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3 reasons being an #SAgrad is better when you’re a NASPA GAP

June 1, 2016 Devin Smith MIT

The NASPA Graduate Associate Program (GAP) is opportunity no #SAgrad should miss. You’ll serve as a NASPA ambassador through planning four outreach events during your term, while gaining monthly professional development through virtual meetings and learning more about all that this professional organization can offer throughout your career in higher education. The best part? The friends you’ll make along the way that will turn into colleagues. 

I was a member of the NASPA 15-16 GAP cohort, and just a couple weeks after finishing my master’s degree it’s easy to see upon reflection of this past year how it enhanced my graduate school experience, and has prepared me to enter the field. Read on to find out why I think every #SAgrad should consider being a #GAPgrad. 

1. Community

The best part of being a NASPA GAP is the opportunity it provides to join multiple communities. First, you become a member of your GAP cohort, which consists of other graduate students like yourself from different institutions all across the United States with whom you’ll meet virtually each month. Coming from small graduate program, it was an incredible opportunity to cross paths with people sharing in the graduate school experience that I would never have gotten the chance to know otherwise. We’ve all become friends on social media, had an ongoing GAP GroupMe, and even met many of them at conferences in person. These connections are so valuable because these are people who will be your colleagues as you grow in the field, and I can already tell that it is going to be so much fun to run into one another at NASPA conferences for years to come!

In addition to your GAP cohort, you’ll get more involved in the NASPA community. Whether that’s at the regional or national level, GAP introduces you to all that NASPA has to offer for professionals at all levels of your career. For example, I learned about the New Professionals Mentoring Institute that I hope to be part of in the near future! Lastly, being a NASPA GAP will strengthen your graduate school community. You’ll be able to share NASPA opportunities and information with your peers and colleagues, and even engage in opportunities, such as webinars or socials, together!

2. Conferences

A major perk of the Graduate Associate Program is the red ribbon you get stick to your conference badge that reads “Graduate Associate Program.” Another even bigger perk is the opportunity to apply to be an Annual Conference Intern, but attending regional conferences as a GAP has its perks as well. I was lucky enough to Intern in Indianapolis, and it is truly an experience I’ll never forget. In the midst of helping NASPA staff with event registrations, attending educational sessions, sitting in and taking notes for Division Meetings, and so much more, the best part of the annual conference is being reminded all day, every day why you chose this profession by the people you meet. Even if you’re not selected as an Intern, going to the Annual Conference as a GAP still provides you with the opportunity to meet other GAPs face to face for an event!

At regional conferences, the red GAP ribbon allows you to meet other GAPs in your region which could spark creative collaborations for GAP events! It’s also a great talking point when networking, and demonstrates your commitment to professional development and being involved in NASPA to people that could hire you!

3. Conversations

Being part of GAP means a continuation of your professional development, which happens through the conversations you get to participate in on monthly virtual meetings. Each month, the wonderful Yolanda Barnes, Coordinator of Student and New Professional Initiatives for NASPA, leads our calls. We first check in by each sharing how things are going, including our GAP required event planning (4 events a year).  It’s a wonderful opportunity to hear what other grads are experiencing in other programs across the country, but even more wonderful to be reminded that the struggle is real for all grads! After we checked in, Yolanda invites us to discuss a topic or an article surrounding an issue or trend in higher education, creating a space for our voices. As a grad, I found myself so busy that following up on current issues often fell to the wayside, but this was a great way to make sure I stayed informed and could practice voicing my opinion. These conversations were something I looked forward to every month, and I know future GAPs will continue to do the same.

As you can see, this low level commitment yields a high impact and was the best introduction to NASPA that grad could have hoped for. I’m excited to finally become an #SApro and am looking forward to continuing the professional development I started as a GAP throughout my career. If you have any GAP related questions feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected].

The application process for the 2016-2016 GAPs is now open. More information can be found through the 2016-2017 Position Description, as well as the application link.