Empowering Undergraduates: Inside NASPA'...

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. Today on SA Voices, we're bringing you 3 guests who are currently planning the undergraduate student conference for 2026. Our first guest is Dr. Brooke Paradise, they/them, who is the Associate Dean of Student Affairs for Inclusion and Engagement at Skidmore College, where they provide strategic oversight for campus life and engagement and supervise functional areas including leadership activities, religious and spiritual life, and student diversity and equity.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:49]:
With 15+ years of experience across higher education, Brooke is known for building student-centered systems that strengthen belonging, equity, and student success including developing a comprehensive residential curriculum from the ground up and facilitating a learning community that bridges faculty and staff partnerships. Brooke's scholarship and professional practice center neurodivergence and inclusion in the workspace, translating research into actionable strategies that support cognitive diversity and sustainable culture change. They regularly deliver national trainings and presentations, including a NASPA national conference session on the lived experiences of neurodivergent student affairs professionals and inclusive workplace practices, as well as professional leadership development programming. Brooke has also facilitated DEI trainings for the NCAA Division I student athletes and coaching staff and led DEI-focused training for resident advisors. In addition, they serve in the National Association leadership roles with NASPA, including positions supporting assessment, learning outcomes, and undergraduate pipeline development. Our second guest is Sohan Daniel, who is a coordinator at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, or UTK, in the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, where he supports students through accountability-centered practices that emphasize learning, growth, and personal development. Prior to joining UTK, Sohan completed his master's degree at the Ohio State University, where he was introduced to student conduct work while serving as an assistant hall director. Through this experience, he developed a strong belief in accountability as a powerful tool for student learning and transformation, and he values the opportunity to help students navigate challenges while building skills for both personal and academic success.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:18]:
In addition to his role as coordinator, Sohan serves as the chair-elect for NASPA's Undergraduate Student Conference, or USC. He pursued this opportunity after witnessing the impact USC can have on launching attendees' careers in student affairs. Sohan earned his Bachelor of Science in Sport in Exercise Psychology from West Virginia University and his Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University. Our third guest is Anthony Fralick, who has over a decade of experience within student affairs, having explored the various areas of the profession at public and private four-year universities and two-year community colleges. Anthony currently serves as an academic advisor at the Lone Star College System's Tomball campus, where he has spent the last 3.5 years establishing its career services. As an advisor, he supports students as they pursue competitive health science programs or transfer to university partners. He's worked with several graduate students in higher education and student affairs programs, allowing them to see the inner workings of both community colleges and advising, career, and transfer services during their internships. Anthony is a native Houstonian and has a long history with the college dating back before his time as a student.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:22]:
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a math and science concentration from Houston Baptist University, now Houston Christian University, and a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from Sam Houston State University. Welcome back to our next episode of Student Affairs voices from the field. I'm glad to have 3 guests on today, all who are working with NASPA's undergraduate conference. So first, I'd like to welcome Brooke.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:03:45]:
Hey folks, Dr. Brooke Paradise, they/them/their pronouns. Nice to meet you all.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:49]:
And now we have Sohan.

Sohan Daniel [00:03:51]:
Hey everyone, uh, Sohan Daniel, he/him/his pronouns. Great to meet you. Great to chat with you today.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:55]:
And finally, Anthony.

Anthony Froelich [00:03:57]:
Howdy, Anthony Freilich from Houston, Texas, he/him pronouns.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:00]:
So we have folks from 3 different institutions across the US today. Again, we've got New York State, we've got Texas, and we've got Tennessee. So we always always like to start our episodes by asking you, how did you get to your current seat? And Brooke, we'll start with you.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:04:13]:
To my current seat, I've been in student affairs for 15 years, and then this job popped up. And throughout those 15 years, I've worked at a multitude of institutions, and I love the small liberal arts. And this job came up and I was like, their mantra is creative thought matters. I love that. So I applied and here we are. I got lucky.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:31]:
And Sowen, you're pretty new in Tennessee. How did you end up there?

Sohan Daniel [00:04:35]:
Yeah, I just graduated from my master's program back in May, and I was looking all over the place, had no idea where in the United States I would end up. But I was very passionate about land-grant institutions and the missions they hold. And University of Tennessee had an opening with Student Conduct and felt the desire to apply. And now I'm here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:52]:
Congratulations on making your transition from student into professional. And Anthony?

