this idea of quality, effort, performance being a butt glued to a seat is something that we still, within higher ed, across higher ed, probably adhere to too much. And again, you know, I mentioned this on stage, I am not someone who's opposed to the power of in-person work, in-person experiences, opportunities for us to engage with each other. There is no substitute for that. And so I'm a full believer in that. I think we could hold two things at the same time, which is there's power in in-person gatherings and having us together in a space to think creatively, and we can have flexibility. And, and I don't think those things necessarily have to run crosswise.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:56]: Another thing you talked about in your conversation with José is this concept that you wished that universities would take bigger swings at things. Can you tell us more about what big swings you'd like to see institutions taking in order to support this caring university concept?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:20:10]: I am a big believer that the way that we enter into this work is that we have to start trying some things. And we have become somewhat accustomed in higher education to the idea that we never do anything for employees. We do very small things or tokens of appreciation. We've almost dialed down our expectations to zero. And what it means is there is an almost inbuilt defense mechanism where some folks, when they reach a level of senior leadership, almost say, I'm not even going to try because what's the point? And what I want us to do instead is to say we need to rediscover possibility and potentially start from a position of let's give this a try. So for me, a swing is not a preemptive no. A swing is a let's see what's possible. It doesn't necessarily have to be a huge thing.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:21:05]: Like, I'm not saying let's go give everybody a 5% raise. I'd love that. I'm also a finance guy. I understand that there are some real constraints against that. That doesn't prevent us from taking some other types of swings. Let's revisit our parental leave policy. Let's look at how much leave time we give someone for bereavement. Let's think about how we're understanding and trying to measure people's workload and figuring out what adjustments may be necessary.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:21:28]: Let's do an audit of our programs and initiatives and to say, Maybe we're doing too much for our current staffing level and we need to really better prioritize what we're going to work on. Maybe it's ensuring that we've got good recognitions for all types of contributions that we value and not rewarding the same people or the same type of work over and over and over again. Not all of these are going to necessarily completely transform somebody's experience, but they can make a difference. And so that's what I'd love to see is trying. Let's try some things and let's see where we land with it and what kind of difference it can make.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:58]: So let's get into the 6 elements of the caring university that you write about in your book, because it's really the roadmap that you're providing institutions to follow if they want to take a swing at this. So we have the areas of prioritizing employees' experience, empowering rights and voice, humanizing policies and practices, realizing equity and belonging, committing to growth and compensation, and cultivating caring leaders. Where would you like to start in this list?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:22:24]: One of the ones that I really like that people have really responded to is actually related to the idea of our campus strategy. And the whole premise of that chapter is we in higher ed have come around to this idea of strategic priorities. We see value in that, and we're going to engage in these exercises where we try to identify what our strategic priorities are. But what we don't ever do is follow that with a real consideration of labor. So who's doing this work? Are they trained for it? Are they going to be rewarded for it? Do we need to do some hiring into areas that are going to be necessary to pull this off? Have we really thought about our onboarding to enable this work and this type of hiring to happen? So outside of higher ed, much more so than within, we have the concept of talent management where it is possible for us to develop a talent management strategy that would feed into or map onto our campus strategic priorities. So that we can better answer those questions of like, who's doing this work? Who do we need? What challenges do we currently have in our capacity to pull this off? And a big piece of that chapter is also just thinking really thoughtfully about workload and trying to push us to really think a little bit more about are we getting a good understanding of how much people are actually working and what they are able to take on beyond what they might already be doing if we're going to try to achieve these bigger aspirational goals. So I like that change because it's one that I think we haven't really thought about a whole lot in higher ed. And there's a great chapter from Amarillo College, which is in the Texas Panhandle, and they offer an example of what it looks like for a campus to develop a set of values, for example, really, and a set of strategic priorities that are rooted in an ethic of care and enable enable us to really see what it looks like when a campus kind of takes its strategic planning and strategic priorities seriously in a way that's, I think, thinking about people and not just treating the people function as an afterthought.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:28]: How would you suggest that leaders in student affairs who are reading this book bring this forward to their senior administrations?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:24:35]: So I think that this is a delicate thing because it's already the case that student affairs Student Affairs can be somewhat maligned on campuses or already thought of as being a place that is kind of fluffy. And I think it can be very helpful if a student affairs leader could partner with a counterpart in academic affairs because the combination of those two together I think could be more compelling. Ultimately, the president or the chancellor speaks to the board or is responsive to the board. And so I think a savvy student affairs leader is going to have to think about how do we couch this and may be resonant with board members. One of the interesting ways that you could do that is to really try to call on the fact that some of this is not actually specific to higher ed, it's rooted in organizational management. We are in many cases outpaced by what they do in the private sector. And so if you've got a board, for example, that is lots of folks that are coming from the private sector, they may not find it that unusual some of the things that we're calling for here. By the way, that may require that they don't use the language of care care or caring because that's not the language that they speak.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:25:45]: It may be much more grounded in language of, this is how we are going to achieve organizational excellence. And so I think that's okay. It doesn't need to always use that language if that's not going to work. And so it might just be kind of thinking strategically in that way.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:02]: One of the things that struck me when we were having the conversation in the big hall was when the Q&A opened, 100% of the people that asked the question were a brand new professional and self-disclosed as such.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:26:12]: What do you make of There is a real curiosity on the part of new professionals and probably some concern because they're entering this work at such a strange time where we have had this pandemic experience, we had the Great Resignation, we're in the second Trump administration. It has been hard for us to find good news. We have been institutionally under attack, and I think new professionals are looking for some reassurance assurance that this is a viable future, that they haven't made a mistake, that there are still spaces where they can do great work and find joy and find other people that they're really going to connect with. And so it doesn't surprise me that they're coming forward with these questions. And part of me wonders if it's coming from a place of, I am stepping into this work, help me understand, help me prepare for, is this the right move? Should I be thinking about something else. And so one of the things I really want to always try to be clear on is that I still love this work. I still think it's a fantastic career, and our need for change, our need for improvement on some of these things doesn't negate that there's still so much opportunity for someone. And so that's part of the message that I try to convey.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:27]: For our VPs and our AVPs, deans who are listening, I really hope that we can take this information and digest it because it's clearly what matters to our entering professionals. And knowing that one of our goals right now in the profession is to draw pathways for persistence in the field. I think this is probably part of that recipe, along with compensation, which is a conversation we've been having in the field for a long time. We can't keep talent unless we're able to compensate talent for what people should be earning, especially with a master's degree as, you know, the entry point for our field and all of those things. We all know that, right? So I think the core message that I would give from sitting in that room and kind of hearing those new professionals come forward with curiosity, but also a little a little bit of anxiousness in their voices, is we need to read this and we need to figure out what is viable for our institutions in order to work on that retention model for our student affairs pipeline. And I know that our incoming NASPA Board Chair, Darryl Holliman, identified that pipeline as a big strategic priority for this year's board work. So I think this is all coming together at the right time.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:28:28]: Yeah, and as I've said, for me, I treat this very much not as a work that's designed to call us out, but as an an invitation to step into this conversation. And I think it could be really fun. I think it could be really rewarding. This isn't the sort of thing where, like, as a student affairs leader, I'm going to come in and be slapped on the wrist for things that are not going well or have not been great in the past. There's just a chance for us to say, as we are thinking about the future of our institutions, the future of our students, we should also be thinking about the future of our people. How are are we going to be leaders in that space? And student affairs, frankly, probably could be a leader in this work and thinking about how we design the best organizations for our employees so that they're able to do their best work for students.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:16]: I think at the core of it too, the work is clear and poignant, but it's not radical. And I think it's a bit telling that we haven't had a book in this framing in the, in the profession, at least that I'm not aware of. I haven't read everything, of course, but I think that is a moment that we're trying to meet. And we're seeing it in print and it gives us something to reference.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:29:35]: Yeah, I agree with you 100%. As I was writing this, I don't think anything felt particularly radical to me. It's probably only radical in the sense that these aren't things that we're doing and it makes us uncomfortable. But the ideas themselves, I think, are relatively basic. It's the stuff of good organizations. It's thinking about career pathways. It's thinking about whose contributions we're recognizing. Yes, it's about fair compensation.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:29:59]: It's about professional development. These are all things that we can get on board with. We just have to take that sentiment that we're all on board with this and then translate that into some actual tangible things. And I think if we could do that, if we could do that even on a small scale, it signals to people who are maybe in the first 4 or 5 years, I can build a career doing this. It's not going to be a career where I just have to persevere and I have to be resilient in the face of all this. It's a career that I could be supported and I can find community and I can grow and learn. And I think that would be a remarkable thing. Speaking of the pipeline, if we are able to send those signals through our actions, we're going to have more people that want to step in and we're going to have more people that want to stay.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:42]: Is there anything else about the book you'd love our listeners to know?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:30:45]: I do think that this is a book that you can choose your adventure. You may not need to read the whole thing. There may be particular chapters that really speak to your area or your interest, and I think you could choose accordingly. And the other thing is that although this is a book about organizational change, there is a role for each of us to play. And it doesn't mean that we have the same responsibility. Leaders are going to have a different kind of responsibility, but we can all be part of thinking collectively about how we challenge some of our norms. How do we ask some questions about our hiring processes? Could we expand some of our recognitions? Are there folks that we feel like are being excluded that we could make sure get an invitation? So there's a zone of action for each of us that I think can be very beneficial in setting some of the conditions to enable the change work to happen. So even if you're not in the cabinet making policies about compensation, there's still work here to be done.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:31:38]: And so it may be a good chance for someone who's reading it to kind of kind of pausing to say, where is my zone in this? And could I imagine trying to put some of these principles into practice in my work?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:48]: Kevin, I'm going to transition us into our season's themed questions. Our theme for this season has been on the value of student affairs, and we're asking all of our guests the same 3 questions on this theme. So our first one is, when you think about the value of student affairs, what comes to mind first and why?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:32:02]: I think one of the very first things that comes to mind when I think about student affairs is this sense that these are folks that show up for people. And in the absence of that, in the absence of that richness, what even is the university? And in that way, the work of student affairs is crucial. It's crucial to the whole enterprise. It is not extra, it's not extraneous, it's not outside of the core work of the university. This is the work of the university. And so that's the first thing that comes to mind is just that, that showing up, that being there for people, but for students, and in many ways providing an example for the rest of us.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:46]: Question 2: Can you share a specific story or moment when you saw the value of student affairs come to life?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:32:52]: Gosh, just one. I mean, I feel I wouldn't be here if there weren't for those moments of mentorship, moments of modeling, moments where I was able to see a student affairs leader show me what it means to be an educator and what it means to be a leader. My work as a faculty member is informed by that. My work as a department chair is informed by that. My student affairs roots is probably more essential to what I do now than any of my academic academic training. And so I would point to that as, as kind of a collection of moments over my own pathway that has been just really kind of underscoring how important this work is.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:36]: And our third question: What do you think that student affairs needs to do to be better understood and better seen in today's educational environment?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:33:44]: I struggle with questions like this because there's a part of me that gently pushes back on the idea that we need to do a better job of telling our story, or being more visible. Sometimes I think the problem is that we need other people to pay better attention, and I'm comfortable calling that out. So as a slight tangent, for example, we put a ton of stock in public opinion polling right now in America about the value of higher education. And with all due respect to the public, sometimes they don't know what they're talking about. And it's okay for us to certainly try to pay attention to that, but the idea that we we should be shaping our practices around public opinion around the value of higher education when they just don't know is not necessarily the right approach. Now, I do often think about the fact that it is only beneficial to our institutions the more we can break down silos. I know silos get talked about all the time. The academic side is probably the worst builder and maintainer of silos that one can imagine.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:34:42]: It doesn't change the fact that we need to be operating collaborating and partnering more. We on the academic side hold a huge responsibility in that, and so I'm comfortable taking that on. But for student affairs, we have to continue working at that. We can't necessarily just kind of live inside the student affairs bubble. We do have to continue to work in partnership with the entirety of campus to the extent that we can, because I think the possibilities for change are only going to grow by virtue of that kind of partnership. And so if I were to point to anything maybe that could help, that might be something.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:14]: 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 [00:35:20]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. There are so many different NASPA events that are happening, whether you have ever visited the NASPA site and checked them out or not. Today is a great time to be able to do just that by going to naspa.org and clicking on events and online learning. You're going to find a plethora of activities, events, conferences, summits, and more, all listed in one place. Whether you're looking for a professional development for yourself or something for your staff members, there's something for everyone in one place. I highly encourage you to go and explore the wide array of opportunities that are available because you're going to be very surprised at the breadth and depth that you'll find find in there. There is a virtual summit coming up for individuals that are connected to community colleges.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:36:17]: A Community College Virtual Summit is happening on April 24th, 2026, from 11 AM to 4 PM Eastern Standard Time. In celebration of Community College Month, NASPA presents this dynamic experience which spotlights the transformative power of community colleges and the professionals who lead, support, and innovate within them. At this summit, you'll be able to explore how community colleges are not only responding to change, but actively shaping the future of higher education. Highly encourage you to check it out. Go to the NASPA website under events for more information. One of the things that you learned about last week in our episode was talking about being an engaged member in the association. For every one of us as members of this association, we have to decide what that engagement looks like and what that return on investment commitment and being a NASPA member means. For some of you, it may be getting involved with a knowledge community, and we just celebrated the 30th anniversary of knowledge communities being a part of NASPA.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:37:19]: If you have never been a part of a knowledge community, you're missing out because there are over 30 different knowledge communities that are available for individuals like yourself, and you can join any of them. It is super easy. If you go to the NASPA website and go under membership and communities, you're going to see that you can find out more about divisions and groups, knowledge communities, as well as regions and areas. I mentioned knowledge communities, that there are over 30 different knowledge communities in all of these areas. All of these knowledge communities are small communities within the larger NASPA. These small communities are based on functional areas and identities, and it allows you the opportunity to find your place of belonging within our larger organization. These knowledge communities serve as content experts and communities of support for student affairs professionals like you. I know one of the first ways that I ever got involved in NASPA was being a part of then the networks.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:15]: Well, the NASPA networks became the knowledge communities, and I've been involved with knowledge communities ever since. There are knowledge communities that are vastly different, and they range in scope from administrators in graduate and professional student services to the Black diaspora knowledge community to the gender and sexuality knowledge community to wellness and health promotion knowledge community to student affairs partnering with academic and more. As I mentioned, there are over 30 knowledge communities that will allow for you to be able to get more involved in some way. For some of you, that may mean just getting emails to allow for you to be able to stay informed. For others, it may be taking on a leadership role or getting more involved in some other way. No matter what way you want to get involved, I challenge you to find a way to get involved and take more out of the membership that you have within this association. Finally today, I just want to say congratulations to Dr. Lamar Hilton, who was named the board chair-elect for 2027-2028.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:23]: Dr. Hilton is the vice chancellor for student life at Indiana University Bloomington, and I'm super excited to be able to welcome him to the board chair role as he gets ready for that and will lead our organization in 2027 and 2028. 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 the knowledge community, giving back within one of the, the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself, where do you fit? Where do you want to 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 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.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:40:59]: Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:03]: Chris, thank you so much for always keeping us informed on what's going on in and around NASPA. And Kevin, we have reached our lightning round. I've got 7 questions for you in 90 seconds.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:41:13]: All right, let's do it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:15]: All right, number 1, since you were just a conference keynote speaker, what was your entrance music?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:41:20]: I don't even know. Were they playing music? I was not. I was apparently out of body experience. I did not even hear what that was. Hopefully they made a good choice.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:28]: To be fair, I don't I don't remember what song it was, but if you got to pick, what would you pick?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:41:31]: One of my very favorite karaoke songs is "Whatever You Like" by T.I., and so that might be one that I go with. Has nothing to do with me or my keynote. I just like the song.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:39]: Number 2, when you were 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:41:42]: I wanted to be a Disney animator, and then that transitioned into an author illustrator. So I kind of almost got there, just minus the actual art part.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:50]: Number 3, who's your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:41:53]: Oh, I have benefited from great mentorship over the course of my career. I had some wonderful faculty at the University of Maryland. Maryland, and so they come to mind. I also had great student affairs mentors, including Dr. Steve Bassesi at the University of Richmond as an undergrad.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:07]: Number 4, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:42:10]: I love Creating Sustainable Careers in Student Affairs, edited by my friend and colleague Margaret Salih. So I would want, I would check that out if you'd like the content of my book. That's another resource.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:21]: Number 5, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:42:24]: We have been watching Shrinking on Apple TV. We like that. We watch Bridgerton. We like that. I watch Love Is Blind. My wife watches Love Is Blind and I pretend like I'm not paying attention, but then I kind of pay attention. I don't know what we're getting out of it at this point, but here we are.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:39]: Number 6, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:42:42]: I listen to a ton of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, and I also really like Good Hang with Amy Poehler.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:49]: And finally, number 7, any shoutouts you'd like to give, either personal or professional?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:42:54]: Oh man, NASPA, you're amazing. Thank you to everybody that welcomed me here. So many folks that honestly only knew me sort of, or knew me on socials, but they've greeted me like a close friend and it's wonderful. And so just thank you for the community that you all sustain here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:09]: Once again, the book is The Caring University by Kevin R. McClure, Reimagining the Higher Education Workplace After the Great Resignation. Kevin, it's been such a pleasure to get to know you a bit better. I know we've got some mutual friends in common, so I like expanding the circle. But if other people would like to expand the circle to include you in it, how would they find you? Where can people find you?

