TABLE OF CONTENTS
Updates from the Regional Director
Call for Awards Submissions
Looking Ahead: Site Visit Sparks Excitement for November Conference Montclair
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome to the ACUI Region VII Newsletter, where I hope you’ll find everything you need to stay up to date on the happenings of Region VII. If you’re a seasoned ACUI Veteran, I hope you continue to find the community, connections, and development you’ve known for years. If you’re new to ACUI, I hope you, like me, realize how great of a family ACUI and Region VII can be in supporting your personal and professional development.
Inside this issue you’ll learn about how Region VII continues to provide innovative educational programming, as well as learn more about how this year’s Conference Planning Team is preparing for our November Conference.
In Campus Community, Zac
Lomas
Communications Coordinator, ACUI Region VII
Updates From the Regional Director
Anthony Otero
Regional Director Rutgers University - New Brunswick
Hola Mi Gente,
Can you believe it’s August already? Where did the time fly my friends? Hopefully, you’ve all had the opportunity to get some rest and enjoy life Personally, I have had the privilege to visit the Ohio State Union and the Rutgers University - Camden Campus Center. These unions have reinvigorated my sense of what community is on the college campus Sometimes we get bogged down with every day life at universities without seeing the full picture Let me paint that picture for you.
Everything we do is for students. That includes events, reservations, room set ups, pictures that we hang on our walls, the organizing of our storage spaces, and the overall design of our spaces. All of these have a significant impact on how our students see themselves with a sense
of community. While that is a very short list in the long line of things that we achieve in our spaces, it goes to show that the College Union idea is very much alive and well
I would be remiss to say that within our vibrant community exists a sense of warmth infused in everything we do. That is why I am very pleased that our third annual Grad & Grow program was such a success Also with our Mental Health Program at Montclair State being well attended and your donations for Region VII Giving Day shows me that we continue to be innovative in our region.
Updates From the Regional Director
The sharing of ideas is crucial as we get closer to the start of the semester. We should remind ourselves that community is important The spaces that we provide along with the sense of warmth that can be felt will play a key role in how our students survive November.
Hopefully this issue of the newsletter will provide a little bit of excitement of what is to come as we reach the final leg of our programming for the regional conference at West Chester University.
I hope to see you there and have a great fall semester
Anthony Otero Region VII Director
Call for Awards Submissions
Consider Nominating a Peer Today!
Our work is often thankless - countless hours spent answering emails, working late night or early morning events, and stretching budgets to “make it work” - but it doesn’t have to be completely thankless!
We all know someone, maybe even ourselves, who has gone above and beyond in the past year in their role with either their institution or with ACUI or both! So, consider nominating them for an ACUI award, as awards are now open for ACUI-wide awards through November 20th and more information regarding Regional Awards will be coming shortly.
Greene, of Marymount Manhattan College, winner of the 2024 Revis A Cox Memorial Award
To nominate someone for an ACUI-wide award, please visit: https://acui.org/awards/ for information about awards and the form to submit.
Hayden
LookingAhead:SiteVisitSparks ExcitementforNovember Conference
The summer is a time filled with vacations, trips “down the shore” (for those in NJ), baseball games, and time away from the chaos of the academic year, but for the Region VII Conference Planning Team, the summer was also a time to start kicking things into gear in anticipation of the fall Regional Conference.
On June 11th, the CPT made their way to the college town of West Chester, PA to take in the sights of Sykes Student Union - the home of the 2024 Region VII Conference. Welcomed by the all-star team of professionals at Sykes, the CPT broke the ice with one another and their host team, as well as taking a tour of the campus and surrounding areas
Conference Chair, Kraemer Clayton of The George Washington University, noted about this year’s conference location that “West Chester is home to so many wonderful colleagues and friends who are behind the scenes investing their time
and energy towards our region ”
Throughout the tour, members of the CPT pointed out aspects of the campus or the Sykes Student Union that excited them and potential ways to build it into the conference experience.
Eyes widened, fingers pointed, and ideas were eagerly tossed back and forth as the group of volunteers scoped out the venue spaces and locales in town, envisioning the ways it would bring their conference to life in November.
