Balancing Perspectives: The True Value o...

The latest episode of "Student Affairs Voices from the Field," hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton, delves into the complex and evolving landscape of international education, featuring the perspectives and expertise of Dr. Zachariah Mathew, Senior International Officer at the University of Michigan-Flint.

From the outset, listeners are treated to Dr. Zachariah Mathew's personal journey—a career that began as a physical education teacher in India, transitioned into higher education in the United States, and flourished with a research focus on international student college choice. His story reflects how diverse experiences and a global outlook can enrich student affairs and the field of higher education.

One of the central themes is the motivation and decision-making process behind international students studying abroad. Dr. Zachariah Mathew identifies three drivers: economic and social mobility, the pursuit of knowledge and professional impact, and the prestige associated with international degrees. However, as global immigration policies shift and uncertainties around regulations grow, students and their families are increasingly risk-averse—reconsidering where and how they invest in their education.

The conversation explores how universities often view international students through an economic lens, sometimes seeing them as "cash cows" rather than valuable contributors to campus culture. Dr. Zachariah Mathew urges institutions to define the true purpose of internationalization, moving beyond financial incentives to prioritize perspective-building, idea-sharing, and the cultivation of global competencies.

The podcast offers valuable strategies for supporting international students and fostering a truly global learning environment. Best practices include intentional integration of international and domestic students, articulating clear institutional goals for internationalization, investing in well-resourced support centers, and scaffolding opportunities for cross-cultural engagement both inside and outside the classroom. Dr. Zachariah Mathew emphasizes the importance of intentionality—creating spaces where all voices are heard, identities are recognized, and learning outcomes span both academic and personal growth.

This episode also examines the vital role of student affairs in transforming academic degrees into holistic educational experiences. Drawing on the philosophy of Ubuntu—"I am because we are"—the conversation calls for greater collaboration between student affairs and academic departments, and for institutions to nurture students' adaptability, curiosity, and sense of belonging.

If you're eager to understand the challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities at the intersection of international education and student affairs, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in, and gain fresh insight from voices shaping the future of higher education.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:02]:
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 ed pros wherever you happen to be. This is season 13 on the value of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. She her hers your essay Voices from the Field host.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:27]:
Zachariah welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:00:30]:
Jill thank you very much for having me. It's truly an honor and that you consider me worthy of this opportunity. So thank you very much for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:37]:
We're looking forward to learning more about your expertise in the international education space. And you have an incredible journey that has brought you to your current seat in international education, weaving through different parts of higher education administration and also through the world. So we'd love to know if you could tell us, how did you get to your current seat?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:00:55]:
Absolutely. It's in the process started somewhere. Today I'm here. God knows where I'll be tomorrow. So I started off as a physical education teacher in India, teaching at some prestigious institutions in Bangalore. And when I started my career I realized that I wanted to do more. And that also meant that I had to kind of not be where I was, but go up so that I can be in a decision making place. And at some point, almost seven years into my teaching career, I realized that I did not know enough to do any of these things.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:01:28]:
So I decided to pursue my higher education in sports science and sports management. And this was in India at the time, sports was not an advanced field of study. So I chose to come to the United States. I did my master's in sports management. And the experience as an international student, it was the first time I really looked back into cultural vibrance or cultural competency or global competency. Because while we in India we spoke five or six languages and nobody cared. Everybody does. We eat all kinds of foods and we understood other cultures.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:02:04]:
So you never thought about it. But it's only when I came to us I really realized the dynamics of those cultural diversity and perspective. But it was within me. I was thinking about it. I was very active as an international student. I was not a traditional student. I was almost 26 years old when I came here. This is about 25 years ago.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:02:20]:
And that was kind of bubbling in me. I was very engaged with faculty, administrators, seniors to gain their perspective and also very engaged with the student affairs because I was doing my master's in sports management. And then I started working for State University of New York at small community college within that space. And in 2009 I decided to quit my job, go back to school to do my PhD in higher education leadership and Administration at Indiana State University from where I already had my Master's and I specialized in international student affairs there. So my dissertation was on international students college choice. While I was there, while I started, the position position opened up as one of the international student advisor position or the engagement specialist position. It was an associate director position and I was fortunate to have that position. So it started off as engaging the students and looking at it through the student development theories and to see how we can develop the student and bring a holistic education into the student.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:03:21]:
You know, not just international students, but broadly all how to provide the domestic students this perspective. And that started in 2011, 2025. I'm here at the University of Michigan Flint as the Director and Senior International Officer.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:36]:
That's quite a journey. And I love hearing people's student affairs and higher education journeys as they weave through different parts of education. As we've talked about many times on this show, no one grows up saying I want to be a student affairs professional. And so taking that skill set that you built in sports management, sports science and translating it into an international education career is a really great representation I of how we get into this field and move through it. Zachariah, you mentioned that you have experiences looking at international student choice through research. And I know that research is a little bit older now, but can you tell us what we knew then about international student choice in terms of where they're going to school and what that looks like presently? Because we know that that has shifted a little bit.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:04:17]:
So the students choose to study abroad primarily for under three different categories. That is a college choice. So where they go is comes after why they choose to study abro abroad or stay at home. So one aspect is and most every decision has some element of all the three, but predominantly one is economic decision or social mobility. So they make this decision for social mobility or economic prosperity. So it is a one time investment. Students really take this opportunity to invest in quality education so that not only them but the coming generation can have better economic prosperity and social mobility, which is really correlated. And then there is the psychometric which is about having this opportunity to gain the knowledge and to have higher impact within the field of what they do.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:05:05]:
And the third one is social. Social is also to aspect is to be able to say where they go and the social prestige that comes with it. So it could be a country it could be a university within the country and it goes on. So these are the major areas and where they go depends on a combination of all these three. So for example, if somebody can afford to go to a private university in the US where there is quality education, they might choose if they have the capacity to withstand the academic rigor and can pay for it. Whereas if somebody does not have the capacity to pay, they might not choose us, but might choose a country where the education is not as expensive as it is in the US So it is a balancing of all these three that really comes in and says, okay, this is where we are going to go. So one might choose United States States, but they might choose a university that might not be expensive because it is an economic decision that they're making because they do not have the capacity to invest where there might be other situation where it's fully funded. So a student who is looking at it through the social aspect could say, you know what, I'm going to go to the prestigious university where I can get accepted into because I don't have to worry about the pay.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:06:16]:
And also then the, I mean this is not to say that the academic focus does not come into play. The students also look at the academics and the university's capacity to deliver those curriculum and the proficiency of the faculty. So it's a combination of different factors and it is very dynamic. What has changed today with uncertainties in the immigration regulations and its interpretation, students are hesitant to take the risk. So something very important that we need to recognize is if you really look at the large number of international students here in the United States, most of them are from high context cultures where there is uncertainty avoidance. They are willing to take a decision if they are certain about the consequence. But they are hesitant to take a decision when there is not much of certainty in what is going to happen tomorrow. So that is impacting the students decision to choose United States as a destination for now.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:07:11]:
And in all this we need to recognize that this is a one time investment for the students. And it's also important to recognize that these international students are buying this commodity called education, which according to World Trade Organization, higher education is a tradable commodity. They are buying this purely based on perception. They have never used it before. They talk to people around, they talk to officials, they go on YouTube, they go on Facebook, they look at pamphlets and buy the most significant influential commodity in their life, investing pretty much everything that they have. So it is a significant decision that they make. And they try their best not to take chance. So students risk aversion and parents and families as well because this is a major investment.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:08:01]:
Kind of not willing to take that chance at this point because of the uncertainty. I mean, the interpretation is changing. We hear something today and tomorrow. It's like, sorry, that's not true. Something else has come up and that is not helping us at all.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:13]:
It's a tough situation, especially for English speaking countries that are receiving international students because we've enjoyed some global privilege on being quite popular destinations historically. But both the United States and the United Kingdom have put down some pretty stringent requirements for international student entry that really haven't been present in the past. And we also know that a lot of American and British universities are heavily reliant on international student tuition dollars in order to make certain budgetary decisions, work and continue to offer certain student services and things like that. So it's an interesting place to be. So with all of that said, Zachariah, what are you seeing inside of our international education crystal ball about what we're looking down the pike gap for the next several years of international ed, knowing that these regulations are changing and that affordability is changing.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:09:05]:
Affordability, yes. It's a big question. That is an important thing. But I think at the national level it is important that nations define the purpose of international education. What the motivation is, is it just purely economic or is it about perspective building and bringing the brilliant minds together and sharing those perspectives and ideas and culture? We can look at different countries. Canada opened up their doors many years ago, but they did not have the infrastructure so they had to slow down about a decade ago. Australia did that because of the money. In the US it is a $43 billion industry.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:09:40]:
These money that the international students bring, that's a lot of money. So there might be motivations for the universities and institutions of higher education to bring more and more international students, but they do not ask the question if they have the capacity. And very often some of the universities don't even define why they want the international students on their campus. They're seen as cash cows. I'm sorry, they are seen as cash cows. Supplementing the loss of revenue from other sides to it comes in the demographic cliff. We all talk about the demographic cliff and that there are not enough students to go to the US Universities and these universities were built on GI Bill. And then the other part that nobody talks about is the big question is, you know, is this investment worth it? This is a big question that people all around it was in the US but now globally they're asking, is this high investment worth the returns? Does the higher education have the value that it says it has? It all comes down to roi.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:10:35]:
You know, I do not have a crystal ball, but I think it is very important that institutions of higher education define its purpose. And this is something that I'll talk a little more about. This is we need to define what the difference between an academic degree and an education is and what common good are we serving. So unless and until we define that, I think it would be very difficult for us to really bring a big picture on what the landscape is going to look like. And again, it is also changing dynamically. I did not know what AI was 18 months ago in the way I never thought I would use AI. But today I'm so much into it. I mean we are talking about in person classes, then it became virtual and now we are talking about meta varsity.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:20]:
Let's go back to what you said about the purpose of why we're bringing international students to our college campuses. And I think you made a really poignant statement when you said that universities are looking at the dollars but not looking at effectively the human element of what we're offering to the students that are choosing to come to our campuses from other countries and how we are creating infrastructure to support them. So if you were to look at the most promising practices in international education that really are doing the of helping international students succeed in specifically US universities, what are you seeing that's on the table that's really promoting that engagement, growth, support education and academic success?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:12:01]:
First and foremost at an institutional level, they need to articulate why have international students or why internationalize. This includes integrating global perspectives into everything. The curriculum, their day to day operations, and also in articulating the learning outcomes. So that's the first part, institutional level, level articulation of white. Have them. Number two, make sure that these departments or the centers like the center for Global Engagement International center are very well staffed and resources are provided. Only then can we talk about doing anything that would ensure student success. And we have to make sure and recognize that these students whom we accept to be part of our community, know nothing about our community.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:12:47]:
They're coming into a new land, a new culture, culture of the land and culture of the organization. With just a suitcase and some dollars in the pocket, we then have the responsibility to integrate them into the community, not expect them to assimilate, integrate them into the community and then also make sure that we provide the added resources for them to be successful. Be that navigating the cultural differences or understanding the education system. You know, plagiarism is a major issue here, but in a lot of countries, you are required to plagiarize. You have to memorize and literally write the same thing on the paper and submit it. So we have to make sure that the campus community understands those cultural differences as well. Finally, we also have to make sure that these students are given and extended the opportunity to learn from each other. It is just not the international students having the responsibility to teach or engage the domestic students, but from the domestic students also have the opportunity to engage with international students.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:13:52]:
And what really happens, and this is just not in the classroom, but also outside the classroom where the perspectives are shared, they learn from each other. We always talk about higher education being the space to create innovators, but we are so slow to innovate ourselves. We do not. So we need to create the space where the students can be innovators in the sense that they are not being taught, just taught to solve today's problem, because they need to be taught how to solve the problems of tomorrow when they graduate, and not in their home country or hometown, but God knows where. So it is very important to make sure that the students, both domestic and international students, learn from each other and provide that conducive environment where they can learn from each other, contribute towards a common cause, and that's important.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:41]:
I think one of the most difficult things in welcoming international students into the community is that we also often do not focus on the domestic students that are on our campuses who are also going to be learning alongside students from a different cultural perspective. So we're in a space where our domestic students are for the very first time meeting people from across their home state, perhaps, or from a different type of city than they're from, or from a different type of community. And so there's so much emotional and intellectual growth happening in that space that we, we all know about from a student affairs lens. But then when we add the dimension of international perspective, a lot of times we're working with a space where maybe perspective taking is really difficult, because I have no conceptual foundation for understanding what life is like in a different part of the world, which you don't to visit a place to build that understanding. But I think that can help. But looking at all of that in combination, how do you support the journey of domestic students engaging with international perspectives so that the onus is not on that international student to always be teaching?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:15:40]:
Thank you very much for asking this question. And my short answer for that is intentionality. Both at the formal and informal curriculum. What happens in the classroom and outside the curriculum? Outside the classroom, what we call the student affairs or co curricular activities. Let's take the classroom. Very often there is this assignment which is focused on the dominant culture. Even in group project, they're given a project that addresses the problems of the local region. What if the faculty reaches out to the student and really encourage, motivate them without intimidating and without calling upon them.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:16:15]:
Encourage these international students to share the impact of these within that cultural context. Any of the problems or any of the solutions within the cultural context. In my doctoral classes, this is something that I was doing a lot. The faculty would be teaching, the students would be responding to a lot of those domestic issues. And I would intervene and say, you know what? Yes, but how about these and other cultures or other systems or in other higher education systems. This won't work. The tenure or the academic freedom and all those things do not work in many other cultures or in many other countries. So to be able to provide.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:16:50]:
But the faculty also provided me the space to have the conversation. I could challenge. Even at the graduate level, doing my Masters, I could challenge lot of those dominant notions. And the faculty provided me that opportunity to challenge those. So there was intentionality. So I think it is we have to put an intentional effort to one engage those global or diverse perspectives, but then also make sure that the doors are open for the domestic students to receive it. So it is not a one day, one off. This needs to be scaffolded.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:17:23]:
And this has to be a continuum from the day the students comes onto the campus. It's not a matter of a class, it is the entire program. And this also really gets into much larger, I do not know, philosophical or structural thought. We have these concept of majors based on the faculty expertise. History faculty has history majors. Biology faculty have biology majors. But if you're really talking about solving problems, where does that fit into that major and expertise? And that is where this intentionality needs to come into play. Where one can share and other can receive.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:18:03]:
And if anybody believes that this can be done in one class one day or one semester. No, this has to be intentionally woven in to the academic programs. And this also applies to student affairs. Something that I have noticed is as an international student, when I came in, I did not see a space for my opinion or my perspective at all. Because they were talking and everything was about the dominant culture, the diversity, racism and all those things. I did not have a room. So I didn't feel belonged. That's when I started working with the chief diversity officer at my university and saying, okay, where do I fit into these conversations? I had some experience.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:18:37]:
I had about seven, eight years of work experience, and I could relate to the staff and faculty. So I was able to have these conversations, and that made a huge difference. So the intentionality is the key in.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:48]:
Both the spaces, that important conversation around whose culture is being discussed and whose culture is being included. I often have seen international students say that they need to really be quite assertive in order to recognize, represent a different perspective in the classroom or a different perspective inside of student affairs or wherever that might be. So I'm wondering if you can share an example or a moment when you saw that part of student affairs or part of academic affairs did a really good job of supporting perspective taking and inclusivity on global perspectives.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:19:19]:
Absolutely. This is at my previous institution when I was working as the associate director at Indiana State University. So I did a lot of student engagement initiatives. And for me, it was very important that I'm just not creating another silo of. Of international student and that silo and all the others. So my effort was to bring everybody together, the entire campus student body, and we had the vice president for student affairs, I have to name him, because I think he played a very important role, and this is a recognition to what he has done for the international student and domestic student experience. Nolan Davis. I went to him, had quite a lot of conversations about what I do, why it is important, and I had no monies at all to do any of the student engagement.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:20:01]:
A lot of those programs that we did was done with very little or no funds at all. So these conversations really led to recognizing that we both are doing the same thing. I'm doing it from the academic affairs, he is doing it from the student affairs, and he has a responsibility for a lot of the outcomes that I really do. So by the end of that year, he provided a substantial amount of funding to engage both domestic and international students within that common space. So one of the events that I did during that time was something called the Heritage Fair. And everybody does diversity fair, everybody does international fair. It is about defining the us versus them. You know, let me tell you who I am, and diversity within its own context of ethnicity or the skin color.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:20:49]:
So one day I went out to a common area and randomly asked about 20, 25 students what. What they understand when you use diversity, what they understand or what is their interpretation of international and what their interpretation of heritage is. Now, I didn't pay much attention to what they said I was only looking at the kindnesses. So when I said diversity, their hands went out. When I said international, the hands went out. But when I said what does heritage mean? The hands from far came to them. It is about me. So then that year we are organized the heritage fair where everybody had a space.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:21:27]:
It was not about ethnicity, it was not about race, it was not about skin color, nothing. Everybody has a heritage. So we created that space where by the second year we had almost,500 people attending those events. And the second or third year we spent almost $25,000 in organizing that event. And then further again, it's scaffolding and ongoing. The same VP provided funds to develop student leadership development program where we brought both domestic and international students together and did a year long leadership program where we did a lot of conference sessions, did some team building, and then students had to complete a project. And one of the project was a no food waste project in collaboration with Sodexo that saved a lot of money and saved a lot of food. That particular student who led that program was one who, he went during his interview for Amazon, asked the interviewers, you asked all these questions of what I can do for the company.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:22:24]:
Now let me ask you this, what can you do for me? And he was hired immediately there. So these opportunities really bring out the best of the students.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:33]:
I think this leads us nicely into our theme questions for the season on the value of student affairs. So these are the three questions that we've been asking all of our guests. And the first one is, is when you think about the value of student affairs, what comes to mind first and why?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:22:47]:
So early in my conversation, I said about the academic degree and an education. The true power of higher education lies not simply in the academic degree. One earns a credential that one can carry around or hang it on the wall, but in the depth of transformation it can foster within and to others. An authentic education is not a static process, but a living influence. It shapes how you perceive the world, navigate challenges and engage others. It endows you the curiosity, the adaptability and critical wisdom that persists long after commencement. In essence, it is not the degree you carry through your life, but the education that steadfastly carries you, sustaining growth, resilience, purpose in every chapter beyond the classroom. So I think student affairs is in that position where they can be the lab that might transform an academic degree to an education.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:23:48]:
And this is also where the philosophy of Ubuntu comes into play for me. I am because we are. It expresses the core idea, a person's humanity is shaped and defined through relationship with others. In other words, our individual identity and well being depends and contributes to the community as a whole. I think for me, this is the foundation of student affairs. Student affairs can be the lab where you are providing the opportunity to engage with real life problems and solve them without being afraid of being failing. Because this is a place where you can engage students, you can engage community, you can engage perspectives, cultures, you name it, and where students can get to know what what the solution. In the classroom, they may be able to come up with a solution that might give them the grade and pass them the class.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:24:46]:
But once we provide these students an experiential learning opportunity or engaged learning opportunity where they can really solve the problem in real life, they might fail, but every single failure is a learning opportunity for them. So that's the space that it holds. But then also we need to really look at a much larger problem that we have. Our education or our academic degrees are founded in career and not in problem solving. Even within career, we talk about career readiness and this is within the student affairs space, we talk about career readiness and career preparedness. What does it mean? Listen, you paid me for all these services. In return, I'll make sure that you can get your first job. How about employability? So there are those big questions that we need to ask and we focus on the problems of today.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:25:33]:
By the time the student graduates, the that problem is obsolete or it's gone. There's a new problem and the students are not ready to attack those problems. And now there's so much of talk and so much of buzz about AI. Yes, first it was like virtual learning or online learning. That is in a big way eliminating the need for interaction and engagement. Yes, it is convenient, it is cost effective both for students and for institutions of higher education. But what is it? We are really lacking the human interaction. And now we are talking about meta varsity.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:26:07]:
All that you need to do is wear it. And then you can see the teachers, you can see the faculty, and you can feel everything. Where does that space for them to engage and learn come in? And that's where I think the value of student affairs lies in. They need to be focused on student support, fostering personal growth and development. And for me this is very important. Fostering a sense of belonging and community and fostering wellness, safety. And definitely look into that much larger picture of are we providing an education or are we offering an academic degree that could potentially get them to a job? Not per se, a career and employability.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:48]:
Our second question can you share a specific story or moment when you saw the value of student affairs come to life?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:26:54]:
It's my experience here as an international student. As I said in the initially in India, we spoke multiple languages, we interacted with people from all around the world, networking, everything happened. But you never thought about any of those things because it was part of your daily life. It's when I came here, when I really realized the importance of that gain the perspective building and gaining those perspectives and its application and its implementation. And I think I was able to really gain those insight and translate my experiences within the student affairs space and then today apply that when I am working in this field. So I think that lived experience and having a lot of opportunities to talk to professionals in student affairs was very important for me personally. If I really put in simple sentences, it was really taking in my lived experience and translating it into educational experience and career competencies. And that was very much reflected in my job interviews.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:27:53]:
If I had not really looked at it through the lens of student development theory and the student affairs, I would have had a very different kind of response. Even sometimes I wonder, I might not even have brought up a lot of stuff because it's for granted.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:06]:
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. Zachariah Mathew [00:28:13]:
I think student affairs needs to articulate, develop or enforce its own identity. This I want to say might be. It's my feelings, but I think we are growing under the shadow of the faculty being considered the university and that we are this co curricular that provides auxiliary services. And again I'm using this word. I think it is important that at an institutional level and as a field, we need to create an identity of our own in student affairs not as the allied services, but as essential service that we provide that ensures student success and also that ensures that the students have this educational experience. Earlier when I said the faculty as the university, what I was trying to say is that the delivery of the formal curriculum is a core essence. It is important, it is very important. But it equally important is student affairs.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:29:11]:
I was recently I was just looking at where the growth is in terms of nations. On average, E7 countries added 2% GDP growth, whereas the top 10 fastest growing economies had had 22% growth. And these were countries in Asia and Africa. So down the line we can really say that these job opportunities and growth there is a significant increase in potential opportunities in employabilities or employments abroad or to engage with other countries. So the question is, are we, the student affairs, playing a role in ensuring that the student can really tap into that opportunity? And then now moving with a list of few things that we really need to do is we really need to see the make sure that the programming or the engagement that we have, the learning outcomes really align with the academic learning outcomes as well. We can't also be in isolation and in silos. We have to make sure that there is collaboration and alignment of what we do purely in terms of learning outcomes. So if our learning outcome, the student affairs learning outcome has to align with the learning outcomes of academic programs, we need to, and this is something that I think most universities and most institutions really lack, is partnership with the faculty and aligning with their specific learning outcome and making sure that they are engaged partners in this process? Very often, again, they don't see a need to engage with us and we don't see a need to engage with them.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:30:47]:
And that is really getting into the way. We need to create space to integrate and bring in diverse perspectives. We need to be able to articulate the, the purpose and outcomes of student affairs at the institutional level and at the community level. You know, very often we don't articulate and we don't sing praises and songs about how the student affairs contribute to recruitment, retention and graduation. And even at the programmatic level, one of the successes that I had is I always gave the ownership of everything that I did to the students. I was at the background, but the students were the leading force behind a lot of those things, which really help with the leadership skills and all those things. A real world experience. We need to be able to tell students success stories, especially alumni.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:31:35]:
We have noticed that we always talk, you know, use the stories from our current students. And in my experience, what I've seen is the current students, I wouldn't say, for a lack of a better term, let me use a shallow, but it is like they are providing testimonies and they are reflecting on that experience that they had in the last six or eight months. Whereas when you talk to an alumni, they have a much deeper reflection, not only about their experience, but its application and how it brought them to, to where we are today, which aligns very well with institutional mission of advancement and networking opportunities for the current students and all those things. So we need to engage alumni and their stories also. And then as I mentioned earlier, student affairs have to recognize that they have a huge role to play in employability and career readiness because it is what takes a student far, is not an academic degree. It is the education that we offer. And finally, this is again the assessment and evaluation. We need to be able to assess what we are doing and if it is achieving it, it has to match.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:32:38]:
Every single day you get a satisfaction survey. How satisfied were you? But we need to go past that and we need to assess the outcomes and then also evaluate the programs that we do.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:49]:
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 [00:32:55]:
Thanks Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world and there's a ton of things happening in naspa. You have an opportunity right now to submit a proposal for a new book that is being worked on. This book is called Transforming Mental Health in Higher Education Leadership Strategies and Innovative Approaches. The editors of the book are Thaddeus Montero, Ryan Travia, and Marcus Hodling following the pandemic, the mental health crisis has continued on US Campuses. Data from Healthy Minds from the data from the Healthy Minds Study show that between 2020 and 2021, student flourishing showed a 32.5% decrease among all students from 2013 to 2021 and that greater than 60% of students met criteria for one or more mental health problems problems, a nearly 50% increase from 2013. It's anticipated that these type of critical impacts on student mental health, impacts on student mental health, and concomitant effects on student success and academic achievement will continue into the foreseeable future. As mentioned, we are inviting chapter proposals for the upcoming edited volume examining the leadership strategies and innovative approaches to mental health, health service delivery and higher education, with a particular focus on post pandemic transformations in counseling center operations, institutional mental health frameworks, and community based approaches to student well being.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:34:28]:
This comprehensive work will analyze contemporary challenges, including mental health policy implications, evidence based treatment modalities, which include stepped care frameworks, telehealth integration, embedded counseling models and more, crisis intervention models, resource allocation strategies and pedagogical integration of faculty as mental health allies within institutional ecosystems. The editors are seeking empirically grounded contributions from counseling center administrators, student affairs practitioners, faculty scholars, and clinical researchers who can provide theoretical frameworks, methodological innovations, and applied research findings that advance our understanding of contemporary collegiate mental health service delivery. This is an open call to practitioners and scholars from across disciplines in higher education. Individuals or collaborators with expertise, interest, or experience in any of those content areas are encouraged to apply. The proposal deadline for this opportunity is January 30, 2026. I highly encourage you to explore this for yourself and you can find out more on the NASPA website or through the most recent weekly update from NASPA itself that came out. While the early registration deadline for the NASPA Annual Conference has passed, the regular registration deadline is still open and there are an amazingly wide array of programs that are being offered during this conference. Recently, the Conference committee did provide all individuals the opportunity to explore the entire schedule of the conference and in looking through this conference schedule, there is something for everyone in the student affairs field.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:36:14]:
I am hoping that you've had the opportunity to register because we are all so excited to share the fabulous learning and engagement opportunities that have been planned for you and hope that you're looking forward to inspiring keynotes, dynamic pre conference workshops and the wide range of educational sessions, as well as reconnecting with colleagues and friends. With so many sessions that will inform, challenge and energize you in the work that you do, we hope that you will still be joining us. If you haven't already registered to be able to come to the 108th NASPA Annual Conference, you can find out more on the NASPA website. Did you know that as a part of your membership within naspa, there are seven scholarly journals that you have an opportunity to take advantage of? The journals include the Journal of College and Character, the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, the Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, the Journal of First Generation Student Success, Technology and Higher Education Emerging Practice, Community College Journal of Research and Practice and Change, the Magazine of Higher Learning Learning. All of these scholarly journals are peer reviewed and there are opportunities for you not only to learn and to grow in your own work, but also opportunities to be able to share with others. So I highly encourage you to explore all of these amazing resources. You can find them on the NASPA website by going under Research and Publications and clicking on Scholarly Journals. Finally today, a call out and encouragement to have you check out all of the knowledge communities that are a part of the association.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:02]:
I know I've mentioned this over the years, but the knowledge communities are your gateway to the association with over 30 different communities that have been developed over the years to be able to offer you an opportunity to learn and grow with others that have similar passion areas to yourself. It is a great opportunity for you to be able to find a niche and find a community that you can connect with and be able to build lifelong friendships within. It's very easy to join these communities. All you do is go into your profile within the NASPA Portal portal and you can update and get information on any of the knowledge communities and join any of the knowledge communities. You could join all of them or only one. But I encourage you to find at least one knowledge community that you would like to be a part of. At the NASPA Annual Conference, we will be celebrating the Knowledge communities because we're coming upon a large milestone and it's a great opportunity to be able to celebrate the amazing work. After 25 years of being a part of NASPA, I've had the opportunity to be involved with knowledge communities for many of my years within the association.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:24]:
And I continuously am learning and growing from people within these areas that are bringing not only their passion, but also their commitment to people in the association, to students at our universities and more. So I highly encourage you to find find at least one knowledge community to join today and find a new way to be able to connect with the association on a deeper level. 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, members, and for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, 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 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 [00:41:14]:
Thank you so much, Chris, as always, for keeping us informed on what's going on in and around naspa. And Zachariah, we have reached the Lightning Round portion of our show. So I've got seven fun questions for you to answer in about 90 seconds. Are you ready to go?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:41:28]:
Yes, I am.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:29]:
All right, question number one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:41:34]:
Sorry, I can't think about one Question.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:36]:
Two When you were five years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:41:39]:
I wanted to be an engineer.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:40]:
Number three, who's your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:41:43]:
Betsy Hein, Dean of Library at Indiana State University.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:47]:
Number four, your essential Student affairs read.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:41:50]:
Whatever it is, I am against it. Rosenthal.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:53]:
Number five the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:41:56]:
CNN News.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:58]:
Number six, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:42:02]:
Not much.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:03]:
And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:42:07]:
Believe in yourself. You are the change. Be the change.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:10]:
Zachariah I have so enjoyed learning from you today and hearing your insights on international education and student affairs. If anyone would like to connect with you as this episode airs, where can they find you?

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:42:21]:
My email address is z matthew matthew with 1t@umich edu that is z m a T H E W at U m I c h. Zachariah, thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:33]:
So very much for sharing your voice with us today.

Dr. Zachariah Mathew [00:42:35]:
Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. As I said, truly an honor that you consider me worthy of this opportunity. Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:46]:
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 at savoices@naspa.org 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 [00:43:16]:
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.