Apr 10, 2025
In the latest episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, host Dr. Jill Creighton sits down with Dr. Cynthia Hernandez, Vice President for Student Success at Texas State University, to delve into her extensive experience in student affairs and her vision for the future of the field. This episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in higher education, offering insights into leadership, professional development, and the evolving role of student affairs in fostering student success.
Dr. Hernandez's journey into student affairs is a story of passion and dedication. With over 25 years of progressive leadership, her rise through the ranks is anything but ordinary. From an early involvement as a student leader to her current role guiding a division of over 400 staff, Cynthia's trajectory offers invaluable lessons for professionals at all stages of their careers. Although she initially embarked on a STEM path, earning a Bachelor's in Animal Science, she discovered her true calling in higher education, catalyzed by the guidance of mentors who recognized her leadership potential.
Throughout the episode, Dr. Hernandez emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to student success. Drawing on her STEM background, she uniquely applies analytical skills to organizational leadership, demonstrating how diverse experiences can enhance student affairs work. Her perspective is particularly valuable for listeners interested in the interplay between data-driven decision-making and the empathetic, student-centered focus of student affairs.
Key themes in this episode include strategies for professional development and career advancement in student affairs. Dr. Hernandez shares candid insights into "managing up" and the importance of building institutional commitment. Whether you're a new professional or a seasoned expert, her advice on leveraging opportunities and committing to lifelong learning is sure to resonate and inspire action.
Furthermore, the conversation delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by current legislative changes affecting higher education. Dr. Hernandez advocates for a proactive stance, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a focus on student success, despite external pressures. Her ability to navigate these dynamics while supporting her team and institution serves as a powerful example of adaptive leadership in unpredictable times.
For those eager to delve deeper into the evolving landscape of student affairs and uncover strategies to enhance student success, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to gain a wealth of insights from Dr. Cynthia Hernandez and be inspired by her commitment to fostering inclusive, effective educational environments. Whether you're on a campus or beyond, her story is a testament to the profound impact student affairs professionals can have on the lives of students and the wider academic community.
TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where
we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to
seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and
accessible professional development for higher ed professionals
wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our
journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs.
I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, sheherhers, your essay voices from the
field host. Welcome back to another episode of essay voices from
the field. Today, we are bringing you the second live recorded
conversation from the NASPA annual conference where we sat down
with NASPA pillar of the profession, Dr. Cynthia l Hernandez. Dr.
Hernandez currently serves as the vice president for student
success at Texas State University, providing leadership for a
comprehensive division comprised of over 400 staff housed in 12
departments, including housing and res life, dean of students,
counseling services, health services, campus rec, Disability
Services, Career Services, LBJ Student Center, Student Involvement,
Student Learning Assistance Center, Academic Success Initiatives,
and Assessment Planning and Technology Services. With over twenty
five years of progressive leadership experience, Dr. Hernandez
focuses on enhancing student success and learning in the co
curricular through inclusive student centered programs, services,
and initiatives, and communicating the impact and value of student
success work.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:14]:
She is a scholar practitioner and an active member of professional
organizations, including NASPA, where she serves on the board of
directors. Prior to joining Texas State University, doctor
Hernandez served for fifteen years in the office of the vice
president for student affairs at Texas A and M University as an
assistant and associate VP and as an adjunct professor in the
department of educational admin and human resource development. She
earned her bachelor's degree in animal science and a master's
degree in educational administration with an emphasis in student
affairs admin and a doctorate in ed admin from Texas A and M
University. Doctor Hernandez began her student success career in
student orientation, transition, and retention and programming both
at Northern Arizona University and Texas A and M. In addition to
being an active professional member of NASPA, she's also active in
NODA, which is the Association for Orientation Transition and
Retention in Higher Ed, where she held the position of president.
