Enhancing Careers: Inside NASPA's New In...

Kicking off an energizing new season of NASPA's Student Affairs Voices from the Field Podcast, Dr. Jill Creighton sits down with Dr. Monica Nixon, Vice President for Community Access and Professional Pathways (CAP) at NASPA, to unpack the evolving landscape of professional development, belonging, and career advancement in student affairs. This episode is a must-listen for higher education professionals at every stage of their journey, as it paints a vivid portrait of both the personal and institutional pathways that make our field dynamic and inclusive.

Dr. Monica Nixon shares her winding and authentic career story, starting as a first-generation college student with an uncertain path, moving through roles in both public and private higher education, and now leading a critical portfolio at NASPA. Her experience building inaugural programs and her passion for equity, diversity, and professional development are front and center, illustrating how meaningful student affairs careers are often forged through curiosity, mentorship, purposeful pivots, and community engagement.

The heart of the conversation centers on the CAP portfolio at NASPA, a newly conceptualized area dedicated to providing intentional access to leadership, learning, and professional communities. Dr. Monica Nixon illuminates how CAP is designed to serve a broad spectrum of professionals—across job levels, institutional types, and backgrounds—by offering clear career pathways, mentoring opportunities, and accessible resources. The episode highlights upcoming initiatives, such as a new skills conference focused on in-demand competencies and the continued evolution of digital and in-person professional development tailored to members' unique needs.

Listeners will appreciate the practical guidance for getting involved with NASPA, whether you're a newcomer or a longtime member. From joining knowledge communities and steering committees to leveraging the soon-to-be refreshed NASPA website for curated resources, Dr. Monica Nixon makes it clear that there's a place for everyone to belong and grow. Her gratitude for NASPA's volunteer leaders underscores the importance of collective effort in driving innovation and support across the field.

Throughout the episode, themes of intentionality, inclusion, and purpose-driven leadership resonate. Dr. Monica Nixon offers tangible advice for supervisors and student affairs leaders: cultivate honest conversations about professional needs, support creative models for staff development, and embrace holistic approaches to wellbeing.

Whether you're seeking inspiration, career advice, or a greater sense of community in student affairs, this episode is your invitation to jump in and explore what NASPA's evolving landscape can offer. Don't miss this illuminating discussion—tune in and discover how you can shape your own pathway while uplifting others in the profession.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:02]:
Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is Season 15, Enhancing the Career Pathways and Well-Being of Student Affairs Professionals. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she/her/hers, your SA Voices from the Field host. Welcome back to Student Affairs Voices from the Field. We hope you had an incredible summer and we're ready to kick off our next season of SA Voices from the Field. Monica is our very own NASPA Vice President for Community Access and Professional Pathways, also known as CAP, where she leads a team focused on providing access to leadership and career opportunities, supportive communities and mentors, and professional development geared towards meeting the evolving needs across the career lifespan in student affairs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:55]:
Previously, she served in student affairs, institutional equity, and administrative leadership roles at St. Joseph's University, Seattle University, Colgate University, the University of Puget Sound, and the University of Virginia. Dr. Nixon earned her BA in English in 1995 and Master of Education in Counselor Education in 1999 from the University of Virginia. In 2013, she earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington, where her dissertation focused on the positionality and agency of women of color chief diversity officers in higher education institutions. Monica co-authored a chapter in the 2012 NASPA-published book Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Higher Education: I hope you enjoy our conversation getting to know Monica. Monica, welcome to SA Voices.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:01:37]:
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here with you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:39]:
I'm so glad to have you here. It's been a long time coming that we have this episode. We've featured many a NASPA vice president over the last few seasons, and you are one of the newest NASPA vice presidents, having risen as a staff member to now leading a major part of the NASPA portfolio. So looking forward to learning about your journey and the new area that you're leading. And we always love to kick off our episodes by asking, how did you get to your current seat?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:02:06]:
Oh goodness. I think like many people, we are Gen Xers. We found our way into student affairs. So it wasn't something that I thought was a career option. I came into college not necessarily knowing what I wanted to be. I tried a lot of different majors. I thought I might be a journalist. I thought I might be a teacher.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:02:22]:
I thought I might go into publishing. And I really didn't know what I was going to do. And some of my friends were applying to law school. So I thought, okay. I'll apply to law school. And I was ready to go. And about April of my 4th year, my faculty advisor asked me to meet with him and said, I just have a question, Monica. And he had written my recommendation, so he knew me.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:02:43]:
I'd been in a few of his classes. And he said, can you tell me why you want to be an attorney? And I must have just had a flabbergasted look on my face because then he asked, do you know any attorneys? And I said, you know, I really don't. I'd never interacted with a lawyer. Nobody in my parents' circle was an attorney. And so he said, why don't I have you meet with a couple couple of them. So I did, and the way they described their jobs was not what I thought their jobs were. This was the time of LA Law. I thought I was going to be fixing the rights of the world.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:03:09]:
So I thought, I just need to pause. And so I deferred law school, and then I told my parents and my mother. I was a first-generation college student. My mom was a first-generation immigrant. Me pausing going to law school was not in the plan. And so I ended up taking an internship at the school where I went, which is the University of Virginia. It was in the executive vice president's office. I'd gotten to know him through my work as a student journalist, and I found that I'm really enjoyed the work.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:03:35]:
And I also got to talk with a lot of my mentors in a little bit more of a collegial way. And, and so I was asking them about their work, and I realized they actually got paid to be there. They didn't just show up and they were in an office every day. I don't know why I didn't think that was an actual job. So anyway, I ended up going to grad school part-time whilst maintaining that role. So I started as an intern. I ended up as a chief of staff after about 9 months. I was—

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:00]:
That's a huge jump.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:04:01]:
It was a huge jump. I was 22 years old. I was learning so every single day. And I wanted to make good on the trust that the vice president had put into me. And so, I worked so hard, but I had this wonderful view of an institution at a very high level. So, institutional governance, athletics, working with the board, working with the state. And so, it was fabulous, and it was amazing, and it appealed to the learner in me. It appealed to the sense of purpose that I wanted out of my work.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:04:29]:
I ended up going to grad school. Part-time. When I graduated, we had just started an orientation and transfer student and new student family programs office. And so I ended up working in that office. I was a part of the, the, you know, the task force that proposed that. And so I, so my first true student affairs role was in orientation. And, and that, you know, again, I got to work with the mentors who had really poured into me as an undergraduate student. And I got to then think about how do we design a program that introduces students and families families to all of what higher education can mean for them.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:05:07]:
And so being able to start something new, it was wonderful. Working in orientation over and over again, I realized I need something— I like to create, I like new things. Doing the same thing each year didn't necessarily appeal to that. And so as an undergraduate student, I'd been really engaged with diversity and equity issues. I'd worked in the Office of African American Affairs. I'd been part of some different task forces. As an employee, I was also part of some of that work. And I realized that was also giving me a lot of, like, a sense of purpose.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:05:40]:
And so I looked for jobs that, that could, where I could do that full-time. So as I looked for my first job search on a national scale, I searched for multicultural affairs jobs. And I also wanted to be in a different kind of higher education sector. I'd been in public higher education at that point for, well, I'd been in public education my entire life. So all of my schooling, my own education, the first part of my career. And so I thought, I wonder what I wonder what private higher ed is like. I wonder what working at a small school would be like. So I looked for multicultural affairs jobs at small institutions, and I ended up at a place that I'd never even heard of.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:06:17]:
I actually interviewed at places that I'd never heard of, but I ended up at the University of Puget Sound, and I was in an inaugural full-time multicultural affairs role. So again, I got to start something new. I got to put in place structures that I wish I'd had as an undergraduate student and that I was hearing from students that they really wanted in terms of creating a sense of belonging and you know, a true sense that the institution, that they mattered to the institution. And so I got to do that. I did that for a couple of years. I had moved away from my family and was kind of missing them. I'd moved from Virginia to Tacoma, Washington, wanted to be closer to my family. So I ended up back on the East Coast.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:06:55]:
I was at Colgate University for a little while. I worked in a couple of different kinds of roles, again, in student activities and also like a cultural center, directing a cultural center. As much as I loved being back on the East Coast, I had just fallen in love with the Pacific Northwest. And so I came back out to Seattle University to direct the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Spent 10 years at Seattle U, so I didn't think I would be out there for that long. And while I was there, I pursued a doctorate in higher education, educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Washington.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:26]:
It's really hard not to fall in love with the Pacific Northwest if you've never been there before.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:07:31]:
It's true.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:32]:
Proudly, Washington is my home state, and there's every climate there except for tundra. So you get mountains, desert, rainforest. It's the only rainforest in the contiguous So from, from an environmental perspective, it's really, really hard not to love the PNW and it doesn't rain as much as people say it does.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:07:49]:
It doesn't, though we don't like to tell people that. So, because then everyone will move here. No, I just came off a weekend of backpacking and I was reminded again of why I live out here. But anyway, I was at Seattle U, got my doctorate, was working as an assistant vice president of student development at Seattle U. And I had this moment where I realized again that The equity work that I'd been doing, it was a part of my role, but it wasn't central to my role. And I had actually been advised not to seek chief diversity officer positions as I came out of my doctorate by very well-meaning mentors who were concerned that I might be pigeonholed into— I'd done that work for 15 years. My dissertation focused on the experiences of women serving as chief diversity officers. And so the advice that I received at that time from some of my mentors who really know me well, was maybe think about something a little bit broader so that you have a more generalist background to bring to future searches.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:08:47]:
So I did that for a couple of years, and then I realized I really do miss centering the equity work that I was doing. So I moved to St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, which is another Jesuit institution, and I was there as the chief diversity officer. Did that for a couple of years, and then a position at NASPA opened up, and I thought, I wonder— I had thought about association work previously in my career, but I was worried that I might miss the work that happens in building communities over time on a campus. And so I'd been engaged with NASPA. I knew the board chair at the time. I'd had the opportunity to meet the then-president, Kevin Krueger, and I thought this could be an interesting time to try working in an association. And so I started, so I applied and was fortunate enough to be offered the role to serve as the, I think the title was Assistant Vice President of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:09:40]:
And as had been the case at St. Joe's, I was, it was an inaugural So this is a theme, and I think the role changed quite a bit, and this happens with inaugural roles. An organization thinks, we're going to create this role, and then the first person who comes into it will help us develop it, implement it, figure out what fits. We were engaged in that work, and then the global pandemic happened, and our organization changed a lot in a pretty short amount of time. This happened across, I mean, obviously many, many sectors, including higher ed. And so our primary goal during that time was to stay close to our members. And so a lot of the work that I ended up doing during that period had to do with member engagement. How do we create, make sure that our members continue to feel that they belong, that they have access to the things that matter to them? And so as we were coming out of the pandemic, then stabilized as an organization, found some stability in the field, I think those threads of how do we help members create or feel a sense of belonging in the association? How do we make sure that all of our members feel that they can access opportunities, professional development, in ways that meet their needs.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:10:50]:
That really then became the locus, the focus of the work that this role and portfolio has evolved into.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:57]:
Well, Monica, I think this leads us nicely into what is included in the CAP portfolio within NASPA. It's a brand new area. I know, at least for me, in the areas that I serve within NASPA volunteer leadership, you have global, which is near and dear to my heart. But what else is included in this area?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:11:13]:
Thank you. So the broad frame of community access and professional pathways certainly includes a lot, and I really appreciate your question, Jill. And I'll start with where you, where you just mentioned, which is our global members. So when we think about the community of our members and making sure that the people who choose NASPA as one of their professional homes, that they know how to access learning, they know how to access communities, and they know how to access professional development. So our global members are a part of that. Also in our portfolio, we are thinking about members who serve at different kinds of institutions. So minority-serving institutions, our small colleges and universities, community colleges, our large institutions, rural institutions, and more. So overall, what we're focused on is creating an intentional ecosystem guided by a cohesive content strategy that's articulated by professional level so that our members can personalize their journey through NASPA.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:12:10]:
So if they know that they are a mid-level professional who is interested in becoming maybe an assistant vice president, that we have helped them understand, here are the things that you need to know. Here are the skills that you're going to be asked to demonstrate. And these are the ways to find those. And so it might be that I really need to lean into some of the operational pieces. And so we have a skills conference that's going to be launching in fall of 2028. And so that might be a really good opportunity for you to fill some of the gaps as you want to think about this journey. And so being much more clear, I think one of the pieces of feedback that we hear from our members is that we have a lot at NASPA, and sometimes it can be hard to figure out where do I plug in? How do I find the community where I'll have access to mentors and colleagues who can help me think about my role? How do I know what I don't know? How do I discern my student affairs path? And that's the really the work that we're doing in Community Access and Professional Pathways for all of our members. We are also thinking about the placement exchange falls under our portfolio as well as we're doing that work with Akuho'i and NASPA.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:13:22]:
So how do we help members be ready for that next opportunity? And then the final piece that's in the CAP portfolio is our NASPA advisory services. So as divisions and departments are thinking about excellence, we want to deliver excellence to our students. How do we connect them with subject matter experts. And so that NASBA Advisory Services portfolio helps to do that. So again, it's that, how are we creating this ecosystem, this learning ecosystem for both divisions and individual members?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:51]:
That's a lot. And I think you've posed a really great question for especially new members or members who have been around a while, but maybe don't engage much beyond annual conference or something like that. The getting plugged in and finding the lane of the pathway that I can develop on, I think is a bit of an intimidating thing when you're new to NASPA. So if I'm new to NASPA, where should I start?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:14:13]:
Right now, you would start probably with one of the— if you're in a functional area, so knowledge communities are a really great place to start. So we have functional area and affinity knowledge communities. So that's a good place to kind of find your people. So people who are doing similar work, who may identify in similar ways as you. And so I think that's a really good way to start to plug in. We also have steering committees. So if you are a new professional, we have a New Professionals and Graduate Students Steering Committee. We have a Mid-Level Administrators Steering Committee, AVP Steering Committee, and then we also have one for vice presidents called the James E.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:14:50]:
Scott Academy. So that's our Vice President Steering Committee. And so those professional-level steering committees can also be really important communities, again, to find people who are 0 to 5 years for new professionals, who are just coming in as a new professional. Even connecting with a peer who has been in the field for 3 or 4 years, What do you wish you had known when you first started? I think the mid-level steering committee similarly has a pretty broad range of folks, some people who are brand new to a mid-level role, and then some people who have been in a mid-level role for 10, 15, 20 years. And so being able to access colleagues who can provide that mentoring, the grounding of what you might need to know. So I think that matrixed with some of the functional area communities, I think would be a really good start. We're also, as we move ahead, our new NASPA website, our resources, are going to be presented to members in a way that makes it easier to find those spaces, to make those connections. You could come to, in a not-so-future state, a near-future state, you will be able to come to the NASPA website and say, I'm a new professional.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:15:54]:
Okay, I'll get that new professional. But we already know that new professionals, because we've worked with our members, they've provided us lots of input, and our steering committee has helped us to articulate this. We know that new professionals need to know these things and our resources. So we're going to be able to provide a curated of resources to our members by where they are, what they say they need, what they're interested in learning. And so in a not-so-distant near-future state, our resources will be presented to members in a way that I think makes more sense to that learning path.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:16:26]:
I'm looking forward to a new website. That's really exciting.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:16:29]:
Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:16:30]:
I want to revisit something you mentioned earlier in our conversation, which is this development of a brand new conference offering for skills development, which is really unique because NASPA has typically been organized around level in the profession or specific functional area topics. So I'm thinking like strategies or the Aspiring VPSA conference, things like that, or even interest areas like manicure for women and things like that. So what is going on with this new skills conference in terms of what would I expect to learn? How do I approach it? Who is this for?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:17:00]:
So we have 2 new conference offerings that are coming out in the next 2 years. So one of them is this skills conference. And I mentioned earlier an ecosystem that was guided by a cohesive content strategy. And so what we've done is to identify And we've taken lots of data, primarily from our steering committees, and then also from work that NASPA was engaged in with the student affairs certification. We know the skills that people have identified as crucial to their success as student affairs administrators. And so we've articulated those into some learning content pillars with various key skills associated with those. And there are actually probably 30 of them. So a skills conference will not cover all of those, but the intention is that based on what we're hearing from members as really critical right now.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:17:50]:
These are things that, as the field is evolving, in a given year we might lean into, you know, I mentioned earlier, maybe the organizational leadership and management pieces. In another year, we might lean into more of the law, policy, and governance skills areas. We might think about strategic communication as something that we need to be looking at in a much more in-depth way. So this gives us the flexibility to create learning experiences around skills that are part of an overall framework, but that we can focus on a certain subset of these skills in a given year. That in-person conference won't be the only opportunity. We also plan to supplement that with virtual programming, integrating some of these skills in a very clear way into some of our other programs. So as you think, as we think about assessment and data use, I mean, that's really applicable in any of our learning experiences. So, you know, again, some of these could be cross-cutting across all of our events, but we can also then do a deep dive into this skills conference.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:18:50]:
We're also going to be launching a Pathways Conference where it's bringing together some of the smaller programs that we've done in the past. So some of our aspiring programs, you mentioned Banneker, but really thinking about a program, a conference that allows us to create some of those smaller network opportunities in a— and also connection to a broader group of people who are also thinking about what's my pathway in student affairs.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:14]:
Are there any key leaders on your team that you'd like to shout out or kind of share a little bit about where folks can turn to or who folks can turn to if they're curious about some of these more specific offerings or these specific areas that you're leading in CAP?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:19:28]:
Of course. So Janelle Ryans oversees our global area, and so I think she's a wonderful person to connect with there. Kiana Bradley on our team will be leading much of the work of the institutional types. Earlier I mentioned we're going to be thinking about small colleges, community colleges, and more. And so that's work that she's really helping us to focus and develop in broader ways. We have Joey DeSanto, who's helping us think about those professional levels. So he'll be working a lot with our steering committees. We have Abby Vollmer, who heads up our NASPA Advisory Services.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:20:02]:
And so I think those are 4 folks who can really, if people have any questions about the work that we're doing, that's the, that's a team that I get to work with quite a bit, um, and really value their leadership and vision as we're, as we are on this Community Access and Professional Pathways journey.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:19]:
Is there anything else that you wanna make sure NASPA members hear about the work that's happening in CAP or how it might be different from what had been happening before, or just generally, uh, a message for our listeners? Yes.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:20:36]:
Thank you for that question. You know, some of the work that we are doing in CAP has been done in other places. And so, you know, it, it, we do have the, I'm excited about some of the new work that we're developing, but I'm also excited about about having the work that has been happening in various places feel connected to a broader framework. And for me, that is, that's really important. I'm, one of the groups that I'm, I'm, I'm always so, I'm in awe and also so thankful for is our NASBA volunteers. So the volunteer leaders who commit their time, and we have 2,000 volunteer leaders in any given year. And so in many ways, our volunteer leaders have identified gaps and then filled those gaps. So our steering committees are a great example of that, or our knowledge communities are a great example of that.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:21:26]:
I want to make sure that that work feels really connected to what the broader NASPA organization is doing. So I think it's, it's both a, both a thank you to our members who have helped us realize the need for a space like this and a way to frame community access and professional pathways in this way, and also an ask that we continue to be good partners in that work as we move ahead.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:49]:
So Monica, I'm going to turn us towards our theme questions for this season. And our theme questions align so cleanly with the work that you're doing at NASPA. And we're focusing our theme this season on the NASPA strategic plan's first vision line, which is that we're working towards enhancing the career pathways and wellbeing of student affairs professionals as a primary goal in the organization. So my first question of 2 is, what's one easy thing and one hard thing that supervisors can do to enhance the career pathways of the That's a great question.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:22:24]:
And I'm going to say something that is actually not new. I would say it's having the conversations with your teams and the members of your teams about what do they find interesting about their roles? What do they find difficult about their roles? What do they need to know in order to be more successful in those roles? And then supporting that learning. And I understand that where higher education is right now, there are a lot of stressors, financial stressors in terms of supporting professional development. So I would say in having supervisors and leaders think about and divisions work with professional associations to provide that professional development in accessible ways. So certainly going to a conference is one way to provide that professional development, but there are other ways to do that. There are ways to work with— there's virtual programming, which we're hoping to really build out according to this learning framework, but also ways, if it's working at the regional level, to create things that are a little bit less time away, less costly perhaps to support. So really thinking innovatively about professional development. But I would say mainly it's understanding those questions about what are student affairs staff finding rewarding, and then what are student affairs staff finding challenging, and then working to address those challenges.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:37]:
And our second question in our theme, what might you want VPSAs to consider regarding the holistic wellbeing of student affairs professionals that perhaps they're not already thinking about?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:23:47]:
Thank you for this question, Jill. It's so important to the work that we do. In spring of 2026, NASPA published a report called Centering the Student Affairs Workforce Task Force report. That's a mouthful, but it was a task force of staff in divisions of student affairs whose work is really focused on staff well-being and professional development.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:09]:
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:24:09]:
And so, you know, we already have experts who are doing this work in some pretty innovative ways on campuses. And so that report is a great resource because it has innovative examples that are happening on campuses, and it also comes with an implementation guide of ways that divisional leaders can ask key questions and then build them into their planning processes to support their staff. So I say that's one really important resource.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:34]:
That resource is available for free on the NASPA website. Again, that's Centering the Student Affairs Workforce, and it was launched in 2026 in March. Huge working group that's listed there and just some really great resources for you to check out. So please Google for that. You don't have to be a current member to get it. It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA Hey, Jill.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:24:59]:
So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. The call for programs and reviewers for the National 2027 NASPA Annual Conference will be closing on Wednesday, September 23rd. If you've been thinking about submitting a program for the 2027 NASPA Annual Conference, now is the best time to be able to put that in and get that ready to go because the annual conference is stronger than ever, and it becomes even stronger stronger when more perspectives are included. So you can share your research, some practice, and more by submitting a program and a proposal. You can also apply to serve as a reviewer and help us to build a well-rounded conference program with thousands of attendees. Beyond the call to programs, NASPA is also looking for you to share some of your own excitement about the NASPA 2027 conference. In the past few emails that have been sent out to all NASPA Members, they have been asking you to share a short video about what you're most looking forward to, and I encourage you to do just that. There's a new Title IX certificate program on informal resolutions that you can sign up for now.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:26:10]:
That'll begin on September 24th and also continue on October 29th. Formal resolution is becoming a standard part of the Title IX process, and getting it right is essential for all parties involved. This training is going to cover what fairness implementation looks like, who is equipped to lead it, and the benefits and challenges shaping the practice. The certificate is led by Peter Lake, a higher education law expert, and Christine Goodwin, a trained mediator. You can sign up for the certificate by going to learning.naspa.org and sign up today. As we prepare for the next Strategies Conference, there is a peer education Education Champion Award that you can nominate people for. You have until November 6th, 2026, to nominate someone for the 2026 Peer Education Award. This recognizes outstanding contributions to peer education made between November 25th and October 2026.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:27:08]:
Categories for the award include Peer Educator, Peer Education Group, Peer Education Advisor, and Graduate Student. If you know someone doing great work in this space, I encourage you to nominate to help recognize the people and programs making a difference for students. You can learn more if you go to the NASPA website, click under Events, and go to the Strategies Conference. Also, on a regular basis, you should be receiving a biweekly policy update from NASPA. And usually in every email that you get, there is a great breakdown from our policy experts telling you about all of the changes in policy that will impact you and And just in our last NASPA update, we were informed that an audio summary is now available with each biweekly policy update. This is going to offer you another way to be able to stay informed about the latest federal and state policy developments affecting higher education and student affairs. You can subscribe to the biweekly policy update by joining the NASPA Policy Hub to stay connected to the latest policy news and announcements. Every week we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:28:17]:
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 a knowledge community, giving back within one of the, the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself, where do you fit? Where do you want to give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, 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 [00:29:39]:
Chris, thank you so much for sharing with us our first edition this season of What's Going On In and Around NASPA. And Monica, we have reached our lightning round where I've got 7 questions for you to answer in about 90 seconds. Are you ready?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:29:52]:
I am.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:53]:
All right, let's do this. Question number 1, if you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance Oh, goodness.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:30:00]:
I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:02]:
Number 2, when you were 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:30:05]:
An astronaut.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:06]:
Question number 3, who's your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:30:09]:
Gosh, I have so many. I'll name 2. So my first boss was Leonard Sandridge. He was the executive vice president at the University of Virginia. So he's the first person who gave that job and I think taught me a lot of lessons about what it means to, to support the people around you. And then Houston Daugherty, who I met him when he was at the University of Puget Sound and he hired me there. And we became great friends and colleagues. He recently passed, which is a huge loss to the field and students and the community of people who have loved him.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:37]:
Number 4, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:30:40]:
Ooh, The Caring University by Kevin McClure. And I think a lot about empathy and that the work that I think student affairs does is to try and cultivate empathy. And Kyle Reyes wrote a book called Lenses of Humanity. I actually can't remember when it came out, but it's a great read about, about empathy and how do you build more Number 5, the best TV show you've been binging lately? Ted Lasso season 4 just came out, so I'm so excited about that one.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:04]:
Number 6, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in the last year?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:31:07]:
Hmm. I love Wildcard on NPR, which is interesting because this lightning round scares me a little bit, and the whole idea of Wildcard is that you don't know what you're going to be asked. And so I kind of like listening to how people respond to that and hearing people's stories.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:22]:
And finally, number 7, any shoutouts you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:31:25]:
I would shout out to the whole Community Access and Professional Development National Pathways team. You know, this is a team of people who are, who've helped to create a vision together, and I'm so excited to work on that with them. The NASPA executive team, I think we are working in really creative and new ways to support our members, and I'm loving that. On a personal note, my family, and I think the community of friends who have been my chosen family for decades.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:50]:
Monica, it's been such a pleasure to get to know you a little bit better. We've seen your face around the conferences for years, and now we get to know your story. So thank you for that. If folks would like to get ahold of you after episode airs, how can they find you?

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:32:02]:
They can find me at my NASPA email address, which is mnixon@nasp.org, or on LinkedIn.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:10]:
Monica, thank you so very much for sharing your voice with us today.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:32:13]:
Thank you, Jill. Thanks, Kris.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:16]:
This has been an episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field brought to you by NASPA. This show is only made possible because of you, our listeners and our members. We continue to be so We're so grateful that you choose to spend your time with us season after season. If you'd like to reach us here at the show, you can email us at savoices@naspa.org or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Creighton. We welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. If you're interested in appearing on the show yourself, please do contact us.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:45]:
We'd love it if you spend 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 to podcasts.

Dr. Monica Nixon [00:32:51]:
Thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:51]:
from now. It really does help us in the student affairs community, as well as the podcasting community to help our show grow. 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 and New York University London for your support as we create this project.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:10]:
Catch you next time.