Mustafa Sabuur, this year’s Entertainment Coordinator, remarked on how “The town itself was so much fun to be around and to explore” as well as noting how Sykes Student Union is “beautiful.”
Over a hearty lunch, volunteers and the host team continued connecting, sharing laughs, and bouncing ideas off of one another about
LookingAhead:SiteVisitSparks ExcitementforNovember Conference
how to make the conference experience valuable for students and professional staff alike
This brainstorming energy continued well after lunch as the CPT and host team partnered to generate ideas for what they wanted to see in November Clayton emphasized how her team “was able to connect, explore and dig into the logistics of our regional conference ”
Additionally, the team tackled the daunting task of building out an entire 3-day schedule while managing the various needs of attendees and juggling the competing parts of the conference Like watching a family put together a puzzle, the shape of the schedule slowly coalesced into something every team member was proud of, with CPT members glowing at the work they accomplished
Sabuur was particularly excited to add “student organization performances to the conference,” noting how “This is my second time in the role and I want to provide a different experience than before The conference has a focus on students and I would love to highlight the amazing students at West Chester ”
Both Clayton and Sabuur remarked on how excited they are to connect with members of the Region at this year’s conference, with Clayton sharing that “I am the most excited for our attendees to come together and connect with us as a planning team and see the wonderful opportunities we have in store for them!”
Similarly, Sabuur shared that “This conference is a magical time that brings everyone together Region VII has so many incredible people both student wise and professionally ”
He also shared his excitement for how regional conferences can be a great refresher, noting that “what I love the most about attending our Region VII conferences is how much it re-energizes me The academic year can be tough and challenging, but the conference can help attendees return to their campuses refreshed ”
After hours of bonding, gaining a feel for the town and the host institution, the CPT had clearly accomplished a lot and walked away feeling proud and excited for the Regional Conference in November!
From left to right: CPT Members Ace Walker, Travis Houtz, Emily Inserra, and Brianna Donnelly walk through the town of West Chester, closely followed by the rest of the team
LookingAhead:SiteVisitSparks ExcitementforNovember Conference
While more information will continue to be shared via email, social media, and the Region VII Website, below you’ll find some preliminary information about the conference:
Theme: Together
Dates: November 7-9, 2024 West Chester University Registration open now through October 18th Early Bird Registration closes September 20th
Pricing is as follows:
The conference hotel will be Hotel Warner (120 N High St, West Chester, PA 19380) In order to receive the conference rate, you must make your reservations directly with the hotel by calling 610-692-6920 and identifying yourself / group as being part of: “ACUI –Association College Union International.” Pricing will be announced in the near future, stay tuned!
Education session proposals are now open and can be submitted by visiting here
See you in November!
The CPT and Host Team meet at West Chester University, brainstorming ideas for this year’s regional conference
Vendor & Sponsorship Coordinator for this year’s CPT, Mike Golze, of the University of Maryland - College Park, horses around with some light reading before the start of the site visit
MontclairProfessionalsPut TheoryintoPracticewithMental HealthFirstAid
So often in student affairs graduate coursework, students are encouraged to become scholarpractitioners and to continue contributing to the field in addition to the ways they impact students on a day-to-day basis This imperative is, of course, much easier said than done, as professionals are constantly asked to volunteer or voluntold to do extra tasks, sit on committees, and balance the ever-changing needs of the students they serve
However, at Montclair State University, Antonio Talamo, Casey Coleman, and Emily Inserra are bucking that trend and not only serving their students, but providing academic insight into how faculty can better support the mental health of students
All three professionals are not only certified as Mental Health First Aiders, but also as trainers
that can share their knowledge and certify others Recently they’ve not only helped to train faculty on their campus, but Talamo and Inserra also led a training for members of Region VII in June
Inserra, who helped lead the training for Region VII with Talamo, reflected on this opportunity in particular, stating: “That was an amazing opportunity and I am so thankful to have been a part of it It fostered great conversations about mental health support at different schools within our region It was truly a way for us to connect with other professionals and share information and resources with each other Those who attended seemed to really enjoy the opportunity I would encourage everyone who works with students to take part in this training if they have the chance ”