She's also served as the chair for NASPA's AVP initiatives steering
committee and as a faculty member and director for the NASPA AVP
Institute. Her areas of professional interest include the
organization leadership and management of operating a division of
student affairs, academic partnerships and collaborations, student
learning in the co curricular, comprehensive program reviews,
strategic planning, threat assessment, Latinas in higher education,
and higher education policy. She also provides her personal
statement.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:28]:
I believe in selfless service, the duty to do good, and the
responsibility that comes with influence honoring the impact we
have on others and the world. I hope you enjoyed this conversation
as much as we loved having it. And like our other live episodes,
this one might have slightly different audio quality, but the
conversation is rich. Cynthia, welcome to SA Voices.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:02:45]:
Thank you. Excited to be here.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:47]:
So you are our second conversation here live at the annual
conference. We're so excited to feature you, as well as an award
winner this year. Yeah.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:02:55]:
Thank you very much. Excited to be here.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:56]:
Congratulations. Thank you. But Cynthia, you have been part of the
student affairs profession for about twenty five years at this
point. Spent most of your career in Texas And we always love to
start our episodes by asking our guests, how did you get to your
current seat?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:03:10]:
Well, thank you very much. You know, it's it's interesting and I
think like many of us in the profession, we don't set out to being
in the profession. I started my undergraduate degree at Texas A and
M University, and one of the wonderful things about that
institution is it allows you to really flourish as a student
leader. There's so many student run programs, and I got involved. I
got involved when I was a student even as a freshman starting out.
And I remember, though, the person that really led me into the
profession before she probably even knew it was my own RA. I had a
scholarship going out to A and M. That's the way I was able to
go.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:03:49]:
And we had to live in a residence hall, and I lived there. And
halfway through my freshman semester, my RA tapped me on the
shoulder and said, you do really good at trying to create community
with people on the floor, and I think you'd be a great RA. And I
was like, I didn't even know really what an RA did, but I did. I I
ended up applying and getting it. And so that was really my first
foray in. And then the next piece of that was, at that time, you
had to take an RA class before you could get hired, and you had to
make a certain grade in the class before you could get hired. So my
RA class was taught by the director of residence life. His name is
Ron Sasse, and he took a liking to me.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:04:35]:
We I enjoyed being in his class, and he stayed with me throughout,
my RA career as well as my orientation leader career. And when it
was time for me to figure out what I wanted to do so I came in to A
and M as an aerospace engineering major. I grew up in Houston and
really wanted to work on the shuttle. And then ended up an animal
science major because I thought I wanted to be a vet. And then I
decided I didn't wanna do either of those things. And he walked
into my little cubicle as an undergraduate, for my student org, and
he gave me a photograph copy. And his name was actually written in
Sharpie on the on the front of it, a photograph copy of the student
personnel point of view. Oh, okay.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:05:23]:
And he said, I think you should read this and tell him, let's talk
about it. And we did and it unlocked this love and passion for not
only higher education, but for the field of student affairs. And it
was then that I decided to to go into graduate school and and go
into this path.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:40]:
But you finished your bachelor's degree in animal science.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:05:43]:
I did. I do. I have a bachelor's of science in animal science. And
I think about this all the time. Growing up for me, I was always
strong in math and science. And so, naturally, that's what
everybody focused on. I got sent to a lot of STEM things when I was
in high school. I thought, well, that's what I need to lean into
because that's what I'm good at.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:06:05]:
And it wasn't until I got to college and really finding the work
that I'm doing now that I realized just because you're good at
something doesn't mean you have to do that thing. Now I will tell
you that my math and science, and we can explore this later on in
the in the podcast if you want, but gives me a strength. I think
that might be a little different in the work that I do and how I
approach my work, but I realized that I really needed to find that
passion and purpose and I did that in the profession.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:33]:
I am curious how that STEM strength shows up as a VPSA.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:06:38]:
It does quite a bit and and one of the things that I think about
and I always have to
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:43]:
give this caveat and I I found this out when
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:06:46]:
I because I'm a first time VPSA and I found this out with my own
staff. I always have to first say, we always have to center the
student in our work, we always have to lead from a culture of care.
But when you're in these roles, I would say assistant director and
above, you really have to pay attention to the business and
organizational aspect of what we're doing. And so that math and
science background for me allows me to really think a little bit
more critically and analytically, about the work and how we
organize our work, how we organize our resources, both financial
and human. Mhmm. And then even in this assessment conversation,
this data conversation, this evidence based conversation, being
able to look at data and understand data and translate data for
those who are maybe not data experts, and that's okay, but how to
make meaning of that. And I think that that math and science
background has prepared me for that. The other thing I will say
prepared me for is when I was at at A and M, I worked in the vice
president's office for fifteen years at A and M.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:07:54]:
And I had, one of my vice presidents, I had five while I was there.
One of my vice presidents was a three star Marine Corps General.