Anthony Froelich [00:04:57]:
So for me, as I'm similar to Brooke, as I've had over a decade of student affairs experience in different areas since I was an undergrad student, I worked at both 4-year and 2-year community college institutions. And the community college institution really fit my, what I felt like as my personal needs for helping students prepare for those long-term, both academic and career trajectories.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:18]:
All three of you are helping to lead the Undergraduate Conference for NASPA, which is coming up this spring. For our NASPA members who have never heard of this, or maybe didn't do the NUFP program, what is the Undergraduate Conference?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:05:30]:
So the undergrad program is exactly what it sounds like. It's for undergrad students coming, wanting a leadership experience. It's an introduction not only to the student affairs profession, but leadership in general, and we're really trying to hone in on transferable skills and what does leadership look like beyond college. So it's just, it's a beautiful time to network, learn, engage, and sort of get a feel for student affairs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:54]:
The framing that it's not just about potentially joining the profession of student affairs, but it's more about leadership skills that you're building as an undergraduate student that you can take forward to the next step. Who are you seeing come to the conference?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:06:05]:
So granted, I have, this is my second year within the conference, but The students that I talked with last year, some of them were diehard student affairs and they were like, this is the path I'm going into a higher ed profession for my master's degree, and this is what I want. And others were like, I'm actually majoring in business, but I was curious about like the leadership opportunities. So I would say it's honestly a mix of students who want that professional networking experience, want to go to a conference and sort of network and engage, and then some who just want to understand what life looks like beyond college, whether that is grad school or whether that is a career. So it's, it's a beautiful mixed bag.

Sohan Daniel [00:06:42]:
Yeah, and to add on to that, Brooke, I completely agree with you that there's such a wide array of students that we have at the undergraduate conference. In addition to that, some students are just trying to figure it out. They're trying to figure out what those next steps look like, and maybe this is that opportunity for them to think through what does, what does life after college look like. And for some of our students, like you said, USC is that sticking point for maybe I can have a career in student affairs. I'm meeting a lot of professionals, have done I'm interested in and have a successful career, or it might be something else. But it's a great opportunity to have that networking experience, to expand your networks and try and get a better feel for what next looks like for you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:22]:
Graduate student travel is not particularly common for higher ed institutions, and sometimes it's really tricky to fund. Sometimes university travel policies require that there is a professional staff member that attends alongside of those students. So if I'm a professional and I'm thinking about wanting a student to go or supporting a student to go, what should I be thinking about for getting that person from my campus to the conference?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:07:47]:
I love that question and actually engaging with that a little bit here at Skidmore because we haven't brought a student before, but we are looking to bring one this year. So, there's a couple of different things. When you think of a college student, you're like, oh my gosh, they're still in school, but they're adults, right, for all intents and purposes. So, they can travel and they can do their own thing. So, like, what do those logistics look like? How are we supporting them, but how are we allowing them to authentically grow and be their own professional? And so, like, blending those two together, and I kind of explained it to our VP as, like, we have clubs on campus and organizations that travel and go to tournaments and things of that nature. Think of it as that. Think of it as an event that they are doing off campus. How do we support them with funding? And are there grants that they can apply for as a student? And what does that look like? Do you, as the professional, have to travel with them? No, not necessarily.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:08:35]:
Is it a good opportunity for you to connect and say you are sharing a flight? Absolutely. But does that have to be the case? This can really be a learning and growth opportunity prior, understanding how you prep, how you plan, how you organize and get yourself sort of situated for that. So navigating and understanding what the bigger conference looks like and then how to support the student, that's part of the educational process too. And it's gorgeous.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:00]:
Let's talk about conference format for a moment. I know that I've never been to the undergraduate conference personally. I've been to, you know, our NASPA annual, I've been to a couple of other different versions of smaller NASPA conferences like regional and topical and things like that. And so I kind of have a vision of what to go into in terms of like, you know, I have to pick my concurrent sessions. There's going to be keynote speakers. There might be some reception events. And, you know, I'm planning my day from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:27]:
for 3, 4 days in a row. Is the undergraduate conference adopting a similar format or something more unique for the audience?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:09:35]:
I can jump in and start a little bit. We do a mix, so it's a gentle bridge. We have a bunch of sessions that are happening concurrently at the same time. We have the keynote speakers, some traditional things that you would see at a conference, but we also have what are called small group breakouts, and they have a mentor-esque, and that's an opportunity for you to ask some more in-depth questions, get some hands-on sort of feedback, meeting with your small groups a little bit. So I would say it is a mix of like the big national and with a little bit more hands-on. So you're really getting the support that you need. So that's from my perspective, we try to blend those two.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:09]:
This aspect of adding a mentor component into these small groups, I think that's something that we I could probably adopt at other professional conferences, to be honest. What are the mentors doing? How did they get selected? What are they offering?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:10:22]:
So, we're in that process right now. We just put a call out for small group mentors, and they can be graduate students or professional students— or professionals, excuse me. And so, the beautiful thing about it is they come with a range of experience, and it's sort of just who you get assigned with, and you get to understand a little bit of the nuances of their work, how they got into the field, what they're doing, and it provides a little bit more of an in-person person sort of networking moment where you're not in a larger group and you are free to have a dialogue and free to ask questions. So we're actually, we put the call out now and really excited to see what this year brings.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:58]:
Talk about that call for a moment because I think this is going to be released before that call expires. So let's talk about that detail.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:11:05]:
So if you go on to our Instagram, our Instagram is live and running and our social media team is crushing it. We put a call out there and we're going to do another bump very shortly if you want be a small group mentor, that is where you can sign up. So there will be two different ways where you can get involved. An email will go out in the NASPA sort of agenda that gets sent out via email, and then through our USC undergrad Instagram platform.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:30]:
And that handle, I believe, is @NASPAUS.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:11:34]:
Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:34]:
Anthony, you look like you're going to jump in.

