Empowering Student Success: The Impact o...

If you're seeking powerful examples of student affairs' impact and actionable ideas to support today's college students, the latest episode of SA Voices from the Field is a must-listen. Host Dr. Jill Creighton welcomes Alexa Wesley Chamberlain (Director of Research and Strategy at NASPA) and Dr. Kira Gatewood (AVP of Student Life and Dean of Students at University of Houston Downtown) for a conversation focused on the NASPA-TIAA Micro Grant Program and its transformative effects on campus communities.

TIAA Micro Grant Program: Fueling Emergency Aid Initiatives

Led by Alexa Wesley Chamberlain, the TIAA Micro Grant Program provides $10,000 grants directly to campuses as emergency aid for students in crisis. Alexa Wesley Chamberlain explains how this initiative, rooted in NASPA's longstanding research on emergency aid, addresses basic needs like housing, food, childcare, and sudden financial emergencies. By supporting five institutions (selected from over 350 applicants), NASPA and TIAA aim to spotlight interventions that boost student persistence and success.

University of Houston Downtown: Serving Parenting Students

A highlight of the episode is Dr. Kira Gatewood's detailed look at how UHD is using its grant to support pregnant and parenting students—an often-overlooked group facing unique challenges. With over 70% of UHD's students being first-generation and many juggling caregiving responsibilities, the grant has enabled direct financial support and, maybe even more importantly, fostered a sense of community. Through stories of resilience and solidarity, Dr. Kira Gatewood shows how the micro grant helped students navigate grief, celebrate achievements, and feel truly seen by their institution.

Bridging Policy, Research, and Impact

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Jill Creighton, Alexa Wesley Chamberlain, and Dr. Kira Gatewood emphasize the importance of connecting research to daily practice, sharing stories and data that advocate for the normalization of basic needs support in higher education. They call for student affairs professionals to apply for future grant cycles and, above all, to keep listening to students' evolving needs.

Why Listen?

This episode is a rich source of inspiration and practical advice for anyone working in higher education. Whether you're exploring emergency aid options, want to build inclusive student support networks, or are searching for a reminder of why student affairs matters, don't miss this candid, hopeful discussion.

🎧 Listen now to learn how emergency aid is shaping student success and discover strategies to bring back to your own campus!