And what I learned in my undergrad that helped me with that was how
to write things in bullet points. So I didn't write more than a
five page paper until I got to my grad program, so because
everything in my science background was really about brief bullet
points. What data points are you paying attention to right now? Oh
goodness. There's a lot. I mean, obviously, on the student success
end of it, we are looking at all of our college completion matrix
around persistence and retention and graduation, and then
distilling that down into what are those things that are preventing
this.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:40]:
Mhmm.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:08:41]:
And then, you know, how can we circle around those support services
to meet those? So that's really on the on the student success end,
and I can go a little bit deeper into that. The other pieces on,
again, and Betty, who is here, talked about it, our investment in
staff and development in staff and the metrics associated with,
helping our staff thrive, whether that, be performance metrics and
even just meeting expectations, but then also what are those things
that are barriers to their work and how can we help them be
successful in what they do?
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:17]:
You've come up in student affairs mostly through orientation Mhmm.
Past president of NODA Mhmm. As well. So different association
work. But I'm wondering how your vision and view of professional
development of staff has shifted from your days focused on new
student orientation now through overseeing an entire division of
student affairs.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:09:35]:
Gosh, it has been. It has been an evolution and from being a staff
member focused on students, focused on it, on the orientation of
students. But I will say, I think there's similar things to learn.
There's they're very parallel in that, you know, we invest a lot in
the onboarding of students. Starting from the very beginning when
we make that contact all the way through maybe that first year,
that second year, and and on, that's the same with staff. Right? As
soon as we hire that staff member, how are we communicate? And I
actually think it goes beyond it be before that and my enrollment
management colleagues will agree with this with students, but even
when that staff member is applying to be on your staff, that
employees that individuals who are applying to be on your staff.
How are you treating them along the search process? How are
communicating with with them? How are you valuing their time in
that process as well? How are you honoring that? And then how do we
onboard? Mhmm. How are we onboarding staff into our communities and
helping them understand what are the expectations of the new work
culture they're in? How do they meet those expectations? How do we
understand the lived experiences of the the staff coming in and how
do we, as supervisors, honor that as well.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:10:51]:
So it's all those things that we do with students that we should
just be doing with humans as they're transitioning onto our
communities.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:58]:
I think that's the gift of coming up through orientation is that's
the natural way your brain already works is how do we successfully
onboard someone into the community and then that showing up for
your staff
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:11:07]:
as well. 100%. We talk a lot about in in the OTR world about
building institutional commitment. Some might call that finding a
sense of place, finding a sense of belonging, and because we know
that that's important for the retention of whether it's students or
staff. If they don't find that, it's too easy to pack up and go
home or go elsewhere.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:26]:
What do you most want your staff members to understand when they
first set foot in the community? Mhmm.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:11:31]:
I think first, the purpose of our work, and we talk a lot about the
why. Why are we doing this? Why are we here? So understanding that
piece is is critical. I think the other piece for me in in my
organization at the type of institution we work at and I think
that's important, I think, for people to know too as you're
onboarding, recognizing what the institution, why you're gonna
work, where you have chosen to work, but understanding what it
means. And and for us and for all of higher education, we're in the
business of helping students realize their academic goal. We get to
do a lot lot more with them, and we also understand that there's a
lot more barriers that prevent people from actually reaching that,
and and we, fill a lot of those spaces. But that's the ultimate
goal, and so how are we able to do that? So when new staff come in,
I have, AVP dean of students, Valerie Holmes, who who who talks a
lot about we're in the business of breaking down barriers and
creating opportunities. So at the very simplest level on our staff,
that's what we're trying to do. And it might look different
depending in what functional area you're working in, but we're
trying to get there.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:40]:
You've had a, fairly traditional career path in terms of kind of
moving from that first entry level all the way through to director
level, AVP, etcetera, etcetera, and now to the VP seat. There's a
lot of programs I'm seeing at NASPA this year about how do I make
that jump? How do I make that jump from assistant director to
director? How do I make that jump from director to assistant
associate dean? How do I make that jump from dean AVP to VP? Mhmm.
Can you talk to us about your process in figuring out how to
prepare yourself for that next thing? Sure.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:13:10]:
I will. And and I've had a little bit of a traditional path, but I
it I actually skipped the whole director phase, which created a
whole bunch of different things that I had to be really intentional
about learning because I didn't have the direct experience in doing
that. When I think about putting yourself in the position to make
those moves, I think that our natural nature of being learners in
this field helps. And I always think about what do I wanna do next
and what do I need to learn to get there. And so I think part of it
is really investing in that self knowledge, that learning,
understanding what it is and and where you wanna go. But I think
that the other piece for me has been taking advantage of the
opportunities that are available. And it's not that all of the
opportunities I took advantage of someone said, Cynthia, you should
do this. It was scanning the horizon that I was in and saying, I
want more experience in doing that.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:14:10]:
Maybe I need to go and ask to see if how can I be a part of that?