Anthony Froelich [00:11:36]:
Yeah, so my actual start with the USC Planning Committee was actually in '23 for Boston as a small group facilitator. It was a great opportunity that as a professional who wants to give back to the field, but also who's looking to be in leadership or faculty roles to invest in aspiring professionals, the small group facilitator is just an easy way to kind of ease into that contributing to the field. So I just wanted to give that plug for people who were interested in the small group facilitators, that, that is a very easy role to jump on that has a lot of collaborative work with it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:12]:
I love that you mentioned that, Anthony, because when we have the NASPA board chair on annually, I always like to ask them how they got involved with NASPA. What is that kind of entry point? NAPSA is so big that it can be really intimidating to take the first step into wherever I want to give my time or attention, and this feels really, really accessible. So if I am applying for and selected as a small group mentor, what should I expect to do?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:12:36]:
So if you are selected to be a small group mentor, you would get a list of students, attendees that are coming, and there's this sort of rudimentary introductions, a couple icebreakers to get them going, sort of things to sort of break the ice and get them Talking and chatting, but then really we walk them through sort of guided questions of like, what do you want to get out of this conference? So the first time you sort of meet with your small group, you do the icebreakers and then looking at the day ahead, how do you want to map out your day and what do you hope to get from it? At lunch, we then come back together and we do small groups too. And it's like a lunch and learn. We're doing box lunches this year and it's like a really, we're, we're honing in on the learning and not missing an opportunity for that. So like at lunchtime, what are your goals and where do you want to be at? What are some things you want to reflect on? And then throughout throughout the rest of that time, when they meet up at the end, okay, what did you learn overall? So it's sort of like this reflective journaling throughout the day where you're sort of understanding the conference itself, how you're sort of fitting into it, what you're learning, what you want to get out of it. So yeah, it's just, it's a beautiful space.

Anthony Froelich [00:13:39]:
I'll also add, it's also just kind of a really cool opportunity for students that have always just networked within their own social circles or within their own campuses to meet someone who is not necessarily tied to their institution. And who has the opportunity to build a network kind of starting with someone that's there specifically for them. I know that as aspiring professionals and students, kind of the, sometimes the assumption is, oh, I'm only supposed to network with people that are directly related to my career path or who there's a mutual give and take from. And I think the student affairs profession is kind of a beautiful place. And so is the undergrad conference of we're here for students. In any capacity. And that's what networking's all about, is to meet people who share similar goals or who just want to invest and see you be successful.

Sohan Daniel [00:14:32]:
One part to that that I want to add is I remember my first undergrad student conference when I was a student and I was thinking about pursuing this career in student affairs. And outside of my mentor in undergrad who went to his master's program maybe 20 years ago, I didn't really have anyone else around my age that was interested in student affairs. So I met these small group mentors and a lot of them were younger people, either in grad school or fresh out of grad school. So as a student, it was a really cool opportunity for me to connect with those people. Years passed, I still remember most of those people, still talk to them here and there, hopefully at annual conference again this year. But the impact really did mean a lot to me, and I know the impact of those small group mentors means so much to our student participants.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:14]:
So, and I love that you attended as an undergraduate and now you're on the other side helping curate the experience for the attendees. Can you talk about about your journey from attendee and kind of the experience you had now to being on the planning side?

Sohan Daniel [00:15:27]:
Yeah, so it all started in 2022. We were in Baltimore. The Undergraduate Student Conference was virtual that year, so I didn't really resonate with that conference that much that year. But then in 2023, it was in person in Boston. During that year, I really felt that call towards student affairs, and at that point, I already agreed to pursue my master's degree. So knowing how much the Undergraduate Student Conference meant for me and how much it shaped my vision for how I want my graduate experience to look like. While at Ohio State, whenever I started grad school, I saw the call out for committee members. And I told myself, you know, I know how much this conference meant for me my senior year.

Sohan Daniel [00:16:03]:
I would like to apply and try and give back to students that are also interested in it. And that's pretty much where it all started. I just applied, saw what happened, and just tried to do my part to make a difference. And this day for students, it is just one day, but it's so meaningful for so many of our participants that if they go in student affairs, if they go out of student affairs, it's just a memorable experience to be together. Learn together about a different topic or what you may not know and connect with people.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:16:29]:
Is there anything specific that happened in the year you got to attend that you want to make sure you're replicating for those who attend this year?