TRANSCRIPT

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. Sheher hers your essay Voices from the Field host today on SA Voices. I'm pleased to welcome two guests, one from NASPA and one who's a campus based professional. Our NASPA professional today is Alexa Wesley Chamberlain, who's the Director of Research and strategy at NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:37]:
In her role, she leads NASPA's research portfolio, manages grant funded research initiatives, and prior to joining naspa, she focused on federal post secondary education policy and institutional finance strategies through internships at the Lumina foundation, the Institute for Women's Policy Research and the US Department of Education. Alexa holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy and a Bachelor's degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Our second guest is Dr. Kira Gatewood, who self identifies as the educational architect. Dr. Gatewood is a dynamic force in higher education, serving as a masterful educational architect with unique talent for analyzing complex institutional challenges. She designs and implements creative, practical solutions that foster student success and organizational excellence. Her academic foundation, a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Columbia College Chicago, an MEd from Loyola University Chicago and an EDD from Arizona State University, fuels her innovative approach.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:29]:
At asu, she engineered the Landmark Endowed Gatewood NPHC Scholarship for Excellence and architected the Sankofa Early Start program, achieving a 94% persistence rate. Today, as the AVP of Student Life and Dean of Students at the University of Houston Downtown, she oversees a comprehensive portfolio and architects the Holistic Student Experience. Her division includes Student Leadership and Involvement, Veterans Services, Sports and Fitness, the Dean of Students, Office Counseling Services and Student Health Services. She strategically builds the ecosystem through grant funded innovation, expanding student advocacy, launching a first generation support system and constructing the Gator Resource center to address basic needs including the Gator Mart food pantry. Her most integrated design is the Gator Health Portal, a digital infrastructure that unifies the newly built Student Health center with its whole medical team and student counseling services. An accomplished author and the ASU 2023 Greek Advisor of the Year, Dr. Gatewood's designs are student centered, equitable and built to last. She doesn't just administer, she architects the environments where students and institutions thrive together.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:32]:
KE and Alexa are going to be working together to tell us about the NASPA Mini Grant Program or the TIAA mini grant program and how that's influenced the University of Houston downtown. The grant cycle is about to open once again. So we hope that you enjoy this episode and learn a little bit more if you and your institution want to apply for the mini grant. Welcome to the show. Alexa.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:02:52]:
Hi. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:54]:
And Kira, welcome.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:02:55]:
Good morning.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:56]:
It's always such a delight for us to be able to feature NASPA staffers on the show. We don't get to hear your voices enough, but we know how hard you're working behind the scenes. And then today we also have Kiara, who's one of our amazing student affairs professionals who's currently working in Houston. Today we're talking all about the new micro grant program that NASPA has introduced and we have this great partnership in Alexa who is leading that program for NASPA and Kira who is one of the micro grant recipients. So we're going to be talking all about how that has affected the campus. But before we get into all of that, we'll start with our traditional opener. Alexa, we'll start with you. How did you get to your current seat at naspa?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:03:31]:
Sure, NASPA has been my professional home for eight and a half years now, which is so wild to say, so much life has happened at that time, but around how I got here. My internships are really still a big part of my bio, even eight and a half years into a full time role. But it's because they really do play a part in my story. So in undergrad one of those internships was at a university affiliated research consortium about counterterrorism and the power of communications with that like do words matter? How true is the idiom? Talk is cheap. And so I co did interviews there and really figured out I had a knack and interest in the social sciences space and particularly research in understanding and addressing social issues and the importance of data in informing strategies to overcome challenges. I knew I needed to hone my skills more and explore possible avenues for this. So I went straight into grad school for public policy, which is where I interned at the Institute for Women's Policy Research. I focused on a student parent success initiative.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:04:25]:
There I learned about on campus childcare financing strategies and all the challenges that come with that and of course the need for better supports for single mothers on campus in particular. I then narrowed my focus to higher ed where I interned at the Education Department. There I was exposed to policy conversations about things like college scorecard, consumer facing, information tools for students, what metrics are considered in policy considerations like around gayful Employment and then I led. This led me to the Lumina foundation, who's a funder of some of NASA's research today. And that's where I focused on things like today's student campaign and building awareness about who today's college students are. We all know there are so many often or so often part time students, students who work, students who are veterans, who are parents, who are first generation and the need for both policymakers and practitioners to really check assumptions when we're designing supports with these college students in mind. From there that I was introduced to the association world, which is where how I came across NASPA and how associations really are so critical in ensuring decision makers are aware about the needs of practitioners and students, how their policies are affecting them on the ground and what promising practices could potentially be uplifted and scaled nationally. So I'm really drawn, I was really drawn to NASPA given the focus on student centered supports in particular and how so much of the work that student affairs does is ensuring that students with marginalized identities are supported and centered in the work that we do.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:05:42]:
So my role has evolved. I'm not a little bit less on the policy side and more focused on connecting research to practice and understanding what resources our members are needing and what topics are top of mind like basic needs, supports and how to advance emergency aid really is a critical support in a broader student success strategy.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:57]:
And Alexa, can you share with the NASPA members what you do on a day to day with naspa?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:06:02]:
Sure. So it really varies day to day. A lot of my work I section it into pieces. I think one part is the planning and conducting original research. So thinking through like I mentioned, like what are, what is top of mind for our members? What, what are they working, what barriers are they facing? What good work are they doing that needs to be elevated and how does that translate into what we can learn and elevate for the field nationally? So it's either conducting interviews or designing administrating surveys. It's thinking strategically about okay, now that this research is done, how do we get it out to the field? How do we really tailor our data into resources for specific professional levels and types? Even thinking about resources that make sense for community college versus how does this translate for a large public four year. So keeping audience in mind, another part of my work is supporting some of our grant funded research and projects like the TIAA grant that I know we're going to talk more about and thinking through how to how all this again, what are the implications here with gosh what do I say? How to connect again, research to practice as after we conduct this work, how do we ensure that it doesn't just sit on a shelf, that it's really actionable and has impact for our members.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:09]:
And Kira, we're so glad to have you on the show as well. Joining us from the University of Houston downtown, how did you get to your current seat?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:07:17]:
Yes. So I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. How I got to my current seat is that, you know, it all starts as a student worker. I was exposed to higher education as a profession, which was not something that I had considered before. I wanted to be on Broadway. So as a student of performing arts, I spent a lot of time just working on crafting that art of performance. And I had a mentor, Dr.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:07:41]:
Kimberly Weatherly, who mentioned to me at one point, what are your plans after graduation? What do you want to do? And I honestly didn't know. I had no clue. And she said, start with what you think you can do. And I naively said, I can do your job. She said, you need to get a few degrees for that. And so she really made it an educational moment for me and walked me through. This is what grad school is like. This is what the profession.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:08:08]:
This is how you get into the profession. This is how you develop yourself as a professional. And I think over time I've learned how to bring my authentic self to the job. But I always think back to that moment of saying the first thing that came to my mind out to Dr. Weatherly. And so I've spent a lot of time. I initially started out at Barrett, the honors college at Arizona State University. And I enjoyed my work with academically high achieving students and especially those who come from historically marginalized communities who find themselves finding community and really developing who they are and stepping into their own.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:08:48]:
And so after that, I ended up moving out of the academic college and into the university work in the dean of students office. And when you are sick, I had gotten Covid during the COVID times and sometimes you get a bit of audacity from your fever. And so from my fever, I applied to this position just kind of on a whim and I was surprised and they interviewed me and I'm excited to be going into my second year here making infrastructure that I think is going to be higher, highly impactful for our students here at uh.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:21]:
I love that you can say with the level of fact that you becoming AVP Dean of Students was literally a fever dream. That's great. It was well we were all brought here today to really talk about the TIAA micro grant program, which is a fairly new initiative for naspa. This year's cycle has just closed, but there will be hopefully future cycles. Before we talk about specifically what UHD is doing, I'm wondering if Alexa, you can share with us what is this program?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:09:46]:
Yes. So I'm going to fit it in the context of our emergency aid portfolio. So our work on this goes way back. We issued a landscape analysis report all about emergency aid back in 2016 as part of an effort to really understand like what makes a high quality emergency aid program, what are those key components there, how our campus is delivering it, what are opportunities to really further the impact of emergency aid on student persistence. Since then we've continued to think about resources and the role of student affairs in the basic needs space. But now we're really revamping that work, I think in part after Covid and the higher education emergency relief funds being used for emergency aid, the use case and the use case for IMPACT and the need for institutionalizing emergency aid has really grown. For those who already have programs in place well before the pandemic, the work for them has really evolved and improved. So as it seems like it's being increasingly incorporated into campus strategic planning as we think about basic need supports as a really important piece of a broader student success conversation.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:10:43]:
And so last year we received funds from TIAA to award five institutions with $10,000 in funds to provide emergency aid directly to students. We received almost 350 applications, which I think speaks to the high demand and need for funds in this space. That's where I was introduced to Dr. Gatewood at the University of Houston downtown. The four other recipients there are Community College of Aurora, LaGuardia Community College, Grambling State University and South Louisiana Community College. With this grant, we were looking at institutional readiness and distribution capacity. So to what extent do campuses have the capacity to receive and distribute funds directly to students? A lot of folks have food pantries, for example, on campus. And while this is certainly a really great piece of emergency aided basic needs supports, we were looking for direct funding opportunities.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:11:31]:
So we wanted to look at capacity. We wanted to look at how well campuses were identifying and addressing the needs of first generation and low income students. In particular, how well do they understand the needs of their students and are connect the emergency aid to those needs? And finally, we also wanted to understand impact potential. So how well can an institution gather and use data to understand the impact on student success and how well does this fit into their holistic student support strategy. And so at the time of this podcast being released, we've received great news that we will be relaunching this award opportunity in early March. So we're very excited about that. At the same time, we'll also be launching an updated emergency aid landscape survey to really deepen our efforts in this space and understand how the field has evolved again to identify those promising practices that we can elevate to inform resources that we can for professionals who are looking to either create an emergency aid program from scratch to sustain their work, looking to advance it. So we're excited to really explore more in this area.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:28]:
That's super exciting that there's another round of funding coming. Want to clarify? This is the same TIAA that manages a lot of our retirement plans, right?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:12:36]:
Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:36]:
That's exciting that they're entering into a direct service space and especially with your background with prior foundations, it's really exciting that you're able to kind of bring all of this together for campuses directly. I would like to ask we're only featuring University of Houston downtown today. You mentioned the other four recipients out of the 350. What made these five stand out as kind of the superstar ones that were going to get this funding? And if I'm a campus that wants to apply in this next cycle, knowing that there's still things in development, what would make me stand out?

