Today, following the announcement of the consolidation voting results, NASPA enters a new and vitally important phase of growth and development. As your board, we felt strongly that the decision on this important matter needed to be in the hands of our members. You, our members, have spoken, and the board embraces and accepts the results of the vote to maintain separate associations.

We have heard your voices. Whether for or against the proposed consolidation, you have sustained us by your expressions of strong support for NASPA and its history, accomplishments, and progress as the leading voice for student affairs administration, policy, and practice. We have also heard your desire for change and more progress on key issues affecting student affairs and higher education.

The NASPA Board is ready to use what we have learned. As a result of your invaluable input, we are committed to making NASPA an even stronger association to better serve our members. This summer, the NASPA Board of Directors will embark on an ambitious strategic planning process to build upon our strong foundation to enhance our service to all members and to ensure the future sustainability of our profession. The following list highlights some areas for change and innovation to help support you – our members – and the profession:

• Governance review, including voting eligibility.
• Advocacy for critical issues affecting our campuses and our members.
• Expanded access to scholarly resources and enhanced support for graduate faculty and NASPA’s Faculty Fellows.
• Continued support to further strengthen NASPA’s regions – the heart of NASPA.
• Commitment to increasing NASPA’s international presence.
• Enhanced focus on NASPA’s existing work on important issues of identity and inclusivity.
• Increased programmatic and policy emphasis for senior student affairs officers.
• Focus on increasing grants and corporate partnerships that support student affairs.
• Commitment to expanded services for community colleges, small colleges, and minority serving institutions.
• Positioning of NASPA’s Knowledge Communities to develop new research and knowledge that support the student affairs profession.

While we embrace these areas of change and innovation, we do so in recognition of the strong foundation that NASPA and its members have built. We will continue to augment and enhance our career-spanning range of services and our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. 

We will continue to support long-standing and successful programs such as NUFP, the Center for Women, the Scott Academy, and the highly successful workshops and institutes that serve NASPA members. We will continue to foster a culture that thrives upon diversity in leadership and opportunities for leadership, to increase our focus on assessment and research and public policy initiatives, and to be a leading publisher of peer-reviewed scholarly journals in student affairs, along with other print and electronic publications. Most importantly, we will continue to be responsive, flexible, resilient, and committed to the needs of all of our members.

Our position within higher education has never been stronger – NASPA is better equipped than ever to address the increasingly complex and diverse nature of student affairs and to ensure the future of the profession during a challenging period for student affairs and for higher education overall. Our strengths include:

• A growing membership of more than 12,000 members. Truly, NASPA is its members.
• Exemplary leaders among our members and staff.
• Solid internal structure and proven and growing financial stability.
• Pathways to interact with student affairs professionals at all levels and roles.
• A strong record of accomplishment, responsiveness, and service to members.
• A leader in technology implementations and the use of social media to enhance programs and member support.
• A widely respected voice within the profession, in the higher education community, with the media, and with government leaders.
• Exemplary professional development including the NASPA Annual Conference, regional conferences, and many themed workshops and institutes on critical issues.
• The Placement Exchange, now recognized as the primary career placement service for the student affairs profession.
• A strong Foundation committed to supporting the advancement of knowledge and research concerning student affairs.
• Mentorship opportunities for new professionals to connect with senior members of the profession.
• A proven record of partnerships with associations, organizations, and granting agencies across the student affairs and higher education landscape.
• The capacity to envision the future and aggressively launch initiatives to keep us on the cutting edge.

While the consolidation question has been answered, the NASPA Board is committed to continuing current collaborations with ACPA. We are proud of our productive and mutually beneficial relationship over the years. Indeed, we have built relationships with many organizations in the higher education community and these will continue to play a critical and valuable role for the future.

NASPA is its members. This has never been more evident than through the rich and productive conversations and debates we have had as a profession while deciding on the consolidation question. We, as the NASPA Board, are committed to building on our success as an association to better serve you, our members. Thank you!

Sincerely,

2011-2012 NASPA Board of Directors