Faculty Council

The NASPA Graduate Case Study Competition is an opportunity for graduate students to showcase skills and knowledge of the field of student affairs. Graduate students may form a team of 2 to 3 students to participate in NASPA's virtual case study competition.  The winning case study team will have the opportunity to present their process, findings, and approaches at the NASPA Annual Conference. 

This competition will be held virtually and will require teams to review, analyze, and respond to a thought-provoking case relevant to the field of student affairs in higher education.  Participants will be given a case and will be asked to submit their analysis and response as a presentation via a team video.  Presentations should include a review of ethical, moral, and legal considerations that influenced the team's response as well as any action steps as outlined in the case study provided.

Important Details:

• Teams should be comprised of 2 to 3 current graduate students and must indicate support from a faculty sponsor.
• Teams must be registered to participate by October 31, 2024.
• Teams will receive the case by November 4, 2024.
• Teams will have until December 2, 2024 to complete and submit their case studies via a link to a video of a presentation of their responses to the case.
• Videos of the team presentations (20 minutes maximum length) will be posted to YouTube by the teams.
• A panel of judges comprised of practitioners and faculty with experience and expertise in student affairs will review and score the cases based on a rubric that will focus on:

         o  Identification of issues and problems

         o   Understanding of the context and the connection and application of theory, research, and scholarly practice literature

         o   Recommendations for practice, including strategies and solutions

•        Winners will be announced no later than January 10, 2025.
•        Winning teams will earn bragging rights and have an opportunity to present at NASPA's annual conference in 2025.

Teams must register through this link. The deadline to register a team is October 31. 

If you have any questions about this competition, please contact Dallin Young at [email protected]

The NASPA Faculty Council is pleased to share its mentoring program for faculty. The program will pair a more seasoned mentor (tenure track or non-tenure track) with a new faculty member. The purpose of the program is to provide support for mentoring relationships whereby new faculty can glean advice and guidance about scholarship, teaching, service, and career plans from seasoned scholars. Mentors and mentees will meet regularly between the period between the 2025 annual conference and the 2026 annual conference (pairs meet once per month with the schedule agreed upon by both individuals). At minimum, the pair should plan to review/discuss the mentee's CV, co-create a short and long-term professional goal and plan to achieve established goals. Pairs will also be asked to attend one Faculty Council On-Demand Professional Development webinar. 

Applications for this program are due November 30, 2024.

Involvement Criteria

Participants must be active NASPA members. Mentees must be within their first 1 - 4 years of appointment as an assistant professor (tenure track or non-tenure track), adjunct, or lecturer. Mentors must have a minimum of five years teaching experience.

Apply now!

Faculty Mentor Sign-Up Form

Faculty Mentee Registration Form

Questions? Email Jackie Clark, [email protected] or Kerry Diekmann, [email protected], for more information.

For a comprehensive overview of the program, including background, ideal applicant profile, expectations, and benefits of the program, please view this overview document. 

The NASPA Emerging Faculty Leader Academy is a one-year program for emerging faculty leaders who want to gain knowledge, techniques and experience in order to develop and sustain a fulfilling faculty career. Participants will engage in on-line and in-person professional development and educational sessions in order to gain additional knowledge and skills about being a leader as a faculty member.  Potential topics may include: teaching strategies and curriculum development, resources to deal with issues of tenure, merit and performance, and serving within professional associations such as NASPA. 

The cohort who completes the NASPA Emerging Faculty Leaders Academy will be able to:

•        Define leadership in a faculty role for themselves
•        Identify individual plans to excel in a faculty career
•        Target at least one "take away" from the individual plan to actuate 
•        Expand network of colleagues to collaborate within faculty work
•        Explore ways to be involved in NASPA as a faculty member

Application Process

The application process for the next cohort of the Emerging Faculty Leader Academy is now open! Applications for this cohort can be submitted here. The due date for applications is November 15, 2024.

Current and Previous Academy Members

Please join us in congratulating the incoming cohort for the Emerging Faculty Leader Academy!