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:43:26]: They can find me on LinkedIn. I'm told that I post a lot. I don't know if that's a compliment or not, but they can also take a look at some of my work on my website, which is drkevinrmclure.com.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:37]: Kevin, thank you so much for spending some time and sharing your voice with us today.

Dr. Kevin McClure [00:43:40]: Thank you. It's been so much fun.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:46]: This has been an episode of Essay Voices from the Field, brought to you by NASPA. This show was made possible by because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:16]: It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. 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 latest episode of "Student Affairs Voices from the Field," Dr. Jill Creighton sits down live at the NASPA Annual Conference 2026 in Kansas City with Dr. Mike Christakis, Dr. Darby Roberts, and Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black to spotlight the launch of NASPA's new strategic plan. If you are a student affairs professional seeking to understand the direction of our field and NASPA's commitment to its members, this episode is a must-listen.

Redefining Strategic Planning – With Purpose and Community

This year marks a pivotal moment as NASPA introduces a three-year plan shaped by intentional listening, member engagement, and a forward-thinking approach. Dr. Mike Christakis walks us through the timeline and evolution, highlighting how NASPA paused its planning to let new leadership take root before embarking on a truly inclusive process, engaging members across regions and divisions. The driving force? Ensuring that every voice, from new professionals to seasoned leaders, informs and benefits from the association's direction.

Five Strategic Priorities That Put Members First

The discussion unpacks NASPA's five strategic pillars:

1. Elevating the Value of Student Affairs: As debates about the relevance of higher education continue, the plan purposefully centers the impact of student affairs and the stories that shape our work.

2. Enhancing Career Pathways and Wellbeing: Retention and growth of professionals—across all stages—receives renewed attention, coupled with a focus on wellbeing that mirrors today's complex campus realities.

3. Providing Timely Advocacy and Resources: With shifting policies impacting each region and institution, NASPA is committed to actionable and relevant support for its diverse membership

4. Strengthening Member Experience and Organizational Resilience: By modernizing technology and financial models, the association aims for seamless connections and equitable opportunities regardless of location or job title

5. Advancing Inclusive and Impactful Governance: Leadership opportunities and transparent processes remain at the forefront, encouraging broader engagement and sustainable growth for the association

Why Tune In?

This episode is more than an announcement—it's an invitation to be part of NASPA's ongoing story. You'll hear firsthand how assessment, feedback, and continuous improvement shape the plan's "living document" status, and how every member, no matter your involvement level, stands to benefit from the next chapter.

Ready to elevate, strengthen, and advance your student affairs journey? Listen now to understand how NASPA's new strategic plan is shaping the future—and how you can be a part of it.

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is Season 14, continuing our conversation on the value of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she/her/hers, your SA Voices from the Field host. Welcome back to the annual conference 2026 here in Kansas City, Missouri, and it's always my pleasure to sit down with guests in real life. So today we have 3 wonderful folks with us who have been working so hard on NASPA's new strategic plan, which launches this month, March 2026. So our first guest, you heard from before, very proud to have you back, and you are now tied with Kevin Krueger for the most appearances on SA Voices.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:50]: We've got Dr. Mike Christakis, our outgoing board chair.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:00:52]: Wow, thank you, pleasure to be here, Jill.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:54]: Next up, we have first-time guest Dr. Darby Robert.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:00:55]: Howdy, I'm Glad to be here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:58]: And finally, we have second-time guest Dr. Carnell McConnell-Black.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:01:02]: Hey, y'all.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:02]: So the three of our guests today have been at the helm of this redefined strategic planning process for NASPA, which is now live on the NASPA website. So Mike, I'm going to start with you. Can you tell us a little bit about how we got here? Why now? Why a new strategic plan?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:01:17]: Great question. So the association had a strategic plan for a period of time, actually leading up to when Dr. Parnell started as president, and the board at that particular time intentionally decided to push off the development of the next strategic plan to allow NASPA's new president to get started. And so when Amelia got into the seat, the board again took up the idea of what a new plan would look like. And that began when Ana González, who's chair, tapped Lincoln Johnson as the at-large member. And that's when the initial development occurred. And then last year in New Orleans, when I assumed the role of chair, is when things really got started and we launched the development, uh, of the plan. And that's where we're at now.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:02:00]: So that process between New Orleans and Kansas City has included serving our members, doing a lot of listening with our members at various convenings, regional convenings, divisional meetings, and the like that really began to help inform what the plan would look like. And that's what has brought us basically a year post-New Orleans to where we are here now in Kansas City. We're in the process of unveiling NASPA's new strategic plan that will take us from 2026 through 2029.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:26]: All right. And we've got, like I said, Carnell and Darby with us today. How did Darby and Carnell get involved in this project for us?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:02:32]: So Darby got engaged because when I became chair-elect, I had the pleasure of appointing an at-large member. And Darby and I had first met actually through our mutual involvement with the assessment, evaluation, and research knowledge community. And so when it dawned on me that the strategic planning process would fall as part of my charge as chair, Darby was one of the first calls I made. I will admit she didn't answer initially, but we finally connected and I shared with her that I wanted her to join the board as an at-large member, specifically to work on the strategic plan as a member of the steering committee in particular. And so that's how Darby Darby Roberts came to be a part of this process. Recently, Carnell was elected as a regional director, and so the representation of our regional directors, I think, was critically important throughout this process. So we invited Carnell as an important and strong voice among our regional leadership to also serve on the steering committee.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:19]: I'll say high five for Region 5, Carnell.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:03:22]: Region 5!