Sohan Daniel [00:16:35]:
I would just say probably the group portions of it. I think over the past 2 and a half years that I've been a part of the USC committee, I've been a big fan and a big proponent of saying, hey, let's have small group sessions or let's have table sessions where your students are talking with people and not just sessions where they're just sitting behind listening to someone, though there is benefit in that. As a participant, I saw the most benefit when I was able to engage in dialogue with VPSA's directors, grad students, mentors, anyone across the board where I'm able to get out my ideas and hear what they have to say. And as a table, we're able to work together and talk through these issues and get answers that we really want and need to help us and make us benefit of the conference.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:18]:
I think that leads to another great moment of insight for both you, Anthony, and Brooke, about what what makes you passionate about coming into the undergraduate student space with leadership and mentorship? Obviously, for, for Soan, it, it was a very natural evolution of attendee, but for the two of you, what's your journey into the space and what makes it joyful for you?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:17:38]:
Gosh, I think it started when I was writing my dissertation, and I did my dissertation on retention and attrition rates in student affairs profession, and they opened up about some really vulnerable stories in their student affairs journey and what that the impacts that the work had on them personally and professionally, and being newer in the profession, it shed light on things and it made me understand like the depth of the position and things that were being brought into the position. And I said, we could do a lot better. And so like, what does better look like? And how do we mentor younger students? And how do we cultivate a positive affirming space where learning can take place and where leadership growth can happen? And so instead of sort of jumping on like a negative bandwagon or seeing things this is like, um, a struggle. I was like, how can we make it better? And kind of like someone said, the call came out and I didn't participate at the undergrad student conference as an undergrad. This is— this was not my career path at all. I didn't know about student affairs. And so now, as I was professionally in it, I was like, oh my gosh, how do we get folks to come into this profession? And then how do we retain folks? Like, what does this professional development look like? So I really focus on like retention and what it means to bring joy to the work and how you can find joy in the work. And I'm hoping that students get out of USC conference.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:18:58]:
I'm hoping that they see that. So that's kind of what drew me into it and why I really wanted to be a part of USC.

Anthony Froelich [00:19:04]:
I think for me it was just kind of a natural progression of my career trajectory that started in my undergrad experience. So I was not an undergrad student conference attendee. I graduated, I think, the year it first happened with NASPA. And so at the time, NASPA wasn't even on my radar as an undergrad. But once I was pointed to the direction of working with college students and being in student affairs, I got to a point where it was the realization that the great experience I wanted to provide students had to also be modeled for other professionals to be able to take those experiences to further simulate or adapt to their institutions. And so when I saw the call for the Undergrad Student Conference for, in fall of '22 for the Boston conference in '23, I was like, oh sure, why not? You know, sounds super cool. We're gonna do it. I got exposed to NASPA through my graduate studies, a couple years prior, and it was probably like one of the best professional experiences I have participated in because it has further affirmed and even evolved kind of what I want my career outlooks and kind of my career goals for myself, for investing in other professionals and for students, and even showing, um, in my case, like community college is an option for individuals.

Anthony Froelich [00:20:24]:
It's not just about finding the 4-year university home, but community colleges and 2-year institutions are reliable and solid options for employment and national participation in associations like NASPA or NCADA or any of the other ones that are present in the field.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:40]:
Talk about the keynote speaker lineup for the conference. Who's coming? What are they talking about?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:20:45]:
So we have the VP of Student Affairs that is joining us from UMKC. He's absolutely fantastic, and I am pulling up his bio right now, but his name is Don, and he's just the most personal individual I have ever met. Reaching out and figuring out what school we were going to, I was like, I'm going to start with Residence Life. Residence Life has all of the answers. And so I reached out to them and they were like, we're going to loop in a few other people. Don jumped on the call. And when I say he was just the most approachable, humble, kind, enthusiastic, and invested individual, I was like, oh my gosh, I have a VP of Student Affairs talking to me about this undergrad conference and he wants to be involved. So he is coming and I'm hoping that he sheds light on transformative leadership and how to sort of navigate the profession and what that looks like.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:21:37]:
But he has been so involved and supportive with this process. And I was like, oh my gosh, I would've never started there. So thank you so much for jumping in. But he's just been wildly receptive to the idea of it being hosted at his institution. And grateful is just an understatement.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:52]:
When we think about the undergraduate conference, a lot of people are not aware that it is attached to Annual. So there's an opportunity that if you're attending Annual and you wanted to encourage any undergraduate students to go and you're also going to Annual, there there's some natural connection there. It's not overlapping with Annual, but it is attached. So any other things that you'd like people to know logistics-wise about making this happen if they'd like to support a student to go?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:22:17]:
I would say since the USC conference is only one day, you don't have to register for both. So you can just register for the undergrad conference and you can have a, a shorter stay in Kansas City. If you want to register for both, you can. And then the logistics of just doing and registering for both. So once you register for one, you do have to register for the other if you want to. So just the technicalities and the logistics of registering, but it's certainly worthwhile just to go for the undergrad student portion of it if that is what you want to do. And if you want to take a deeper dive, absolutely stay for the annual.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:49]:
It's not a pre-con, I think is the most important message there. It's not a pre-con. Are there any other thoughts that any of you wanted to share about the undergraduate student conference coming up or any other tidbits about experience getting involved, et cetera?

