Category Archives: NECPA Note

2018 Summit Call for Programs

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Thank you for your interest in submitting a proposal for the NECPA Summit to be held at University of  New Hampshire in Durham, NH on June 20, 2018! Our afternoon program will consist of three 50-minute blocks within two tracks – one for graduate students and new professionals; one for mid-and-senior level professionals – exploring generationality within higher education.

Topics can address any and all functional areas, personal identities, or issues facing students and/or staff. Some questions/topics ideas you may want to delve into are:

  • Academic advising students of various ages and technical skills
  • Managing staff who are older than you
  • Addressing the educational needs of multiple generations in a single classroom
  • Managing students who are similar in age to you
  • “Non-traditional” students in residence halls

Please submit proposals using the form at https://goo.gl/forms/X3tvuziaa5diUeWj1. The call for programs is still open. Programs will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

If you have any questions about the proposal form or if you need a paper version of the form, please contact newengland@acpa.nche.edu

Welcome your 2018 NECPA Executive Board!

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Please congratulate your 2018 NECPA Executive Board! These amazing professionals have been elected by you and appointed by our current board members to serve and represent YOU next year. Please, as always, don’t hesitate to let us know what you think, what you need, and what you want from YOUR New England CPA Executive Board!

  • Jessi Robinson – President-Elect
  • Benjamin Lamb – Past President
  • Sarah Santiago – President
  • Matthew Denham – Operations Coordinator
  • Martha Mazeika – Communications Coordinator
  • Cherry Lim – Equity and Inclusion Coordinator
  • Brent Ploughe – Professional Development Coordinator
  • Morgan Rayner – Graduate Student Liaison
  • Michael Prinkey – Special Presidential Appointment
  • Ian Fournier – Vermont State Coordinator
  • Jessica Smith – Massachusetts State Coordinator
  • Nina Giannotti – New Hampshire State Coordinator
  • Michael Donohue – Rhode Island State Coordinator
  • Kelly Levine – Maine State Coordinator
  • Alycia Johnston – Connecticut State Coordinator

Entry-Level Professionals Workshop Review

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On Thursday, September 28th, 2017, NECPA, BACHA, and MA-NASPA co-hosted the 2017 Entry Level Professional Workshop (ELPW) at Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. This local, annual workshop, co-hosted by NECPA, BACHA, and MA-NASPA is an opportunity for Student Affairs professionals, whether brand new to the field or with a few years’ experience, to engage, learn, and grow through educational sessions and opportunities to network within the region.

Dr. Susan Marine, Associate Professor and Program Director of the Merrimack College’s Higher Education Master’s Program was the keynote speaker.  Dr. Marine talked about how student affairs educators are transforming our college campuses.  Presenters came from Boston College, Boston University, Bentley University, Becker College, Berklee College of Music, Mount Wachusett Community College, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, and Lead365. There were thirteen sessions covering supervising, career longevity, wellness, professional development and advocacy.

Fifty-six new, mid-level, and senior professionals attended the conference. Conference Co-chair and BACHA New Professionals Co-chair, Jen Stone, summarized the experience best:

“In such a busy time of year, it is incredible to see so many professionals of different levels coming together to develop themselves when it would be easier to not take a day off and stay at their jobs to get work done. Attendance is higher this year, and it shows that professional development is valued in the region. It’s nice to know that a small conference like ELPW can be impactful for professionals of all levels.”

The Strengths of the NECPA Directorate Board

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by Martha Mazeika

In preparation for the NECPA Directorate Board summer meeting, the members took the Strengths Finder assessment. The StrengthsFinder is an assessment invented by Donald Clifton who is known as the Father of Strengths-Based Psychology (Rath, 2007). Participants are given a report on their top 5 strengths as well as relating the strengths to leadership. The strengths can be categorized into 4 domains Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking.

The 12 members of the directorate board for NECPA represent 30 of the 34 strengths spread throughout the 4 domains. Our strongest concentration of strengths is in the Executing category with all of us having at least on strength in this domain. “Leaders with dominant strength in Executing domain know how to make things happen. When you need someone to implement a solution, these are the people who will work tirelessly to get it done” (Rath, 2007). The second domain in which we had 9 members represented was Relationship Building. “Those who lead with Relationship Building are the essential glue that holds a team together. Without these strengths on a team, in many cases, the group is simply a composite of individuals. In contrast, leaders with exceptional Relationship Building strength have the unique ability to create groups and organizations that are much great than the sum of their parts” (Rath, 2007). Also in the Relationship Building domain, we had 5 out of the 12 members having Harmony as a top five strength. I think this speaks to the last part of this explanation as we as a group feel we are much greater than the sum of our parts. As group we discussed how we can use our strengths to continue to build the NECPA.

 

Rath, T. (2007). Strengths Finder 2.0. New York, NY: Gallup Press

 

Martha Mazeika works at Bunker Hill Community College where she facilitates that Instructional Design for Life Map program. She is also a special presidential appointment to the NECPA board focusing on collaboration and outreach to likeminded organizations and individuals in New England.