Heather Shea:
The purpose behind this podcast was really to provide a space for that growth and learning, but also to really help people. Right. And so I don’t, I hope that we’re getting there. And I think a big piece of it has to do with the people around this table podcast table, and also all of those who have been on. So I am so incredibly grateful.

Nat Ambrosey:
Hello, and welcome to Student Affairs Now. I’m your host, Nat Ambrosey. Student Affairs Now is the premier podcast and online learning community for those who work in alongside and adjacent to the field of higher education and student affairs. We release new episodes every week on Wednesdays. Find details about this episode or browse our archives at studentaffairsnow.com. We have a really special episode today. I am usually behind the scenes as the production assistant, but now I’m able to host all of our hosts, which is really cool. So you’ll be seeing from them in a second. Today’s episode is a special bonus episode brought to you by Colorado State Online. CSU online is now offering a fully online masters of science in student affairs. To help you succeed as a higher education administrator. As I mentioned, I’m your host, Nat Ambrosey, I’m the production assistant for the podcast and a freelance designer.

Nat Ambrosey:
My pronouns are she her hers. I’m hosting this conversation today from San Diego, California, which is the ancestral Homeland of the Kumeyaay peoples. It is such an honor to be hosting this conversation with all of our Student Affairs Now hosts Keith Edwards, Heather Shea, Glenn DeGuzman, Susana Muñoz, and Raechele Pope. So let’s kick this episode off. One of the first things that I wanted to ask, all of you is it’s our one year anniversary. And a lot of people are probably wondering, what is the story? How did this podcast start? So let’s kick that over to Keith and Heather.

Heather Shea:
I, Keith, you may remember the story slightly differently, but all I remember is I was out on a walk and I was having a conversation with you. And you’re like, are we going to do this? And we both were like, okay, let’s do it. Let’s make it happen. But the back story behind that was both of us were hosts on Student Affairs Live under the hire-ed live network. And that network went off the air they’re back on. We’re happy to see. But when they went off the air, I felt like this loss for me, at least in the ability to contribute in this way. And I had used many of the episodes in professional development in classroom contexts. And I personally was like, I need to get back into this because I valued that the use of media in a different way. So I don’t know, Keith, if you have a different take on the whole thing

Keith Edwards:
I don’t remember those details, but I remember the sentiment exactly that way. And I remember talking about if we should do it, and I remember I said to you well, I’ll do it, but I’m not doing it without you, Heather. And then others said, well, I’ll do it, but I’m not doing it that, you know, I said, well, I guess we’re doing it. And we jumped in. And one of the things that we talked about very early on was, as you mentioned, one, continue the conversations and provide this professional development and venue different from texts, different from reading books and reading articles. And one of the things that I’ve really enjoyed is I can read a book and I understand what the authors are saying in one way. And then you hear them talk about it and I get a whole new flavor and context and personal connection.

Keith Edwards:
And it’s not just sort of just the facts, right? You get a whole other level of meaning to it. So I’ve really enjoyed that. One of the things we wanted to do is we didn’t want to do it live cause that’s super stressful for all sorts of reasons, and to be able to record them. And we wanted to have it regular episodes. So doing it every week and we just didn’t have the capacity to do it. So we said, well, we can get other hosts to be fantastic. And we really wanted I think Heather and I think of ourselves as both kind of practitioners, kind of faculty, we really wanted a faculty presence. We really wanted a practitioner presence. And our criteria was who do we know? Who’s really curious about all sorts of things who just has a really open mind and just really wants to learn and explore.

Keith Edwards:
And Glenn had been connected with Student Affairs Live and some of the the dialogue events and had sort of wanted to kind of do that. So we thought of Glenn and then we thought we really want to a faculty perspective. And what we said was we want someone like Susana Muñoz. She’ll never do it. She’s too busy. She’s got way too much going on and she’ll never do it, but someone like her, right? Like who likes Susana would be able to do this and who, and then we just, I you know, I just have this belief that you shouldn’t say no for other people. So we basically agreed we’re going to invite Susana. And when she says, no, maybe she’ll know who we should invite. And both of them said yes to our amazement. So it has allowed us to do weekly episodes and has been so fantastic. We also imagined we would meet once a month and keep this a minimal maybe for an hour every week. Cause it’s so much fun. We have such great conversations. So that’s, that’s how this has kind of come to be.

Heather Shea:
It was coincidental. I will say that all four of us in the original team are Colorado State student affairs and higher ed grad. So shout out to the CSU SAHE program for bringing us together, Susana and Keith and I, all the class of 2000, Glenn class of 99. You know, that I think has played a central role in how I talk about the podcast in terms of maintaining collegial relationships over time and the connection with the grad program. And, and I remember the in-class conversations that some of us would have together. And then just taking that, you know, 20 plus years later, I can’t believe it’s been that long, but 20 plus years later to be able to continue having some of those great dialogue. So I love it that we have this this history, right, and this kind of central and similar starting point. So Susana and Glenn, and then we’ll talk about Raechele and the, the joining of her for the podcast to

Susana Muñoz:
No 20 years. Wow. Right. I mean, we still look good y’all we do. So I feel like, you know, when, when I was asked, I thought this is, this is different. Right. And so I’m always one of these faculty, people that like the scholarship needs to go be on these journals. You know, we need to have these conversations in ways that it is really super accessible to the masses, to people, you know? And, and so I felt like, you know, this is probably going to challenge me, you know, because I have never done it. Right. And this is also probably going to really inform my practice and scholarship in ways that I didn’t foresee it. And so I think I do have a knack for saying things that kind of make me uncomfortable at the beginning. But I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself and the kind of scholar that I want to be.

