Apr 4, 2024
Welcome to NASPA's SA Voices From the Field Podcast where we delve into discussions that shape the future of higher education and student support. In today's post, we reflect on the poignant insights from Dr. Joisanne Rodgers, Director of Contemporary Student Services at George Mason University, who recently graced our podcast episode.
**Bridging Gaps: From First-Gen Student to Student Advocacy**
Dr. Rodgers' noteworthy journey from a security-seeking first-generation college student to a beacon for inclusive education mirrors the ambitions of many striving to find belonging within academia's halls. Her multifaceted career path exemplifies how diverse experiences can coalesce into a powerful drive for institutional change. Rodgers' role at George Mason University is not just about administration; it's about forging connections with and for students who have traditionally been on the periphery of college life support structures.
**Language Evolution: A Step Toward Inclusion**
The evolution from 'non-traditional' to 'post-traditional' student terminology that Dr. Rodgers discusses signifies an important shift in the higher education lexicon. By moving towards more inclusive language, institutions like George Mason University acknowledge the changing demographics of their student bodies and the unique challenges these students face, underscoring a commitment to support that encompasses not just academic, but life success.
**A Supportive Community: More Than Just Space**
Dr. Rodgers highlights that creating physical and conceptual spaces for students to flourish is paramount. George Mason University's community spaces, unique ambassador positions, and appreciation events underscore an approach that sees students not as secondary participants in their education but as central figures with rich, intricate narratives expanding beyond the classroom.
**Post-Traditional Pioneering: A University's Role**
The university isn't just leading the charge through in-house initiatives but is contributing to the broader dialogue on supporting post-traditional students, partnering with organizations such as NASPA. These partnerships foster a crucial exchange of best practices and innovative ideas, equipping institutions to better serve their diverse student populations.
**Looking Forward**
As Dr. Rodgers and many other advocates for contemporary students make clear, universities have an opportunity and responsibility to adapt, evolve, and provide equitable support. This not only benefits post-traditional students but enriches the entire educational community. Their successes aren't just personal triumphs; they are milestones in the progress towards a more inclusive, holistic approach to higher education.
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. This is season 10, continuing our season 9 theme
of on transitions in student affairs. This podcast is brought to
you by NASPA, and I'm doctor Jill Creighton. She, her, hers, your
essay voices from the field host. Welcome back for our next episode
of essay voices from the field, where once again we were able to
sit down with a guest at the NASPA annual conference. I'm pleased
to introduce you today to doctor Joisanne Rogers, sheher. Joisanne
is a first generation college student, a post traditional student,
a life long learner, and an educator passionate about post
traditional and contemporary students. Doctor Rogers has worked in
higher education for nearly 20 years in various roles, including
admissions and recruitment, advising and success coaching, housing
and residence life, marketing and outreach, retention initiatives,
and student success initiatives.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:00:55]:
She currently serves as director of contemporary student services
at George Mason University in Virginia. Doctor Rogers leads a
fantastic team of advocates and champions, serving Mason's
contemporary student population. This team collaborates and
partners throughout the Mason community to support contemporary
student belonging, thriving and success. The team are proud
recipients of the bronze level 2023, 2024, NASPA Excellence Award
in commuter, off campus, military connected, non traditional, and
related. Doctor Rogers also serves as an adjunct associate
professor at University of Maryland Global Campus, where she earned
outstanding adjunct faculty designation as an alumni volunteer at
Algany College in Pennsylvania. Doctor Rogers earned a bachelor's
in political science and dance studies from Alghany College, a
master's in student affairs and higher education from Western
Kentucky University, a specialist in leadership from American
College of Education, and a doctorate in leadership with a focus on
higher education from American College of Education. Her research
interests include post traditional and contemporary students,
mitigation and elimination of institutional barriers, and student
success and retention. Welcome to essay voices, Joisanne.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:01:58]:
Thank you. I'm glad to be here. And thank you so much for taking
time out of your conference schedule to sit with us here in
Seattle.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:02:04]:
Absolutely. It's delightful rainy weather, So glad to hang out with
you for a bit.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:02:09]:
This is my hometown and, you know, people are always like, oh, it
must rain a lot in Seattle. I'm like, oh, not really. And I really
appreciate that Seattle's like showing out for you all with the
rain today.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:02:20]:
It's true.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:02:20]:
We also may get to be dodging a protest for a different
organization today. So, you know, all sorts of eventful things
happening in Seattle.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:02:28]:
Well, coming from DC, I'm I'm a pro.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:02:30]:
Oh, the other Washington. Yeah. The other Washington. The other
Washington.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:02:33]:
We got it covered.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:02:33]:
I do when I say I'm from Washington, people go DC and I'm like, no.