2024-2025 Emerging Faculty Leader Academy cohort

See previous EFLA cohort members here:

2023-2024 Cohort

2022-2023 Cohort

2021-2022 Cohort

2020-2021 Cohort

2019-2020 Cohort

2018-2019 Cohort

2017-2018 Cohort

2016-2017 Cohort

In an effort to increase opportunities for higher education and student affairs program faculty to engage with colleagues on program coordination and curriculum related issues, the NASPA Faculty Council is initiates a monthly web conference effort entitled Online Faculty Forums.

Online Faculty Forums are informal, topical discussions using a web conference platform.   A faculty colleague with particular interest in, or experience with, the topic of the month will serve as the host and discussion moderator.   

As the name implies, these are meant to be forums, exchanges of ideas, not webinars.  The intent is to support collaboration, knowledge sharing, and problem solving.  In addition, we anticipate these sessions will influence the Faculty Council agenda and support conference program development addressing needs and interests of program faculty.

Please see the Online Faculty Forums page for current information, and please see below for a sample of previous recordings.

Dynamic Tensions in Student Affairs Preparation Programs:  Curricular Developments - February 16, 2016 - Moderated by Susan Longerbeam, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, Northern Arizona University

We invite all faculty and student affairs administrators to consider serving as discussants for the Scholarly Paper Sessions at the NASPA Annual Conference in New Orleans, March 15-19, 2025.

Discussants add value to the scholarly paper presenters and enhance their presentations. Expectations for discussants include editing three scholarly papers prior to the conference and offering written and verbal feedback to authors during the conference session. Discussant comments following the presentations generally summarize the constructive feedback.

Scholarly papers are due to discussants no later than January 30, 2025. If the presenter does not provide the paper by February 7, 2025 the presentation may be pulled from the 2025 NASPA Conference. 

Discussants should have a research and publication agenda with general methodological expertise and higher education content knowledge. Applicants who are assigned as discussants will be notified via email of their assigned session, paper titles, and author contact information. Interested discussants should have a terminal degree.

Individuals interested in serving as a discusant should complete this form by October 15, 2024. 

If you have any questions, please contact Jill Dunlap at [email protected]. 

Join us for a Virtual Doctoral Seminar experience at the 2025 NASPA Virtual Conference.  The doctoral seminar was created to provide support and information for higher education and student affairs doctoral students to help them successfully navigate the process. Faculty, administrators, and doctoral students will facilitate conversations and structured time to reflect about how to be successful in the doctoral experience. In addition to including time for networking with a variety of groups, this seminar will also expose attendees to different pathways that one can take after acquiring their doctorate.

Date: Sunday, March 16, 2025

Time: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET

The registration deadline is Thursday, February 6th. You can register at this link. If you have any questions, please email Dr. Jill Dunlap, Assistant Vice President for Research and Policy at [email protected].

The Doctoral Seminar is sponsored by Heartful Editor. For first time registrants of the 2025 Doctoral Seminar, Heartful Editor will provide a $100 gift to each participant to use for 2 hours of academic writing coaching and editing support at any time during their doctoral journey.

The NASPA Faculty Council is launching a social media initiative to highlight graduate students and faculty in our programs! Please nominate someone or self-nominate today!

Graduate student form

Faculty form

Spotlights will begin continue throughout the academic year. Questions? Email [email protected]

The NASPA Faculty Council is pleased to announce it is currently accepting applications for its Annual Awards. These awards are intended to recognize the extraordinary efforts and contributions to the profession through teaching, scholarship, and service made by full- and part-time faculty members. As you consider your nominations (including self-nominations), please note the general nomination criteria as well as the specific nomination critera for each award. Award winners will be recognized during the annual NASPA conference.

Nominate yourself or a colleague using this link. Application deadline for all awards is Tuesday, October 15th.

Faculty Service Award

The Faculty Council Service Award is presented to recognize an individual who has been committed to advancing the Faculty Council or Faculty/scholarly initiatives within NASPA.

Award Criteria:

• Any number of years of service to the profession or field (serving NASPA faculty and initiatives – beyond campus involvement; for example, leadership of and service on NASPA committees, mentoring sessions at conferences, service in NASPA regions, etc.)
• Service to the higher education/student affairs community (e.g., NASPA Knowledge Communities, outreach, other professional associations)
• Preference will be given toward nominees who have been involved in service related to the development of faculty and graduate preparation programs

Faculty Council Early Career Award

This award is given to a full-time faculty member (non-tenure/tenured/tenure-track) within the first 6 years of becoming a full-time faculty member that has distinguished themselves in research, teaching, and service. In particular, the award is reserved for an emergent scholar, who has produced evidence of published scholarly works in the student affairs profession/field, has established themselves as excellent teachers to their students, and who has contributed to the field through their service.