And, that was a big that was a big piece for me was being able to
do that. And that's what I did. I didn't know I wanted to leave the
orientation world. I had done it for twelve years. I loved it. I
thought I would just continue in first year programs, And then an
assistant to the dean of students came available, working with Dave
Parrot. And I applied for that, and and I went in and I started
working for him. He was housed in the vice president's office.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:14:43]:
And about six months in, I had an an, vice president, Dean
Bershani, who later went on to be president at North Dakota State.
And he said, I want you to come be special assistant to the vice
president. And so I made that move right there. And that's why I
say I skipped the whole director position. And I think it was the
first time I real and we talk about linear pathways, but not
really. Mhmm. For me, as a younger or a mid level professional, I
think it was the first time I realized that I could move up into an
AVP position without having to be the dean of students. And because
if you think about
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:19]:
it, this was this was quite
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:15:20]:
a while ago, and there were not as many AVP roles. And even the AVP
grouping was not as prominent even in NASPA. Right? So you heard
about VPSAs, you heard about Dean of Students, but you didn't know
about these things. So I think that was an interesting thing for me
and it was really about taking advantage of the opportunities
available.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:43]:
Let's talk a little bit about managing up.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:15:45]:
Okay.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:45]:
So you've been in many positions where you were managing up to your
supervisor. Now you are that person who is being managed up to.
Mhmm. What advice do you have for specifically directors managing
that possibly to their ABPs and VPs and how to get that information
to the vice president level? And also for first year professionals
who might have input that is very, very valuable or they see a
different perspective on a problem set that could be solved
differently. And we know that their first stop is gonna be their
direct teams, but also how do they get that information to
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:16:17]:
a VP? Sure. Sure. It's a great question. And it does take time to
learn to manage up. I think the the first thing I would say is do a
lot of listening. Do a lot of listening and observing to understand
how your supervisor wants information and and needs information and
what what's the type of information that they're looking and
everybody's managing that. Everybody has a supervisor, whether it's
me to the president, the president to the chancellor, the
chancellor to the board. And so we're always trying to figure out
what's the information they need, how quickly do they need it, what
form do they need it in.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:16:59]:
And a lot of that is just listening and understanding, trying to
anticipate what are those things that are gonna be on the radar.
And that's a big piece of it. Some of it is giving your staff a
heads up. For my directors, being able for them to understand what
does the vice president need to know, what do I need to tell my AVP
so that we can get that information there so we're not caught off
guard on things. The other piece I'm managing up, because that's
one thing, the crisis pieces, the pieces that are might make the
headlines. But the other piece is about what data is important for
my vice president to know in the conversation she's in. And EAB, a
long time ago, had and there were several student affairs folks who
helped on this piece. They had a piece called Leveraging Data to
Demonstrate Impact.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:17:51]:
Mhmm. And it was the first time I had really seen what they had
done is EAB had interviewed presidents and provost across the
country to really ask them about what data did they need from their
student senior student affairs officers, and then they distilled
that by each functional area. So that was a great way to kind of
learn not just the heads up crisis moments, but here's some things
that I need you to think about in the conversations that you're in.
