The Proud & Thriving Framework, a collaboration between the Jed Foundation and the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, was designed to equip administrators and stakeholders with the information and resources they need to strengthen campus support for LGBTQ+ college students. In this episode, Dr. Heather Shea connects with Dr. Sofia Pertuz, Jesse Beal, and Chris Woods to discuss recommendations for creating affirming and supportive environments for LGBTQ+ students with the aim of achieving better mental health outcomes.

Continue reading

As travel became nearly impossible in summer 2020, study abroad programs were one area of campus seriously affected by the pandemic. Some campuses canceled all programs in both 2020 and 2021, while others found ways to innovate through virtual international experiences. In this episode, Dr. Heather Shea talks with Dr. Alex Akulli and Gabby Wahla about the many ways that campuses can expand access, reduce costs, and meet intended learning outcomes through virtual experiences.

Continue reading

The Proud & Thriving Framework, a collaboration between the Jed Foundation and the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, was designed to equip administrators and stakeholders with the information and resources they need to strengthen campus support for LGBTQ+ college students. In this episode, Dr. Heather Shea connects with Dr. Sofia Pertuz, Jesse Beal, and Chris Woods to discuss recommendations for creating affirming and supportive environments for LGBTQ+ students with the aim of achieving better mental health outcomes.

Continue reading

This episode focuses on increasing recognition of—and needed supports for—queer college students from rural areas. Building upon a recently released chapter in a new monograph, this episode brought together two authors/scholars and two practitioners to discuss the many ways that core aspects of gender and sexual identity intersect with location.

Continue reading

“Hello, my name is ___. My pronouns are___.” In this episode of the podcast, we go beyond the basics of pronoun sharing in every day conversation and talk about the deeper rationale of this respectful and affirming practice for all members of our campus community—but specifically for trans, non-binary, and genderqueer students/faculty/staff and community members.

Continue reading

This episode features an engaging in-class conversation about expectations and realities for the first student affairs job search. Facilitated by the course instructor and Student Affairs NOW host, Dr. Heather Shea, the panelists were directed questions crowd-sourced from students in the class. The six panelists, all alumni of the same program from the classes of 2019, 2020, and 2021, share their advice about navigating a complex job market, searching while finishing graduate school, and recommendations for negotiating the first job offer.

Continue reading

Student transitions have often captured our attention as we consider the various interventions and opportunities for engagement with new students on campus. For many campuses, this year brought two groups of first-time-on-campus students. Dr. Heather Shea discusses with Dr. Jennifer Keup, Brian MacDonald, and Dr. Laura Randolph the unique needs of the two cohorts of college students arriving for the first time on college campuses and other complications of the pandemic.

Continue reading

In celebration of our one year anniversary as a podcast, this episode features the voices and perspectives from across the field of student affairs. Joining Dr. Heather Shea are four incredible student affairs educators participating from coast-to-coast discussing all of the ways in which their lives and work coalesce in higher education in service of students.

Continue reading

Production Assistant Nat Ambrosey sits down with the hosts of Student Affairs NOW to take you behind the scenes. They discuss how the podcast started, episodes to listen to and more, all for the 1 year anniversary of the podcast.

Continue reading

Many of the United State’s oldest institutions of higher education have their origins in Christianity. Today, even at public institutions, some campus systems (specifically university holidays and the academic calendar) are still very Christian-centric. And yet, with the influx of international students and faculty from more diverse religious backgrounds as well as an influx of secular identities, a system built on Christian supremacy may not be serving the needs of our entire campus populations. In what ways should student affairs educators consider religious, secular, and spiritual diversity as part of campus DEI efforts? What about the concerns of atheist, agnostic, and other secular-identifying students? On this episode of Student Affairs NOW we discuss policies and practices based in research with four scholars and practitioners whose work lies at the convergence of religion, secularism, and spirituality on campus.

Continue reading