Coleman emphasizes that “our students are struggling and I uses the skills I’ve learned
MontclairProfessionalsPut TheoryintoPracticewithMental HealthFirstAid
Frequently The program encourages you to think about Mental Health First Aid as similar to CPR or first aid training It's helpful to have more tools in your toolbelt It's also about destigmatizing things, by being more open I feel like I'm helping create a more positive outlook on mental health ”
For Inserra, her Office runs a mentorship program for incoming first-year and transfer commuter students, so she notes “I love how I can use the skills I have learned to not only assist incoming students, but also help our mentors to become more empathetic and understanding leaders It has also helped me learn how to be a more empathetic and understanding supervisor to the mentors ”
These trainings have not just allowed the trio of Coleman, Inserra, and Talamo to support their students and Region VII directly, but also faculty on their campus Coleman notes that “Antonio Talamo and I are often specifically tapped to train faculty and staff and it's been really nice making deeper
connections and helping the faculty learn more holistic ways to approach mental health. It's been a nice way to bridge the gap between academic affairs and student affairs ”
Inserra notes of her connections with those same faculty that “I think what I love about this training is how appreciative those who get trained are of the opportunity Those who sign up don't necessarily realize the scope and depth of this training, but everyone comes in with an open mind This allows for us to have important conversations and also allows staff and faculty across campus who do not interact on a daily basis to connect with each other.”
After helping to bring the importance of mental health first aid to their students and faculty, Coleman and Talamo were able to partner with Dr Blanca Elizabeth Vega from their institution’s higher education program to take their work and turn it into publicized research to share with other professionals.
Coleman speaking to students at Montclair State University
From left to right: Antonio Talamo and attendees at the Region VII Mental Health First Aid Training at Montclair State University
MontclairProfessionalsPut TheoryintoPracticewith MentalHealthFirstAid
The result of this collaboration was an article on the importance of Mental Health Training in Faculty Development in ACPA’s quarterly online publication, Developments, which connects practitioners to current issues, trends, and scholarship in higher education and student affairs
While publishing is often a daunting task, it’s important that our ground level work is translated into research and used to further educate the next generation of student affairs professionals, as well as our peers across the region and association-wide.
Coleman asserts that the process of publishing takes a village, stating that “Dr Vega is phenomenal and she really pushed us She understood how beneficial this information could be beyond our campus.
It took a lot of work and time but we kept at it, there were many hands in on that and I'm grateful for my colleagues that made that call ”
As a final piece of mental health advice, both Coleman and Inserra wanted to share with Region VII members the following words of advice:
Coleman: “Let's stop stigmatizing mental health challenges!
Inserra: “Don't forget to prioritize your own mental health too ”
From left to right: Antonio Talamo, Casey Coleman, and Emily Inserra
Grad&GrowBloomsinThird YearofSignatureProgram
The ACUI Core Competency for Student Learning focuses on ability to create educational environments and experiences, grounded in theory and its application to practice, that intentionally provide students with opportunities for development After three years of the Region VII Grad & Grow Institute, it’s safe to say that Region VII has supported this competency completely
This year’s one day conference for graduate students and their supervisors, was hosted at Rutgers University - Camden on July 25th and saw over 50 attendees expand their knowledge base and learn from one another
The Grad & Grow Institute was the brainchild of Region VII Education Coordinator Antonio Talamo, who notes that “When I became the Education Coordinator I had the very specific goal to
rejuvenate the field and create specific training and pathways for graduate students. I believe that this will in turn stimulate the members at their institution which would then promote engagement at regional conferences.”
Student Involvement Coordinator and Regional Director - Elect Chrissie Taylor echoes this sentiment, noting how she sees Grad & Grow “as a recruiting tool for getting people involved in our region from an early start. Once they attend, and build those relationships, it’s easier for them to volunteer in the region or ACUI overall.”