State. The other other farther away one. But we're really looking
forward to learning from you today about your transition story into
higher education from an arts background. That's something that you
and I share in common. My bachelor's degree is in music
performance. And weird fun fact, I used to teach top classes to pay
for college. So Nice.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:02:55]:
So I'm really looking forward to hearing that from you. We got to
know you a little bit at the top of the show through your bio, but
we always love to start with asking our guests how you got to your
current seat.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:03:03]:
Sure. So first of all, I'm a 1st generation college student, and so
I went to undergrad not far from where I grew up. A little bit of
safety in that. I knew the institution, knew the campus. And so not
knowing much of anything else, that was where I was going. I had
friends who went there. So I went to Allegheny College as an
undergraduate, majored in political science, and minored in dance
studies.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:03:29]:
I taught community ballroom classes.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:03:32]:
So I love this. I love this so much. Yeah.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:03:35]:
And then I figured out while I was there. I went in, wanting to be
a lawyer. That's what I was gonna do. And non spoiler spoiler
alert, that's not what I'm doing as I'm on the NASPA podcast.
Right? And so I found that those folks that were outside of the
classroom were really the folks who were making big differences in
what my access and what I could do and how I thought about things
and and that kind of stuff and figured out that that was a job.
Yeah. Who knew? And so I started looking for programs and positions
both and got hired at Western Kentucky University. So I was a full
time housing residence life staff member, part time graduate
student there.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:04:18]:
I was an assistant hall director and hall director through that,
and then moved to the DC area and realized that many times there's
a gap between the academic side of the house and the student
affairs side of the house. Mhmm. And I wanted to collect secret
decoder rings Oh. To help build those bridges. So I started looking
in the DC area for positions that were maybe academic adviser
positions or those kinds of things that leaned into the student
affairs counseling things that I've been doing just kind of in a
different way. And so I became an academic advisor that then kind
of morphed into a success coach role at what was then University of
Maryland University College is now University of Maryland Global
Campus, and started working with post traditional students at a non
traditional institution, which was very different than any
experience at at the institutions I had been at, small liberal
arts, regional with some global reach, into this global giant
institution and learned a lot through my work there, but also
connecting with colleagues and moved up and around there and
decided I should probably go for that next degree because why not?
Worked on my doctorate, did my research in institutional barriers
for non, post traditional students, and all of that kind of came
together for the position that I'm in now at George Mason
University. So in 2019, George Mason University created the
contemporary student services unit, which is a really innovative,
first of its kind way to serve all of these different post
traditional populations and the intersectionalities of all of those
in a one stop shop kind of way, really. And so, like I said, it's a
it's a first of its kind, and as of last Google, the only of its
kind.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:06:05]:
So when I saw the job description, it was one of those things where
I took a moment and thought, okay. Either someone is totally
stalking me online and created this specifically for me, or I may
have just found the job I've always been looking for. Either way,
like, I sent it to my friends. I'm like, I'm not misreading this.