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:23]: I may be overseas now, but I'm always Region 5 in my heart. So very excited to have you all on here. So I'd love to hear from the two of you, Darby and Carnell. You come on board for this project. It's a daunting thing to say, please redo the strategic plan for NASPA and please lead this process, go. Can you talk about your process of moving forward from this idea to realization?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:03:44]: One of the things I appreciated about this process, it was very purposeful, very timely. We didn't want to rush the process and spend the amount of time we needed to talk about what's our future vision, what's our future mission. And then from there saying, if that's what we believe in and strive for, what are the things that we really want to do for the association and setting up the strategic priorities before getting into how we're actually going to do the strategic plan. And so I think it's been very enlightening to take all the feedback that the membership has given, working with the board, working with the staff to come up with a plan that is a really solid plan for us for the next 3 years. I would also just add the element of our members' experience was a key component. And as you look through all the elements, not just for the current day headwinds that we face within higher education, but also the day-to-day experiences that our colleagues are navigating on their campuses and in the world, that we have the opportunity to focus in on how they themselves are supported through the association.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:04:41]: I would also just add that the element of our members' experience was a, a key component. And as you look through all the elements, not only just for current day headwinds that we face within higher education, but also the day-to-day experiences that our colleagues are navigating on their campuses and in the world, that we have an opportunity to focus in on how they themselves are supported through the association.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:05]: It's also a very different thing to create a strategic plan for an organization, an association versus our campuses, I always think it's kind of interesting to try to refocus our brains on what do our members need as opposed to what do our students need or our staff need. So how did that play a role in this process?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:05:20]: Well, I will say as an initial starting point, again, we are thinking about what are the current day challenges, but also thinking about the future and how do we find the intersections of both what we need now and what we need in the future and to be prepared for whatever may come our way. But I think at the heart of it is our members are always, I think through this piece around feedback and getting feedback from the membership, there are clear elements around what's the value of their engagement or their value of being a NASPA member. And when we can focus in on that and strengthen that, I think that ultimately strengthens the experience for our own individual campuses as well.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:05:56]: So I think that a little bit to that is that we did talk about the students and where you should go, and our heart is with students. One of the things that I think about reflecting on this process is today, if we take care of our membership and we take care of the folks on campuses who are doing the work, and we do that really well, they will take care of the students and be better prepared to do that when we're providing the support for them in the association.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:19]: I had Dr. Parnell in a couple of the meetings I was in throughout the week this week, and one of the things she kept emphasizing is what's the ROI? What's the return on investment for a NASPA member in terms of our institutional dollars, our individual membership dollars, our travel and professional development experiences? I think it's been a theme since I've been a NASPA member, which is like 17, 18 years now, that, uh, travel budgets have been getting cut every year since my first year in the profession. So let's talk about how this strategic plan reflects this push for making sure that NASPA is engaged in a positive return on investment for our members?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:06:52]: I think this is an important question, and I think just to underscore some of what Carnell and Darby have been referring to, to this point, this is a little bit of a departure for us as an association to be leading a strategic planning process and articulating a plan that does begin with our members and our member experience. And so we can get into the priorities in a little bit, but at the end of the day, it's been informed by member feedback. So talking a lot this last year, year and a half about what career pathways look like. We've been talking about our employees' wellbeing across the association, across the profession. How are we providing our members with timely resources to help them do their work on their campuses and to expand on what we were saying, that how does their NASPA membership and their NASPA experience look and feel like given real resource constraints, both for institutions and frankly for members of our association. And so how we deliver on those promises, those practices, those programs, that's where I think Dr. Parker Arnell and the team right now are taking this plan and trying to realize and actualize how we can get it as close to our members as possible. Given that, again, we want to center their experience, we want to make it as enriching and as positive to their career trajectory as possible, regardless of what point in their career they're at.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:08:06]: The plan needs to be as relevant to the brand new professional who might have joined us for the first time last night at our opening reception, or to the senior student affairs officer who was at at their institute Sunday morning when the conference kicked off. We've got to be relevant for all those groups and all of our members, and I think consistent with the ROI for those members.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:26]: So this is supposed to be 2026 to 2029, so a 3-year arc, very achievable. When I look at the strategic priorities and long-term goals, I'm seeing a very clear member focus, which I think is always really important to NASPA, but also something that's quite flexible given that the times we live in continue to be unprecedented, and all of us would like to see some precedented times. But I'm going to talk through what these 5 points are, and then ask you to chat to us about how you got here, and also maybe anyone else who was on the team to help you get there. So the first one is to elevate the value of student affairs. Our whole podcast season, this season and last, have been on the value of student affairs. And if you haven't gone back and listened to the episode on the new report that's come out with a toolkit, please go do that. That featured a past NASPA board chair and a couple pillars of our profession. We also have enhance the career pathways and wellbeing of student affairs professionals.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:19]: Third is provide timely advocacy, policy, and practice resources, which we just did an episode on the NASPA Policy Hub with Diana Ali, who's one of our NASPA staffers. Fourth, we have strengthen member experience and organizational resilience. And finally, advance inclusive and impactful governance. So given all of those, let's take them one by one, starting with elevating the value of student affairs. What does this mean for the association and how is that going to affect our work for the next 3 years?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:09:45]: I'll dive in on that one because I think that increasingly in the higher ed landscape, we continue to be challenged in sort of the relevance in our work. Obviously, we talk a lot about student success, retention, persistence, completion, career outcomes, life and career outcomes, and the like. We've said, and Amelia has been good about saying to all of our teams on campuses, our work is critically important. And so we thought there was an opportunity through the strategic plan to articulate what we do what our members do on our campuses, and the impact it has in the broader higher ed landscape. That is as much about NASPA, that first priority, as it is about how we align with the larger, I'll say, presidential associations across the higher ed. And for this, for us, it starts with our members. It's the real stories, the real impact that we have, but it's taking those stories and making them aware to folks who are partners with us on our campuses. And again, importantly, across the higher education spectrum.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:10:38]: I would just also add in this space of student affairs and elevating the value of Student Affairs. Again, as we, as you mentioned, we are facing lots of headwinds around the value of higher education in general. And I wanna say that student affairs plays an integral part in that work to help educate not only our campus community, but also the communities in which our campuses operate within too. So the cities, the towns, rural communities, our small colleges, all of the places that we do, do this. And so for me, it's been, it was really important that we figure out how to articulate this and provide tools or philosophical frameworks for our campuses to be able to say, let's have a conversation about this at the highest levels of our institutional governance. How do we have conversations with lawmakers in our cities or in our states? And then being able to have, again, this common thread as a whole association about elevating this. And so again, at the micro level, but also at the macro level and having this integrated approach to be able to have one voice in a way to elevate the profession.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:36]: Our next section is enhancing the career pathways and wellbeing of student affairs professionals, which I feel like has always been at the core of NASPA's mission in general. So why this framing? And why now?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:11:47]: I'm really excited about this strategic priority because we have lots of conversation about how we recruit, retain, and grow staff in this profession. And in recent years, that has changed, and it's been a little tougher of an uphill climb. And so I really appreciate the thought about how we get staff into the profession, how we retain them growing from grad student to senior student affairs officer, that there's something for everybody. And we need to pay attention to that, which I think also thinking about when people leave the profession, are they doing that in their first 5 years and not staying in there? I think really focus on the value of being in the profession, as well as what variety of career pathways there are. And I think coupled with the wellbeing piece is so important because even back from when I was a new professional, I feel like it's so much more complex to work in the profession right now. And if our staff aren't doing well, then our students aren't doing well. And so focusing on the things that we can do to provide a supportive environment, to provide opportunities, to really focus on the joy that we find in the profession and building that through the pathways, through engagement with our members too.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:49]: I think you've really sold our keynote speaker that's coming up as well. We have Dr. Kevin McClure coming up in half an hour in real time, but you'll get Kevin McClure's episode the week after this one. His new book is called The Caring University, so stay tuned for that episode. Our third priority is provide timely advocacy, policy, and practice resources, which I feel like this one's really easy to say and really hard to execute.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:13:11]: I would just say around this space here is I agree in some ways that the, it's hard to think about the execution because again, when we think about not only just being a global association. The needs of our global members are very different than the needs of our members within the US. And then even within the US, within different states, different regions, their experience and needs are also vast here. And so while it's complex, I think it's also ambitious for us, and it's also a responsible thing for us to do, is to be able to give our members, again, the resources and tools that we need. I mean, NASPA is structured in a way that allows us to be able to respond to our members in different areas, in different regions, intentionally, because we are not a monolith. We are all bound by different limitations, barriers, where we may be. But I think at the heart of this, it is about what are the actionable and tangible tools that folks can actually utilize to be able to support, again, their overall institution and also the efforts that are centered around things that'll support students to get to graduation and have successful careers or just successful lives in general.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:14:12]: I also just wanna call out the great work of Janai Chandler, who is our Vice President for Policy and Research for NASPA. Obviously there's a lot happening at the federal and state level as it relates to, to policy. And I think that Dr. Chandler and her team have done some really, doing really great work already in providing resources to our members in this space.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:29]: If you haven't checked out the NASPA Policy Hub yet, I strongly encourage you to do that because there's a state-by-state tracker that you can check out, which we know that what's happening in Oregon State, where Carnell is, and where Darby is in Texas, and where Mike is in New York— very, very different policy rules applying to all three of those states. And some of us are affected by all three things. So at the table today, we've got four different institution types, three states, and two countries. And between us navigating policy in the profession is a little funky right now. The next one is strengthening the member experience and organizational resilience. So the member experience, again, I feel like the core and bread and butter of NASPA has been creating community for student affairs professionals to come together. Organizational resilience is a little bit of a new one. So let's dig into that part.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:15:13]: We have so many volunteer leaders, a part of the association, and because we are a member-driven, member volunteer association, we have to be mindful and thoughtful about, we got folks who their full-time most jobs are, they're on their campuses, and then they're doing this as a service to the profession and to their colleagues. And so I think it's important again, to reduce as many barriers for them to be successful in their roles as leaders in the association. And in some ways, this is like the organizational aspect. How do we support the folks who are helping to support the profession and their colleagues? So I think the other piece here is NASPA has so many offerings for our members. And so how do we, again, create clear and accessible ways for them to be able to get connected with that content in the right time, at the right point in time that they need it at the right point in their career. And again, thinking about it from that perspective. And then I think also at the end of the day, when we look at overall the association, the association also, like many other associations, are also faced with challenges and headwinds from many aspects. And so, this really gets to the mechanics of how we also run the association too.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:16:17]: And I think that's an important part of having a sound foundation in which we can actually do all the other work as well.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:16:23]: I would say from my experience throughout my years in NASPA, it's a huge organization and it's overwhelming to a lot of people to think about the opportunities available or coming to a national conference with thousands of their closest friends, as I describe it. But really thinking about how we're providing those smaller opportunities for people to get engaged. So I really came up through the knowledge community process and got involved in the assessment, evaluation, and research knowledge community as a member, and then took on leadership. And then that gave me a better perspective of what the organization was about and what different opportunities there were. I met a whole bunch of great people who then said, oh, you might be great at this, and then was on the mid-level steering committee. So I had the opportunities through that. But I don't know that in the past we've done a great job to really clarify some of those roles and opportunities that really helps a brand new member figure out where their place is, where their people are, and where their community is. That really helps them get engaged and be committed to the organization.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:17:16]: So I think this is a piece of that to say, we understand it's a very complex organization. Let's break it down and provide those opportunities for people to get engaged as they can and and as they're interested.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:27]: This year in Kansas City, we just had a conversation with José Luis Rivera, who is this year's conference chair, and he mentioned that a full 20% of our attendees this year are first-time attendees to NASPA, which is a lot of people who are trying to figure out what this big thing is. There's a couple of sub-bullets in here that I think are particularly interesting. The first one is about modernizing our technological infrastructure. I think we all have had moments of frustration with the NASPA website over the years.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:17:54]: No.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:54]: And that's something that we can acknowledge, and I know that NASPA has been thinking about this for for a long time, both with the website or other member connection points within infrastructure. Is there anything you can tell us in a preview about what we might expect from a technological update?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:18:07]: I can't give you a lot of the nitty-gritty, but I can tell you that Amelia Parnell has been zeroing in on this almost from day one. She has shared on several occasions with the board and other stakeholders of her vision for what she characterizes as a Netflix-like experience when you log Netflix, NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:25]: Okay.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:18:26]: What I really think it's trying to get at is a curated web experience based on what the members' interests are. We've got 13,000+ members of the association. There's 4,300 here at this conference in Kansas City. We certainly acknowledge the website needs work, and I think that Amelia and Amy Shophorn, who's our executive vice president, are very keyed into that. And I think that will be something that you'll see some changes in fairly quickly going forward.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:51]: The other piece in this area is to update and implement a new financial model model to ensure solvency, transparency, and impact. Now, I don't think the average NASPA member thinks a lot about the finances of the association. I've served on the regional board, and I'm in the global division, been in public policy, and so I have, I think, maybe slightly more awareness around the different funding models that feed divisions, knowledge communities, regional boards, national gatherings, all of that sort of thing. So why put this priority here, and what do you want members to know about the financial components of NASPA?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:19:23]: I'll take a first stab, and I think part of, of that piece that's there is because regardless Regardless of whether you are a global member and you decide that you're coming back to the US and coming to Region 5, that just for example, that you would have a seamless experience across that. So the idea is that regardless of where you're at, that again, this membership, it's, it's again connected back to the membership experience that we want to have consistent major milestone benchmarks, you know, demarcations about the experience that folks have while also recognizing that again, each area and each region will look different. But when you think about that from a financial standpoint, some regions and some divisions have different funds. And so how do we have some consistency in that while also at the same time keeping the quality of, of again, the programming at the same level? Again, when you think about resources, programs that have higher resources versus those that have lower resources does play into the, the quality of an experience that a member has. So how do we have that consistent regardless of whether you're in a division, whether you're, you're in a global, you know, the global, global division or even in the different regions. And so So again, Region 5 being very small in member numbers, but large contiguously, the largest contiguous space region, you know, it's important that we try to figure out how to make that work, knowing that again, our members are international.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:20:40]: Just to underscore what Carnell was saying, some of this is dollars and cents, but it's not the singular driver. It really is exactly what Carnell was getting at, which is how are we serving our members, which I think goes to the initial point we started with. There's a lot of entry points for the association. Darby alluded to her own entry point, to some extent my own as well, for the knowledge communities. Knowledge communities are funded a certain way. Carnell noted divisions are funded a certain way. Regions are certainly funded in, in a different way. And I think as the board was looking at this very thoughtfully, we were really trying to consider the best ways to make the best use of members' limited resources, the investment they're making both in their time and in the association.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:21:18]: So that's where this priority I really, really I really think does have tremendous potential for us in terms of the long-term trajectory and future of the association.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:25]: I'll also just say happy birthday, Knowledge Communities. Knowledge Communities are turning 25 this year, and we have Dr. Betty Simmons getting her Distinguished Pillar of the Profession Award. Betty, also fondly known in ASPA as the mother of the Knowledge Communities. Our last priority is to advance inclusive and impactful governance. So I think this is one of those things that could be read as a lot of buzzwords, but should have a lot of oomph and meaning behind it. What would a member want or need to know about this aspect?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:21:52]: So I think this one is in particular speaks to how our members beyond just their experience or experiences are positioned to help lead the association. And again, as I noted a minute ago, there's a lot of entry points. There's a lot of opportunities for volunteers to get engaged beyond just their engagement opportunities to lead. And so this particular priority really does get at some shifts we've made in a more consistent framework for governance across regions, divisions, knowledge communities, how we are recruiting, training volunteer leaders, how we're supporting them in their roles. This is an effort to to again enhance what that experience looks like as much for the member as well as for them, how the member is helping lead the association going forward.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:22:31]: And I do think taking the time to really think through this very purposefully is going to help members understand and want to be engaged and want to stay engaged, particularly in that involvement in leadership. Whether it's a knowledge community, it's really saying that this is a smooth process, it's well thought out, it makes sense, and the more that we can I think the more we can retain people interested in those leadership positions, interested in getting involved in knowledge communities or the small college division or the community college division to really say, this is a positive experience. I trust in the process. I'm engaged and satisfied, and I want to continue to do the things and grow in the association. So I think this too is really important time in the association. And it's a really important priority for us to move the association forward. Forward.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:17]: We've talked through what the priorities are. Now let's talk about how we're going to use them to activate the work across the next 3 years. What does that look like at the board level, at our regional areas, through our divisions, KCs, etc.?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:23:29]: So what happens next for us after we begin to introduce this plan this month is we'll begin, and we've already begun here at the annual conference, to have our various constituent groups take these priorities and see how they can see themselves in them. That's been a consistent theme throughout this process. And regions, our community's divisions, steering committees will all be in a position to consider how the work they're doing, the resources they're providing, the programs they're sponsoring, are helping drive the association's strategic priorities forward. The other part that I think is important is that the work that Dr. Parnell, NASPA's president, is, is doing now with the executive team and staff more broadly across NASPA. They have, even before we got to this point here in Kansas City, already begun looking at operationalizing action steps to help drive a lot of these things we alluded to. The website is an example. That's not one of those things that is volunteer-driven per se.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:24:24]: That's an operational function that, again, Amelia, Amy Shophorn, and the team are very aware of and cognizant of and are developing action steps to help improve and drive that forward. So it's as much about our volunteers and our various constituent stakeholder groups and how they're leading in this space as it is about how the staff has put together action steps over the course of the next 3 years.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:24:45]: I would just also add one of the other elements of this is is that this is one NASPA. And so as the Region V Director, one of the things that we'll be doing is actually taking, again, the strategic priorities and aligning our regional priorities to these. And it's an opportunity to also for us to refine that. So whatever we have been, it's not to say that we're just going to stop doing all the things that we've been doing, but we're going to say, okay, what is actually critical now? What is most important? What is in alignment with the strategic plan? And then also how is that connected back to our region? Because again, our region has specific needs as well. So again, that alignment piece is going to happen. For us where we're going to take what we've done, realign it, and actualize it on the other end.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:25]: If I'm an average member who's maybe involved in one knowledge community and I'm very busy on my campus, don't have a lot of time to be more engaged than that, or maybe don't want to be, either way is completely fine. How is the strategic plan going to play out in my member experience?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:25:38]: I like to think it'll provide a seamless opportunity for you to find the resources that you need. If it's a particular topic, a particular issue, a way to get involved, involved, to get information. I think they're going to see this as a very smooth process and that the information that they're going to get and the timeliness of it, the correct communication, that it's going to help them trust the organization to say it's moving in the right direction. I'm committed to it, even if I'm not completely involved in everything all the time, that it's of value to them as a student affairs professional to invest their membership dollars in the organization, to keep it strong, to keep it thriving, to ensure the long-term survival and thriving of the organization. Organization.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:17]: What haven't I asked you about regarding the Strategic Plan that you really wanted to make sure you got out to the members today?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:26:23]: We were really intentional in identifying 3 words that we thought really get at the core of what this plan is about. So as you see the various assets that will be going out that introduce this Strategic Plan, you'll notice that we're really zeroing in on 3 keywords: elevating, strengthening, and advancing. And we tie those words to the member experience. So it's elevating, strengthening, advancing your member experience is the tagline that we're— that's really what this plan is ultimately about. And as we've talked about over the last little bit, it comes in various forms, but we really, really do believe that this will help position the association for the next 3 years. But I think importantly, help strengthen our members, both in their experience and the association. Also importantly is in the important work that we're engaged in on our campuses.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:27:11]: And I will just add that while you may not see very clearly the element around community and connection, community is still at the heart of what we do. And so that interconnectedness of this, this is not done in a silo, that this is not done just individual groups, but this is all interconnected, that getting back to why we're here to support our students and support each other.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:27:32]: And I have to put on my assessment hat. Yes, please. With this plan comes assessment and to say, how are we doing the things we said we're going to do? How can we improve? How can we continue to hear the voices from our members? How are we making this a living document? So it's not just 3 years from now, we're going to assess how well we did. It's we're going to do it in a very focused, organized way to continually improve. It's not just something sitting on a shelf. It's actually meant to be a very living, very dynamic, and very purposeful in moving forward.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:04]: I love that you brought us there. So for our listeners who have not yet met Darby, she has a well-earned reputation for being one of student affairs' best storytellers through data. And so we do hope to have you on in the fall to talk a little bit more about data and storytelling, primarily because as we've gone through this season of The Value of Student Affairs, the one consistent thing is everyone has said we need to do better at telling our story as a profession. Every single person that's come on, and that is very telling that we all want to do that, but maybe don't know how to do that. So it'll be a good conversation.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:28:33]: I'm looking forward to it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:35]: Before we go to our break, is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for also serving on the working group that helped us get to this strategic plan.