When I think about new professionals and first year students and
lending voices, I always say first and because I have always worked
at large institutions and you talk about that inverted funnel and
there's some hierarchy there and there's some hierarchy there for a
reason. Mhmm. And so I always talk to first year student or first
year professionals or new professionals about really using learning
how to use that hierarchy and how to communicate things. But then I
also talk about take advantage of the opportunities that you do
have to have those moments with those leaders, whether it's your
own director or directors across the division, AVPs, VP. And you do
that usually through volunteering in some other spaces.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:19:07]:
And I know a lot of people, maybe shy away from spending even more
time volunteering in spaces outside their own functional area, but
I cannot tell you how much it helps with networking and
relationship building in your career. Just being able to be in
spaces when you are helping people move in during move in or
helping set up commencement, all those things. You get to have some
conversations in spaces that maybe you wouldn't have access to
individuals otherwise.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:38]:
I was once at an institution that did an internal internship
program where five hours a week you could be reassigned to a
different department just to learn that functional area, especially
great for professionals who are thinking about moving up, in that
ladder or also just changing functional areas.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:19:53]:
Yes. Yeah. We I mean, and you know this, and I don't know what the
opportunities are now, but serving on conduct panels, right,
serving as investigators, serving on your crisis response team, but
then also helping with more, maybe, joy filled engagement type
activities as well. There's always opportunities to to do some of
that. And to your point, whether it's a structured program, which
is fabulous, by the way, or an impromptu, I wanna get more
knowledge on this. I remember my, when I was in my AVP role, I
didn't have a whole lot of, construction under my belt, building
facilities and renovating facilities. And so I went to the vice
president and asked, I said, we've got this construction project
coming on. Can I be on on that team that's working with with the
architect and the contractors? And, he said, as long as you can get
your other stuff done, we'll let you carve out some time to do
that.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:20:50]:
But unless I had asked that, no one was sitting there saying,
somebody should tell Cynthia so see if Cynthia can be on this team.
So
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:56]:
One of the things you included in your bio is a personal statement.
And, the personal statement is I believe in selfless service, the
duty to do good, and the responsibility that comes with influence
honoring the impact we have on others and the world. How did we
arrive here?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:21:12]:
You know, I think sometimes it's easy to get caught up in
everything that's going on and so much like our institutions or our
own divisions, having our own mission statement, value statement
that grounds us reminds us and gives us that lens to make
decisions, to honor the staff and the students and just the humans
in this life. What a blessing it is to be able to do what we do,
where we do it. And sometimes it's hard to see that, in that. And
so the statement for me has always grounded me in that. It's it's
really a convergence of a lot of my lived experiences, my
backgrounds, my identities that really leads to this place of
selfless service and and that we're here to serve.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:58]:
You're in Texas right now and, I had the conversation just
yesterday with President Richard Walker. He was at University of
Houston Clear Lake. And one of the conversations that he and I had
was about how do we continue to support our students, faculty and
staff knowing that legislation might be deeply impacting the way
that we've done our jobs in the past, but also knowing that the
students that are supported by student affairs and and the rest of
the university, we're still here. Yeah. Right? Legislation isn't
gonna change our identities and it's not gonna change the support
that we need from the university. So how are you navigating that in
the BPSA seat knowing that the way that you do the work has to be
different?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:22:35]:
It's a great question. I will say first, I got named to the title
nine deputy right after the February, president Obama's dear
colleague letter. Twenty eleven ECL. Twenty '11 ECL. Right? Mhmm.
And I really think that being in that role during that time for the
next eight years where one, I learned how to pause and take a
breath as things were just plain out. And and I remember then and
this is applicable now. We still have students who are going
through these situations
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:14]:
Mhmm. And
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:23:14]:
we still have students to serve and I still have a responsibility
to my institution. So trying to trying to figure out to not let the
noise overwhelm me was was a skill that I learned then has come in
very useful now. And so, you know, we have had state legislation
around some of these issues for about eighteen months now. And so
we've been navigating that, and seeing the impact of that, and then
learning to still help our students feel supported and valued and
our staff feel supported and and valued at our campuses. We have to
do that. We know that we need to do that. Honoring the lived
experiences they bring, still being identity informed, not being
identity exclusive, which is prohibited. And so being able to
invest and being able to invest in in students and staff to be able
to thrive on our campuses, Ultimately, that's my job, and we have
to keep going because I have 40,000 students
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:18]:
Mhmm.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:24:19]:
Who are looking to us to be able to create these experiences for
them and help them reach your academic goals.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:25]:
We're seeing these pieces of legislation kind of permeate in other
states as well. I think Texas and Florida have been kind of on the
forefront. Mhmm. So what advice do you have for other student
affairs professionals who are seeing this happen in their states
and are going, I'm not sure how to navigate it?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:24:39]:
Mhmm. I think, you know, part of that is leaning in on your team
and I know people think that it's the vice president for student
affairs alone, I'm the vice president for student success, but, you
know, leaning in, working with your cabinet, helping understand,
going back to the mission of your institution, you know, working
with your general counsel, having all of those conversations. And
I'm thinking from the VP level right now on what this means and
what's the impact. The other piece of it around it is how do we
lean even more into student success and student support in the
midst of this? And that was one of the things I really appreciated
about, my president, my current president, in that how do we then
look at what else do we need to do to enhance the student
experience and how can we do that, within the legislation that we
have and, that recommitment to student success and, students
persistence and and graduation really helped us keep a focus on why
we're doing what we're doing. And and so I would encourage staff to
do that as well. It's a little bit different when you're, you know,
working on the front end with students, working at that mid level
supporting staff who also are being impacted or feeling impacted.