As a student-focused program, the event is intentional in meeting the needs of the graduate students in Region VII and does so by actively including them in the planning of the event
This year, the Grad & Grow committee included
ThirdYearofSignature Program
four graduate students, Alia Elbanna (Rowan University), Angelica Martinez (Montclair State University), Lex Robinson (Rowan University), and Shaileen Woods (Rowan University), in addition to Talamo, Taylor, and Region VII Member Experience Coordinator Megan Waldrop
For Elbanna, the path to planning this year’s conference, started when she first attended the inaugural edition of Grad & Grow in 2022 and reached out to Antonio to become involved, afterwards serving on both the 2023 and 2024 committee
For Woods, she saw her peers were presenting at the conference and “was inspired and immediately told Chrissie and Antonio that I wanted to be a part of this! They were so gracious in remembering me and integrated me into the fold and before I knew it I was meeting with the team every other week to talk about how we could make the next Grad & Grow the best!”
Members of the committee remarked on the collaborative nature of the planning effort, with Elbanna emphasizing that it was “nice to see multiple different perspectives represented on the committee, from professional staff to both first and second year graduate students Talamo, echoed this, noting how “I can always count on the grads on the committee to provide more recent and culturally relevant perspectives . . .
the marketing, to the education sessions offered and even the networking experiences all came from the graduate students who helped plan it ”
Elbanna was also struck by the way Grad & Grow opens new doors for graduate students, sharing that one of her personal favorite aspects of the conference is “the opportunity that Grad & Grow gives for students to present professionally (myself included last year!) ”
Woods, serving on the intergenerational panel during this year’s Grad & Grow
Throughout this year’s Institute, graduate students and their supervisors each followed along their respective tracks, meeting together in the middle of the day for an intergenerational panel featuring Woods, Aolani Ramos (New Jersey Institute of Technology), NaQuan Redd (Rutgers University - New Brunswick), and Clayton Kolb (West Chester University).
Grad & Grow Institute Committee Member Shaileen
Grad&GrowBloomsin ThirdYearofSignature Program
The panel allowed graduates to delve further into what the progression from graduate student to professionals staff member looks like and offering a way for them to add those insights into their own career blueprint
As mentioned earlier, Grad & Grow is not simply focused on graduate students, but also their supervisors and how they can support graduate students’ development Talamo, emphasized that early on in the conception of Grad & Grow they discovered “that supervisors wanted to attend sessions to learn how they could better support graduate students In fact, about a third of our registrants have been supervisors With that in mind, I believe that we couldn't do our jobs without our graduate students and we owe it to them to support and challenge them. Some people never had great mentorship and supervision and therefore may not know how to do the same ”
Throughout the day, supervisors were able to attend sessions on leveraging colleague expertise to further the graduate experience, inclusive leadership, and a roundtable on supervising graduate students
Both students and supervisors alike were able to benefit from numerous networking opportunities throughout the event, an aspect emphasized by multiple members of the planning committee
Taylor noted that “from our evaluations last year, the attendees asked for more time to network and build relationships. This year, we were quite intentional with breaking attendees into groups from the very beginning so they were encouraged to speak with new people and not just who they came to the conference with Not only that, we had a specific session that focused on relationship building, where we encouraged them to make LinkedIn connections with each other.”
Rutgers - Camden graduate student and Graduate Program Coordinator for Residence Life, Kayla
speaks during a portion of Grad & Grow
Woods also reflected on the ability to connect with fellow graduate students and professional staff, stating: “I think it really is the best way to start networking in a non-stuffy environment, where there is no pressure to say the "right" thing . . . if graduate students take advantage, [Grad & Grow] really gives you the tools to get out of your comfort zone ”
Daley,
ThirdYearofSignature Program
Both Talamo and Taylor also want to highlight that the relationships built at the conference don’t have to, and should not, end when folks return to their respective institutions.
Talamo, in his role as Education Coordinator for Region VII, recently helped launch a new mentorship program within Region VII, which, according to him, will “match graduate students to mentors in the field.”
Taylor also eager to plug this new program, emphasized that “we have invited them all to be a part of our new OWLS mentorship program, where we will connect them with a mentor for the upcoming year.”