Speaker D [00:13:04]:
These institutions really did demonstrate attention to six capacity pillars that NASPA has outlined in previous emergency aid research, with the first one really being around management and ensuring that in their review process for aid applications that come in that they have that cross functional representation and perspectives. They have someone from student affairs, financial aid, the business office, the foundation, if that's applicable, maybe even a representative or two from from the student population or sga to really ensure that various aspects of student needs are considered and included as part of their emergency aid application review and awarding process. The second one would be around consideration of policy implications and recognizing the need for that flexibility when they're distributing emergency aid to their students. Really ensuring that there's a way to address urgent expenses for students without unintentionally reducing their eligibility for other financial aid funding. Another one is around assessment to take that multifaceted approach to not only examining patterns around student need and understanding who their students are on their campus to ensure that emergency A programs are tailored to these needs, but also leveraging data to measure success and continuously improve upon the quality of their offerings. There's also a focus around technology, be that a homegrown system as simple as using Excel in an intentional way to a case management type technology platform. Really with the functionality and ability around centralizing their various emerging basic needs offerings to really ensure that streamlined approach and process for students on the front end and that documentation needed for follow up supports and referrals are gathered. Fifth, I would say with the sustainability in mind, we also heard about institutions leveraging their strategic plans around student success and well being as a case making tool for why Mercy Aid is really critical to the mission, values and goals of the institution to really help make those working on this program make those clear connections to other initiatives on their campus as well.

