Higher Education Administration Student Professional Association

We are looking for the next generation of leaders of the Higher Education Administration Student Personnel Association (HEASPA) for the 2012-2013 Academic year! If you are interested, please respond to this email by Thursday, March 1 at 5PM to Leora.Rockowitz@gmail.com and Bebukoski@gmail.com with your name, degree program, year in program and area(s) of HEASPA in which you would like to work. Feel free to list multiple positions and talk with us about the roles. Various areas of HEASPA are listed below and attached is a longer description of all positions:

Positions Available (One Doc/One Master’s ideally needed for all)
- HEASPA Chair
- Professional Development
- Social Planning
- New Student Orientation
- Budget and Fundraising
- Mentor Program (Collaborates with APSA)
- Social Media (HEASPA Blog, Social Media)
- Alumni Relations
- Other (Please describe)

After receiving these emails, current HEASPA will meet to vote on the 2012-2013 new board, and all officers will be notified via email of their acceptance. New officers will attend the April 3rd meeting, which takes place at noon in SZB 376.

Many thanks for participating in HEASPA, and we look forward to its continuing growth in the next year!

Your 2011-2012 HEASPA,
Jenn Estrada & Charles Lu, Social Planning
Cecilia Lopez & Stella Smith, Professional Development
Mykel Estes & Katie Pritchett, New Student Orientation
Stephanie LaMarca, Budget and Fundraising
Maggie Mahoney, Social Media
Adriane Reilly, Mentoring Chair
Beth Bukoski & Leora Rockowitz, HEASPA Co-Chairs

Mario Guerra from the Center for Teaching and Learning will be leading a one hour session for Student Affairs Practitioners regarding “Clickers in Student Affairs.” Clickers are a tech savvy way to spark discussion in large lecture rooms.

This presentation is useful for those who speak to students and are looking for innovative ways to engage them during presentations. Programs such as orientation, judicial services, and study abroad might might find this especially helpful.

When: Wednesday, February 29th
Time: Noon- 1pm
Location: Student Activities Center (SAC) Room 1.118
RSVP requested: Here

HEASPA is offering a wonderful professional development series this spring, with three events designed to answer some of the questions we all have but never have time to talk about in class. Please mark you calendars now and plan on attending these amazing professional development events!

1) How to Conduct a Literature Review
Featured Speaker: Dr. Martha Ovando
Thurs, March 1, 12-1:30 pm
SAC 3.112

2) Getting Published
Featuring a Panel Discussion of professors and grad students
Thurs., March 29, 12-1:30 pm
SAC 3.112

3) Exploring Career Paths
Featuring a Panel Discussion of recent graduates, professors, and student affairs professionals
Thurs., April 19th, 12-1:30 pm
SAC 3.112

The events are free and open to the public, so feel free to bring yourself, your lunch, and a friend! All events will feature issues of interest to both doctoral and master’s students.

President Bill Powers requested the assistance of the Liberal Arts Dean and others to compile a report on UT graduation rates. This report recommends ways to increase 4-year graduation here on the 40 acres to 70%. Dr. Powers wrote:

Few actions we could take as a university would benefit students, parents, and the University itself as much as increasing our four-year graduation rate. Timely graduation means a more affordable education for students and their families and would give more students access to a University of Texas education. Although our four-year graduation rate of 50 percent is the highest of any public university in Texas, we must aspire to more. It is no coincidence that the most prestigious universities also have the highest graduation rates, and if we want to become the best public university in America, we must target this issue.

In total, the task force made more than 60 recommendations. Among them:

-Requiring orientation for all incoming first-year students

-Creating an online tool to better allow students and advisors to monitor progress to a degree

-Developing more intervention programs to identify and assist students in academic jeopardy

-Identifying “bottleneck” courses where limited seats can create challenges for students pursuing a required path to graduation

-Helping students commit to a major and avoid adding a second major if requirements cannot be met within four years

-Creating flat-rate summer tuition to encourage students to take a full academic load

-Increasing tuition for students who have not graduated despite earning more than the required number of credits

Some of these, such as mandatory freshman orientation, will be implemented immediately. Others will need additional input from faculty and staff.

Raising our graduation rates by 20 points in half a decade is an audacious goal. It will require the focused effort of both administrators and students to make it happen. But I’m convinced the benefits will repay the effort many times over.

This report brings to light the highly discussed “completion agenda” and indicates that it will be an influencing factor on university for years to come.

To read the report, you can go to http://www.utexas.edu/graduation-rates

Thank you to everyone who supported and attended UT’s 2nd annual Professional Development Day. Co-hosted by the Academic Counselors Association and the Association of Professionals in Student Affairs here at UT, there were a grand total of 239 professionals in attendance. The conference was held in UT’s Student Activity Center and the theme was focused around “Mapping a Sustainable Future.” There were presentations from graduate students as well as full time student affairs professionals. A keynote speech was given by Dr. Mary Steinhardt. Her speech focused on transforming lives through resilience education, and she left us with many memorable quotes, including: “Life is short. You wanna spend time with people that light your life up.”

Thank you to everyone who participated, and we hope for an even bigger and better PDD next year!

As higher ed students seek internships for a summer internship experience begins, HEASPA is reaching out to all members to help update and grow our current HEASPA Internship Database.

If you are a graduate of our program and/or current student affairs professional at UT or at a different institution…
Please help us by posting an internship opportunity that’s currently available at your institution/office under the corresponding sheet/tab on the database. If an opportunity isn’t available but if you are open to having an intern in your office, please let us know as well.

If you are a current student and you’ve completed an internship that may be available again or you are willing to put a fellow colleague in touch with your contact… Please help us by posting as well!

If you are a current student seeking an internship…
Please visit the database frequently along with the HEASPA website for the latest postings! A tab on National Internship Programs is also included.

If you know of any internship opportunities please don’t hesitate to send it on the list serv and/or post it to the database. All openings, paid or unpaid are welcome. The database can be edited by anyone with the link, so please feel free to update any information for your department that may no longer be relevant on this database to ensure it is as current as possible.

Again, you can access the HEASPA Internship Database here.

Thank you so much for your help in compiling opportunities for our higher ed students to continue to grow their experiences in our field!

For questions on this, you can contact:
Cecilia Lopez, Professional Development Co-Chair, HEASPA
cecilia.lopez at utexas.edu