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:28:42]: I want to call out Ana Gonzales, who initiated this work, Lincoln Johnson, who was Ana's at-large appointee. Given that Ana knew that this work was coming up, Lincoln was great in helping to shepherd this effort early on and was a continued champion of this throughout the process. I'll also call out Darrell Holliman, our board chair-elect, who's been instrumental in this process and will take up the implementation of this going forward.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:05]: We'll give a special shout out to Lincoln, who has announced his retirement this spring. He's at his very last NASPA right now. He's been a pillar of the profession and a huge part of Region 5 and everything that's happened in student affairs and NASPA for the last several decades. So Lincoln, we're so proud of you. We're going to miss having you here every year, but we hope that you'll come back and hang out. 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. World.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:29:31]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. For those of you that were able to join us in Kansas City, thank you. Thank you so much for coming out and being a part of the memorable conference that we had. Our president, Dr. Amelia Parnell, said at the pending KC Kickoff that the best place to be in good times, in challenging times, in okay times, in all times is together in community. And we definitely had that opportunity together at the NASPA 2026 conference. If you are not able to join us in person, I still would highly encourage you to get involved.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:30:11]: Find new ways to be able to connect with others, to engage with the association, engage with other people in the association, because by doing that, you continue to elevate, strengthen, and advance your own member experience, as well as providing you with an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to be able to be connected with others that are dealing with similar issues that you're dealing with on your own campuses. While it's still a ways away, I do encourage you to think about attending the 2027 NASPA Annual Conference. Put this on your calendar today. The 2027 NASPA Annual Conference is March 6th through the 10th in National Harbor, Maryland. So even if you don't know if you can go right now, put it on calendar, mark it off, because by doing that, you're taking the first step. And then you have an opportunity as the registration opens to be a part of the fun next year in Maryland. And next year's conference has a theme of We Are One NASPA. And there are 3 upcoming information sessions to find out more about the 2027 conference theme.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:31:19]: On Friday, April 10th at 1:00 PM, you can learn about the focus area, leveraging Changing the Business of Student Affairs. On Friday, April 24th at 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, you can find out about the focus area, the Human-Digital Continuum: Leading with Intention in a Tech-Driven World. And on Friday, May 8th at 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, you can learn about the focus area, Adapting with Purpose and Agency in the New Era of Student Affairs. All three of these sessions can be found in the NASPA online learning learning community, and you can find out more by going to learning.naspa.org. A recent email was sent out to all NASPA members about a follow-up brief on administration and governance. As you might remember, NASPA came out with a number of top issues in student affairs that were provided back in 2025, and administration and governance was one of the large areas that came out in the research. Some of the reasons for that is that compliance with federal, state and accreditation standards continues to be a top priority for senior student affairs leaders, with 68% of VPSAs ranking it as very important to their institutions in NASPA's 2025 Top Issues in Student Affairs survey. The follow-up brief that I mentioned builds on the findings from the survey, specifically focusing on issues within the area of administration and governance.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:32:44]: Key strategies for advancing administration and for governance included in this follow-up brief include embedding policy updates in regular meetings and professional development, creating rapid internal communication channels, developing talking points for students and campus advocacy, and connecting with faculty on applied governance simulations. You can find these follow-up briefs and other white papers that have been developed by NASPA for NASPA members by going to the NASPA website under Publications presentations, and then white papers. Finally, there's a new issue of the Leadership Exchange that was released right before the conference on assessment with purpose. If you have a true interest in assessment, this issue of the Leadership Exchange is definitely for you. Whether you currently do assessment in the work that you're doing on a regular basis or you want to get more involved, this Leadership Exchange issue delves deep into everything that you can think of in regards to assessment on your campus. I highly encourage you to take a look at it. You can to the NASPA website, go under Publications, and access the electronic copy of the Leadership Exchange today. Every week we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:33:57]: 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 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 want to 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 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 [00:35:18]: Chris, thank you so much for continuing to keep us updated on what's going on in and around NASPA at this very special Strategic Plan Edition. Now, Darby, as our first timer, you get the first crack at our lightning round. I've got 7 questions for you in about 90 seconds. Are you ready to go?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:35:33]: I'm ready.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:33]: All right, question 1. We're at a conference, so if you were at a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:35:39]: Oh my gosh, we had a question about this the other day when we were in a board meeting about our favorite song and why. And I chose Footloose from 1984 because that's about my age time growing up, but because it's high energy, it's about working hard, playing hard, and just a lot of fun.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:54]: Number 2, when you were 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:35:57]: I think I wanted to be a flight attendant.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:59]: Number 3, who's your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:36:02]: Oh my gosh. I'm going to shout out to Gene Jarsky, who is retired, but he was my advisor when I was an undergraduate student and really exposed me to student affairs as a profession and has been a great colleague, friend, and mentor over the decades.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:14]: Number 4, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:36:17]: Well, I might be biased, but there is a book called Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice by Henning and Roberts. That's a wonderful book about assessment and student affairs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:24]: Might you know the Roberts of that book? Number 5, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:36:30]: I'm not a huge show binger, but I do like this show on PBS. It's called Miss Charlotte and the Duke, and it's about this woman who becomes a private investigator in the hundreds when that's not what women do. And it's a fun, witty show.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:43]: Number 6, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:36:46]: Well, that's a great question. I'm a big podcast listener, and you know what, I'm gonna say The Happiness Lab is a really good podcast. I really enjoy that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:54]: And finally, number 7, any shoutouts you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:36:58]: I'm gonna shout out to the assessment, evaluation, and research knowledge community because they have all my love, and that's where I really become good friends and colleagues with the folks who are doing the hard work of student affairs and assessment.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:09]: And our assessment KC co-chairs were just on last season. So if you want to listen to them, please go check out that episode. And Darby, you did great. You've reached the end, which means Carnell, it is your turn. And we have a different set of questions for you because you've been on before. So question number 1, the last time you were here, you got to answer what your entrance music would be. Would you like to change your song?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:37:29]: Yes, because I represented the region at the regional roll call, and it was Let's Groove Tonight. So that's going to be the entrance song.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:38]: Number 2, what was your undergraduate degree and do you use it in your work now?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:37:42]: My undergraduate degree was in communication and I use it every single day.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:46]: Number 3, your guilty pleasure TV show?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:37:48]: HGTV, all of it. And Bravo. So you said show, but I got channels. So the Bravo channel, all the Housewives, all of the Below Deck, all of those.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:59]: So I do miss having access to HGTV. Number 4, your city is Portland, so if anyone ever visits Portland, what's the one place they must eat?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:38:08]: Oh, my favorite place is called Nora's PDX. It is a vegetarian and vegan restaurant, and they have the best vegan pad thai. And I love meat, and it is the best pad thai that I've ever had.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:24]: Number 5, your favorite work-related podcast.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:38:27]: Favorite work— it should be NASWA's podcast, right? But my favorite work podcast is probably actually On Purpose by Jay Shetty. And it actually was a good defining moment of like, again, alignment and all that good stuff.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:42]: Number 6, your favorite not work-related podcast?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:38:45]: Not work-related podcast. I feel like they're just all integrated. So I feel like I have the same, I probably have the same answer.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:52]: And finally, number 7, any shoutouts you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:38:56]: High five, Region 5. And I would love to give a shoutout to my husband, Kelly, and also my alma mater, Loyola University Chicago.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:06]: It's been a pleasure having the 3 of you live In person, thank you so much for taking an hour out of your really busy conference schedules to sit down and talk about this really important work. If anyone would like to talk to you after the show airs, how can they find you?