Right? Like They wrote this for me.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:06:25]:
They wrote this for me. I didn't completely, like, lose total
reading comprehension. Right? So, I had that moment of this is too
good to be true. Right? And it wasn't, and that is fabulous. And so
I applied and hired on and now work with this incredible team of
folks who are dedicated to post traditional students, contemporary
students off campus transfer, adult learners, student parents,
veteran military connected folks, foster care alumni, system
impacted folks. So it's a really great place and a really great
space to be innovative and stay ahead and to use all of that
background. I like to tell folks because we had a conversation
about having that arts beginning that I use my dance theory and
knowledge just as frequently student development. It just really
depends because they both are part of the everyday process of the
work that I do.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:07:26]:
I'd like to dig into the language that you're using a little bit
because I think that is an evolution and transition of how we've
talked about students over 25 and students with children and
etcetera, etcetera. So you're now using the term post traditional
students and non traditional student is the terming that had been
used for years. So tell us, about the inclusion of that new term
and how it's reflective of current practice and why it's
different.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:07:51]:
Yeah. So nontraditional, anything non. Right? You're not the usual.
That makes you feel great. Right? Like, no. Am I really supposed to
be here? But I don't yeah. So there's some othering about that. And
so post traditional is more inclusive, still descriptive, and is
coming up in the research.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:08:12]:
More is the the term used. And that definition of that is, yes, 25
and older, but also anyone who has adult, and I'm putting air
quotes around that that you can't see, adult responsibilities. So
that includes those student parents, married, widowed, divorced,
military and veteran connected, although, admittedly, there's a
whole another set of criteria and things going on for those folks
when we talk about JSTs and all these other things. But so it's
more inclusive of that in a kind of a broader umbrella, and the
term, the language to it is better, in my humble opinion, for that
population. But then elevating that even more, talking about
contemporary students at Mason, and our definition of that is, yes,
our post traditional, but also our transfer students are part of
that. Our off campus students are part of that as well. So those
folks who, again, don't fit that traditional mold, who come in with
more experience than the traditional student might. And it's really
about honoring and seeing the folks, the students that are sitting
in front of us and not the picture that we have in our head of 18
straight out of high school straight in has no other
responsibilities living on campus.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:09:23]:
I really appreciate that new framing of contemporary student. I'm
also wondering how you connect that term to the students that
you're serving because it might be new for them as well.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:09:32]:
It's absolutely new for them. It's also new for our faculty and
staff as well. Mhmm. And so we've spent some time like I said, the
contemporary student services or CSS was established before
lockdown. And then lockdown happened, and there was a lot of
turnover and a lot of changes, of course, as everybody's
experienced. So in this post lockdown era, 3 of my 4 staff members,
myself included, were new into CSS. And so that really gave us a
chance to kind of reestablish ourselves and reach out and connect
with the faculty and staff as well as the students across the
institution to reintroduce, reconnect, and reestablish
contemporary, what that is, what that looks like, and how the great
thing is also that all of my staff members hold some contemporary
identity. I was an adult learner.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:10:26]:
1 of my coordinators is a transfer student. Another one is student
parent. So we all hold those identities. So when we say peer, we
mean it though we may not be in classes right now, it honestly
wasn't that long ago that we were in that very same spot. And so
having those conversations and having that lived experience really
makes the biggest difference when we're connecting with students,
but also when we're representing our students and advocating for
our students. So, I'd like to say our work is about ACEs, a c e s.
We advocate, celebrate, educate, and serve.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:10:58]:
Okay. And we have to make sure that we're separating that ACES from
adverse childhood experiences.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:11:04]:
Yes, for sure.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:11:05]:
That's really helpful to kind of wrap our minds around this
different conceptualization. You also said that George Mason is on
the forefront of this new transition of how we're thinking about
serving these very unique but growing populations at our
university. Mhmm. How are you working with others in the field to
kind of stabilize some of this and normalize it?
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:11:25]:
Yeah. So we're doing a lot internally and then regionally and then
nationally. Right? So we've partnered for some of our
subpopulations. We've partnered with folks like Generation Hope and
participated in a Family U cohort. We, in this last year, earned
the Family U seal, which is really exciting. Congratulations. Thank
you. We're super excited about that to kind of amplify and
celebrate our work with student parents and caregiver
caregivers.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:11:54]:
And but we're also working with our 1st generation center because
the when you add 1st gen over over contemporary populations, that
Venn diagram doesn't really get all that much bigger. It still
stays real tight.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:12:05]:
Mhmm.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:12:06]:
So we partner with our friends in 1st gen center, which are part of
the 1st gen efforts through NASPA. And so having NASPA support in
that is beautiful and really helpful. And we also are working with
everyone from, for example, our Marcom, our marketing
communications folks at the institution and in our university life
space to make sure that there's visual representation of all of our
students too. And so we wanna make sure that we're seeing that our
students are seeing themselves in all of the collateral that
happens in the marketing that happens across the institution and
across the region because there are buses driving all over DC with
Mason on them, and we want them to see themselves in that in that
place and space too. And now we're looking at I'm here at NASPA.