OWLS stands for: Opportunity for Wisdom, Learning, & Support and Talamo’s team will be matching folks towards the end of August Their hope is that a relationship is formed leading up to the regional conference and to have an official meet up there!
Even those unable to make the conference can participate and their goal is for graduate students to feel connected to ACUI, learn information that they may not be privy to (such as scholarships, committees, and such), and ultimately feel supported along the way
If you are interested in serving as a mentor, please complete the form for mentors, here If you are interested in being a mentee, you can complete the form for mentees, here
Furthermore, Taylor is thrilled with how Grad & Grow has served as a model for ACUI as a whole, noting that “one of the proudest moments of Grad & Grow is that the rest of the ACUI community is seeing the work that the region is doing and because of our work, this program will likely be spread throughout the ACUI organization It’s exciting to lay the foundation for a new initiative that supports the strategic pillars directly ” Talamo is also excited to see how Region VII can continue to support other populations, noting that “in September, we will begin the planning for mid-level professionals Anyone interested in being a part of that committee, e-mail talamoa@montclair edu ”
Altogether, Region VII is proud to continue leading the way with this signature program and to continue building community with our graduate students, one connection at a time!
Upcoming Region VII Programs & Events
9/19/2024
Looking for a way to connect with your Region VII colleagues between conferences? Join us for our bimonthly Lunch and Learn Zoom series. The goal of this program series is to better connect with each other over the lunch block and to have each session be a different roundtable discussion topic These sessions are meant to be informal and really focus on continuing to build our regional community
Our next Lunch and Learn is Thursday, September 19 from 12 - 1 PM on the topic of Fall Programming
To join, simply join the Zoom, here: https://acuiorg.zoom.us/j/95742042414? pwd=clFpUm1xZ3NiZGF2alB6Skx0UFZVdz09
Congratulations, Neela & Phil
Region VII would like to wish its upmost congratulations to two stalwart union professionals and ACUI volunteers, Neela Patel and Dr. Phillip Smith, who started the next step of their student affairs love story when they tied the knot in July
We wish you many years of love, happiness, and look forward to seeing you both continue to serve ACUI!
We understand that sometimes folks in ACUI use acronyms or terms that not all members are familiar with. While we try our hardest to avoid this, you still may hear these terms and phrases and not be sure what they mean. To help everyone stay in-theknow, here is a glossary of commonly used ACUI acronyms or terms that you may hear in the future.
ACUI - The abbreviation for Association of College Unions International Annual Conference - Association-wide meeting held each year
Board of Trustees - Volunteers that work on determining and advancing strategic directions, governing over long-term goals, representing the association to other members, and setting the tone for member experience
The Bulletin - ACUI’s online member magazine
CAS - Council for the Advancement of Standards
CO - Central Office
Community of Practice - A term referring to networks of members that share a common interest.
CPT - Conference Planning Team (team planning Regional conferences or could refer to Conference Program Team (team planning annual Conference)
CUPSI - The abbreviation for College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational
ERF - Education and Research Fund
ILEAD® - Institute for Leadership Education and Development, I-LEAD® is ACUI’s premier student program, designed to emphasize the key concept areas of leadership, community development, and change
IPDS - IPDS: New Professionals Orientation is an introduction to the profession that offers ample idea sharing, discussion of theory and skills, and opportunities to network
RD - Regional Director Regional directors serve as the chief administrator of their region, representing regional activities to other ACUI leaders and members.
Region VII - ACUI is broken down into eight separate regions that cover the globe. Region VII is made up of Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland , New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Quebec.
RLT - Regional Leadership Team
VDT - Volunteer Development Team
Wanttobefeaturedinthe NewsletteroronSocialMedia?
As communication coordinators, Dom Hannon and I, have a goal to consistently provide our Region VII members with content about our members, events, student unions, and more.
However, we can’t do that without you! Our members are the lifeblood of our Region and so we want to hear your stories, your successes, see your building, and more. To be featured just fill out our content form which can be found by scanning the QR code on this page.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
-Zac Lomas
Scan Here or Click the Link Below to Submit to Be Featured in the Newsletter or on Region VII’s Social Media
https://go.rutgers.edu/vquwjsvs