Dr. Mike Christakis [00:39:19]: Thanks for having us, Jill. Let me contact Dee on LinkedIn.

Dr. Darby Roberts [00:39:21]: Thank you, Jill. People can contact Dee by my email, [email protected].

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:39:28]: And again, thank you for having me as well. And you can contact me through Instagram. So you can find all the goodies and all the favorites that I visit.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:38]: Mike, Darby, Carnell, thank you so much for sharing your voices with us today.

Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:39:42]: Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:49]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email us at [email protected]. Aspa.org, or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:11]: We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. 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.

We are taking a bereak this week while we are taking in all of the great conversations that we had with you at the 2026 NASPA Annual Conference. We will be back with another powerful SA Voices From The Field Podcast Episode next week!

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is Season 14, continuing our conversation on the value of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she/her/hers, your SA Voices from the Field host. Hey, SA Voices listeners. For those of you who we met in Kansas City, thank you so much for sharing your voices with us. Chris and I are busy putting together the episodes that we recorded on site, so we won't have a new episode for you this week, but we'll have one very, very soon.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:39]: All the best. Talk again soon. This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:05]: We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. That's me. Produced and audio engineered by Dr. Lewis.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:30]: Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.

The latest episode of SA Voices from the Field, hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton and Dr. Christopher Lewis, is a must-listen for anyone in higher education and student affairs! As they gear up for the 2026 NASPA annual conference, both hosts share their excitement about reconnecting with colleagues and gathering authentic stories from attendees. A unique highlight this season: Dr. Jill Creighton and Dr. Christopher Lewis will be moving around the conference with recording devices, collecting answers to three carefully crafted questions tied to the event's focus areas.

Can't attend in person? No worries! We will bring key conference moments and voices directly to the podcast, ensuring every listener can still benefit from the rich professional insights. Whether you're there in Kansas City or tuning in from afar, this episode is packed with community spirit and practical tips.

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is Season 14, continuing our conversation on the value of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she/her/hers, your SA Voices from the Field host. Hey, Chris.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:27]: Hey, Jill.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:29]: It's been an incredible week of gearing up for annual conference. I hope everyone has enjoyed our annual conference episode with Jose and Mike. Chris, what are you most looking forward to?

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:40]: Well, our annual meetup, of course, is one of my most exciting times when we get to actually be in person and talking. But I love being able to talk with all of the people that are coming to the conference. I'm going to be recording questions questions with people from the conference, and I'm really looking forward to some of their answers. You know, we have 3 main questions that we're asking individuals, and we'll be walking around asking people. So if you see Jill or I with our recorders out, please come up to us, talk to us, because we would love to be able to have your voices as a part of this.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:19]: And even if you see us and we don't have our recorders out, but you'd really like to submit your voice for the podcast, we really want to hear from you. So Chris and I will be moving about with our handhelds asking you the 3 questions that we've got scripted for this year's conference focus areas that you heard about from Jose and Mike.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:37]: But Chris, I wish you all of the safe travels.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:40]: And just to let our listeners know, we're taking the week off from releasing an episode so we can be present at Annual. So we'll be back in 2 weeks with a new episode for you. We wish all of you safe travels. And Chris, anything else before we head out to Kansas City?

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:55]: No, looking forward to it. Safe travels to you, Jill, and safe travels to everyone else. Looking forward to seeing you all.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:02]: And if we can't see you there, we are going to be capturing some conversations with some key speakers as well as the voices of you all. So if you're going to not be able to join us this year, we'll make sure that you get to have some of that experience. So whether we'll be seeing you in person in Kansas City or whether you're going to be listening to the content from the podcast after the conference, we hope that it's an enriching experience and we'll be back with a normal episode in 2 weeks.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:31]: This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:00]: It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. 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.

Are you getting ready for the 2026 NASPA Annual Conference in Kansas City? Whether you're a seasoned attendee or venturing out for the first time, this year's event promises to be a transformative experience for student affairs professionals everywhere. The latest episode of the "Student Affairs Voices from the Field" podcast, hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton, dives into everything you need to know about the upcoming conference, offering behind-the-scenes insights and invaluable tips.

In this special episode, Dr. Jill Creighton is joined by Dr. Michael N. Christakis, NASPA Board Chair, and Dr. José-Luis Riera, Vice President for Student Life at the University of Delaware and the 2026 Annual Conference Chair. Together, they explore the vision and meticulous planning that goes into creating one of the most important gatherings for student affairs professionals.

Conference Focus Areas:

The conversation orbits around three core themes that will define this year's conference:

1. Elevating Student Affairs: Embracing Our Impact – Discover how the profession leverages data, technology, and AI to demonstrate tangible outcomes and meet the growing expectations of students, families, and employers.

2. Focusing on People: The Heart of the Profession – After several tumultuous years in higher education, there's a renewed emphasis on community, connection, and supporting the wellbeing of student affairs practitioners. From opening session changes to intentional networking lounges, the conference is designed with people in mind.

3. Pathways to Student Success: Thriving in Higher Education – Despite shifting models, the heartbeat of student affairs remains centered on supporting student success. The conference will tackle who "owns" and contributes to this vital work as institutions continue to evolve.

Why Should You Listen?

If you're attending the conference for the first time (along with 20% of attendees!), you'll find actionable advice—from navigating the app to building meaningful connections, even if you're an introvert. The episode also gives a shout-out to Kansas City's vibrant culture, and how it will shape the conference experience, inside and outside the convention center.

Whether you want to get inspired, feel prepared, or just find the best spot for barbecue or vegetarian fare, this episode is bursting with valuable tips. Don't miss out on hearing from the leaders who bring the conference to life and finding those nuggets of wisdom for your student affairs journey.

Tune in now and take your NASPA conference experience—from both the inside and outside—up a notch!