We're, taking that in. We're also Generation Hope is hosting their
very first HOPE conference this year in New Orleans. So I'm going
straight from NASPA to that conference Mhmm.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:13:03]:
To present, but also to take in what other folks are doing. And
we're part of an Aspen network for Ascend. So we're really trying
to connect in to work smarter, not harder, as I mentioned. So for
us, we have, as I mentioned before, 4 full time professional staff
members. We have a graduate student and student staff as well as an
office manager. And sometimes I'm talking to folks and they say, oh
my gosh. You only have 4 staff members to do that. And I talk to
other folks, and I'm like, oh, my gosh.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:13:32]:
You have 4 staff members. I'd love to have that. So we're in a
great spot, kind of. And so looking at that too and making sure
that as we're looking at emerging populations and looking at our
work, that we're staying in a place where we can really help and
advocate across the institution that we are not the only ones doing
this work.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:13:55]:
I think that's the important part of it too is as we're gathering
ideas from NASPA sessions, as we're gathering ideas from Hope
Conference sessions, some of my staff went to FYE this year. And
gathering that information, it's about how do we partner, what are
great ways that we can advocate, consult, do these things so that,
ideally, all of our faculty and staff across Mason see this
contemporary student work as their work too.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:14:25]:
And a lot of times, it's just having the conversation about the
language or having a little bit of conversation about calling them
in to that work and making just little tweaks and changes because
most of the time they're doing it. They just don't know that
they're doing it. Or we're saying, that's really great. What if you
could? And kind of leveling it up.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:14:45]:
There's a book for 1st gen student success that NASPA, I believe,
is a co publisher on, or maybe the publisher on. I I don't know
exactly, but there's a list in it about, like, the 15 or 25 things
that you can do to support first gen students. And the messaging I
always come back to with that is if it's good for 1st gen students,
it's good for all students because it's really about teaching
people how to navigate the system of higher education, creating new
to the system don't have, the social capital to understand, and and
I really hear the echoes of serving those first gen students with
your contemporary students. And it just it's so great to see that
you're creating synergy with your 1st gen success center as
well.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:15:28]:
Absolutely. And you're 12,000 percent correct in that, like, that
hidden curriculum, the paper ceilings that a lot of our adult
learners and and folks are hitting, and that's what's bringing them
back into our into higher ed. But also understanding this strange
lexicon that they've either never encountered or it's been a really
long time, or maybe they encountered it with their children when
they were sending their kids to college, but they've never had to
apply that to themselves. And so it works a little differently. And
so, yeah, you're absolutely right. Like, those overlaps are spot
on.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:16:01]:
I wanna talk a little bit about that dance theory component because
with your origins being in the arts and dance theory, a lot of
people that have never studied the arts in a formal context
probably are saying I didn't know that there was theory to apply to
to arts in that way. And we have those theories in music education
and dance education. It's about how we teach learning. It's about
how we absorb and create and a number of other things. So I'm
wondering if you can tell us a little bit about 1 or 2 of the dance
theories that you rely on and how you're transitioning those from
context of the ballroom to context of contemporary
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:16:34]:
students. Sure. So I have this kind of, like, running list of yes.
