Thanks to ACPA, we are able share our own Heather Shea’s presidential address as she assumed leadership of ACPA: College Student Educators International. Heather focuses on fostering critical hope for ourselves as student affairs educators and for students. You’ll also get to hear Kathy Adams Riester and Keith Edwards introducing Heather to the association membership.

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What does it mean to lead with a moral imagination? In this heartful conversation with President Mary Dana Hinton of Hollins University, experience hope, joy, and a renewed faith in the future of higher education. President Hinton reflects on her life journey, and how her imagination of a brighter future in her childhood prepared her to be the higher education leader we all need right now.

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In this episode, we delve into the realm of performance reviews in student affairs, exploring how these evaluations are conducted and how we might rethink this process. We discuss the influence of the recent Report on 21st Century Employment in Higher Education and other resources for shaping the approach to performance reviews, highlighting the specific recommendations implemented to foster a fair, supportive, and developmental processes.

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Three college presidents discuss their journeys through student affairs, transitioning to the presidency, and lessons learned. Join Drs. Lori White, Frank Shushok, and Rob Kelly as they share their journeys. They discuss their student affairs capacities, the critical role of mentorship and guides, authenticity as leadership, and finding the joys in leadership in service of others.

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Critical hope helps educators navigate the both/and of criticality and possibility while avoiding the harms of deficit mindsets, toxic positivity, and cynicism. In this episode, leading scholars of critical hope, Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade and Kari Grain, discuss the what, why, and how of critical hope.

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Rejecting outright the Student Affairs “Legend” title we ascribed to her, Susan Jones joins us to discuss her career as an award-winning professor, prolific author, and valued mentor to many in the profession. Listen in as she shares her hopes and fears for our future and the future of student affairs and higher education. BTW, we stand by our description of Dr. Susan R. Jones as a legend.

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Three student body presidents discuss their experiences and learnings. Jermaine Turner, Jael Kerandi, and Akheem Mitchell share the issues facing students, the critical role of making campuses inclusive for the success of all students, and understanding broader systems to navigate them as leaders effectively. They offer suggestions for student affairs professionals and current students considering pursuing this leadership role.

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Former ACPA President, leadership scholar, senior leader, and senior scholar Dr. Denny Roberts joins us to discuss his career and life journey. Themes of connection, innovation, and learning emerge as Denny discusses those who influenced him and his paths, his experimentation throughout his career, and the learning he has done, has led, and is still doing today.

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Dr. Glenn DeGuzman sits down with William Hsu, Robert Magdeleno, and Chelsea Whitaker to examine the current topics and future challenges facing Residential Life departments from the professional live-in staff perspective.

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Each of today's guests was recommended as a great new professional. They discuss key lessons learned that helped them thrive as new professionals and some lessons they wished they had learned sooner. They discuss relationship building, professional development, navigating experiences with marginalized identities, curiosity, navigating politics, healthy discomfort, managing up, self-advocacy, mentorship, and more.

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