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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is Season 14, continuing our conversation on the value of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she/her/hers, your SA Voices from the Field host. Let's get ready for NASPA 2026's annual conference. Today I'm joined by both our board chair as well as our conference chair to tell us all about what to expect this year in Kansas City, Missouri. If you're a first-time attendee, we also spend some time talking about how to navigate this conference schedule that is incredibly rich but can also be a little bit overwhelming.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:46]: Our first guest is Dr. Mike Christakis, who is our NASPA board chair, and he's also the vice president for student affairs and enrollment at the University of Albany. We had Mike on last year when he took the board chair seat, so if you'd like to learn more about him and his background, I highly encourage you to go back and listen to his episode. Our second guest is a first-timer on the podcast, Dr. José Luis Riera, who's currently the Vice President for Student Life at the University of Delaware and also our 2026 annual conference chair for NASPA. With over 20 years of experience in student affairs and higher ed, José oversees a comprehensive student affairs division whose fundamental work involves advancing equity and inclusion, deepening student learning, and attending to the student's holistic development. José's vision is rooted in leading consequential student affairs work that leads to student flourishing and student success for all students. Since arriving at the University of Delaware in 2010, he served in several positions within student life, including Associate Dean and Dean of Students.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:38]: He's a frequent presenter at national conferences, an active contributor to the advancement of higher ed and student affairs, and is a member of APLU, ACPA, and NASPA. He is currently our 2026 conference chair, and he's put a ton of work across the last 18 months to make this experience happen for us in Kansas City. He's the author and co-creator of several articles and book reviews in professional journals, and he's the author and co-author of multiple book chapters focused on on the application of the social change model. Jose began his career in higher education as a student steeped in the liberal arts with a double major in music and biology at Muhlenberg College. He then earned a master's degree in student affairs and higher education from Colorado State University and a PhD in college student personnel from the University of Maryland, College Park. He lives in Newark, Delaware with his wife Kate, a faculty member in human development and family sciences at the University of Delaware, and they have 4 girls and 2 dogs. Welcome back to SA Voices, Mike.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:02:30]: Hey, it's great to be here, Jill.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:31]: And Jose, first-time guest. Lovely to have you. Welcome.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:02:34]: Thanks for having me. Excited to join in on this episode.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:37]: We are recording just in advance of all of us descending on Kansas City, Missouri for the annual conference. This year we are thrilled to have Jose in the chair seat for the conference and Mike as one of his last things to do as current NASPA board chair. So before we get started with the preview of the conference, Mike, you've been on the show before. Do you want to remind listeners how you got to your current seat, both as NASPA Board Chair and at University of Albany.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:03:03]: Sure. Thanks, Jill. Yeah, so I'm at the University at Albany in New York State. I've been at UAlbany in my 26th year. Got to UAlbany, as y'all might recall, as a graduate student, had a graduate assistantship in student affairs, worked through residential life, and then have been at the honor of serving as Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment here for the last 11 years. Have been involved with NASPA throughout most of my professional journey here at UAlbany, serving both as Regional Director for Region 2, co-chair of the Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Community. And have the pleasure now of serving as chair. And as Jill noted, I will be concluding my chair service when the annual conference concludes in Kansas City.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:38]: Thank you. And Jose, first-time guest, your turn. How did you get to your current seat, both at Delaware as well as in the conference chairship?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:03:46]: Yeah, so I'll take on Delaware first. I've been at the University of Delaware since 2010, so just past 15 years here. And most of my earlier career was in residence life and housing and in student conduct work and spent 4 years at the University of Maryland College Park prior to coming here at Delaware, but came as the Associate Dean of Students, served as the Dean of Students here, and was very fortunate to be able to compete for the Vice President position. So I've been in that position formally since 2018. And then NASPA has always been central to my professional development. I would say most of my service has been in helping to contribute around professional development programs, most recently working on the faculty and then directing, co-directing the Institute for folks who are aspiring to be vice presidents of student affairs, which was a really fun opportunity for me. And then I was very fortunate to have Mike call me. I think it's one of the privileges of board chairs is to think through who they would like leading the conference that ultimately, I think, expresses and culminates their work at NASPA in the, in that board chair position.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:04:57]: And so, yeah, it's just, it's, it's been a really, really fun ride for 18+ months.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:05:01]: I will say, Jill, just to underscore Jose's point, it actually is quite literally the first major decision you take on as chair-elect. I mean, it really is like they call you to let you know you were elected, super exciting, and less than 24 hours later, they're like, and who's your conference chair? I'm very, very grateful that Jose, who I'd had the opportunity to work alongside in both NASPA and APLU circles, we're, we're both involved with APLU, agreed to take on this.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:26]: So Mike, you get elected, you say, Jose, please chair this conference. Jose, had you been in the NASPA conference circles before?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:05:34]: So actually, yeah, I've, um, under a very different model. Probably, I think, sometime around like 2009 or '10, I served on the Program Selection Committee, which back then was meeting at NASPA headquarters for a weekend with a lot of paper and going through program reviews. So that was my foray into conference and then volunteering along the way and doing those types of things. But yeah.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:59]: So what does the chair do? What is your job?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:06:02]: Yeah, that's a great question. And I would say under Amelia's leadership, one, that we've gotten to do two things, obviously plan the conference, but also refine kind of the organizational monster that is the conference. And the NASPA staff have been just incredible partners in, in working through that. I think the chair, and, and, and I think this is part and parcel to what drew me to say yes, you get to really think about and set vision for with, with the board chair around what's the conversation, that broader conversation that you want to have during those 4 or 5 days when you're on site. How do you build that conversation throughout the year? How does it fit into the work that the board that year is trying to push forward. So there are some specific things in that way. And obviously being responsive to, I mean, the vision is to create a really, really high quality, great professional development experience, which I think we'll certainly get into as we continue chatting. And so get to oversee what we call the CLC, the Conference Leadership Committee.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:07:02]: We have an incredible group of people that lead all the different subcommittees like volunteers and engagement. We have our onsite folks who are planning for our arrival at KC and and know all the wonderful things about Kansas City. I don't know if this happens for every conference and board chair and conference leadership committee, but I mean, we've certainly fallen in love with Kansas City. We've been there several times, likely not the most, maybe the top conference city you think of. And yet, as we've had the opportunity to be on the ground in the city, learn more about its heritage, its history, it's just been awesome. So, but I think at the, at the end of the day, it's really about what's the vision for the conversation that we wanna hold in that place for those 4 or 5 days.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:44]: I think as an as an attendee, especially if you're not volunteering or engaging and you're maybe your first-time attendee, it's really easy to think about the conference as something that just happens rather than something that people spend a year working towards to make this 4-day experience as intensive and learning-focused and magical as it can be. So, Jose, do you want to shout out your conference leadership team folks who have been putting in a lot of energy outside of hours to try to make this experience meaningful? Jose, it takes a village to create this conference experience, so I'm wondering if you just want to give a quick shout out any of the student affairs leaders that have been contributing their year to planning this conference?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:08:22]: Yes, absolutely. I would love to. Like I said, we have a number of subcommittees, but we have Talia Drummer-Ferrell and Danielle Nesselbush, and they're leading our volunteers and engagement opportunities. Shannon Gary and Gail Cole-Event, who are leading our extended learning sessions, which has been, I'm really excited for. Scott Friedman and Darlene Esparza, who are leading our essay series, which they've done a good deal of innovation there. Ryan Gove and Molly C.S. Pearson, and they are our hosts in Kansas City and leading a really, really exciting team who, who can't wait to welcome you. Jeanette Smith and William Hudson, who are leading all of our VPSA initiatives, and Mimi Benjamin, who has been working on our faculty initiatives as well as our scholarly papers, our posters, and other opportunities to engage in, in the literature and the research of student affairs.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:09:14]: So that's the mighty group. Right there.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:17]: This year's conference has 3 focus areas. I'm wondering if you can take us through each of those and how those focus areas played a role in curating the programming we're about to experience.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:09:27]: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's been really fun to sit down. You start working on these focus areas about 18 months before the conference. And so if you can think of what has shifted in 18 months, both in our country here in the United States, but even in the world, there's been quite a bit. And so you try to forecast what are the, the big things that are gonna resonate with folks. So first up, We have Elevating Student Affairs: Embracing Our Impact. And there we're really thinking about the transformative role of data in the higher education and student affairs sector, thinking about the return on investment that families, parents, students are looking for, employers, other constituents we have, and how to leverage technology and of course AI, which we can certainly talk about because that, that's gonna certainly be a feature topic for us at the conference. The second is focusing on people, the heart of the student affairs profession, and I I would say this theme elevated a bit as we went through our conference planning.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:10:25]: There is an incredible connection for us as we got to know Kansas City and really identify it as the heartland of the United States. And you see that reflected in the logo, which has the heart. And regardless of all the changes and issues that we're dealing with, the fun reasons we come together to see one another at the conference, but also the very passion-driven reasons around doing our work better, it's been been a 5, 6, 7 heavy years for our profession. And COVID certainly contributed to that. You know, you think about the murder of George Floyd and what happened there. We think about all the political turmoil in our country and, and our people are stretched, they're hurting, our budgets are constrained. I mean, it's clear higher education is going through a contraction period and all that brings different pressures. But what that kept coming back for us was how to elevate people.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:11:13]: And this ties into some of the agenda too of Mike's work this year in thinking about how we start focusing more clearly on that engagement experience for our people and that support that we have on our local campuses. So excited about that. And we can talk more about how you'll see that reflected in the conference. And then the last is the pathways to student success, thriving in higher education. I think lots of things are changing and yet, you know, the core of who we are and what we do is driven by student success. It always has been from the, what is it like 1937 Personnel Point of View that was written to now, you know, student success has always been primary for student affairs. And so those models are shifting. Are changing on campuses.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:11:53]: I think on many campuses, they're in a discovery mode. Who owns this? Who contributes to this? What are the coalitions that produce those outcomes that we're looking for? But it's still driven by a desire for our students to be successful. So those are the three really large themes that you'll see, I think, reflected throughout many, many of our programs.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:12:12]: And if I could just also add, as José noted, we started engaging in conversations about these elements 18 months ago, and when I was chair-elect, when José had just gotten into the seat, and when we were in Kansas City with the CLC for the very first time. What is so cool about where these three themes have sort of emerged and taken us to this point is that they all also connect pretty explicitly to the association's new strategic plan, which I know is not the topic of this particular pod, but will be for a subsequent pod. But I do really, really appreciate the CLC advocating and championing what has emerged several months later now as the association's sort of primary drivers, which do, I think, in a lot of ways help drive elevating student affairs, focusing on people and what our students' pathways to student success are. So I think that is super cool, at least from sort of my lens in terms of the alignment.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:03]: Jose, can you talk a little bit about how these three focus areas were used to inform any of the programs that were selected or any of our keynotes that are gonna be featured?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:13:14]: Absolutely. I think the first thing I'll mention is the design of the opening is gonna look and feel a little different, and we're experimenting experimenting with something, and we've spent a lot of time vetting that and thinking that through with the board, with the CLC, with membership in general, right? Talking to folks. So we are actually gonna start on that Sunday in regional receptions. And that is really, I would say, paying homage to the connection that we have with one another. We have heard for many years, it's not the easiest conference to be a first-time attendee, of which we have over 1,000 coming. And so what does it look like to welcome them into smaller communities with folks who are adjacent in the sense of a region versus a national or a global connection. And, and so our regions and our global division will have space to be able to gather together and, and just literally meet one another, reconnect with one another. And then that will spill into the opening session, which will not have a keynote during the opening session.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:14:14]: We'll really have some speakers who will frame what the conversation will be, but it's gonna again, really be what we're calling the KC kickoff, um, a little bit of like a tailgating theme to it. And it's gonna be about connecting with one another. So we'll frame the time that we have in Kansas City together, and then we're gonna spend a lot of time in community in a larger room. Obviously food is gonna be really important. The arts are gonna be really important. We're gonna be pulling in elements that are near and dear to the culture of Kansas City. So you'll see more about that. So a lot of that was fueled on this focus on people and how do we from the beginning center ourselves as individuals and within communities at the conference.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:14:54]: So super excited about that. We have over 635 programs 228 of those are around student success. So obviously that's coming in strong. Lots of folks are coming, I think, in so many different ways to talk about student success. So you're gonna see that. I'll get back to our keynotes and our speakers, which I'm super excited about. We are going to hear then on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, each of those days we'll have a keynote. Kevin McClure, who is the author of a newly published book, The Caring University.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:15:23]: Again, and really coming back to thinking about the enterprise of the people within our profession from a systems level. That's really what the book is about. How do we shape systems that can help our people thrive and specifically around our people? So really excited about that. Super excited. So one of the things that Kansas City, beyond culture and history, it's a really large sports town, which is really, really cool. It's not always cool with me. I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan. So you'll, you'll know why that's not always cool with me, but in general, it's very cool with me.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:15:55]: But one of the incredible highlights for us has been getting to know the organization of the KC Current, which is the women's professional soccer team, which has the only stadium built for women's soccer in the world in Kansas City. And it's been really cool to go tour that, get to know a little bit more about the organization. But their president, Raven Jemison, is gonna be speaking to us. And I think it's gonna be a really neat opportunity to get an outside voice into our profession, but around issues that have so much resonance with who we are as a profession. And then we'll close with Amelia Parnell, We were really excited as a conference leadership committee to think about after last year and hearing Amelia speak, think about who better to send us off back onto our campuses and thinking about how to bring the conference together and bring these three themes back together. I won't go through all of them, but Mike, you might wanna talk about this panel we're doing with other higher ed associations, cuz I think it hits really right at both the student success piece, but also the elevating student affairs and embracing our impact.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:16:55]: Yeah, so as we were thinking about what our annual conference would look like in Kansas City, one element that Amelia had actually introduced when we were together in New Orleans, because she had invited some leaders from other higher ed associations, was how could we maybe further integrate in a real tangible way those leaders in our program? And as Amelia, myself, and José were thinking through this, one of the areas was really in the enrollment management space, which is on everybody's mind for obvious reasons in higher education, but which student affairs has a hand in, in a lot ways. And we were trying to make that connection a little bit more explicit. And so we've invited leaders from NACAC, AIR, and ACRO on a panel that I'll be moderating. And again, in my sort of daytime job on campus, I oversee both student affairs and enrollment. So sort of uniquely positioned to have a conversation with panelists from those three associations. And fortunately for us, Amelia Parnell, our president, highly regarded in the higher ed space, was able to make those connections with colleagues she has long worked alongside. So we'll have a featured session that'll really get at how enrollment management is a team sport. In fact, that's the title of it, to try to get at how we as student affairs professionals currently have a hand and how can we have more of a hand in how our campuses work in both recruiting and retaining students.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:18:12]: So I'm pretty stoked about that, that panel as well.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:15]: Mike, would you mind demystifying those acronyms you just threw out for this panel?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:18:18]: Yes, yes, of course. So we'll have leadership from the National Association of College Admission Counseling, so NACAC. We'll have the executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, so that's AACRO. And then we'll have leadership from the Association of Institutional Research. So we're really covering the span of where admission and enrollment begins to intersect on our campuses, and we're trying to elevate that conversation sort of nationally. Again, given the work that we're all doing in this space, but I think also demographic cliff, stresses around resources, where our students are coming from, who the students are we're servicing and the like. So again, really excited to be able to have that conversation while we're together in Kansas City.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:55]: Jose, you mentioned that there are over 1,000 first-time attendees coming this year, which is about 20-ish percent of our overall attendees. And I agree with the statement that if this is your first NASPA, it can be super, super overwhelming. I know we've got an app that has all the things in it. Even the app is a little bit overwhelming. So what is your best advice for how to approach this conference experience? If you're approaching it for the very first time, and particularly if you're an introvert approaching this for the first time?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:19:22]: I'm really thankful we've started having the regions on their own stepping out and doing some connection points for first-time attendees before they come, which is so cool. And I, I think next year we'll see more of that across the regions, which is just such a great opportunity. So the first thing I would say is breathe, and I both want to encourage first-time attendees to be thoughtful and purposeful around what your schedule is and how you balance that schedule so it's true to who you are. But at the same time, there's not a way to do the conference, right? There's not the one way to do the conference. And what I've learned certainly in my many years of going to NASPA is that what drives me to go to the conference has changed over time. And I'm at a stage in my career, Mike and I have talked about this a number of times, that one of the main driving things is seeing my colleagues and talking to them about, are you dealing with this? Am I dealing with it? And so just know that that's going to shift over time. So I would encourage definitely just some time before you leave for the conference, getting familiar with the app, there are some great ways to parse the programming. Either it could be where you are from an identity perspective in terms of I'm entry-level, I'm mid-level, I'm senior level.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:20:31]: It could be a functional area. You're working in leadership development or you're working in counseling and wellbeing, whatever it might be. And so the app really gives some ways to break it down. And I would suggest breaking it down is really helpful because to your point, Jill, if you look at the app and you look at all the programs, it gets really quickly overwhelming. I don't think you have to feel like you have to do a program every session. What I've generally done is said, these are two programs that are priorities for me on this day, and then I build the rest of the schedule around that. I would leave some time to connect with colleagues, and there's lots of receptions and mixers. And what are the spaces? And again, this is where you might want to pace yourself, right, based on your capacity to do that.