And part of that is remaining calm, understanding that we still
have a job to do. And, we just kinda we keep taking we take it day
by day, and, still celebrate the joys that we have, and there are
many.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:26:19]:
And I think Betty talked about that too. Getting out in the spaces
to see that your students are thriving in their college work.
They're enjoying their college life and I know every institution is
different. I work in a highly residential institution and my
students are loving it and they're loving their four years. And so,
yeah, reminding of the joy.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:26:43]:
Let's transition and talk about NASPA for a minute. You've been the
director of the AVP steering committee and a faculty member for the
AVP Institute. This institute is pretty young in terms of NASPA
initiatives. I think actually do we meet for the first time at AVP
Institute? Maybe so. That seems that seems right, but I I can't
remember at this point. But can you talk to us about what's
important right now for NASPA and the AVP world and also for
aspiring AVPs, what they might be looking at right now for their
professional development?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:27:12]:
Yeah. So it was interesting. I would say I you talked about being a
NODA, and I was a NODA for a good portion of my career and did or
pulled back on my involvement after I finished the presidency. And
it was actually through the AVP space that I got reconnected to
NASPA. And they were just starting out. I went to, I think, the
first AVP Institute and Penny Ryu was the director. Lori White was
on there. Jason Pena was on there.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:27:42]:
Some others, individuals named Hecht and others. And I got
connected in that space and I talk about I loved being an AVP and I
was an AVP probably I was an assistant vice president for about
five years and associate vice president for, three to four years.
So I was in the AVP space for seven years, which you don't see a
lot of. Usually, you see people stay in that space for about maybe
three years, five years, then move on into maybe VP roles. I never
knew I wanted to be a VP. So that was a great connection for me,
and I encourage any AVPs to to do that. I got to, as part of that
experience, work on the aspiring AVP pre conference for a number of
years as well. And it's really neat to see some of the people that
were in those rooms in these AVP positions now.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:28:36]:
And I think for me, it's funny because I don't feel like when I was
coming up you heard a lot about the AVP position. Like I said, I
really thought it was just Dean of Students and then you're the
vice president. Right? But now there are all of these spaces and I
love the AVSP space because you get to be really strategic and make
connections. And growing up in orientation, I spent a lot of time
making connections and I had a lot of collaboration with colleagues
across campus in different divisions and departments, and I think
you get to do that in the AVP space. And you're less in the day to
day management of a department, so you really do get to be a little
bit more strategic in that. But for those aspiring AVPs, look and
see what the job is like. There's a lot more literature out there.
The AVP book, in fact, anytime I get a new AVP, I give them the AVP
book and we talk through through it.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:29:34]:
But then also going to session so you can really understand what
the work is and then also understand maybe what type of AVP
position you want because they are becoming in some spaces, they're
becoming more specialized. An AVP for health and well-being, AVP
for student engagement, AVP auxiliaries business. And so, I think
understanding that sometimes at some institutions there's those
nuances or if you just want to be the really number two to the VP
in in some small spaces and wear 7,000,000 different hats, there's
opportunities for that too.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:12]:
Think we're seeing head of staff positions come out more as well in
that AVP hat space and they get to do everything which is really
fun. Yes.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:30:20]:
Yes. Yes. In fact, I just created a a chief associate vice
president, chief of staff position and I didn't realize how much I
needed it until I had it. Definitely.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:29]:
Well, Cynthia, our theme for this season is the past, present, and
future of student affairs. Mhmm. And so I have one question on each
of those areas for you. The first is on the past. What's one
component of the history of the student affairs profession that you
think we should continue to carry forward or alternatively, it's
time to let
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:30:45]:
go of? I talked about Learning Reconsidered and every time I try to
reread that one, and even Learning reconsidered to you, there's so
much good information in there. But the the pieces that always
stuck with me is one that we are one learning environment and that
in order to be one learning environment at your institution, you
have to have good collaborations with colleagues across. And where
I find sometimes where we might trip up in the profession a little
bit is we start to believe that we are the institution or we are
the learning experience and and disregarding the extraordinary
work, that people are doing across the university, our colleagues,
in the provost's office, and valuing what each of them which each
of us do. I think sometimes and I don't like the narrative of their
student affairs and academic affairs. I kinda I I don't wanna
receive that there's a attention, even though there probably is at
points, but I'm just trying to figure out how are we working
together. How are we translating information? How are we learning
language so that we're speaking the same language about what we're
doing? How are we collaborating and not competing. Just because you
brought
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:08]:
it up, I always have to plug this because our producer and audio
engineer, doctor Chris Lewis, is the chair of the SAP and Knowledge
Community, student affairs partnering with academic affairs. Mhmm.