Speaker D [00:14:55]:
And lastly there is that communication and awareness building piece and we know that there's almost always a need for greater balance between the amount of emergency resources that are available and the demand from students for these. There is a strong case to be made about how emergency aid and basic needs resource centers can really serve as that opportunity to build community and connect students with each other and other campus resources as a resource hub.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:15:18]:
Fantastic.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:19]:
Well Kira, you were the lead for University of Houston Downtown in terms of getting this program applied for, funded and ultimately implemented. UHD's focusing on pregnant and parenting students. Can you tell us a little bit about this particular priority and what about this particular micro grant made it the right match for uhd?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:15:37]:
So I think my team has been extremely thoughtful about how we want to serve our students who have basic needs challenges. And I think one of the things that makes Unique unique is that 70% of our incoming class is first generation and we have a high population of transfer students. We are a commuter campus. We don't have students who are residential students are prioritizing their education, but they also have competing factors that they're having to balance out in order to prioritize that education. And so the majority of our students actually go part time rather than full time. And so when we're looking at our student profile, talking to the students and hearing what are the things that they also need to prioritize because it's education. And a lot of times we're hoping that students are able to do education first, but for our particular population it's education. And and so as we started to unpack the whole student, we realized they had priorities and responsibilities like family responsibilities and whether they were a caregiver for a parent or a relative or a sibling.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:16:52]:
We also recognized that they also be parenting and so we call them first generation plus. So these are all those additional factors that go into their identity that creates this complex Structure in which they need to thrive in. And so we have to address everything that comes along with that. And so we thought that our parenting students, it reaches parenting and like parenting and first generation parenting. And I'm in a minority population parenting and I'm a commuter student parenting anima transfer parenting, anim non traditional age. So it just gave us an opportunity to really create community amongst our students who really could benefit from building that community.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:40]:
So when we think about how this grant opportunity came about and you decided to apply, what has the impact been in terms of receiving the funds and what have the students experienced as a result of having this additional resource?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:17:54]:
The impact. So the impact I think about in two separate areas. One, the impact on how we view our work. So as a practitioner, we're looking at best practices and the way we've done higher education. I think this micro grant has honestly peeled back the rose colored glasses of. We figure this out because it has caused us to face some of the friction points that our students are truly having to deal with. And recognizing that we don't have a completed the answer we don't have a one size fits all approach. We always say these unprecedented times.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:18:30]:
And so now these unprecedented times have become very precedent. And so have we evolved how we address student work. Have we evolved to the precedents of unprecedented times? And I think this work has caused us to really reevaluate how we approach our student support and what student success really is and what it takes to achieve that. The impact for our students has been obviously the financial support, but also also the building of community. We spent a lot of time doing small programs to bring this community together. So they recognize that they're not the only one, they're not the only parenting student or caregiving student. We realized that the value in developing that village or community was more impactful than providing the $500. It was in a sense providing that bolster of confidence that I can face this, there are other people I can ask for help, there are other people, other resources.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:19:34]:
The people become the resource. And so we did a lot of community building and in doing that we're able to support students. I think, I think of one in particular student, this past recipient. They graduated and I'm proud to say they graduated with a 4.0. But they received the grant because a week before graduation they had twins and one of the twins passed away suddenly and the student didn't want to come to graduation, understandably as in grief and a new space that they had to navigate. And one of the things that they had not thought about was having to pay for funeral services, having to all the expenses that come along with death on top of grief in what is supposed to be a very exciting time. And this student, because of the community that we built, the student felt encouraged and felt okay to it was okay to celebrate the graduation but still have carry the weight of grief. And it was a yes.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:20:36]:
And we are celebrating and grieving. And so I think about how we were able to support that student not just in the financial piece of their expenses, but I also think about how we were able to show them that having community support is also valuable, is also in these times of challenge, is also a benefit. So there were students who were cheering them on as they crossed that stage. And we were cheering them on as they crossed that stage. I also think about another student who received the fall. We've split ours into two fall and spring awards. And so one of the students in the fall said, I didn't realize that you cared about graduate students. And I kind of chuckled when they said it because I was like, of course you're a student.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:21:24]:
We care. Thought process was that as a graduate student they're supposed to have it figured out, they're supposed to be on a different level. And while that's a self, self imposed standard, I think a lot of students have have that that thought of I'm supposed to have it figured out. I'm, I've picked a major, I have decided to further my education. And as a graduate student I'm. This is just supposed to be the icing on the cake. And so this student really said, I feel seen as a first generation parenting graduate student. I didn't even realize you cared about us.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:22:01]:
And that was shocking. So I think it made us think about how we get information out to students, how we get information out to our graduate students, how are we taking care of our graduate student population? And are we only marketing to undergraduate students? Like, are we marketing in ways that our undergraduate students are receptive? But how are we marketing and being really intentional about letting the students know that as a student, whether Undergraduate, graduate, post BAcc, you have support that's so real.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:32]:
I think that's something that I'm trying to work through at my campus as well, which is how do we get our graduate students to feel included and not added on? And I think that's something that we struggle with kind of as a profession because the original versions of student support, I think the origins of our profession are that traditionally aged student population. And I can remember feeling As a graduate student myself. Well, that's not for me. That's for undergraduate students. And I felt that even more deeply because I was getting a master's in student affairs, which is, I think, the ultimate irony. Like I'm supposed to be part of the administration, but also part of the student population. It's very confusing. So I completely empathize with that framework of going, oh, I should be included in this, right? Absolutely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:11]:
I'd love to talk a little bit more about the details of this micro grant. Alexa, you mentioned that direct funding was a really important component of award. Kira, you've mentioned that the award is $500, which can go to fund a number of direct things I'm seeing be like transportation or formula, baby food technology, medical bills. And the list is quite lengthy, as long as it's a fundamental need. But if I am able to receive this grant as an award, how much does my institution get for the term or the year and how much can I pass on to a student?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:23:40]:
So it is 10,000. That is purely for student aid. Yes, we recognize that in the grand scheme of things, I'm sure it will go very fast. But the hope is, and which I think Kira has highlighted well, is that these funds can be used as an impetus for larger universities, university conversations around emerg. But yes, to your point, ultimately, the $10,000 are meant to be chunked into a maximum of $500 awards in Mercy to directly go to students.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:07]:
And Kira, how did UHD decide a framework on how you pass on the award? Because I think we're in this space where fundamental needs have been rising for students over the last several years. We probably have more students with need than we have awards available. How are you prioritizing and deciding who gets to receive?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:24:24]:
Absolutely, we are using this in conjunction with other support that we have at the institution. We had been the recipient of a FIPC grant through the Department of Education, and so that was specific to basic needs. Transportation, food, shelter. Those were the three categories. What we recognized is how we talked about the aid was more of. Of a solution rather than a tool. And so after we focused once we changed our verbiage and we had to coach our faculty, staff and students on what the aid is supposed to be. So we combined the application with single stop.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:25:10]:
And so single stop is benefits aid screener. And so you apply and say, I have this need, but also here are my demographics. And we tell you, by the way, did you know you were eligible for these specific state and federal resources based on your demographics? We Want the students to not feel like we're handing out band aids. We want the students to feel like this is more of an energy drink. This is more of an infusion of support. You are getting an IV of support, and so you can feel stronger, you can go on just a little while longer. You can see the hope because we have bridged, we've bridged that gap. And so for us, it really was about making sure that students understood that emergency aid truly is an aid and not a final solution.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:26:05]:
And so we wanted them to have the mental capacity to take on the challenges that they were facing. And when you have basic needs, barriers, when you are responsible for another life, it compounds that frustration and it compounds, compounds your ability to, or your desire. It compounds your desire to solve the problem. And so we wanted them to feel like they're. We wanted to give them breathing space to think through.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:30]:
So this is more of an opportunity to have a safety net for a moment. But it's not designed to be a long term solution. Fair enough. So as we look at this in whole, is there anything that you wished you could have done differently with the funding or the program now that you've been implementing it?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:26:45]:
I wouldn't say that I wish that we would do anything differently because. Because we learned. We learned our impact has grown. Our students are more aware of our resources. They're feeling seen, they're feeling heard. What I think it's not a wish of change, it's a wish of extension. Like, I wish we could echo the work that's being done, and I wish we could partner more and support other institutions in developing opportunities like this.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:13]:
And Alexa, what are you looking for on the NASPA side once the grant has been administered in terms of accountability from the campus or stories from the campus, et cetera?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:27:24]:
Yeah, I mean, to be totally frank, I know that accountability, I feel like, is a strong word here. I think I would. More so, we are asking that recipients engage in a couple interviews with us to tell their story, to talk about lessons learned, to talk about what they've understood, about what impact the grant has played in the hopes that we can use these to inform form a case study report to really highlight. Here are some common challenges that folks have faced. Here are, here's what they've done. Here are strategies that they've used that has, have seemed to work again, in the spirit of trying to build connection in this space so that folks who are reading in this, who are building their own emergency programs or continuing them on, can say, I see myself in that campus and what they're doing. This is what they've tried. Let me connect with them to see if I can learn more about what worked well for them.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:28:11]:
I think the hope is with this body of work work is that I'd love to get to a place where we can foster more peer to peer learning opportunities. Maybe using the research as a way to build in like an agenda for a conversation, for a day long conversation, a virtual conversation with folks about like. Here are common threads throughout the emergency aid survey that we just conducted. Here are what research looks like some practice as we dive deeper into what specific campuses are doing with emergency aid. Here is where the work needs to go moving forward. Let's, you know what I mean, talk together about from a funding perspective, where more funding is needed, what additional research is needed, where we can continue to embed emergency aid in our institutions like basic, larger, basic need support strategy. And so yes, I mean I recognize that institutions are already doing so much and this is most likely they are threading this grant with other grants or institutional funding that they've received to bolster their work. So it's not necessarily that the ask for reporting is so high.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:29:09]:
It's more like we are asking them to distribute these funds and we want to know like, did it impact a direct student? You know what I mean? How is this playing into your institution's long term plan around emergency aid? Something like that? I'm not sure if I said that so well for the podcast, so I'm not sure you're under my knees. Splice and dice that a bit.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:28]:
Kira, is there anything that you'd like other student affairs professionals to know if they want to apply for this grant cycle?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:29:34]:
Do it, don't wait. I think the hardest part is getting started, right? And you can't count yourself out. Let Alexa say no. But I think I'm so excited and happy because all of the students who received the microgreens are enrolled for the upcoming spring and we had two who graduated. So I see the impact. I see the ability to just have that pause to breathe and move forward. And so I would say institutions go for it. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and listen to the students, like listen to what they need.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:10]:
And then for either of you, is there anything else that you want to make sure that our NASPA members know about this program, about the opportunity or