There's, like, the formal theories and learning and and things like
that, but I also kind of have this running list of things that
always came from the director of the dance program, my undergrad,
who doctor Jan Hyatt, love her, had these phrases that she always
used that really stuck. And so a couple of those I think I have a
list of, like, 10 or 15 in my notebook that have come with me all
of these years later. And so the one that I use most frequently is
you have to put the support in place before you need it. So whether
you're executing a dance move, whether you're like, you don't just
start playing for music, like, you just don't start playing. You
ready yourself, instrument up, fingering, all of those things.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:17:20]:
Right? And so even when you're taking a step forward, your body is
you do it unconsciously, more likely than not, but your body is
putting these supports in place so that when you step forward, you
don't fall flat on your face. Mhmm. So it's the same thing. We're
talking about emerging populations. There were changes in Pell
Grant rules and regs that open possibilities for previously
incarcerated folks. That means that's that's opening up this
emerging population. We've been looking at that population for the
last year and a half or so, doing some research, doing some
interviews, and putting together toolkits so that we can put the
support in place before we need it. Mhmm.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:17:57]:
So, yes, some of those students already exist in our population,
but we know that the possibility of more is coming. So we're
putting that support in place before we need it. Just like if we
were stepping forward, we don't wanna fall on our faces. Not that
it's gonna work perfectly. Right? Practice and test and learns,
that's how we come at it, but applying that. The other thing that I
will say from her, mainly because this links directly into the
podcast, is life is in the transitions. And so the importance of a
move to the space in between the two moves is just as important as
hitting your point or hitting the move or those kinds of things.
And so that transition space and time is when things happen.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:18:37]:
Like, that's where the good stuff happens. And so that is always
part of what I remind myself of as things are happening, and I
translate that into the work and kind of the business y thing of,
like, testing test and learns. Right? It's always a process and
it's an iterative process. Speaking of more theory, formal theory,
is one of my favorite quotes from Margaret Dobler is, where the sum
total are experiences Mhmm. And that's the only way we can show up,
and that's the only way that we can react, which to me says meet
the students where they are. Like, those things are very, if not
exactly the same, very, very similar, which is a tenet of student
affairs. Right? How many times do you hear folks say meet the
students where they are?
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:19:19]:
Mhmm. That tenet has been one of the major constants through
NASPA's existence, I think. You know, the organization itself is, I
think, a 100 ish years old, and the the core of NASPA's
philosophies have been fairly constant over time. I had the
pleasure of interviewing some folks, it was maybe 3 years ago at
this point, who were the administrators at Kent State University
during the Kent State situation, situation. And they read me the
NASPA manual from that year, and it was all still relevant. So it's
really interesting to see how the way that we approach the work has
changed a lot over time and we've become more justice focused,
we've become more inclusive, we've become broader in who we serve,
but we are still keeping that core of we're trying to help college
students and young adults kind of realize their full selves in that
out of classroom space, continue to show up as our best.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:20:08]:
Yeah. Keeping that good stuff as the core. Absolutely.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:20:11]:
I'm wondering if you could tell us how folks might be able to read
more about these new evolutions in serving contemporary students.
Because we're not seeing that research necessarily show up as
boldly in some of the major journals, but there's so much work that
is, I think, the future of what's happening in American higher
education, specifically.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:20:28]:
Yeah. I think when we're looking at research, we get really
specific. So for me, when I was doing, for example, my dissertation
research and doing my lit review, it was a lot of looking at the
specific subpopulations. Student parent, parenting student, all the
variations of that. And so looking at that broader space, you know,
I think about all of the advice that I got as I was constructing my
research questions and things like that. And without fail, the
first I would like to say 2 to 3, but it was probably more like 6
to 8 times. It was like, no. You gotta get narrower.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:21:12]:
It's like you're you're gonna you're never gonna get this done if
you don't get specific. And so I think that's what's hard is that
post traditional is so big and broad, contemporary is so big and
broad, and so we talk a lot and there's a lot of research about
those subpopulations, but looking at that in the broader sense is a
little harder.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:21:31]:
You just said what every doctoral student has heard, too much pain.
Right? Like, please please narrow your focus. I'm working with a
person right now who is trying to narrow their focus from studying
a population that is millions of people and going, oh, I just wanna
study the population. Okay. But what about that population? And
it's just so important for doctoral students to remember this is
the first time you'll do independent research, not the last time.