Susana Muñoz:
And I’ve also learned about you know, how to reach, you know, an audience that is really intentional and purposeful about their practice. And so I think that’s one of the gifts that I feel like I’ve gained, but I, you know, like I love both, you know, all of y’all in terms of like, you know, we’ve kind of kept in touch. And so I think this was, was going to find for me for, to sort of develop more community with y’all. So it’s been an honor and a privilege one year hasn’t seemed like it’s been a year, but it’s, it’s been a lot of fun.

Glenn DeGuzman:
So if the question is, why did I start this podcast? It’s because Keith called me up and said I had to do it. You know, the reality was actually, I think it was almost maybe a year before you asked a question, Keith you had me at your home you invited me into your home. I got to stay with my daughter for a for a personal event. And I know we just had such wonderful rich conversation just made me think back to the fact that we had, not only this collegial relationship, but we have a friendship, all of us have a friendship because we’ve known each other for so long as Heather was speaking to. And so when, when Keith made the ask to me, I said, let me think about it. And then you said Heather was involved.

Glenn DeGuzman:
I’m like, okay, well then I have to do it for sure. But, but the reality is these good memories started popping up for me. And we went through this experience together. So it’s sort of like I knew all of you before we before, like who we are now, like in terms of our position and role. So I’ve always known that the passion for, for for what we do was it was there. It was just, it was. And so it just made the decision easier to join this, this cast and crew, you know, so that’s why I got involved.

Nat Ambrosey:
That’s so awesome. I love hearing from all of you how it started and the different pieces of how you were all connected. Raechele, I want to hear a little bit about your story of you jumped into the podcast a few months in how did you become a host? What was that experience like?

Raechele Pope:
Well, thanks for that question that I think it’s really, I’m an interloper at every sense. And the more I hear them talking about this close relationship, they have, I feel so honored to have been allowed to join this group. It’s been a really quick year for me. It’s only been the last, I think about three months that I’ve been a part of this. And there are a couple of experiences that brought me to this place. The first was I had some opportunities on campus to do interviewing of distinguished guests that we brought in and we’d have the big conversations, and then afterwards I’d get to interview them. And I really enjoyed that and it seemed to resonate with the audience and with the particular speaker. And then when we moved to doing everything virtually, that seemed to also work.

Raechele Pope:
I said, I really like this environment, and I love Student Affairs Now. And I was saying how I really love to do something like that. And I was talking to my daughter you know, who is a I guess she’s Gen Z, she’s about 26. And she said, mom, you put into the universe what you want to happen? And I’m thinking, where’d you hear that? So one day I was talking to, you know, like I just said, I’m going to do it. And I wrote to Heather and said, Heather, I’m going to ask you, you have four hosts, you probably have enough, but if you’re ever looking for another one, I would love to do this. Shocked when she wrote back after she had Keith had talked, and then they talked to Glenn and Susana and said, yeah, talk to us more about this.

Raechele Pope:
We might be interested in that. And then the most, the warmest welcome you could ever imagine. And all of these hosts who had known each other for years, and me, who they sort of didn’t know at all become a part of this. And it’s been lovely now. And I believe it is scholarship. You know, Susana talked about how we’re doing a different kind of scholarship. It is public scholarship. And I think that is so crucially important and finding different ways of bringing the research, the ideas, the issues, the questions that we have to a space where all of us can listen and join in and continue these conversations.

Keith Edwards:
Well, and I’ll say that behind the scenes was Heather got the email, send it to me. We had a phone call, which was like imposter syndrome on steroids. It was like, why does Raechele Pope want to join our podcast? We should be like begging to join her, her podcast. Yes. This is upside down world. What is going on? What is, what is happening? And we reached out to Glenn and they were like, oh, we should talk to her. Right. And so we were totally as someone who re-read and informed our, our thinking. And so many of colleagues, we looked up to look up to you, it was sort of like, why is the senior scholar of this profession want to join like these newbies? Right. and so it was really cool and you’re just been so wonderful jumping in and chiming in with brilliant ideas and playfulness and fun and encouragement. And you know, part of our host meetings is planning episodes, but also really supporting each other in our professional and personal lives, as we navigate through that.

Susana Muñoz:
One of the things I did is I reached out to Dr. DL Stewart, and I was like, all right, bro. Like, what’s, what’s up with Raechele Pope. I read all of the work and I like it. And you know, DL’s like, if you do, y’all likes you that’s that’s saying a lot. So he was like, you know, yes yes yes yes yes singing your praises. And I was like, okay, okay. So, so, you know, we have to like, you know, ask around, but it has, you know, like I, you know, I, I love learning from you. And so I, you know, I’m happy that you’re, you’re part of this crew and have enjoyed it. And this long-lasting family that we have created.