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:30:17]:
about the impact it made our president happy. I think it also brought to cabinet, it brought a level of conversation of unpacking what we've been doing. So it's not just a student affairs approach from the student life side, from student success student life, my division, I think now the other divisions are also. It opened up the door for the conversation of how we're addressing our parenting and caregiving students.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:30:42]:
And I think I would just echo that. This is one piece again of a portfolio around basic needs supports. And we really appreciate the learning opportunity to not only be able to give funds to campuses to give these emerging aid supports to students, but that they're willing to share their knowledge back with us in hopes that we can again disseminate that out to the field.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:00]:
I think this is such a great example of demonstrating the value of student affairs to not only our students that we serve, but also to the cabinet, as you mentioned, or other external stakeholders. So I think this is a nice place to ask our theme questions. So our first one is, is when you think about the value of student affairs, what comes to mind first and why?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:31:21]:
Go back to the potential and promise of higher education really being able to serve as that engine of upward socioeconomic mobility and tool for reducing racial and social equity gaps. I think student affairs in particular is so impactful in that at its best, our programs and services are designed with that promise in mind. And that we're meant to specifically support students who all students, but also specifically those who hold marginalized identities in a larger system that was not initially designed with their experiences in mind. I of course, think of things like emergency aid programs and the great work that Dr. Gatewood's team is doing to consider how one program can be a piece of a network of supports. And to borrow from something that I learned while interning at Lumina. Program officer shared that the hardest thing about college should be the learning and the coursework and the rigor there. It shouldn't be that you can't fix your spare tire to drive to class, that your required advising session is only offered like from 9 to 5 while you're working, or that you can't afford childcare to go to school, things like that.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:32:20]:
And so in thinking about ways the student affairs are able to help students overcome those institutional and systematic barriers, I think is really, really key. And in going back to even making the connections between here's what I'm learning in my coursework to my co curricular experiences, here are my experiences as a student parent, that these skills that I'm learning, they're all connected. And to help them tell their story in a meaningful way as they are searching for those employment opportunities that really align with their interests and the breadth of skills that they're bringing and learning inside and outside of the classroom.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:32:52]:
That was amazing. When I think about the value of higher education, I think it's the bridge to intellect and application. Go, you learn now. You figure out how to do with all of you. So the value of student affairs is we're providing that bridge between the two, which is who I am learning to be and who I actually am.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:17]:
I really appreciate that framing. I'm going to seal that one.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:33:19]:
Go right ahead.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:20]:
Our second question. Can you share a specific story or moment when you saw the value of student affairs come to life? And Carrie, you've already shared two beautiful ones as well. So if you want to just say refer back, that's fine, but if you have another one, we'd love to to hear it too.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:33:33]:
I lean on Dr. Gatewood for that. I feel like you'd have great ones. But for me, I go back to conversations that I've had with students, with interviews and focus groups, and how often I hear a story about an administrator or advisor or someone who they see as the institution, as a staff person being in their corner and when they feel like they're noticed and how much being noticed dictates the quality of their experiences and how much they feel like their institution cares about them and that it's not only like a nice feeling, that it truly does have a relationship with their persistence rates and their retention rates. When they feel like their institution cares about them, they're more likely to thrive. And when they're thriving, they're more likely to persist and succeed. I think about, again, the importance of student affairs in ensuring that that quality of experience is felt throughout the campus, not just in certain, like, microclimates or pockets on campus and just the potential and opportunity there to really ensure that that student centeredness is felt in multiple spaces throughout the institution.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:34:31]:
There are lots of stories, and I students story matters, but you get these glimmers of reassurance that what you're doing is working, that what you're doing is making an impact and a difference. And so think. I think what's interesting is at uhd, we have a high staff alumni population, and they are so proud to give back to the institution and to work here. And whenever I interview an alum, it is, you know, the first question is, always tell me a little bit about who you are and why you want to work here. And the why I want to work here is because they're always saying, oh, UHD gave me, and now I want the opportunity to give that to someone else and how I felt. I want someone, another student to feel that way. And the unselfish altruistic piece of that is consistently inspiring. So that's.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:35:24]:
Yeah, I don't. Not one in particular story but just a value of people wanting to come back to give.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:29]:
And our third question which is what do you think students affairs needs to do to be better understood and better seen in today's educational environment?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:35:38]:
I think I go back to how central a student's sense of belonging is on persistence and retention and that that shift in their mindset about how their experiences or assets, assets and a reflection of their skills supports their ability to articulate these things and graduate to get that career that they're. That they're looking for and carve out their path. So I think storytelling about so, so data and storytelling as far as all these various programs and supports how they are bolstering belonging, affirming identities and experiences and the connection between that and persistence, graduation and employment afterwards.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:36:14]:
The first thing that came to my mind I chuckled a little bit when you asked this question because the first thing that came to mind was speak truth to power. And I think Alexa really hit the nail on the head with the data and storytelling and that is how you speak truth to power. I think we have to to acknowledge that college higher education in general is still a privilege. But at what point does the education become a community commodity and how do we integrate that thought process or that ideal? I think that's something we're really going to have to stop seeing it as a privilege and start seeing it as a community commodity.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:53]:
That is a right from the public policy nerd perspective. So Alexa, your degree is in public policy? My doctor's in public administration. We talk a lot about public in private excludable and non excludable goods. And the reality of K12 in the US is that it's a public non excludable good. But as soon as you get to higher education, for some reason it's been framed as an excludable good. And some of it's public, some of it's private. But at the end of the day, because it's been excludable, it's also been subject to market and a number of other things that doesn't have the same pressure that the K12 space has. So it's an interesting puzzle to solve because there are other countries around the the world that have made it a public non excludable good or at least accessible and affordable.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:33]:
I just saw Yale's making their tuition free for any family that's earning under 200,000 USD a year. And so that's a fascinating development in our industry. So lots of that that we could have tons and tons of discussion about. But for now I'm going to toss it over to producer Chris to tell us about what's going on in and around NASA. It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on on in the NASPA world.