Yes. That's a hard lesson to learn, I think.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:22:00]:
Yeah. It absolutely I did a lit review on contemporary students,
what would I be doing, and how would I look at these
subpopulations, and how would I bring this together? And then
thinking about those big, over arching Mhmm. Needs that are
identified in that in that literature. So coordination of service
being one of those, access and not necessarily access to education,
which might be where your brain goes immediately when I say access,
but it's really access to information. Mhmm. It's that social
capital piece. Exactly. And so having those and having a not just a
group of peers, but a group of peers that reflect their identities
Mhmm.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:22:46]:
And whatever is most salient in the moment. So we know that for
adult learners in particular, and this is true across all
contemporary populations, but if they have a peer group
that is just traditional students, it's not great. It can be
detrimental. Mhmm. So helping them find their community and find
their village, I've been at Mason I don't know. It feels like maybe
12 minutes. Really, it was probably a couple months. And one of our
student parents who is working with us with Generation Hope was our
student parent fellow. Valeria said at a convening, said everybody
says it takes a village.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:23:26]:
But not everybody has one. Mhmm. And that just I was like, yeah.
Exactly. That, like, just hit me, and it was this beautiful
encapsulation
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:23:38]:
Of everything that we were talking about, of students coming in and
not having what they need, but that we could help and we could
connect them, and we could be a village. We could be part of that
support network and system. And not being a student parent, but
being an auntie of, like, in with my best friend who was a student
parent. She was getting her MBA, and my goddaughter was really,
really tiny. And I was doing my doctorate, and so we were trading
off for doing homework and hanging out with the kiddo and all of
those things. And so I get that village. I'm like, I am a villager.
We can be villagers.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:24:15]:
Let's do it. But that's not just true for our student parents and
caregivers. It's true for many of our students.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:24:22]:
You just gave one great example of what that can look like in
practice. I'm wondering if you have any other practice elements
that you think is important for our listenerships. Yeah.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:24:29]:
I think the big things for us that we've gotten really big positive
feedback on are several things. 2 that I'll pull out is 1, we have
community spaces that we plan out early so that we can let our
students get those on their calendars and make notes so that they
can make the time. We'll also do multimodal, so sometimes they'll
be in person, sometimes they'll be online, so they can connect with
each other. And it's really it's truly just a space of, like, we're
providing the space, but our students our student workers, we've
created, student ambassador positions that work differently than
your traditional student worker position where you're asking for 15
or 20 hours a week. Those aren't working for all of our
contemporary students, particularly for our adult learners, our
student parents, and military veteran connected folks. Many of them
are already living in time poverty, so asking for 15 to 20 hours a
week, not gonna happen. Mhmm. So we created these ambassador
positions that are right now, I think we have them set to, like,
50, 55 hours over the entirety of the semester.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:25:37]:
Okay. And we have a stipend that's attached to that because their
lived experience is important, and if we're doing things for them,
we wanna do that with them. And so those students are supporting
those spaces and coming up with ideas of activities or topics and
connections. So that's one thing that has been really great, and
it's really helped our students build their own villages and build
their their success network across the Mason community too because
we also invite our colleagues into that space and into our lounge
that we have on campus. I think the other thing is that, like every
other population, we have us the contemporary student appreciation
week. But we do that in April, and at the end of the week, we have
a graduation celebration for our contemporary students. So we have
contemporary student courts that they can come and pick up and wear
at commencement. But at the graduation celebration, if they haven't
already grabbed those, we have those available for them.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:26:35]:
But we encourage them to bring their village. We don't limit the
number of folks that they can bring. We want them to bring their
kids. We have kids' activities at the at the event. We want them to
bring their parents. We want them to bring whoever is supporting
them and has been a champion for them, including Mason faculty and
staff. So So when they RSVP for that event, we ask them, who's been
a champion for you? Who really made a difference? Is there a
professor, a staff member, a community member that really just
lifted you up or amplified or advocated for you or just was there
and supportive and would listen? And when they identify the folks,
we send them an invite. You know, like, come celebrate with us.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:27:16]:
And so we have this really great mix of students and their families
and faculty and staff, and our VP comes and talks, and our AVP, and
it's just this really beautiful event. We give them a whole bunch
of, like, different areas. They can take pictures, and it's just a
really beautiful event that kind of setting yourself up for success
when you do a graduation celebration. That part I won't lie about.