Heather Shea:
Yeah. And I just have to say the composition of this team could not be more cool in terms of our time zones that we represent. So for those who are watching this recording later, for some of us, it is very early in the morning. So, and the types of institutions we represent or the type of work that we do. And so I love the way that we all bring different lenses into this. And I think it, it really couldn’t be more, more perfect. Yes. And when the other thing I’ll say is that I had sent an email out to CSP talk kind of promoting the podcast. And when Raechele wrote me back, I was like, oh, you know, just responding to my email. And I’m like, oh, oh, I think this is what she said. I sent it to Keith. So, and I love that idea of speaking things into the universe. Right. Like I think that’s something we should all consider and integrate into our own practice. So.

Keith Edwards:
Yes. I also want to hear her Nat, the story of how you got roped into this.

Nat Ambrosey:
Yeah. So a little bit about my story. I was in student affairs and I interned for my ACUHO-I internship at Berkeley. So that’s how I met Glenn. And I remember the first time meeting Glenn, we were at this baseball game and he came in and popped in to our selfie. And I was like, he’s really cool. I’ve never seen a director of residence life be this cool. So Glenn and I got to know each other through my experience at Berkeley. And then I think it was the beginning of this year, Glenn texted me and he’s like, Hey, they’re looking for a production assistant for this podcast. And we had been working with WordPress together cause I’m a designer. So I do a lot with WordPress and tech stuff, which is fun. And he’s like, I think you’d be really good at this. You should meet Keith and Heather.

Nat Ambrosey:
And then I was Keith, I don’t know if you know this story, but I was talking to one of my colleagues from Delaware. She was actually, or not colleagues. She was my supervisor as an RA. And I was like, yeah, these are the people. And she’s like, do you know who Keith Edwards is? And I was like, kind of, not really, I’ve heard the name. And she was like, he’s so well known at Delaware. Like he has all this research and all this, like, and you should look up his website. And I was like, oh my gosh. And so I remember my first conversation with the both of you. I was nervous going in, but I was like, wait, this is awesome. So I think the one thing that I’ve loved about it is even though I’m behind the scenes, I’m still part of the host meetings. I’m still able to put in input and feedback. And I really love listening to all the episodes, even though I’m not in student affairs, I’ve learned so much that I can bring into my everyday life through the episodes. So it’s really.

Keith Edwards:
And just so people know, Nat edits the video, she edits the audio, she puts the music in, she fixes this transcript, she puts it up on WordPress. She uploads it to the server. She makes all of those things happen and really makes it possible for us to do what we’re able to do as many episodes as we’re able to do and gives us the capacity. So we talked about bringing in production system on what that would mean. And we were all in agreement and Susana was adamant, yes, please. What do we need to pay her? She can have my cuts. She can do all of this. I don’t care just yes, if I don’t have to do all of that stuff, that would be amazing. And so we were, that was we, we were going to do it. And then that was like, yes, this is, and you’ve been an awesome addition. So thanks Nat.

Glenn DeGuzman:
Yeah, I was going to just really quick. I need to add this. I know that when we started this, the very beginning, Susana and I were like, wow, this the behind the scenes stuff is a lot. And it, and I knew Nat, and Nat spoke to the, how we met at the baseball game, or it’s like a, it’s like a campus softball league that we created. I created it actually. So it was this opportunity to have fun, but Nat took it to the next level. Nat started designing baseball cards for people on the softball team. So I had my actual own softball card, so, so I started seeing skillsets and just her talent. And I’m thinking, this is exactly what we need and in Student Affairs Now, and so the connection was easy. I just needed, I just needed to have Nat meet with Sonic Keith. And I knew that the magic would happen. And here we go.

Nat Ambrosey:
Yeah, it’s been awesome so far. One of the things too that I wanted to bring up, so first the manifesting into the universe. Totally agree with that. I’m around the same age as your daughter Raechele. So same thing, if there’s something that you want to do, like reach out the worst thing someone could say is no, that’s honestly how I have gotten a lot of jobs. It’s how I walked onto my college swim team. I just reached out. But the other thing I wanted to talk about is the cool thing about our podcast is we have the video version. We have the the written version. So the transcript that you can read and we also have the audio, so it’s for all different types of learners. And I wanted to ask the question to all of you, if you were to recommend a podcast, what would it be and why?

Keith Edwards:
Well, I can go first. I think the one I recommend lots of people oftentimes will email me and say, you know, I’m struggling with this or I’m wrestling with this. And is there an episode you would recommend? The one I, to my surprise that I have recommended the most has been the episode that I did with Larry Roper. So many people have talked about how hard it is to lead in this moment, how difficult it is to lead, particularly around issues of justice and equity, how difficult it is to lead from positions of marginality in those roles. And and I’ve recommended that podcast in his wisdom and his story and his insights from a whole career to several folks. And they always email me back saying, thank you so much. That’s exactly what I need to hear. I was standing up on my couch, cheering him on this was, I I’ve listened to it two or three times. So the Larry Roper episode is one that I’ve recommended frequently.