Anthony Froelich [00:23:03]:
I would just add that for anyone who's looking, kind of like you said earlier, Jill, just for an easy way to start participating in NASPA kind of on a national scope, or even anyone who's looking to mentor, coach, or just give back to the profession somehow, the undergrad conference has a variety of opportunities to do that, not just in small group facilitation or the ed sessions that our submissions just closed yesterday, but even for next year's planning committee. Or in my experiences, it's been such a cool opportunity seeing everyone bring in their own experiences and really contribute their own thoughts and skill sets to making things happen. For just for a fun fact, because I know Charlie included this, but the text to Brooke and Charlie was just a, hey, have we ever thought about pitching USC for a podcast? And now here we are. And so no idea is, is a bad idea when it comes to the Undergrad Student Conference because the field and our students are constantly changing and evolving. So this is a great way to kind of meet those needs for each generation of professionals.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:09]:
I think the Undergraduate Student Conference is such an embodiment of our podcast season theme, or this, I guess it's a year arc theme that we're doing this year, which is on the value of student affairs and the value of student affairs kind of supporting undergraduate students and graduate students through their journeys, but also potentially in their journeys to become part of the cohort of professionals that, that we all occupy. So with that in mind, I'm going to go ahead and transition us into our theme questions. And our first one is, when you think about the value of student affairs, what comes to mind first and why?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:24:42]:
So I just took my kids to Great Wolf Lodge over New Year's Eve, and I have a multitude of ages, 4 all the way up to teenage, and the 4-year-old isn't quite brave enough, but sees the older siblings diving in and doing all of the adventurous things. And we had to have a conversation about like what it looks like to be brave, but also how to be safe. And she put on a life vest and then she was able to take it off at some points. And so when I was thinking about this question, I was like, oh my gosh, it's just like the conversation I had with my 4-year-old. It's a choose your own adventure. What does being brave look like? And where does that support come in? And I kind of view student affairs as a life vest. It's like you put it on, it fits what you need. You can take it off when you don't need it, but like it's, it's there for that additional support to help you be brave.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:25:28]:
You put it on and you're able to go and do the things that might be a little bit out of your league. So she was able to go down some bigger slides because she had that extra life vest on. She wouldn't have been able to do that if she didn't. And so I was just thinking how sort of serenity that is. It's like a life vest. We jump in and we help. We're always there for support. We can sort of meet you where you're at, but you don't need to utilize us all the time.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:25:52]:
We're just like the silent supporters and cheerleaders allowing you to be brave and authentic and live your truest self. And so that was just really cool to sort of understand and watch my 4-year-old do that and be like, hang on a second, I do that with big kids too.

Sohan Daniel [00:26:05]:
Whenever I think about the value of student affairs, I actually think about a number, 168. The reason I think about this number is because my Dean of Students and my undergraduate institution would always say that you have 168 hours in your week. 15 hours you're in class, maybe another 15 you're studying, hopefully more, but that leaves about 138 hours left in your week. So what happens the rest of that time you're in college? That's where Student Affairs comes into play. We are here to walk beside you, we're here to follow behind you, we're here to lead the way and sometimes get in your way. We're here to make the experiences that you need to be successful in college, maybe to make your college experience, but we're also here to support you to ensure that you're able to get that point.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:47]:
Some super sage advice. So, and do you want to give a shout out to that Dean of Students?

Sohan Daniel [00:26:50]:
Yeah, I'm actually going to give a shout out to two different Dean of Students. The first one I'm going to give a shout out to is my undergraduate Dean of Students with the 168. That is Corey Ferris. And now my current Dean of Students, who I stole the quote from him about the walk behind you, Dr. Byron Hughes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:03]:
And Anthony, what's your take on this question?