I know. Like, we're already starting at a 7 out of 10. But those
connections are also really great in that space of having gratitude
at the end of this journey that was not easy. Yeah.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:27:50]:
There isn't anybody in that room being like, this was a breeze.
Glad to see I'm out. No. Everybody in that room is, this was a hard
one situation. Mhmm. And I had to make some hard decisions. I had
to make some really difficult priority management decisions, And I
just have some really interesting conversations with my partner,
with my kids about, it's homework time. You do your homework.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:28:15]:
I'm doing my homework. This is what we've gotta do. But at the end,
it wasn't easy, but it wasn't worth it.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:28:21]:
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 [00:28:27]:
Thanks so much, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and
there's a number of professional development opportunities that are
coming up in the future that some of you may have an interest in.
The 2024 Women's Leadership Institute is coming up December 10th
through December 13th, and the call for programs ends on May 9,
2024. The Women's Leadership Institute provides an experience that
offers strategies for women to succeed in the higher education
profession. Participants include women with from facilities and
operations, administration, auxiliary services, student affairs,
recreation, and libraries who share a passion for the profession
and plan to lead with lasting impact. This is a joint venture
between NASPA and ACUI and a great opportunity for anyone looking
to hone their leadership skills for working in a rapidly changing
environment while also developing a better understanding of the
campus as a workplace and culture and being able to connect with
others to share experiences about how campuses are adapting and
adjusting to the new reality that surrounds us. Early registration
goes through October 21st, but the big deadline right now, as I
mentioned at the beginning, is the call for programs, which does
end on May 9, 2024. Some of the leadership cycle topics that are
encouraged include topics surrounding supervision and performance
management, strategic planning, financial well-being,
upskillreskill, the bridge to the future, delegating and giving
away, picking up new skills and putting things down.
Dr.
Christopher Lewis [00:30:00]:
I highly encourage you to consider putting in a program proposal
and if not, consider attending this amazing professional
development opportunity. You can find out more on the NASPA
website. The 2024 NASPA M. Ben Hogan Small Colleges and
Universities Institute is coming up June 23rd through 26th in
Portland, Oregon. This institute is hosted on a biannual basis by
NASPA Small College and Universities Division. The Institute is a 4
day residential program, during which vice presidents for student
affairs and the equivalent and other senior level leaders engage in
discussion and reflection about critical issues in student affairs
and examine effective and innovative programs. There's still time
to register under the early registration deadline, which is April
30, 2024. This Institute offers amazing opportunities for
individuals working at small colleges and universities to be able
to build lasting friendships and connections that will help them to
be able to lead their own units at their own institutions in new
ways.
Dr.
Christopher Lewis [00:31:04]:
If you've never attended this professional development in the past,
I highly encourage you to attend this year. You definitely don't
want to miss this opportunity to be able to connect, be rejuvenated
and to prepare yourself to lead your organization to the next
level. The 2024 Leadership Educators Institute is happening
December 9th through December 11th in Philadelphia. This is a
partnership between NASPA, ACPA, College Student Educators
International, and the National Clearing House for Leadership
Programs. LEI provides a unique opportunity for all professional
levels within our field to engage in critical dialogue to promote
positive, sustainable change on your campus. The Leadership
Institute creates a space for student affairs administrators,
scholars, and practitioners to discuss and advance current
leadership topics, such as modern leadership theories and models,
including new research, applications and critical perspectives,
innovative and inclusive curriculum, pedagogy, and strategies for
leadership studies courses, assessment and evaluation of leadership
programs, student development and learning outcomes, future
directions in leadership education and development based on widely
used studies and standards such as the multi institutional study of
leadership, CAS, and ILA guiding questions, unique co curricular
program models and high impact practices, including those with
cohort and multi year engagement, distance and online learning,
service learning, mentoring, and global experiences. Strategy and
management of leadership program operations, including staff
training, funding, and partnerships, as well as interdissectional
and interdisciplinary approaches to leadership education. If you
are someone that is leading leadership training and leadership
development of students on your own campus or wish to be a part of
that in the future, this professional development is a must go
to.