Raechele Pope:
Yeah, I think for me, I mean, I love that episode. In fact, I have been on this deep dive of trying to go back through all of the episodes. So it’s really difficult to select one, but if I’m going to take one for me, it’s the Why They Hate Us. One that Susana did with Lindsay. I just thought that episode was so deep and it really got to those questions and, and helped us learn about how words matter, you know, this, this racist rhetoric that we’re having all over how it finds itself onto the campus and how it hurts people, how it and I don’t mean just the emotional hurt. It does damage to the campus. It does damage to the country and just that the title alone grabs you. But one of the things that I found that was really helpful for me in listening to that episode was you have to remember that this episode came out at a time when we were in the midst of all this upheaval, you know, racial upheaval, all of these things going on.

Raechele Pope:
And I found it to be a very painful time and a time when I was really shoving down a lot of emotion. And I couldn’t hear it in a way that was really active and too intense. And what they did was they spoke to us in, you know, Susana always seems to be like this and this really lovely, calm intellectual, but getting right to the heart of the moment. And that conversation went like that. So I could sit and listen and not feel I had to protect myself as I listened. So it was so incredibly intellectually engaging, but also presented in such a way that it didn’t hurt my heart in that moment, because I was so raw during that time.

Susana Muñoz:
I really appreciate that Raechele. And I think, you know, sort of in the same vein in terms of like the episodes and around racial justice the one episode that I just was floored by was the one that Heather did with campus policing. I believe it was with, Erin and I’m forgetting some of the names, I apologize, but Charles Davis, Jude Paul and Jael. And so like having a student. I think that’s something that we kind of decided later in our episodes in terms of, you know, what, what would it be like to have a student, you know, in some of our conversations and having a student that’s super entrenched in the black lives matter movement and student government, I was just floored by that conversation and just was really thirsty for more. And I think one of the things that I mean, campus policing is something that we continue to dialogue about and just in our campuses and in our meetings.

Susana Muñoz:
And I think that’s something that I, I think long-term, we need to come to terms with and reckoned with, and, oh, this, I need to say this quote, but because we’re, you know, one of the, some part of that conversation was trying to address sort of like the root cause of policing. Right. And so I think Erin Corbett was saying something, you know, if we it’s, as, you know, if someone has a cold and you’re just going to give them that Kleenex for their runny nose and that going to address sort of a virus, or, you know, what’s causing the runny nose, that is sort of the epitome of how we need to really look at not only the symptoms, but the root cause of sort of racial injustice and is on our college campuses. So again, that was, that was beautifully done. So appreciate that.

Glenn DeGuzman:
I think for me, I’ve had a lot of folks ask about what do I recommend and I being in residential life, I think that the topics that I tend to recommend the most, because it’s very real for us, you know just, I think for everyone is our episodes on mental health and racial inequality. I think those are the, if we think about the past year and just the things that we’ve been experiencing and going through as a collective profession, I was even as a nation world, there’s just a lot of things that are happening. And these are topics that just allows us to sort of think about and reflect on what we’re going through, what people are going through, what our students are going through. So when I pick it’s hard for me to pick a very specific episode.

Glenn DeGuzman:
I think that’s it’s like picking, like, who’s my favorite kid. So I’m going to go outside of the box a little bit to answer those question. Not, you know, I kind of went through and thought about like each host that I thought I learned a lot because maybe I didn’t know a lot about the topic. And so for Susana, so many great episodes, but I really loved the foster care piece, the foster care episode. Heather, I think that, I mean, I mean everyone, because this is our topic episode, but the inclusive supervision panel, that was just amazing. And that’s definitely a a recommendation that I would make to folks. Keith love because I’ve been involved with both associations for a long time, and I’m always curious to hear what leadership has to say, but the NASPA ACPA leaders kind of, that was for me, sort of like it was a nice to kind of just go back and think about that. Cause I thought about a lot when I was a young professional and I haven’t really thought about it more recently, so that was really cool. And then Raechele, that the racial healing was really good. My goodness. Those are the ones that I would recommend the folks. Yeah.

Keith Edwards:
Raechele crushing it in her very first episode as we would expect.

Heather Shea:
I don’t know how I follow that. I really appreciate all the words that you all have have said and agree. I have the pleasure of getting a preview because I listened to every episode as I’m working on the newsletter. And so I’m usually maybe one of the after Nat, right. And the host of one of the first people that listens to it. The episode that I keep coming back to and thinking about and, you know, struggling with and referring to people is an episode that came out, I think our second week that’s called moving beyond land acknowledgements, that Susana hosted. And part of why that so resonates with me is that every, that the 21 years that I’ve been since my I graduated 20 of those years have been at land grant institutions and my institution I’m currently at Michigan State University just week released its strategic plan for 2030.