So, anyway, quick plug for that. Question on the present. What's
happening in the field right now that's going well for student
affairs? Yeah.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:32:23]:
I think right now it's it's interesting. And and about two years
ago, my title changed from vice president to student affairs to
vice president for student success. Continuing to look at the data,
mine the data, and put it in the forefront of what we needed to do.
So we had to keep the conversation going on student success. And
we've had these student success units forever, and they've lived
sometimes under the provost's office, and we've partnered very well
with them. It's been really exciting to me to see even greater
convergence of these two areas. They shouldn't be separate. They
need to be together.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:33:08]:
What I get to do now in my work is I have all the traditional
student affairs units as well as the student success units. And
then now I also have some of the student services units, which are
more some of the third party auxiliaries that support the student
experience. But I think I'm seeing more of that now. I'm seeing
less separation. Some of that's due to resources.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:28]:
Mhmm.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:33:28]:
We realize that we are competing and spending too much on on
things, and so how do we converge them? So I'm excited about that
trend a little bit. And, again, refocusing, not that we're not
focused on it, but refocusing the profession on those college
completion metrics and how we contribute to them.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:46]:
I've always talked to my teams about the fact that students do not
care how we're organized. They do not care who reports to who. They
do not care if it's in academic affairs, student affairs, auxiliary
functions, whatever. They just know that their experience needs to
be whole. Yes. So that theme that you're talking about, I think, is
a reflection of that.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:03]:
Yes. 100%. They just see one university.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:34:06]:
Mhmm. Right. And they shouldn't have to care about that either.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:08]:
They should not. They should not.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:34:11]:
And looking towards the future, in an ideal world, what does the
field need to be doing to thrive towards our future?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:17]:
Yeah. I I talked about this a little bit earlier. I think after
post pandemic saw a a shift in who was coming into the profession,
how many people were coming into the profession, where we're
drawing individuals for. I think in order for us to serve students
well, we have to have healthy staffs. And so for me, the the future
of the profession is recommitting to supervising and developing our
staff at at high levels. I I just think that's imperative. I've
seen too many people leave, because of the supervisor. Right? We
think about Gallup's, it's the manager text out there.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:34:57]:
And I think part of it's on us because we actually don't do a good
job of investing and and and helping our own supervisors, grow and
develop to be able to supervise staff. You know, we're busy
ordering the t shirts for the next event or filing the paperwork or
doing case notes that we just sometimes don't take that time to
develop ourselves in that area. So I I think we need to do that. In
my job as vice president, I have to make sure that my staff have
the resources they need, both human and financial. And if we're
spending all our time trying to fill vacancies, it's the last time
we get to focus on students. So how do we continue to create
healthy organizations?
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:40]:
It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris
to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:35:46]:
Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there's
a ton of things happening in NASPA. The twenty twenty five NASPA
mid level administrators conference is happening June in Salt Lake
in Salt Lake City, Utah. The twenty twenty five NASPA mid level
administrators conference is a dynamic professional development
event designed to provide mid level student affairs professionals
with the opportunity to engage and learn with colleagues and senior
student affairs administrators. During this two and a half day
conference, participants will gain insights about promising
practices to further develop professional competencies, networking,
and supervisory skills, strategies to improve professional
practice, and networks to advance and networks to advance your
career. The mid level administrators conference is designed for
student affairs professionals who serve in roles between and not
including entry level positions and AVP and the equivalent roles.