Anthony Froelich [00:27:05]:
Honestly, probably the most simplest way of saying for the value of student affairs is there's a place and a space for everyone. I talk with professionals all the time about the idea of creating space or finding a seat at the table. A table, but a table is not necessarily just a conference table. It can be a dinner table or a place to share meals. It can be a place to— a board game table where you're gathering for socialization with others. It's a place to strategize, to think through stuff, to study, to build the long-term supports or establish your routines that are going to carry you throughout life. There's always a seat that you can pull up or find at any of these spaces or tables, and the student affairs profession does a great job of making sure that it is accessible and there is opportunities for everyone to participate as much or as little as they want to.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:53]:
Our second question in our theme is, can you share a specific story or moment when you saw the value of student affairs come to life?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:28:00]:
So I think it was for me in undergrad, and I'm going to give a shout out to my previous Dean of Students, Dennis Pru. I was a first-year, a first-gen college student, and lost was an understatement. I didn't register for housing, and so I didn't know that that was something separate that you had to do. I was accepted to college, I thought that everything else was taken care of, and so I show up and I don't have I don't have housing and things are late on my bill and I am a wee bit of a disaster. And I was like, oh my gosh, I thought once I got in, I was good to go. And he saw me struggling immensely. And I was like, I don't have housing. Housing has passed.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:28:35]:
Do we have housing for me? And I was like, I can't afford to live off of campus. And he was like, we're spiraling. And he was like, we're gonna, we're gonna find housing for you and you're gonna have a roommate and we're going to figure this out. And I was like, someone just swooped in and said, not a problem. I see you're in a crisis. Here are a couple of options. What's gonna make you feel good. And I was just sort of taken aback that I was getting that support that I needed in that moment.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:28:58]:
And I was like, wow, gosh, if I had that all along, I wouldn't, I wouldn't quit. Like folks wouldn't quit if they just had that silent cheerleader in the background. And so that kind of always stuck with me. I showed up thinking that I was, you know, fabulous, accepted to school, doing the great things and missing every possible deadline and really having that sort of hit me in in the face, and he kind of swooped in. He was like, let's navigate this together. And so I've never forgotten that live in-person navigating in the moment of solving a problem that I caused, and it ended up okay.

Sohan Daniel [00:29:31]:
I don't think I have a specific story, but like Brooke, I think I really saw the value of student affairs through residence life. Whenever I was working in residence life in grad school, I didn't have that res life experience in undergrad, so never really saw that side of things. Didn't know what to expect when I first started, but throughout the weeks there would be times where I'm dealing with crises, working with students, trying to support them. Their world is ending and just trying to do the best we can to get to tomorrow. And then maybe 2 hours later, we're just celebrating with other students. Maybe there's a program going on. Maybe we have something going on with our living learning community. And I was just able to see this dynamic of you have such a wide spectrum of some of the toughest days going on for our students and some of the most exciting, memorable moments that students will ever have.

Sohan Daniel [00:30:15]:
And we are just in this continuum where it's just we need to be available at both ends. We need to be able to be there to ensure students are having those great moments, celebrating them, giving them those learning opportunities, but also supporting them and holding their hand and making sure they get the support they need to make it to tomorrow, to make it through the week so that they're able to be successful while they're here with us.

Anthony Froelich [00:30:35]:
I think mine, like Sohan's, is came from my time in res life, being a professional. And I just remember after a very hard week telling the student workers and the RAs about like making space for one another and what do we need to do to relieve stress and make sure everyone's good with one another. And one of the RAs pulled me a sign and was like, you are the first supervisor who's ever given us a space to be good with one another, not just as colleagues, but also as like students. And just, you have no idea how refreshing that is because that is the first time anyone's ever put, looked at us and seen us as students, not just as resources or employees. So for me, that was kind of like that moment. That was the aha, like student affairs is where I'm supposed to be for a career. And this is kind of like where this work kind of comes to life is making those differences. And giving students the space to not just be developing professionals, but also just to be students, just doing the college thing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:33]:
That's so powerful to hear that that's the first time that someone felt seen as a person in that environment. Our third question is, what do you think student affairs needs to do to be better understood and better seen in today's education environment?

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:31:45]:
Risking sounding like a broken record and realizing and recognizing that this has been said at multiple institutions that I've worked at, I'm going to say it anyway. I would love for the silo between academic affairs and student affairs to be broken down. I think that there's like this mystical thing that sort of looms and stops us from collaborating and sort of coexisting in a really healthy space. And it always just blows my noggin a little bit because the work that we do with students is beautiful, but it's different, but it's still beautiful and we're still here to support it. So I really wish that student affairs and academic affairs would be a little bit more blended. What does that co-curricular aspect look like? How is leadership in a club helping in a business class or as an head major. What does that sort of look like? I think we're still like missing the key to what college really could be if we unlocked the full potential of those two sort of realms playing together a little bit more. There's less of a divide there, and sometimes it's not as strong, and there are points for collaboration, but I think that we're missing where some of that magic could happen.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:32:50]:
What would it look like if we had a first-year experience seminar being co-taught by a student affairs professional and a faculty member? How beautiful would that be? What would that look like? What if we had a faculty member come and lead a pre-orientation program, something that student affairs folks normally would do. So what would that look like if we blended our world a little bit more? That's just, that's where my brain always goes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:12]:
Gonna shout out Dr. Marcia France on this one, because she and I got to do exactly what you're talking about. We co-developed the first-year seminar course for a university that we were working at. She was the AVP and Dean of Undergraduate Studies. I was the CSAO, Dean of Students at that institution. And we broke it down and said, what are the competencies that we want to see first-year students gain in their first 6 to 8 weeks of their university experience. What does that look like? How do we help students culturally immerse? And how do we want them to come out the other side knowing each other as people? And we completely revamped that first-year experience course in a way that the students came out the other side with much more positive course reviews than previous iterations and just a way of being together. And then the other shout-out I'll give is to Dr.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:55]:
Chris Lewis, who is our co-producer on this podcast, who is the chair of the SAPA Knowledge Community here at NASPA, which is the Student Affairs Partnering with Academic Affairs. This is a that he has been ringing for like 20 years, and he's actually the founder of the SAPA Knowledge Community. So he'd be so glad to hear you say that, Brooke.