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:21:12]: And that makes sense. And plan some alone time. I mean, I will say, Jill, I'm an extrovert. I've certainly, I would say, come a bit more to center post-college. I was a really off-the-charts extrovert, but I plan alone time for the conference. You have to, you have to plan some alone time. It might be a half hour by yourself in your room before you go out to dinner with a group, or it might be I'm just gonna take a walk, and that's fine. So those are some of the keys.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:21:36]: One of the unique elements of a conference like NASPA is you do get to meet people. So do plan time in for being able to have space and energy to do that. And the fruit of that is, at least for me, it's been incredible over the years.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:21:50]: And I I think that just to underscore Jose's points, I mean, we've got a really rich program offering for conference attendees. You are still in a position, particularly as a first-time attendee, to gain invaluable experience through those informal interactions that are not always necessarily in sessions. And so just to sort of double down on what Jose was saying, small bites of the apple. You're not going to make every session. You're not going to make every reception. Do what you're able to. We've tried to be very intentional. The conference leadership committee in focusing on our people and prioritizing their wellbeing and engagement while they're there.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:22:25]: And so you will note from the onset of the conference, we will be talking about you as an individual, you as a colleague, you as a professional. That is key. So whatever works for you at your pace is what we're hoping you get out of your time in Kansas City.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:22:39]: Just so you know, Jill, we have a number of lounges that we host, and many of them will be in one area together with some intention that there's kind of some shoulder rub in there. So we do have a first-time attendee lounge I'd really encourage you to use that as kind of a home base to meet other first-time attendees, but there'll be other lounges right in that area of folks that you can also meet that you may be drawn to as well.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:01]: I think my advice for first-time attendees would be to pick a mix of sessions that, one, focus on the job you're doing now, two, focus on the job that you might want to do in the future, and three, sessions that just are interesting to you, even if they're not necessarily directly applicable to your current position, because you never know where you're going to go in this field or in this career, and especially who you might meet at the conference. And we're kind of in this weird era where a lot of people do business cards, but a lot of people don't. So there are ways in the app to connect with fellow colleagues to get contact information exchanged that doesn't have to be physically exchanging a business card. But the best advice I got years ago is that if you do exchange a business card, immediately write on the back of that card why you connected with that person. So when you get back to your campus, you're not sitting there with a stack of cards going, I don't remember why I talked to them.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:23:47]: As an example, because I think Jill, that That is excellent advice, particularly in the area of if you're not comfortable or familiar with a particular area, this is an opportunity to get into a session that will begin to broaden your own personal and professional horizon. Artificial intelligence is an area that we've got a plethora of sessions being presented in, and we're super excited that we've got Claire Brady also joining us for some more featured sessions in that space. So if AI, as an example, is an area that you're just like, I don't know, give it a shot, take a listen, engage a bit, and see if you can go back to your campus with a broader perspective.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:18]: About that. Earlier in our conversation, José, you said that the Conference Leadership Committee and yourself had the opportunity to fall in love with Kansas City. I will be one of the first to admit when I heard we're going to KC, I went, oh, and I would like to not be that person. I would love to be more thrilled about physically being in the space. Most of the time is going to be spent at the conference venue anyway. But for those moments that we get to go out to dinner or those moments where we might have an hour or two free, help me fall in love with KC, please.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:24:44]: So I already mentioned it's a sports town, so there's lots of sporting. You collide with it all the time. Like, you can tell they're very committed to sporting. The Big 12 Women's NCAA Tournament will be happening while we're in town. And so that's kind of fun. And I think they regularly host lots of different sporting things. Incredible heritage and legacy. And we'll actually be working with some of this at the conference around Indigenous peoples.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:25:09]: I mean, I think it's somewhere north of 80 to 90 tribes were at some point considered Missouri and Kansas City home. And so one of the things we're trying to do is some place-based engagement sessions throughout the conference and thinking about reminding folks of the land, the labor that's behind the place where we are, but in a way that is a thread throughout the conference versus just, let's say, in an opening session is often traditional at conferences. Really, really long history of African American music in particular and art. Jazz is a big one. Blues is a big one. And there are some really cool museums that document that. There is a new light rail system that runs right through where the conferences and they'll take you kind of into the heart of downtown. Kansas City is also known as the City of Fountains.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:25:59]: I can't remember how many fountains. There's not a lot of fountains right around the conference area. So if you're looking for fountains, that's not where, but you can take that light rail, which is a really simple drive right down into like the shopping district. And to your point, Jill, I think many of us enjoy cuisine. And so that's another tip for a first-time or returning attendee is, is to do a little bit of maybe research there's actually quite a diverse palette of cuisine available in Kansas City. Barbecue is what it's very well known for.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:29]: I'm a vegetarian.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:26:31]: Right.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:26:31]: So maybe not. But nonetheless, they do lots of fun stuff. I'm trying to think, Mike, didn't we have, like, fried pickles or something like that? That's vegetarian.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:26:38]: Just to sort of really fall in love with Kansas City. There's energy when you're there. It's got sort of the Midwestern charm, but with the big city creativity, the art, the architecture, certainly the jazz. We really enjoyed it while we've been there.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:52]: What's one thing you want our listeners to know about upcoming conference that we haven't talked about yet?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:26:57]: I mean, we've been very intentional with the cadence of our featured speakers. That's by design. We were intentional in removing sort of the, what has maybe traditionally been viewed as the opening keynote on Sunday in favor of a more high-energy KC kickoff, more brief speakers, really highlighting members. And, you know, I, I would say that we're also celebrating the anniversary of our knowledge communities. Yes. 25 years of knowledge communities for NASPA. Which really just was very coincidental that we're celebrating KC's in KC. But as somebody who I think both of us, both Jose and me and others, have spent a portion of our professional experience in NASPA with knowledge communities.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:27:35]: I mean, for me, that was my first real foray into active association work at the national level with the Assessment, Evaluation, and Research KC. To be able to now celebrate 2 and a half decades of when the idea of KC's came about while we're together. And so we will, during that opening, during the KC kickoff, in addition to elevating our regions and our international global members who will be there, we're going to be celebrating our knowledge communities. And they're not all 25 years old, but they all have a really tremendous impact on our members' experience, on our association, I think on our profession. So that's, that's the one thing we didn't really touch on that I would just want to underscore.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:10]: And I'll give a shout out to Dr. Betty Simmons, who is receiving the Distinguished Pillar of the Profession this year. We had her on the podcast last year live in New Orleans, and She is, as she fondly calls herself, the mother of knowledge communities.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:28:22]: Yes, she is.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:23]: So it's a good year for all of that. Well, with all of that in mind, I'm looking forward to seeing you both next week in Kansas City. I've got a long flight ahead of me, and I'll be using some of that time to look through the app and pick out sessions that I'm interested in doing. And I also just want to say thank you to the conference committee for acknowledging that the global attendees need a space that's a little bit different than some of the US-based attendees. That's something that's been kind of evolving over the years for a long time, but it's really lovely to to know that those of us coming from across oceans are going to have a more dedicated place to be seen at opening. So thank you for that, Jose. I'm going to transition us into our theme-based questions for the season. Mike, you answered these the last time you were on, so I'll ask folks if they would like to hear your responses to go back to that episode.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:07]: Jose, we've got 3 questions on the value of student affairs, which is something we've been asking all of our folks that we've interviewed in this last calendar year. And our first question is, when you think about the value of Student Affairs, what comes to mind first and why?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:29:22]: Yeah, so honestly, I think the first thing that came to mind for me was just thinking this morning of that simple theory that so many of us are exposed to of challenge and support. The opportunities that there are for us to draw students in, engage students often around a passion area, often it's an extension perhaps of their academic inquiry, or it could be something that's highly personal that they are exploring, provide them opportunities to do that within community, learn more about it, be challenged about it. And then the other side I always think of student affairs is, is that support side, right? We're there when maybe that leads to an emotional corrective experience, or you're thinking about something that you've never thought about before because of the way sometimes our, certainly our residential campuses might put you in a very different environment than you were at home. That to me is the first thing I think about. Everything we think about is the co-curriculum and the power that that has to be so significant for students in the, in their experience.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:22]: Our second question, can you share a specific story or moment when you saw the value of student affairs come to life?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:30:28]: We went through some exercises, as many divisions do, some years ago to think about our values and our mission and our vision. And one of the things we identified is that one of our greatest tools for the work we do is community. And so that's what I would point to. You know, you see example over example over example, certainly on my campus, and I hear about this from colleagues around the way communities play a role. So I think about, we have a Dance Marathon. A lot of campuses have a dance marathon, and that's fresh in my mind because I met with the leaders recently as they're continuing to kind of embed that into the culture and the spirit of our campus. Uh, that started in 2012 with the fraternity and sorority getting together and having an event. It's now its own totally independent organization.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:31:13]: I mean, we literally have thousands of students involved and engaged over the year, not just on that one day. And then I think about all the things that go wrong with something like that and how the students learn about it, right? So incredible financial management that's happening in that space. I could tell you stories about how that's been great and also at times risky. The leadership, I mean, there's just dozens of teams that operate within that structure. So that to me, I think about how much community drives what we do. And it's certainly one of those contexts that I think it's transformative for folks.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:46]: And our third question, what do you think student affairs needs to do to be better understood and better seen in today's educational environment?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:31:54]: I know, again, we're wrestling with some of this on our our own campus. I think it's a simple and yet it's, it's complex around how we have to push ourselves to make connections with others on campus. I think there's a very easy entry point with faculty in many ways, which is those faculty who might be struggling in with a student, but they, they themselves need support in supporting the student. And we have a role there. And I think sometimes we assume that people understand what we do, or we assume that people understand the resources that are available to them. And when I say people, I mean staff, other than student affairs staff or faculty, other, you know, from the campus. And they don't, you know, we have, I mean, earlier in the podcast, you asked Mike to break down acronyms. We do have a vernacular, we have a language among ourselves, and we tend to use that quite a bit.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:32:44]: And that doesn't always make sense to other people. And it's no blame, but we have so many things going on that we don't always think about those deliberative ways to build bridges. So to me, For me, I think we have to get out there. We have to make relationships. We have to force ourselves. I mean, when I think of faculty, like pulling them into different efforts we're doing within student affairs, and some of our divisions are probably positioned where they can do that. You know, if you have a career center in your division, you can do a lot of that work. You know, I think in a, in a place like, like UAlbany where Mike has enrollment management, you have the ability to really, we have to think about that strategy and push into it hard.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:33:21]: 'Cause I think it's, it's ultimately super important for our students and their success. That's what it's about.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:25]: 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 [00:33:31]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. In only about a week, we're going to be in Kansas City for the NASPA Annual Conference. I've mentioned this in past weeks, but I want to make sure that you know that Jill and I will be at the conference and we will be collecting voices. We'll be collecting your voices as a way to be able to get your take on some of the big topics of the conference, but also big topics in regards to the themes of the conference itself and student affairs today. There are 3 questions that we're going to be asking people at the conference, and we're also encouraging you to submit your own recording. And if you are going to submit a recording not at the conference, please have these recordings in by no later than Monday, March 16th. The 3 questions that we're asking people to submit submit are: first, if you could rebuild student affairs from scratch, what's one change that you would make to impact student success? Second, how can student affairs use data and tech to better serve the profession? Third, what does a successful flexible work environment look like in student affairs today and in the future? We truly hope that you will consider sending in a response.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:34:49]: And if you see Jill or I at the conference, we are going to have our, our recorders with us and we your voice. We want to include your voice in answering these 3 questions. So we highly encourage you to think about your answers before you go to the conference. And if you see us, stop us, say hi, and make sure to have your voice recorded so that you're a part of the history of what is SA Voices from the Field. I want to be able to offer all of you the opportunity to be able to to answer these questions so that your voice can be a part of some upcoming episodes. There's a couple of ways that you can send us your recording. The easiest way is to record yourself answering those questions right on your phone, get an audio file, and email us the audio file at [email protected]. You could also record a file and upload it and email us the link.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:35:48]: That's another easy way to do it. A brand new follow-up brief was recently released on Top Issues in Student Affairs in Health, Safety, and Wellbeing. As you read through the top issues in student affairs in the findings from the NASPA's 2025 Top Issues in Student Affairs, they reaffirm that health, safety, that health, safety, and wellbeing, particularly access to basic needs, remain foundational to student success. Institutions continue to prioritize ensuring that students have reliable equitable access to essentials such as food, housing, transportation, and emergency financial support, recognizing that unmet basic needs, recognizing that unmet basic needs directly affect persistence, learning, and completion. This follow-up brief focuses on top issues in the area of health, safety, and wellbeing, and it highlights how colleges and universities are responding to needs with coordinated holistic approaches. If you have not yet read this addendum to this follow-up brief, I highly encourage you to do so, and you can find it on the NASPA website. All of you know that NASPA has a bookstore, and they have a number of books that come out every year. A book that came out a few years ago that is still very timely is Small and Mighty: Student Affairs at Small Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:37:11]: This book explores critical opportunities and challenges at higher education institutions with fewer than 5,000 students. The book was written by a diverse group of seasoned campus leaders, and it is a comprehensive text that offers a range of topics relevant to higher education and student affairs while providing detailed insights and actions to take for, in support of, while providing detailed insights and actions to take for and in support of and alongside students at small colleges and universities. Thriving in the small college culture requires flexibility, collaboration, and the ability to shift rapidly within the changing environment of higher education. This book offers thoughtful strategies and insights to help student affairs professionals identify innovative solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing small colleges and universities today. If you work at a small college, or if you are thinking about working Working at a small college, I highly encourage you to read this book. You can find this book in the NASPA Bookstore, in the NASPA Bookstore located at naspa.org. Also recently, a new issue of the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice came out. This Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice is one of the many journals that is provided to you as a member of NASPA.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:30]: Inside of this specific journal, the journal is looking at innovation in Research and Scholarship. It includes a few different articles that particularly jumped out at me this year, one called Leadership Forged in Struggle: Higher Education, Black Men, and Race by Spencer Dorsey and Jesse Ford, as well as Individual and Collective Learning Through Professional Learning Communities: Institutionalizing Student Success by Leanne Hippolyte, Ronald Hallett, Adriana Kazar, Zoe Horwin, and Mariama Nagabi. And finally, and finally, The Push and Pull Paradox: How Rural Transfer Students Experience Transition as Becoming by Sanja Ardwan, Tinsley Gilchrist, and Ryan Miller. All of these articles and more are a part of the journal issue, which is Volume 63, Issue 1. I highly encourage you to log in to the NASPA portal on naspa.org and check check out all of the journals that you have, that you have the ability to access to learn and grow in your own professional development. 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 its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with the knowledge community, giving back within one of the, the centers or the divisions of the association.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:40:07]: And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself where do you fit, where do you want to 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 [00:41:02]: Chris, thank you so much as always for keeping us up to date on what's going on in and around NASPA, especially as we come up to conference time. We have reached our lightning round segment of the show, and because Mike has been here before, he gets a separate set of lightning round questions from Jose. So we're gonna go with Mike. Mike, are you ready?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:41:19]: Let's go.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:19]: All right. Question 1, last time you had the opportunity to tell us what your entrance music would be, do you want to keep it or change it?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:41:26]: I don't even remember what it was last time, but this time I will say, because we do have entrance music for the annual conference, it will be Mr. Brightside. The connection there is that that is the Buffalo Bills sort of in-stadium theme song. And as some of you might know, I'm a pretty big Bills fan.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:41]: I'm a Seahawks fan, so it was a good year for me.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:41:43]: We're all Seahawks fans this year.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:45]: Fair play. Valid. Number 2, what is your undergraduate degree in, and do How do you use it in your work now?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:41:51]: I was a double major undergrad, history and political science. Political science, definitely, definitely. And I, I would actually say history as well. I think they've both sort of informed how I lead and interact with people.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:02]: Number 3, your guilty pleasure TV show binge.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:42:05]: I was thinking that the other day with my, we have 3 daughters and I basically am binging whatever they're binging at the time. And right now it's not so much a binge, but my kids are all into The Rookie on ABC.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:14]: All right. Number 4, if anyone ever visits Albany, where's the one place they must eat?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:42:19]: Oh, definitely in the Campus Center. Halal Shack is my favorite in the Campus Center.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:22]: Number 5, your favorite work-related podcast?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:42:25]: I really have gotten into, I don't know what the title of it is, but Brené Brown's podcast.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:29]: And number 6, your favorite not work-related podcasts?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:42:32]: One Bill's Live.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:33]: Number 7, finally, any shoutouts you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:42:37]: A shoutout to this guy, José Riera, who's been just a terrific partner as we've been pulling the, the conference together. Definitely did me a solid when he agreed to take this on. And to Dr. Millie Parnell, who has been just an exceptional colleague and leader for for our association.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:49]: All right, Jose, it's your turn. Are you ready?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:42:52]: I am ready.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:53]: All right, question 1: If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:42:57]: Well, my entrance music at the conference will be a Bad Bunny song. I mean, like, how could you not do that? So maybe a little stereotypical, but—