Speaker E [00:37:57]:
Thanks Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA today. I'm going to be sharing a couple of professional development opportunities as well as some additional things for you to read and learn from that have just been released from naspa. First and foremost, there is a brand new toolkit that will help you to better understand psychedelics in higher education. This toolkit offers student affairs professionals clear evidence informed guidance on psychedelics in higher education. Grounded in harm reduction, it outlines key substances, effects, risks, legal issues, and student use across academic, social, spiritual and therapeutic settings. The toolkit clarifies roles, boundaries and reporting responsibilities so you can navigate complex conversations and support student well being with accuracy and care. You can find out more about this brand new toolkit that is available on the NASPA website, go to learning.naspa.org There is a brand new brief that was just released called Spacing It Right Designing Higher Education Institutions for Student Success.

Speaker E [00:39:07]:
In this brief, it examines how the intentional design of campus environments can directly influence student learning, belonging and success by fostering inclusion, engagement and community across higher education settings. This brief draws on research and practitioner expertise and outlines a comprehensive framework of 12 key attributes for assessing how physical spaces alongside institutional culture and structures shape the student experience. Institutional spotlights throughout the brief also help to illustrate how purposeful design decisions can build community community and foster transformative learning. You can download this brief by going to the NASPO website, going under Research and publications and then reports and issue briefs. Coming up on May 8, 2026 is the 2026 civic discourse on Campus Virtual Summit. As colleges and universities work to support student learning and engagement amid an evolving landscape around free speech, academic freedom and political expression, the need for thoughtful, principled approaches to civic discourse has never been greater. The 2026 civic discourse on Campus Virtual Summit brings together higher education leaders, student affairs professionals and dialogue practitioners to explore the evolving landscape and share evidence informed strategies for cultivating healthy campus climates. Again, this summit is happening on May 8th.

Speaker E [00:40:39]:
It starts at 11:00am Eastern Standard Time and offers you learning throughout throughout the day. You can find out more about this amazing event in the NASPA online learning community. Go to learning.naspa.org to find out more. The next professional development event that I thought I would share with you Today is the 2026 Mid Level Administrators Conference. This is happening June 11th through 13th in Providence, Rhode Island. The 2026 NASPA Mid Level Administrators Conference is a dynamic professional development event designed to provide mid level student affairs professionals with the opportunity to eng learn with colleagues and senior student affairs administrators. During this two and a half day conference, participants will gain insights about promising practices to further develop professional competencies, networking and supervisory skills, along with strategies to improve professional practice and networks to advance your career. This conference is designed for student affairs professionals who serve in roles between but not including entry level positions and avoid DP and the equivalent roles.

