Path to Student Affairs

I got my start in student affairs as an undergraduate. I had a rough freshman year, one that I jokingly describe (much to my mother's horror) as the year I dropped out of college twice. More accurately I transferred at semester and then stopped out to go to work full-time at the end of the academic year. As it turned out, spending a year working on campus was the best thing I could have done.

I served as an AmeriCorps Team Leader for the Montana Campus Compact at UM. I supervised a team of 10 part-time members who ran various poverty and literacy related programs like Habitat for Humanity and America Reads/America Counts. Although I was working full-time at the Office for Civic Engagement, the year provided me with the opportunity to explore what I wanted to do when I went back to school (despite my not-so-stellar first-year experience I knew I would go back). I was also hooked on student programming.

Upon returning to school the next fall, I signed up for a part-time AmeriCorps term of service. I worked as a service-learning liaison for the Drama/Dance Department and helped to build a course for advanced students to get them involved in Artsbridge, a national program that places art students in public schools to teach through their artistic medium. Aside from working with the students who took the course, building curriculum and working with faculty also proved to be intriguing and professionally satisfying.

During my senior year I worked as the co-coordinator of the MultiCultural Alliance at the University Center (UM's college union). This job provided me with the opportunity to explore campus climate issues, collaborate with staff, faculty, and administrators, and create programming that spoke to our particular cultural context. This work led to the implementation of the Day of Dialogue program which is still in its third year. My connection with the MultiCultural Alliance also included co-teaching a one-credit course called Intergroup Dialogue during my sophomore, junior, and senior years.

Student affairs permeated not just my 'student life', but my early professional life as well. I found things I was passionate about...and some things I was decidedly not passionate about. One of the cool things about student affairs is the broad scope of our work, as well as the many paths professionals take to get into the field. I would love to hear about how and why you got involved in student affairs. How did you know it was the field for you? Leave your stories in the comments.

NCCWSL

The National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL) took place at Georgetown last week. I worked a few days of the conference and was impressed by the turn out. We had more than 500 college women, undergraduates and graduate students, from a wide variety of institutions. I was particularly pleased to see such a large community college contingent and to hear about what women from two-year institutions are doing on their campuses. NASPA and the American Association of University Women (AAUW) partnered to put the conference together.

The highlight for me was the Women of Distinction Awards. It was awesome to hear from five very cool women leaders. The awards committee did an amazing job of picking a group of women with incredibly diverse experiences and identities. The student advisory committee members also did a terrific job introducing each award recipient.

On Friday, I led a workshop entitled Service and Identity: Examining the Relationship Between Who We Are and How We Serve. The participants in my session were very enthusiastic and willingly shared insights into their own core identities and how they'd like to see service grow on their campuses. I definitely walked away with a bigger picture of volunteerism on college campuses and renewed hope that we can do service in more culturally competent ways.

If you work with undergraduate women I highly recommend that you encourage them to attend next year. The annual conference occurs in June in the Washington, D.C. area.

Graduate Membership

This week the annual NASPA member survey went out to our entire mailing list and as I was sorting through auto responses and undeliverable messages, I reflected on what being a member of the association means as a graduate student. I have to admit that I became a member in January because I knew I was going to the annual conference in Boston and as a member, you get such a good deal on registration. Although I had a vague sense of what being a member meant to established professionals in the field, I didn't really have any idea of what being a graduate member included.

Beyond the annual conference, NASPA membership provides a whole host of benefits for graduate students to take advantage of. Here are a few of my favorites:

Publications: Headed up by Melissa Dahne, the publications department puts out a variety of journals, books, and internet resources. Although they are great resources for research, the journals and e-sources also provide an opportunity to dive into writing and publishing. The marketing and communications staff at NASPA encourage grad students to submit articles. So, if you've done some research and want to get a jump start on getting published, send it in. Otherwise, stop by the bookstore and find some new reading.

Knowledge Communities: Known as KC's around here, knowledge communities provide an opportunity for smaller groups of NASPA members to gather on a common topic of interest, generally with an identity or professional issue focus. For me, being able to get grounded in an identity based KC at the conference was very helpful. It was exciting to see the work that the Women in Student Affairs (WISA) KC has put into the new Journal About Women in Higher Education. I also had a great time meeting with the New Professionals and Graduate Students (NPGS) KC and was glad to meet other first-timers. I would highly recommend getting in touch with your KC, either at the regional or national level.

Professional Development Opportunities: Aside from the national conference, NASPA hosts and co-sponsors several smaller conferences, drive-ins, and workshops throughout the year. These events offer opportunities to network in your region, spend a few days focusing in on a particular issue or area of interest, or tackle a current challenge. I am particularly interested in the Multicultural Institute, which happens every other year (slated to occur next in December 2009). Take a look around the NASPA website to learn about all the great offerings.

These are just a few of the resources that NASPA offers grad students. I encourage you to take full advantage of your membership and if you have any questions or want me to highlight some of your favorites, leave a comment.

Getting Started

Welcome! I'll be updating throughout the summer about my experience as a NASPA graduate intern. Hopefully I'll be able to give some insight into the organization, as well as current issues in student affairs. I just finished my first year of graduate school in the Higher Education Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and I graduated from The University of Montana (UM) in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology.

So, why NASPA? As an undergrad I worked in the student affairs division at UM in a variety of capacities. I coordinated the University Center Multicultural Alliance, acted as Service-Learning liaison for the Drama/Dance Department, and took a year away from classes to serve as an AmeriCorps team leader on campus. Now, as a grad student, I work in the Illini Union Office of Volunteer Programs at UIUC supervising undergraduate student employees. I've had great experiences in student affairs and am passionate about addressing issues of access and equity on campus, so NASPA seemed like a natural fit for a summer internship in the field.

I'm looking forward to working on projects like the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL), doing some archiving (I told my mom my anthropology degree would come in handy some day...), and many more. I also look forward to hearing from you. If you have questions or issues you'd like to see addressed, please leave me a comment!