Dr.
Christopher Lewis [00:33:06]:
Registration is now open. Pre early registration ends on June
teenth with early registration ending on September 9th. Find out
more on the NASPA website. 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 [00:34:14]:
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 [00:34:42]:
Chris, thank you so much for another great addition of NASPA World.
We really appreciate you keeping us informed on what's going around
in and around NASPA. And, Joisanne, we have reached our lightning
round. Oh. I've got 7 questions for you. 90 seconds. Oh my.
Alright.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:34:56]:
I'm ready. Question 1. If you were a conference keynote speaker,
what would
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:35:00]:
your entrance music be? Ain't No Man, The Avett Brothers.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:35:03]:
Number 2, when you were 5 years old, what did you wanna be when you
grew up?
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:35:06]:
I wanted to be a teacher because student affairs professional, not
on the kindergarten chart.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:35:12]:
True story. Number 3, who's your most influential professional
mentor?
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:35:17]:
I had a list. I talked about Jan, which is important. I think in
the place and space that I'm in right now, it's my current
supervisor, Sally Laurenson, and she has been amazing. Number 4,
your essential student affairs read. Oh my gosh. Everything.
Consume everything you can and run it through the lens of you and
your life and your strengths and your institution. Number 5.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:35:45]:
The best TV show you binged during the pandemic. I feel like I
should say The Chair, because it just is absolutely directly
related, but really the guilty pleasure version of that is Love is
Blind.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:35:57]:
Number 6, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in
the last year.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:36:00]:
Oh, that one's easy. Malcolm Gladwell revisionist history.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:36:04]:
And finally, number 7, any shout outs you'd like to give personal
or professional?
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:36:08]:
Oh, my gosh. Everybody. I stand on the shoulders of giants is
really what that is. So I have this really amazing family that
despite not having a lens necessarily for what I do is still a
1000% in. And when I say things like, I'm sorry. I can't come home
for Thanksgiving if you want me home at Christmas. They were not
thrilled about it, but they made it work and were lovely the whole
time, and I know that was difficult. And so I love them, but, also,
I've had the privilege of working with some really great folks and
having people like Ted Smith, who was my first RD, who told me this
could be a job, and support from folks at Allegheny, as well as
then moving into my first professional position at Western Kentucky
University and having this group of folks who were in it and wanted
everyone to succeed in just this really great village of folks that
supported me in that and helped me learn how to be a professional
in that place and space.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:37:10]:
And my first supervisor, Nick Wired, and Brian Powell, and Ben
Ellis just absolutely giving me space and grace to fail fast and
forward, and supporting me in that, and having a leadership team,
particularly in in HRL, but also in my internships and things like
that. So my Western Kentucky family, my Hilltopper family being
great support in that as well.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:37:38]:
Joisanne, I know I learned a lot from you today, and I'm sure there
are others who have. If they'd like to reach out to you, how can
they find you?
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:37:44]:
Absolutely. You can find me on LinkedIn. Look at the ad for my
name. It's spelled a little differently than you might think, but
I'm pretty easy to find. So connect with me on LinkedIn, send me a
note, add a note to that that you heard me here and ask some
questions. I'm always happy to answer those or jump on a Zoom with
someone and chat about what's going on.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:38:03]:
Thank you so much, Joisanne, for sharing your voice with us
today.
Joisanne
Rodgers [00:38:06]:
Absolutely. Thank you for having
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:38:10]:
me. This has been an episode of Student Affairs Voices from the
Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show continues to be
possible because you choose to listen to us. We are so grateful for
your subscriptions and your downloads and your engagement with the
content. If you'd like to reach the show, please email us at sa
voices at 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 give us a 5 star rating on Apple
Podcasts or wherever you're listening now.
Dr. Jill
Creighton [00:38:44]:
It really does help other student affairs professionals find the
show and helps raise the show's profile within the larger
podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by
doctor Jill Creighton, 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.