Speaker E [00:41:46]:
Additionally, professionals who have been serving in entry level roles for at least five years are welcome to attend. The early bird registration for this conference ends on May 1st, so I highly encourage you to go to events.naspa.org and check out this conference today. And finally today I wanted to tell you about the 2026 NASPA M. Ben Hogan Small Colleges and Universities and Institute this is happening June 21st through the 24th at Sarah Lawrence College. This institute, which is hosted biennially by NASPA's Small College and Universities Division, the M. Ben Hogan Small College Institute is a highly engaging and tailored experience designed for student affairs leaders shaping the future of their campuses. Over the course of the Institute, participants will dig into the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing small colleges today while exploring innovative strategies, exchanging ideas, and building meaningful connections with peers who truly understand the unique context of their work. The Institute's schedule features a combination of expert led sessions focused on the most pressing issues of 2026 and flexible community sessions that allow participants to explore real time challenges and share insights drawn from their own campus contexts.

Speaker E [00:43:03]:
At its core, the Institute is built for leaders at small colleges and universities typically def find as institutions with 5,000 students or fewer. That said, if you see yourself in this experience and believe it will support your professional growth, you are welcome to join. If this sounds like a professional development experience that you want to find out more about, I highly encourage you to go to naspa.org, go to events and Online Learning and check out the event and all the information about it. The early registration deadline does end on May 13th and you do not want to want to miss this powerful learning experience. 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 and for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with the knowledge community, giving back within one of 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 my myself in that knowledge community.

Speaker E [00:44:35]:
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 association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:05]:
Chris, thank you so much for another great edition of NASPA World. We always appreciate you keeping us informed on what's going on in and around naspa. And we have now reached our lightning round where I've got seven seconds for you to answer. In about 90 seconds, we're gonna have Kira, then Alexa go. So I'll ask question one, then Kira will answer, Alexa will answer. Just so you know who's talking. All right, question number one. One.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:29]:
Wait, are you ready?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:30]:
So nervous, but yes, I'm ready.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:32]:
All right, question one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:37]:
Beyonce. Anything. Beyonce.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:45:39]:
Make your own kind of music by Cass Elliott.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:41]:
Number two, when you were five years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:44]:
I was going to be so embarrassed. Okay, Sorry, Mom. I told my congregation at church that I wanted to be a garbage woman

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:45:50]:
for me to be a lawyer.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:52]:
Number three, who's your most influential professor?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:45:55]:
Dr. Kimberly Weatherly and Dr. Daniel Maxwell. Yeah, they, they're amazing people. Look em up. They're on LinkedIn.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:02]:
Mine would be the Doctor Amelia.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:04]:
She's so cool.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:05]:
She was my supervisor for like seven of these years and I learned everything from her.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:09]:
She is one of you. Just look at her. You're like, gosh you're cool.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:13]:
Shout out to our president of NASA.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:15]:
I love it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:15]:
Number four, what is your essential student affairs Reid?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:19]:
Well, my team just read Move youe Bus and that's Ron Clark. And also shout out to Vijay Pe the Alchemy of Talent. That's also an amazing read.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:29]:
Square Pegs in Round Holes by Fred Bonner or anything by like Trustee where she wrote about lower ed. I really. That's a less student fair specific, but it really shaped a lot of my life.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:40]:
Number five, the best TV show you've been binging lately.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:43]:
Bridgerton, Miami Traders on Peacock.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:45]:
Oh my goodness, I am so obsessed with the British Traders. It's so good. Highly recommend the British series. I like it a lot better than the American one. Now, number six, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:46:55]:
Respectable and ratchet.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:46:56]:
Ugh, I don't have time for podcasts anymore. I wish, but I listen to clips, so. Clips from interviews from Omandi's the Cutting Room Floor or Amy Poehler's Good Hay.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:04]:
And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give personal or professional team?

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:47:09]:
Because the work that I do, honestly, I could not do it without my team because I like the fact that they feel confident and challenging and we build together.

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:47:19]:
NASPA Research and Policy Team. A great group of really smart humans who care a lot about our work. And my daughters, Sophie and Gemma.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:47:26]:
I feel like a bad parent. Okay. Hey guys. Carter Parker. Guess you're going to Yale because apparently it's amazing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:33]:
It's been an incredible conversation with you both. I know I have learned a lot and I've learned specifically a lot about how fundamental needs are being operationalized differently at uhd. If anyone would like to reach you after the show, how can they reach find you?

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain [00:47:46]:
Thank you so much for having me. They can reach me at my email

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:47:48]:
achamberlinaspa.org you can reach me at Gatewood K G A T E W O O d k@uhd edu or you can hit me up on LinkedIn.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:59]:
Thank you both so very much for sharing your voices with us today.

Dr. Kira Gatewood [00:48:03]:
Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:48:08]:
This has been an episode of Essay Voices from the Female 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@savoicesaspa.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 [00:48:38]:
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.