Enhancing Career Pathways & Well-Being: Insights from NASPA Strategies Conference

Now, the two of you come together to form a super team that is leading the work of NASPA Strategies.

And this year, I understand Strategies is going to have some new flair to it.

So I'm hoping we can start with what is the Strategies Conference for our members who may not be familiar?

Yeah, I can start us off.

The NASFA Strategies Conferences brings together five different conferences in one.

And so folks have the opportunity to attend sessions in a variety of health, safety, and well-being areas.

And so the five conferences that we host as part of this event are the Alcohol, Other Drug, and Violence Prevention Conference, the Mental Health Conference, the Peer Education Conference, the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Conference, and the Well-Being and Health Promotion Leadership Conference.

And so by offering all five conferences as one event, we're able to have folks attend sessions that relate to probably one of the many hats that they wear on campus.

And we know that folks are not working solely, often not working solely in one of these areas, but can get the professional development they need across all these content areas.

And I'll just chime in that two years ago, we brought what was formerly known as General Assembly under the conference's umbrella and renamed it the Peer Education Conference.

And that's a really great opportunity for undergraduate students.

We had almost 400 registered for the conference last year.

And it's a really wonderful opportunity not only for students to come and learn from their peers, to present sessions for their peers, but to attend sessions from all of the other tracks.

So it really is that next step opportunity for undergraduate student leaders to gain some expertise in topical areas, to connect professionally with peers and possible mentors from across the country and really feel valued in their role as peer educators on campus.

And I emphasize something you both have mentioned, which is there are five conferences happening simultaneously, but you're not locked into one of the tracks.

You can say, I want to pick a session on peer education now, but the next session might be on mental health.

I can switch to a sexual violence prevention session.

So as mentioned, you might be someone who's focused on health promotion more broadly or prevention work or healthy campus work more broadly and really benefit from this particular environment because you're also connecting with professionals who may have those broad portfolio elements like you have.

Yeah.

And I really think that if I think about topical areas that are often siloed on their campus, the Strategies Conference is a really great opportunity to build connections.

We know Gallup says that to feel valued and healthy at work, you need to have a work bestie.

And so being able to find that person, make that connection, that is one of the goals at Strategies.

And whether that's someone at your own institution who works at a different functional area or someone who works in your same functional area at a different institution, That is one of the really value adds to attending strategies.

I often think about the compliance person or the sexual violence prevention person who is just doing very specific work.

And then they come to strategies and they understand the intersection of alcohol use and sexual violence prevention.

Now, the two of you come together to form a super team that is leading the work of NASPA Strategies.

And this year, I understand Strategies is going to have some new flair to it.

So I'm hoping we can start with what is the Strategies Conference for our members who may not be familiar?

Yeah, I can start us off.

The NASFA Strategies Conferences brings together five different conferences in one.

And so folks have the opportunity to attend sessions in a variety of health, safety, and well-being areas.

And so the five conferences that we host as part of this event are the Alcohol, Other Drug, and Violence Prevention Conference, the Mental Health Conference, the Peer Education Conference, the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Conference, and the Well-Being and Health Promotion Leadership Conference.

And so by offering all five conferences as one event, we're able to have folks attend sessions that relate to probably one of the many hats that they wear on campus.

And we know that folks are not working solely, often not working solely in one of these areas, but can get the professional development they need across all these content areas.

And I'll just chime in that two years ago, we brought what was formerly known as General Assembly under the conference's umbrella and renamed it the Peer Education Conference.

And that's a really great opportunity for undergraduate students.

We had almost 400 registered for the conference last year.

And it's a really wonderful opportunity not only for students to come and learn from their peers, to present sessions for their peers, but to attend sessions from all of the other tracks.

So it really is that next step opportunity for undergraduate student leaders to gain some expertise in topical areas, to connect professionally with peers and possible mentors from across the country and really feel valued in their role as peer educators on campus.

And I emphasize something you both have mentioned, which is there are five conferences happening simultaneously, but you're not locked into one of the tracks.

You can say, I want to pick a session on peer education now, but the next session might be on mental health.

I can switch to a sexual violence prevention session.

So as mentioned, you might be someone who's focused on health promotion more broadly or prevention work or healthy campus work more broadly and really benefit from this particular environment because you're also connecting with professionals who may have those broad portfolio elements like you have.

Yeah.

And I really think that if I think about topical areas that are often siloed on their campus, the Strategies Conference is a really great opportunity to build connections.

We know Gallup says that to feel valued and healthy at work, you need to have a work bestie.

And so being able to find that person, make that connection, that is one of the goals at Strategies.

And whether that's someone at your own institution who works at a different functional area or someone who works in your same functional area at a different institution, That is one of the really value adds to attending strategies.

I often think about the compliance person or the sexual violence prevention person who is just doing very specific work.

And then they come to strategies and they understand the intersection of alcohol use and sexual violence prevention.