Sohan Daniel [00:34:11]:
I completely agree. I think we need more partnership across the entire university, not try to recreate what some people are already doing across the board. And in my eyes, how we do that is by sharing our stories better. I've heard a lot, and I imagine you all have also heard before, that some people think Student Affairs is the party planning committee. And as you all know, there's so much more that goes into Student Affairs than just that. So how do we effectively share our story, what we're doing, But how do we intentionally make those partnerships and go to other people across the institution to share, hey, this is what we're doing, this is how it's impacting our students, this is how we hope to grow, and then lead to that conversation of, hey, can we look for partnership in maybe this direction? And how can we collaborate so both of our programs can grow from here? So I think being open to partnership, collaboration, but also understanding how do we share our story with one another? How do we engage in proper assessment habits to be able to share those stories effectively with both people across the institution, student affairs partners across the nation, and our students and their families to show that what we're doing is supporting students in the best way possible.

Anthony Froelich [00:35:17]:
I'll echo what Brooke and Sowon both talked about, about partnerships and just all the opportunities and stories. And I kind of go two ways with this question. And one is from the community college standpoint is just helping students tell their stories about how student affairs has helped them transition from one institution to another and seeing a consistency in experiences supports and things like that for ultimately what is their post-college life. On the other side, from someone who's a former career services professional and knowing that the scrutiny of higher ed and career readiness is kind of a big thing right now, is helping others realize how much student affairs does to prepare students for employment and life beyond college. So while we know a lot of people are aware that the college education is designed to give them those like technical and those informational-based skills, so much of student affairs work is helping them develop their interpersonal skills that they need to navigate team settings, company environments, social gatherings that they otherwise don't get. And just helping student affairs highlight that work more, I feel like is a great way to help people realize just how much our field is important for just the higher ed experience, as well as just employability. Across the board.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:41]:
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 [00:36:47]:
Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. There is a new virtual summit, NASPA's Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Virtual Summit, that'll be happening. The 2026 NASPA Sexual Violence and Prevention 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— in sexual violence prevention and response. Featuring expert-led sessions in 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 into the fabric of campus life. This virtual summit will happen on May 19th between 11 AM and 5 PM, and there are a number of different specific topics that are being, that are being covered, including persisting through unrelenting times, recognizing and responding to harm, invisible yet invincible, empowering multicultural and global students, and more. The early registration deadline for this Phasing Summit is on April 7th, 2026. I highly encourage you to go to the NASPA website to find out more.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:08]:
NASPA has submitted comments alongside the American Council on Education and 28 other higher education associations to the Department of Education in response to the proposed revisions to the Accreditation Handbook. The comments urge the Education Department to adhere to the Higher Education Act, protect the integrity of the accreditation process and the program integrity triad and avoid using accreditation to impose federal student outcome metrics, expand state authority over institutional eligibility for federal student aid, or treat the handbook as having the force of law. If you'd like to read the entire comments that were provided, I encourage you to go to the policy center on the NASPA website to find out more. I know I've been talking about the NASPA Annual conference, but NASPA provides so much more training and professional development for people, even if you can't attend the annual conference. If you've never visited learning.naspa.org, you definitely should. On that site, you are going to find all of the different learning opportunities that are coming available to you, and this includes webinars, it includes summits, it includes all types of different types of opportunities, short courses, certification courses, and more. All of these are developed to help you in the work that you're doing on a daily basis, and the cost of these are kept low to help you to be able to afford these for you and for your teams. Again, if you've never been to this before, I highly encourage you to go to learning.naspa.org to find out more.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:48]:
Another great book that NASPA has just released is called Well-Being Leadership in Higher Education: A Guide for Successful Well-Being Programs. This was written by Thaddeus Montero, Ryan Traviah, and Associates. Well-Being Leadership in Higher Education is a groundbreaking guide that reimagines how colleges and universities can center well-being as a strategic priority to enhance student success and institutional effectiveness. Blending theory, research, and practice, this timely volume brings together a wide range range of voices from across the higher education spectrum—student affairs leaders, chief wellness officers, clinicians, and faculty—who all share powerful insights and actionable strategies for leading transformative well-being initiatives. Readers will find field-tested approaches for assessing and evaluating outcomes, creating integrated models of care, and engaging students as key stakeholders in shaping campus cultures of health and wellness. As higher education continues to respond to Growing mental health crisis, this book offers a compelling call to action and a clear roadmap and a clear roadmap for embedding well-being into policies, programs, and daily practice. You can find out more on the NASPA website. When you get there, go to research and publications and click on books.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:41:11]:
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 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 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 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 [00:42:31]:
Chris, thank you so much for kicking off our 2026 with another great segment of NASPA World. We always appreciate you telling us, telling us what's going on in and around NASPA. And for our trio of undergraduate student conference leadership members, we've got our lightning round. So I've got 7 questions for you to answer in about 90 seconds. Are you ready to roll? Getting some thumbs up here. All right, here we go. Question number 1: If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Sohan Daniel [00:43:00]:
Final Countdown. I feel like it just gets everyone hyped.