Additionally, professionals who have been serving in entry level
roles with at least five years experience are welcome to attend. As
a result of this experience, participants will be able to build and
strengthen strategies for organizational leadership to include
leading change, navigating institutional politics, managing
resources, and supervising team members.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:37:06]:
Develop the skills to manage from the middle, both internally and
to include staff and supervisors, and externally to include
stakeholders and cross campus constituents. Maximize your role to
gain a deeper understanding of influence, power, and resources
while advancing your professional growth and build a go to network
of mid level colleagues. I hope you can join us for a conference
packed with featured speakers, concurrent sessions around three key
student affairs certification learning domains, small group
reflection opportunities, and one on one coaching meetings. The
early registration deadline will end on April 21 with the regular
registration deadline ending on May 19. You can find out more on
the NASPA website. There's a brand new brief that has been recently
provided to NASPA members called five things student affairs
practitioners should know about student well-being by Bridget Juhas
at Butler University. This brief offers critical insights for
student affairs professionals regarding holistic student well-being
in higher education. With a focus on collaborative campus wide
approaches to well-being initiatives, it emphasizes the importance
of going beyond traditional mental and physical health support.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:20]:
The publication offers actionable strategies for building cross
campus partnerships, aligning efforts with institutional goals, and
using data driven insights to enhance student outcomes. Examples of
successful institutional practices are included. By engaging all
campus units, institutions can create a cohesive and supportive
environment that helps students thrive. Every week, we're going to
be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the
association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to
date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to
get involved in different ways because the association is as strong
as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within
the association, whether it be getting involved with 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 wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will
share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to
be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity
to be able to say, Hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I
see myself doing something like that.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:41]:
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 [00:40:09]:
Chris, once again, thank you so much for giving us a great NASPA
world and letting us know what's going on in and around NASPA. So,
Cynthia, we have reached our lightning round. I have seven
questions for you in about ninety seconds. Are you ready to roll?
Here we go. Alright. Question number one. If you were a conference
keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:26]:
Think Hold On by Wilson Phillips.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:28]:
Number two, when you were five years old, what did you wanna be
when you grew up?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:31]:
I think I mentioned earlier, I grew up in Houston, so astronaut was
probably my big dream.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:36]:
And the astronauts are coming home now. Hey, they are. The station.
Number three, who's your most influential professional mentor? Dave
Perron. Number four, your essential student affairs read.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:46]:
You know, this is interesting. It might be a
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:40:47]:
little
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:40:47]:
controversial. Administratively Adrift by Scott Bass. He was
actually the provost at American University and I'm not gonna say I
liked everything that was said in that book. There's some good
nuggets for us to learn from though and it helps us understand
maybe some perceptions of student services in the field. Number
five, the best TV show you've been binging lately? Silo. I'm a sci
fi nerd.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:09]:
Number six, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in
the last year?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:41:12]:
You know, I listen to a podcast called The Next Right Thing and
it's by Emily P Freeman and spiritually based, faith based, but
it's about we're so overwhelmed with decision fatigue. How do we
just make that that next right thing, that next right decision?
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:41:29]:
And finally, number seven. Any shout outs you'd like to give
personal or professional?
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:41:32]:
I think for me, I'm gonna give a big shout out to my mom, Martha
Hernandez. She was an administrator in the Aldine School District,
first gen college student, went to community college, and graduated
from Texas Women's University administrator in the Aldine School
District for thirty eight years, and I think it's where I I
developed my love for administration. I was blessed to grow up. She
was a school she was a teacher, and every summer, we had a
different project we worked on. And one summer, I think about this,
and we we developed a library in our garage for the neighborhood.
People came and checked out books and I got to stamp them and I got
to find people. I mean, if they didn't bring them back on time, but
those kinds of experiences I'm very blessed because of what they
taught me, and she is just she is my pillar.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:16]:
Cynthia, we really appreciate you taking time out of your very busy
NASA schedule to spend some time with us here on SA Voices. If
anyone would like to connect with you after this episode airs, how
can they
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:42:25]:
find you? Well, LinkedIn, definitely. I'm on the Facebook. The
Facebook. As my as my mom says, Instagram. But reaching out in the
as per directory or or just Google me, I'm happy to to chat with
anyone.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:39]:
Well, once again, congratulations on your award. Looking forward to
celebrating you as well this afternoon, and thank you so much for
sharing your voice with us.
Dr. Cynthia Hernandez [00:42:45]:
Thank you, Jill.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:42:51]:
This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast
brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you,
the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your
time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email
us at essayvoices@naspa.org or find me on LinkedIn by searching for
doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your
topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to
tell a colleague about the show and please leave us a five star
rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening
now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our
show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting
community. This episode was and hosted by doctor Jill
Creighton.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:30]:
That's me. Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis.
Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support
as we create this project. Catch you next time.