New England at ACPA17: Accepted Program Brian Joyce

Preferred Name: Brian Joyce

Employer: Dartmouth College

Position: Director of Greek Life

Title of your program: Practical Implications Towards a More Inclusive Fraternity Community

Description:
Recent national examples demonstrate the contentious relationship between the traditionally White fraternity system and race.  A 2014 racially and sexually suggestive email led to the suspension of a Kappa Sigma fraternity member at the University of Maryland (Associated Press, 2015, March 14). In December 2014, the Clemson University chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon hosted a gang-themed and racially offensive party, titled “Cripmas”, near the holiday season (WYFF, 2014, December 9). Members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of Oklahoma chanted racist songs on a bus in 2015 (Associated Press, 2015, April 3).

This session presents narratives on race from a qualitative study with eight fraternity members who recently initiated into predominantly and traditionally White fraternities at a large, public university in the southeast. The critical constructivist approach used for this study deconstructed the ways in which Whiteness was perpetuated in hegemonic White spaces. The findings from this study provide student affairs practitioners with insight into implementing practical implications for creating a more inclusive fraternity community.

What you look forward to most for ACPA 17:
I am looking forward to connecting with colleagues, particularly those from the Northeast, as this is my first time living and working in this region.

New England at ACPA17: Accepted Programs by Gavin Henning

Preferred Name: Gavin Henning

Employer: New England College

Position: Associate Professor

Title of your program: Using New CAS Cross-functional Assessment Frameworks and Multi-Standard Self-Study Processes

Description:
Responding to user demand, CAS piloted the development of frameworks for assessing issues that transcend any one functional area. These include First Year Experience, campus safety, and high risk behaviors. They also created processes for offices responsible for multiple functional area standards to effectively and efficiently engage in self-study. This session will introduce these tools and provide direction in using them.

Title of your program: Do It Yourself CAS Program Review

Description:
Twin goals of assessment are accountability and program improvement. The CAS Standards are an essential tool for performing evaluations on your campus and can help you meet both of those goals. The standards can be used for a variety of evaluations including department review or assessing how a function is implemented across your division. During this session experienced users will provide step-by- step examples regarding how to implement different CAS standards for evaluation.

Title of your program: Using CAS for Evaluating Program Effectiveness and Student Learning

Description:
As student affairs professionals we strive to meet the needs of our students. This commitment, coupled with calls of accountability urge us to evaluate those programs and services to demonstrate their impact on student learning. The standards developed by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) are valuable tools for these forms of assessment. In this session participants will learn how to use the standards for program review and evaluation of student learning.

Title of your program:It’s OUR Job: White Male Privilege, Positionality, and Social Justice

Description:
Shame. Guilt. Immobilization. Confusion. Frustration. Although well-intentioned, many white men fall short as allies in social l justice. How do we unlearn and unfreeze? How can white men fully contribute in ways that are necessary, welcome, and affirming? This session will explore racism, white fragility, creating a curriculum of critical self-knowledge, and concrete action steps to help white men educate themselves and fulfill our responsibility to use our power and privilege to address oppression.

Directorate Board Friday: Angela Wu

Angela Wu, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator

Current Title and Institution: Assistant Director of the Davis Center at Williams College

What do you do as the Assistant Director of the Davis Center?

Student development around issues of identity as well as leadership, lots of programming and trainings, as well as building up cultural competencies of other offices on this campus

What do you love about working at your current institution?

I love watching students grow in their stages of development. Even in one year, I can see how far they’ve come, and knowing I have been a part of that is incredibly fulfilling.

How did you get involved in the New England College Personnel Association (NECPA)?

*points fingers at Ben Lamb (current NECPA President)*

When you aren’t working or focusing on your NECPA role, how do you spend your free time?

I’m a huge soccer fan and follow Arsenal in the English Premier League. I also read a lot of fanfiction…

Who inspired you to get involved in Higher Education?

My mentor in my undergraduate years, Tanya Williams, who was the Coordinator for Multicultural Affairs at the time. I remember a conversation with her where she said that I did so much in terms of student leadership and student activism, and that I could be paid to do what I was doing. I remember thinking… what… get paid? What an incredible and unlikely notion. I look back on that conversation and laugh now.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned in your career (so far)?

It’s important to meet people where they’re at, but there’s also always room for people to grow.

What is on your Higher Ed bucket list?

One day far in the future, I’d like to be Chief Diversity Officer.

Why should professionals in New England get involved in NECPA?

Because it’s a group of really great people who are all about helping professionals reach their goals.

New England at ACPA17: Accepted Program by Leah Hakkola

Preferred Name: Leah Hakkola

Employer: University of Maine

Position: Assistant Professor, Higher Education Program

Title of your program: Discourses of Difference in College Admissions

Description:
This paper examines how discourses of difference are constructed in college admissions processes and programing, with a focus on how language and images influence the college choice process for students and impact the goal to increase diversity in sustainable ways. Use of Critical Discourse Analysis highlights how college admissions representatives interpret and understand diversity and they communicate these understandings to prospective students. Methods include an analysis of interviews focusing on how recruiters understand “diversity” in their engagement with prospective students.
I am very much looking forward to networking and connecting with other scholars and practitioners in the field who are interested in engaging with critical theories and perspectives focusing on supporting diversity, equity and social justice in higher education.