Heather Shea:
And I was so pleased to see a recognition of the complexity and problematic ways that land grant institutions have been framed. And how by thinking about our land grant identity, Michigan State being the, what calls itself, the pioneer land grant, even that word pioneer right, is complicated and, and harmful. But to, to kind of wrestle beyond, it’s not just this performative statement that we make at the beginning of events, it really means an UN relationship and an ongoing inquiry about how our, our the positive things our institutions have achieved has really been because of the stolen land or land that was acquired dispossession of land and Michigan State occupies the ancestral homelands of three different tribes, but also was land seated in a treaty. But those, the terms of that treaty were not as well known to all members. And so I think that the fascinating episode that Susana hosted really made me think more about how, you know, we need to delve more into our institutions histories and not just frame it as this positive ubiquitous, like wonderful thing that we’re a part of this land grant tradition. And so I have, have thought a lot about that as, as I’ve gone on and that episode is one that I just kind of keep going back to,

Nat Ambrosey:
Wow, that was a lot of great episodes. I’m even thinking, cause I’m like, wow, some of those I haven’t even watched because when I came on, I think there were maybe like 30 episodes already. So we’re almost 60 episodes in which is incredible. And I also want to throw out an episode. It was the first episode I ever watched before I became the production assistant and that was Glenn’s. It was the combating trauma burnout and compassion fatigue. And I think that really spoke to me, especially at the time it was, I think it was the beginning of this year or late last year and with what everyone is going through. So that’s an episode that I really recommend. And the great thing too, about all these episodes, you might be like, whoa, okay. That was a lot. We have an archives page and there’s also a search button. So like Glenn was mentioning, he said the episodes on mental health. So if you type in mental health to the search bar, you’ll get all the episodes. So anything that’s tagged with mental health will pop up. So that’s a really cool thing to do. And we’ll also add them into the comments slash we’ll, figure out a way to get those all to you.

Raechele Pope:
Can I also say that, and I love going to our website to find them, but sometimes people just want this really broad view of what’s all there. And when you go to YouTube and you, the, you know, put the button that says show them all, and then you can just see this wide range. They’re not organized the way they are on our webpage, but they’re just all laid out so that you can see what’s there. And it’s really fascinating.

Nat Ambrosey:
Yeah. You could see all the beautiful graphics by Heather. Heather’s also a graphic designer for those who don’t know. So she created design the whole website, everything. It’s amazing. So the next question I have I was on an episode with Glenn, Marney and Joshua called side hustles and Student Affairs Now is kind of, I mean, it’s no one’s main job and I wouldn’t necessarily call it a side hustle. I’d call it more of a passion project for all of you. So I want to know how has being a host on Student Affairs Now helped you in your current role, whether working at an institution or working with multiple universities.

Glenn DeGuzman:
Yeah. I think you hit it right on the nose. It’s a passion project. And I think that just being a host on this show has really kept me kind of committed to the continuous learning that we talk about. And I think it’s really important to hear from our colleagues in this student affairs. And so I think, especially with the pandemic where I think professional development had to change I think we’re very limited. We couldn’t travel. There was just a lot of pieces that we had to do it differently. And as a host, I had the opportunity to call people, call scholars, practitioners in our field and just ask them to be on this panel and then, and sit down and ask them questions that I was really curious to know more about. I think there’s a lot in this, in the show, we get a lot of freedom to explore and determine what type of topics that we want to pursue.

Glenn DeGuzman:
So this is, this was a perfect professional development experience for even me, in my opinion. It’s the, and to me, when I think about who I want to bring on, it’s the ultimate theory to practice. I get the potential of bringing in someone who wrote and did research on a topic, and then I can get it practitioner a best practice practitioner who can talk about the things that they, they, how they took that three and put it into practice at their, at their home institution. So to me, this was a great way for me as a host to just to to, to grow and continue learning.

Keith Edwards:
I’ll add to that. Cause I, in my role, I’m not on a campus. I get to work with many different campuses. And one of the things that I love about that role is, you know, as I work with 30 to 50 campuses a year, some of them one at a time, some of them in an ongoing way, I get this multi-campus perspective, right? And I think most of us who are on a campus, we know the issues and the challenges and the culture and the frustration and the dynamics and the prides on our campus. And we think, well, this is the only place where that happens. And I get to say to people, no everyone’s experiencing that. You think it’s just you, everyone is telling me about that. Or I get to say, you know, I’ve never heard that before. What you’re experiencing really is unique.

Keith Edwards:
And so I love that perspective and this gives an opportunity to get beyond our campus perspective, beyond our grad program that we teach in beyond our department, that we leave beyond those things and talk to people outside of that bubble. I think I love how you framed it Nat, about how it’s technically a side hustle, but it’s not really side hustle. So just so folks know, thank you so much to our five sponsors. We do get some revenue. It allows us to pay for all the costs and allows us to pay each host for each episode. Not a lot, no one’s making bank, but it allows them to justify their time a little bit. And it allows us to play our production assistant Nat for the time that you put in and do that. So it allows us to operate basically. But we said from the very beginning one of our rules when it was just Glenn Susana Heather and I was, this was not gonna be another work project.

Keith Edwards:
This was not going to be another task. This was not going to be another chore that we had to do. This would remain a passion project. And if any time it doesn’t feel like that, then we got to change things and do it differently. And as Glenn said, it’s our podcasts. We can do whatever we want. So we can do episodes on this and this, we can do a bonus episodes. We can have students on, we can change the rules as we go. And so we keep revisiting and coming back to that, how do we make this fun? How can we make this enjoyable? How do we make it energizing? And it has really allowed us to do that. But for me, I’ve really enjoyed hearing from so many different people beyond whatever our particular context is.

