Newsletter March 2018 Volume 2 Issue 1
In This Issue
By Vinny Jackson, University of Delaware You might be saying to yourself, “Did I miss the newsletters in September, October, November, December, and January?” Well, you didn’t, but I did. I apologize for the delay but I have wonderful news! There is a new newsletter! In this issue, we have a recap of the 2017 Regional Conference at University of Maryland– Baltimore County as well as the 2017 I-LEAD® experiences at both locations. While it’s a little shorter than the last few newsletters, I’m hoping to get a little more regular with them. As always, if you are interested in contributing to the newsletter or would like to highlight something from your campus, then email vincee@udel.edu or hit us up on one of our ACUI Region VII social media accounts. -Vinny
Greetings from the Regional Director Dear Region VII, I hope the start of the semester has been smooth and successful so far for everyone. Region VII is looking forward to a productive and engaging 2018 where we can continue to connect with our members and provide opportunities of sharing, learning, and networking. Some of the great things we have planned for this year are: • Region VII Town Hall in late March or early April (date will be announced soon). At the Town Hall, we are looking to connect and gain feedback from our members so we can serve you better. • Creating a comprehensive education plan for the region between the online learning and in-person learning. • Engage with members via social media and also highlight the accomplishments of our member institutions and membership. There is a lot of great work ACUI Region VII 2
happening in our region, and we will try to share the wins of our members. • Engage with our non-traditional four year institutions, and continue to find ways to ensure we are providing an inclusive experience for all. • Continue to provide scholarships for the premier student program, I-LEAD®. Keep an eye out for application and deadline information. The Conference Planning Team for the 2018 Regional Conference is already hard work in developing another Regional Conference, even though it feels like we just came back from Baltimore. Save the dates: November 1–4! Preconference activities starton November 1 and the closing banquet will be on November 3. See you at Pennsylvania State University! Region VII is also very excited to see the 2018 CUPSI being hosted at one of our members school, Temple University starting April 4. Registration is now open. Finally, we look forward to seeing many of you in Anaheim at the Annual Conference. Can we bring the Battle of the Regions trophy back home? There are several ways you can participate and try for a repeat! As members, your feedback and ideas are encouraged and appreciated so please feel free to reach out to me at neela.patel@rutgers.edu. Sincerely,
-Neela Patel
Regional Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 1 3
2017 Regional Conference
By Jen Grossman Leopard, The Pennsylvania State University Once again, our ACUI Region VII family came together in early November to learn, grow, and share knowledge with one another. From November 2–4, 2017, the University of Maryland–Baltimore County invited us into their facilities and served as a wonderful host. The Regional Conference Planning Team began working in January 2017 with a vision of empowering and connecting our community through professional development, student learning, and the cultivation of identity awareness in an inclusive, creative, and service-oriented environment. For 11 months, the Regional Conference Planning Team met regularly to put together programs, educational sessions, keynote addresses, and more to fulfill this vision. Through our work, we continued already established regional traditions and experimented with some new initiatives. As we gathered in Baltimore on Thursday evening, our first arrivals joined the Regional Conference Planning Team and Regional Leadership Team for a student and staff social at the BWI Marriott, our host hotel. We kicked off Friday morning with a new Fund$ for Fitne$$ program with Aqua Zumba. Once we arrived on campus, we opened with an incredibly dynamic speaker, Justin Jones-Fosu. Jones-Fosu shared impact messages along with some fabulous music and dancing. The rest of Friday included 3 educational session blocks, our community service project, and we continue the new tradition of Building Bridges. The community service project was with Baltimore’s Art with a Heart. Art with a Heart looks to enhance the lives of people in need through visual art. Our participants helped to prepare materials and complete projects ACUI Region VII 4
#acuirvii17 for their community partners. Friday night also provided some fabulous Karaoke entertainment in The Commons’ “Flat Tuesdays” pub. Saturday morning’s 5K Fund$ for Fitne$$ had participants travel along the local park trail near the BWI airport. While the run started before sunrise...oops...the experience provided a beautiful scene once the sun decided to join us. Our morning keynote address was given by Paul Gordon Brown and brought us to the campus Fine Arts Building. Throughout the day we had another three educational sessions, the Vendor Expo, and our inaugural Graduate Student Case Study Poster Session. We had four great submissions to the case study competition, however, congratulations go to our winners, Sadie Firstencel & Ray Webb from the University at Albany. The conference closed with our annual closing banquet where we announced our regional awards, gave thanks to our fabulous Regional Conference Planning Team and to our outgoing Regional Leadership Team members, and held our high energy live auction. Serving as the Region VII conference coordinator was an honor, and I learned a great deal about myself and working with volunteers. If you have even the slightest leaning towards serving as a volunteer for this association, I wholeheartedly recommend you follow that instinct. To those who attended the conference, thank you and I hope you walked away with something new to take with you. To those of you who were unable to attend, I hope to see you at next year’s conference at Penn State!