Anthony Froelich [00:43:03]:
I would probably say Meet You There by Arizona.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:43:05]:
Oh my gosh, anything by Taylor Swift, specifically The Man. Swift, specifically The Man.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:10]:
Number 2: When you were 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Sohan Daniel [00:43:13]:
Pretty sure a doctor.

Anthony Froelich [00:43:14]:
I didn't have a career title, I just wanted to build Buddy the robot from the Jetsons so mom could play with me more.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:43:19]:
Oh my gosh, I wanted to be an OB-GYN.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:22]:
Number 3, who's your most influential professional mentor?

Sohan Daniel [00:43:24]:
Dr. Tame Lee.

Anthony Froelich [00:43:25]:
I would say my most recent supervisor, Dr. Sarah Peña-Ho. She just helped give a lot of tangibility for the evolution of career paths.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:43:33]:
Previous Dean of Students Dennis Pru.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:35]:
Number 4, your essential student affairs read.

Sohan Daniel [00:43:38]:
I like A Legal Guide for Student Affairs Professionals. I feel like I open it up pretty often.

Anthony Froelich [00:43:43]:
I would say my most recent one I've recommended to students is probably Engagement and Employability.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:43:48]:
White Fragility.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:50]:
My favorite moment when I ask this question is I immediately see everyone's heads turn towards their bookshelf. I know we don't air the visual, but it always gives me a moment of joy. Number 5, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Anthony Froelich [00:44:01]:
The Pit was phenomenal. I just finished season 1 last week for next week's season 2 to air.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:44:06]:
My gosh, Landman.

Sohan Daniel [00:44:08]:
Lately, Stranger Things.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:09]:
Before we go on, someone, I have to ask you, do you believe?

Sohan Daniel [00:44:12]:
I think we will know on January 7th at 8 PM, given beliefs that there's a new episode dropping.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:19]:
Number 6, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Sohan Daniel [00:44:22]:
Modern Wisdom.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:44:23]:
Oh my gosh. The Kelsey Brothers because of Taylor Swift.

Anthony Froelich [00:44:26]:
It only beat SA Voices in the Field by 7 minutes, but the Adventures in Advising podcast.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:44:31]:
Maybe we'll have to do a crossover with that one. And then finally, number 7, any shoutouts you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Sohan Daniel [00:44:37]:
A professional shoutout to Joseph Ballard, Brandon Jones, and Dr. Tain Lee, mentors of my life in student affairs, always pushing me forward, and my partner Olivia Deller.

Anthony Froelich [00:44:47]:
For me professionally, I already talked about Dr. Sarah Peña Ho. She's phenomenal. But Dr. David Davis and Krista Nix, they were the first two individuals to give me a chance with student affairs work as an undergrad student. But on top of that, I also want to give a shout out to last year's chair, as well as the person who brought me on to USC, which was Jillian Strong. So her work with USC has been phenomenal, and she has been a great connector to bring in a lot of talent over the years.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:45:14]:
Shout out to two of my biggest mentors, Dennis Pru and Victoria Angus. They've really shaped my professional life. And then honestly, Anthony and Sohan, and to the entire USC committee that's working on this with me, I, I couldn't do it without you all. So I'm so grateful.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:29]:
I have a cousin who's currently an undergrad student at the University of Southern California, so I'm having to like retool my brain every time you say USC to mean Undergraduate Student Conference. But if you'd like to find more information on socials, again on Instagram, it's @NASPAUSC. But if any of our listeners would like to reach you individually, how can they find you?

Sohan Daniel [00:45:47]:
You can find me on LinkedIn at Sohan Daniel, or by email, sewin@utk.edu.

Anthony Froelich [00:45:53]:
I'm open to connections on LinkedIn. So it's LinkedIn, the URL, and then Anth Fralick, or you just search Anthony Fralick on the search bar, or you can shoot me an email at anthony.j.fralick@lonestar.edu.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:46:06]:
If you want to connect, you can find me at bparadise@skidmore.edu.

Anthony Froelich [00:46:12]:
Thank you so much for your time, Jill. This was an awesome experience and I'm very excited to see kind of what happens from here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:18]:
Thank you all so very much for educating us on the undergraduate conference. For sharing your voices with us today.

Sohan Daniel [00:46:23]:
Thank you, Jill.

Dr. Brooke Paradise [00:46:24]:
Thank you, Jill.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:30]:
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 savoices@naspa.org or find me on LinkedIn by searching for 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 [00:47:00]:
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.