Heather Shea:
I’ll add. So in addition to working, full-time in student affairs, I also, I’m an affiliate faculty on campus in the Michigan State student affairs program. And I also teach at New England college on an online program. And so as a faculty member, I think probably as an affiliate faculty member I think one of the things that has really helped me in particularly in the professional development seminar is finding the ways in that space and in the contemporary issues class that I teach of bringing in topics that are relevant. And I’d say for students you know, they, they love, I’m sure they love the, you know, hundreds of pages of journal articles that my colleagues are assigning them. I think when they get to my class and they get watching videos I’m not saying exactly that it’s always that, but I do think that there’s something about supplementing that learning and, and attracting people in different learning styles as Nat mentioned earlier. The other thing that I really loved is connecting with people who I know are doing good work and then showing the students in my courses like how accessible folks are that this is a pretty small field and you can make connections really easily and smoothly. And so I think that’s one of the other things that I’d say it’s really enhanced just interactions with students and building that into the podcast.

Susana Muñoz:
I feel attacked. Yes, yes. All the reading. I know I do it. No, but I think just to echo what everyone is just kind of said, I, as a faculty member, I think we’re always trying to look for supplemental, you know, information for certain topics. But I always, I get ideas in the classroom for potential, you know, just sort of what students are talking about, what they’re grappling with. I was like, okay, I need to take this to a meeting and see if, you know, we can maybe talk more about this topic, you know? So, so that’s kind of how I see my current role kind of influencing I’m working on the podcast.

Nat Ambrosey:
Yeah. Thank you all for sharing those things. I think it’s really important too, to kind of hear the behind the scenes because when people are watching the episodes, they’re like, okay, cool. There are hosts. They’re doing this, but to hear how much passion is behind it, and it’s not just another check off the box really makes such a huge difference. So the next question that I have and we’re starting to wrap up on time here. But what’s the most exciting thing about being a host? Like what makes you want to host that episode find guests? You know, all of those things

Keith Edwards:
I guess I’ll say that for me, the number one benefit, and this was the case for Student Affairs Live too, was the relationships, the people I got to meet whether it’s people I haven’t connected with in a long time, inviting them on and being able to hear what they’re doing and what they’re thinking and their scholarship and the research, or if it’s someone I never got to really meet before, right? I’ve admired Larry Roper from afar for years and loved every time I get to hear him talk and met him a couple of times, but to be able to have a chance to have 45 minutes with him and really ask him these questions was just a treat. And so the people who I’ve met, you invite to be a guest. They, you connect with them this way. You start chatting before the episode about what their kids are doing.

Keith Edwards:
You’re connected on Facebook. Next thing you know, when you’re traveling, you’re meeting up with coffee. So the relationships has been awesome. And then the other thing is the learning. I mean, how many of us have a fleeting idea? Oh, maybe I’ll maybe I could think about that for a presentation at a conference. Maybe I could, well, every time I have that fleeting idea, I go, let’s have an episode on it who are the best people to think about, let’s get them to talk and I just get to learn so much. So I love the learning and I love the people who I get to meet those old friends, reconnecting and new people who I get to meet for the first time. And including people who you said, reach out to a guest and say, we’re doing this. And they say, oh, you know, I’d love to do it. You know, you should also have on is so-and-so and I’ve never even heard of that person. We get to invite them on. You get to learn so much. That’s great.

Heather Shea:
Yeah. The only thing I’ll add to that also is that I think, you know, when you think about the 60 plus episodes, we’re, we’re now, well over 150 to 200 different people who have served as guests. And we are so grateful for the wisdom and energy and time that they have dedicated to participating. Right. And so at now is one of the guests on this particular podcast. I’m like, this is a little bit nerve wracking. But I love the learning as Keith mentioned, and I think every single conversation that I end, I’m like, oh, this could be another episode, or I have this next question. Right. And so as the person who, you know, as a learner in my top five strengths, like every single one is like a little mini lit review. And so I feel like as a generalist practitioner, I think one of the most exciting things is I have like a little bit of knowledge in a range of topics or can speak, you know, as, as I engage with my colleagues on my campus and say, I don’t know that much about this, but you should watch this episode or you should contact so-and-so because they’re a resource for you. So that’s really exciting to me.

Raechele Pope:
One of the things that I really find exciting is that I’m learning how to do something differently. You know, as a practitioner, I learned to do things in a certain way as a faculty member, I had to learn to do them in a particular way. And then as a host of Student Affairs Now I’ve had to learn to, to do this in a different way to share my ideas and to listen to other’s ideas, whatever, but I have to be honest, they one of the best things for me is this group, you know, this, having these opportunities every week to talk to you all, to listen and to learn from you, you know the way you see a particular thing. I walk out of those meetings on Thursday morning, thinking about it just a little bit differently, letting that go through. So it’s not just our guests and they are absolutely amazing that they teach me so much. But so, so do you, so do you, the other hosts and Nat.