Regional Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 1 5
Student Perspective
I-LEAD® 2017 UMass Lowell By Scott To, SUNY–New Paltz
I did not know what I was getting myself into when I signed up for ACUI’s I-LEAD®. I have only heard about it from two of my supervisors, one who has been a regional director and another who has been a student participant who has also received a scholarship. Since both of them recommended me to attend I-LEAD®, I figured why not. The experience that I had at the institute is hard to explain in words. But if I had to, I would say something like this. I had a wonderful experience. It included meeting new people, making new friends, and having the necessary tools to improve myself as a leader back on campus and in my future career. Yes, there were times that I wished I had more sleep, but every minute I spent awake and learning was a minute well spent. All the workshops were well tied into the schedule, the small groups were a great experience from the large group. Essentially, all the experiences I had at the institute made me think about how I can apply the skills that I am learning to become a better leader back on campus. The institute in and of itself is like a thrill ride where the ending is non-existent because all that you learn can be applied to the rest of your life. So when I say prepare, what I mean by that is be prepared for the ride of your life.
Small Group Facilitator Perspective I-LEAD® 2017 Kansas State University
During onsite facilitator training, one of the most important concepts we were taught was to encourage the students to challenge themselves and be vulnerable; to take their “cool caps” off, and be their true and authentic selves. “The students will get out of this experience what they put into it” was a common phrase heard in our training room. In the spirit of modeling the way, I too took off my “cool cap” and tried to be mindful of where I could take risks with myself. Through long hours, exhaustion, and many, many delayed flights, I can confirm that the sentiment is in fact true; putting your whole self into the I-LEAD® experience provides an abundance of learning, growth, and friendships in return. Being vulnerable during this experience helped me to have some ah–ha moments like realizing that I often feel like an impostor moving through the field hoping no one will call me out on what I don’t know. In that same vein, I was nervous about how the small group experience would go. Would the students like me? Would the students respond to my questions? Would my co-facilitator and I get along? Would the students learn anything from me? Would my students call me out on what I don’t know? The answer to all of those questions was yes and I am thankful for the space and support to explore what that meant for me and my personal and professional development. I-LEAD® helped me to remember and reflect upon my leadership journey and find confidence in my experience, skills, and abilities. Dr. Seuss said “there is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Everyone’s story and leadership path is unique. If we take the time to consider our own course, and truly appreciate others’ pathways, we can build community around each other by embracing our distinctive experience (just like we did over the six days of I-LEAD®). What an awesome world we could create! Kristen Mruk is the assistant director of student activities at Genesee Community College cand can be reached at kemruk@ genesee.edu. She uses the pronouns She, Her, Hers.
Scott To is a mechanical engineering student at the SUNY–New Paltz and uses the pronouns He, Him, His.
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Regional Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 1 7
Region VII in Baltimore
Photo Credit: Hayden Greene, Manhattan College
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Regional Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 1 9
Introducing the 2018 Conference Planning Team...
Kerry Spicer 2018 Conference Coordinator
Michael MacStudy Entertainment & Student Engagement
Ashley Venneman Registration
Kellen Williams Logistics & Mobile Guide ACUI Region VII 10
Cara White Marketing & Communication
Kaitlin Shaginaw Education Coordinator
Olivia Lynch Keynotes & Volunteerism Andrea Jenkins Exhibits & Vendors
Tiffany Brodner Fundraising
Stephanie Pelham Fundraising
Mary Edgington Host Coordinator
Susan Lechtanski Host Coordinator
Kait Howarth 2019 Conference Coordinator Regional Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 1 11
Regional Leadership Team
REGIONAL DIRECTOR Neela Patel Rutgers University Phone: 848.445.3561 neela.patel@rutgers.edu 2018 REGIONAL CONFERENCE COORDINATOR Kerry Spicer University at Buffalo Phone: 716.645.2055 kspicer@buffalo.edu
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Vincent Jackson University of Delaware Phone: 302.831.2119 vincee@udel.edu
2019 REGIONAL CONFERENCE COORDINATOR Kaitlyn Howarth Temple University Phone: 215.204.7131 kaitlyn.howarth@temple.edu
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS COORDINATOR Jennifer Grossman Leopard Pennsylvania State University– University Park Phone: 814.863.4624 jbg165@psu.edu
AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS COORDINATOR Yakima Melton Rutgers University Phone: 848.445.1314 ym275@echo.rutgers.edu
INCLUSIVITY COORDINATOR Anthony Otero Barnard College Phone: 212.854.6478 aotero@barnard.edu
BUSINESS MANAGER David Marquis George Washington University Phone: 202.994.3115 dmarquis@gwu.edu
MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR Adriane Reilly Temple University Phone: 215.204.7131 adriane.reilly@temple.edu
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ONLINE LEARNING COORDINATOR Kiley Cinelli The College of New Jersey Phone: 609.771.2331 mccullok@tcnj.edu STUDENT INVOLVEMENT COORDINATOR Melissa Ulmer Rowan University Phone: 856.256.5197 Ulmer@rowan.edu VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR Katie Junot University of the District of Columbia Phone: 202.274.6317 katie.junot@udc.edu WEB AND SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR NaQuan Redd West Chester University Phone: 610.436.3347 Nredd@wcupa.edu