Award Criteria:

• Evidence of some scholarly work to the profession or field (for example, publications in student affairs journals, books or book chapters related to student affairs, scholarly presentations about student affairs at conferences or via webinars)
• Evidence of excellent and/or innovative teaching explained in nominating materials (for example, peer evaluations, formal and informal student course evaluations, institutional recognition, teaching philosophy statements, professional development related to teaching)
• Evidence of academic and professional mentoring of students; culminating project, thesis, or dissertation advising
• Evidence of participation in institutional, national, and/or community-engaged service  

Faculty Council Mid-Career Award

This award is given to a full-time faculty member (non-tenure/tenured/tenure-track) within the mid-faculty career stage (7 to 15 years since beginning as a full-time faculty member) that has distinguished themselves in research and teaching. In particular, the award is reserved for a scholar who has produced evidence of published scholarly works to the student affairs profession/field, has established themselves as excellent teachers to their students, and who has contributed to the field through their service.

Award Criteria:

• Evidence of significant scholarly work to the profession or field (for example, publications in student affairs journals, books or book chapters related to student affairs, scholarly presentations about student affairs at conferences or via webinars)
• Evidence of excellent and/or innovative teaching explained in nominating materials  (for example, peer evaluations, formal and informal student course evaluations, institutional recognition, teaching philosophy statements, professional development related to teaching)
• Evidence of academic and professional mentoring of students; culminating project, thesis, or dissertation advising
• Evidence of participation and leadership in institutional, national, and/or community-engaged service  
• Evidence of developing and mentoring early-career faculty members

Faculty Council Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Scholar-Practitioner

This award is given to a full-time professional in higher education/student affairs who has brought a wealth of current and relevant real-world experience into the classroom that has uniquely benefited the educational experience. This award also highlights the contributions that adjunct/part-time faculty members make to graduate preparation programs. 

Award Criteria:

• Evidence of sustained excellent and/or innovative teaching explained in nominating materials  (for example, peer evaluations, formal and informal student course evaluations, institutional recognition, teaching philosophy statements, professional development related to teaching)
• Evidence of contributions to graduate preparation programs (for example, student mentorship/advising, creating professional development opportunities, service on dissertation/project committees, assistantship/practicum supervision, other academic committees)

Faculty Council Excellence in Teaching Award

This award is given to a full-time faculty member at any rank who has demonstrated excellence, enthusiasm, and innovation in teaching, in any modality (e.g., face-to-face, hybrid, online).

Award Criteria:

• Evidence of sustained excellent and/or innovative teaching explained in nominating materials (for example, peer evaluations, formal and informal student course evaluations, institutional recognition, teaching philosophy statements, professional development related to teaching)
• Evidence of advancements in course curricula and/or course (re)design
• Evidence of use of equitable and inclusive pedagogy in the classroom 

Faculty Council Distinguished Support for Graduate Students Award

This award is given to a full-time faculty member at any rank who has demonstrated excellence in advising and exceptional support in fostering the personal, academic, and professional development of graduate students.

Award Criteria:

• Evidence of bolstering the holistic development of graduate students both during and after their time in a graduate preparation program, attending to their emotional and/or personal needs 
• Evidence of contributing to graduate students’ academic and professional success (for example, innovative and sustained advising, dissertations/theses chaired, presentations or publications co-authored with students, one-on-one and/or group mentorship on writing, job market preparation)

Faculty Council Outstanding Publication Award

This award recognizes publications released within the last 2 years that have the potential to advance the student affairs profession or graduate preparation programs. For this award, public scholarship (e.g., practice briefs, blog posts, editorials) and/or traditional academic scholarship (e.g., articles, books, book chapters) will be considered.

NOTE: This award may be awarded to multiple individuals involved in a single creative activity.

Award Criteria:

• Evidence of scholarly contributions that advance the field of student affairs and the student affairs profession.