Glenn DeGuzman:
Sorry. I couldn’t agree more with what you’ve just said. That’s just perfect. I mean, the early morning coordination and planning meetings with this group, and for me, I’m on the west coast. It’s early morning. This, this recording is really early, but just coming together and just checking in every time and just catching up talking story you know, for those, you know, the, behind the scenes, some of the behind the scenes stuff that to be able to explore episode topics, like what do we feel would be a great thing to look into, identify possible panelists? I would even, I would even say, because in a way this is sort of like a little mini business, right? It’s the operational conversations on how we keep what we are doing, a passion project to keep like, keeping it aligned with our core values. What is it that our audience want to hear? How is it restorative the profession? These are the types of things that I love being able to. And to have that conversation with, with this group of folks there is something really powerful and the fact that, and I think this is one of our criteria, no drama. This is a great group of folks to just work on. And I look forward to those, those really early meetings.

Keith Edwards:
No drama is one of our rules.

Heather Shea:
That is one of our rules, yes.

Susana Muñoz:
I think the only thing I’ll add is like, I really, really appreciate feedback that we get, like when an email comes through and, you know, from an audio, somebody that has been listening or even people on my campus that just send an email say, Hey, I really enjoyed this episode. I think that gives me, that’s how I get filled up is just hearing feedback from our audience and how they’re enjoying our topics as well.

Nat Ambrosey:
Yeah. These are also great. I think the one thing that I took from all of your answers and all of your excitement is the learning piece. And I know for me, I’ve learned so much. And I think also one of the great things about all the different episodes that we have is the diversity of guests that we have on. And so I think one of the things in life in general is people want to be seen. They want to be seen for the work that they’re doing. They want to be seen for who they are. And on Student Affairs Now people are able to kind of speak to what their work is and it’s not censored. It’s not like, okay, you can only say this, this and this, we give, we have questions. One of the things I also want to bring up for those listening, all of the hosts here do so much work behind the scenes too.

Nat Ambrosey:
So they gave me a lot of credit, but they also do a lot of work behind the scenes of scheduling, which we all know how scheduling could be with different, with all different people at times zones things. They come up with the questions, they come up with the episode. They really think a lot about how everything is organized and plan. So I really wanted to give a shout out to all of you as well. For all of that work that you do and to the guests who bring such different experiences. So we’re coming close to the end of time. I always, every time I listened to that episode, I’m like, wait, it’s already this time. Like what? So the question that we always ask this podcast is called Student Affairs Now. So I want to know from each of you, what are you troubling, pondering thinking about now, and let’s start with Raechele.

Raechele Pope:
Well, I think that’s a great question. And thanks for that opportunity. I think all of these are great questions and we could keep talking about this forever. There are two different issues, one a little bit better formed than the other and the first. And it goes back to the episode that was done on beyond land acknowledgement. There’s something else that’s going on right now. There’s a lot of conversation about decolonizing campuses and decolonizing, our syllabis and decolonizing all these things. And that’s all it is, is words right now. We don’t even know what it would mean to do that. And coupled with that is there are a lot of campuses now saying we want to be an anti-racist campus, and we want to do this. And I’m not so sure that they figured out, but that’s different than just changing the word from diversity to anti-racist.

Raechele Pope:
Right. And I think we really so that’s one of the things that’s been troubling me is like, how do we have this conversation in these kinds of ways I’ve done some talks on this and this is, it’s not just changing our words. It’s really means we have to rethink, re-imagine transform what we’re doing to something else. The other, this is the less formed one I want to get to more of those student affairs, VP and people at the upper levels and having them talk, you know, having Larry Roper on and having that conversation, that was really powerful. But I think Larry is now retired. I want to make sure that we not only get some of the folks at the other end, but we get them listening and watching so it can help transform their campus. This is really important to me that it’s not something that we’re only getting our entry-level professionals and our mid-level professionals, but we’re really getting this up into these conversations to those folks who can really make some changes. I also want to say that doesn’t mean that they’re not listening now. I just mean I want more.

Susana Muñoz:
And I love that Raechele. I think, you know, we need to get beyond sort of the perf performativity of sort of like equity and diversity. And how does that get entrenched in our, in terms of accountability, right? How do we hold institutions accountable? I think, you know, I, we know we asked this question to, I guess I never think about proposing it to myself. And so it is a hard question to, to answer, but you know, the one thing that came to mind is sort of, you know, it goes back to the students, right. And right now, like I don’t think our students are okay. I don’t think our student affairs professionals are okay. I worry a lot about sort of getting back to this quote, unquote normal on our college campuses without a lot of really intentional thinking and being purposeful about what we just lived through in the last year and a half. I think we’re carrying a lot of weight and and I think, you know, again, I see this in my classrooms. I see this, you know, talking to my fellow colleagues is that we really just need to be kind to one another and kind to ourselves and give each other grace during this period because we’re not okay. We’re not okay. And so I think that’s something that I continue to really think and ponder about.

Glenn DeGuzman:
I want to share what I’m pondering now. I’m going to change a little bit and what I’m hoping for. I’m going to build off what Raechele shared. I agree with what you said. And, and I think there are some additional thoughts that pop into my head. I’m always pondering representation when kind of trying to decide who to have on the panel. And I think even just amongst the five of us we have a large network of folks, but I think it’s also harder to find people who are maybe on the fringes and maybe who have a thought or a perspective. And, and we think about the different generations of folks who are coming through the field. We just have a lot of different lenses now. And how do we, how do you pack that? Cause, you know, we try to, how do we, how do we craft panel where we have good perspective?