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:05]: Number 2: When you were 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:43:09]: I think either a doctor or like a priest. I think I messed with both of those when I was 5.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:15]: Number 3: Who's your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:43:18]: I have a lot, so I'm really fortunate. Mary Beckwith I'm going to go with, she just retired from UMass Dartmouth, and she is the reason I'm in the field. She helped me see that this was a professional thing I could do, gave me a list of grad schools, and stayed in touch with me as I launched.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:33]: Number 4, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:43:36]: So Radical Candor is a book that has totally changed the way I think about things. So I would, I would go with that. If you're going to be in management in student affairs, you should read that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:45]: I'm using that one to teach supervision right now. Number 5, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:43:50]: So it's funny, I am by proxy I'm currently binging Rookie because it's always on with my 13-year-old daughter. So that's very affirming to hear, Mike. High Potential is a Hulu series that we've been watching, and I just restarted, you know, Scrubs was relaunched and we have really good memories of watching it. And so far it's good.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:08]: Number 6, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:44:11]: It's probably Adam Grant's podcast around rethinking.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:16]: And finally, number 7, any shoutouts you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:44:20]: I think Mike would say this too. Our families are huge enabling factor here when you do this, this work, particularly above and beyond your campus. Certainly my colleagues, I want to shout out my team here at Delaware. They have filled in a lot during this year when I've been, my mind's been elsewhere. And then I would echo right back, you know, I think the conference leadership committee, I think Mike's leadership, Amelia's partnership, all just critical. It's been really great.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:46]: If anyone would like to reach you after the show, either digitally or at the conference, how can they find you?

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:44:51]: LinkedIn is definitely the best way for me, and I would invite you to connect with me and or stop me Somewhere around the conference, would love to chat.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:58]: Mike, how about you?

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:44:59]: Same. LinkedIn is, is always safe. Instagram, VPSA, Mike Vostakis, uh, or just at the conference. Would love to interact with you while we're together in Kansas City if you're there.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:07]: Thank you both so much for all of your work leading up to this experience and for so much for sharing your voices with us today.

Dr. José-Luis Riera [00:45:12]: Thank you, Jill. Appreciate it.

Dr. Michael N. Christakis [00:45:14]: Thanks, Jill. Appreciate it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:20]: This has been an episode of SA Voices. This is From the Field, brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners. We continue to be so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions always.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:42]: We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. 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.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:08]: Catch you next time.