Glenn DeGuzman:
We oftentimes are very limited because of time. We can’t ask all the questions that we want to ask. And so I think the interesting thing for me now, and I’m what I’m hoping for. And with that all said is we’re a year in and I’m hoping for us to revisit topics and to see what additional perspective. So I love hearing about like getting higher level VPs and the folks who can change the policies, but I’m really also interested in hearing about the next generation of folks coming in. And what do they think of those policies? Because they’re the ones who are ultimately going to be changing and influencing things. And again, we’ll give you the perfect example because this just happened. I received an email from the listener. She shared appreciation for the episode and this was on student military veterans and how the topic resonated with, with her. But it was also an episode where she gave feedback on what was missing. And I loved it because it, it reminded me that even if we had a topic we are limited to the questions that we can ask. And I’m hoping to bring in the perspective that she brought in that was missing from that episode. So for the here long enough, I have a funny feeling. We should continue to revisit episodes and keep asking more questions.

Keith Edwards:
What I’m most worried about is as Susana was saying, folks are not okay and working with many different campuses and with many different leaders, I’m worried about new professionals, mid-level professionals, how burned out they are, how angry they are, how hurt they are, how they’ve been asked to do the impossible. And then it changed at the last minute and how unsupported they feel. And I seen people leaving the profession and not just leaving the profession for other or other passions or other interests, but leaving the profession feeling like their campus was toxic. The profession was toxic, burnt hurt and angry. And then I also hear from leaders who are saying who are feeling beat up and bullied by those folks on their way out of here. They said, awful things about how unethical and I have no integrity and I don’t care and I’m not in this. And all I do is sit in my office and I’ve been taking food to people with COVID for the past six months every day. And so I really see all of the spectrum really doing it. And and I think there’s a real need for healing. And I think there’s a real need for healing leadership. I see everyone craving it. And so little of that healing leadership happens. And when I see healing leadership it’s like people, people are craving it and so desperate for it.

Heather Shea:
So I was going to pick up on the same theme of sustainability of this, of this field and the episode that Margaret Sallee was on with Keith and others, you know, has really been a central point. And I’m like, everybody needs to read this book which I think continues some of those themes, like what are the ideal worker norms that we keep reinforcing within the field? And how is that, you know, at a time when we are now facing labor shortages on our campuses, like, what are we, what, how, at what point does it click and say, we need to do something really different. I’m going to go in a, somewhat, a slightly different direction and, and end with gratitude. Because I am so grateful for this family, the Student Affairs Now family I’m grateful for my higher ed family and for all the people who have contributed to the, to the episodes.

Heather Shea:
And so when I think about like, you know, what I’m thinking about it is about this restorativeness, right. And making a contribution and, you know, the purpose behind this podcast was really to provide a space for that growth and learning, but also to really help people. Right. And so I don’t, I hope that we’re getting there. And I think a big piece of it has to do with the people around this table podcast table, and also all of those who have been on. So I am so incredibly grateful. And we’d love to hear your stories, right? So one of the things that we’ve launched with our one year I’ll make a little pitch here. One of our things that we’ve launched with our one year is a contest. And I have some samples here of our stickers that you can receive. If you tell us a story about how you are using Student Affairs Now in either professional development or in your classes, we’d love to hear those stories and we’ll send you a pack of stickers to share with folks. And so if you have ideas for a future episode, please reach out to us at hostatstudentaffairsnow.com. And we would love to continue the conversation with you and make make a contribution.

Nat Ambrosey:
Yeah. Thank you all so much for sharing. We’re just out of time, but one last thing I wanted to add, I think it’s really important that we bring up those hard things, because I think a lot of times people think that it’s only them, like, especially with the rise of social media, it’s like, look at all these people. Like they have it their together. They know what they’re doing, and then I don’t. So I think it’s really important that we bring that up. And I honestly think that could be a whole episode in and of itself. So I want to end by thanking our sponsor for this special bonus episode, Colorado State University online is now offering a fully online master’s of science in student affairs. This program will help you gain the professional competencies, knowledge and experience to succeed as a higher education administrator, you will earn the same master’s degree and learn from the same faculty as CSU on campus students.

Nat Ambrosey:
Learn more at online.colostate.edu. And now it’s my turn. Everyone always gives me a shout out, but I’m going to give a shout out to our wonderful hosts and all the work that they do behind the scenes, as well as all of our guests. I think sometimes it’s like, okay, I was a guest on that. Woohoo, that’s great. But we really, really thank you for all that you do. And if you’re listening today and not already receiving our weekly newsletter, please visit our website at studentaffairsnow.com scroll to the bottom of the hood homepage and add your email to our MailChimp list. We promise we’re not going to send you spam. It’s all for learning. It’s all good stuff. And while you’re there, make sure you check out our archives. Again, I’m Nat Ambrosey, thank you to our remarkable hosts today on our episode. And thank you for everyone who is watching and listening. Remember you make an impact, even though you might not feel like it every day, go out there and make it a great week. Bye everyone.

You can find links to the episodes mentioned here
Episodes by topic can be found here