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Welcome to the

 African American Knowledge Community

Co-Chair Greetings!!!

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the African American Knowledge Community.  The AAKC was founded over 30 years ago to bring together professionals of all degree and experience levels with an interest in African Americans, to increase the Knowledge community members' awareness of, knowledge about, and appreciation for issues unique to African American professionals working in higher education, and in particular student affairs. The African-American Knowledge Community also seeks to educate the NASPA membership on trends and issues related to African-American professionals and students.  We are Annice Fisher and Khadish O. Franklin your new co-chairs for 2013-2015.  Whether you were at the NASPA Annual Conference and had the chance to attend the business meeting or take the opportunity to connect via your regional meeting, we want you to know about the many opportunities there are to be involved with the AAKC.  This coming year in AAKC will be marked by the following goals established by the Executive Board:

1. Align knowledge community activities with NASPA national initiatives.
2. Improve communication and engagement opportunities between the African American Knowledge community and NASPA at-large membership.
3. Connect regional representatives, AAKC Director of Regional Representatives to Regional Vice Presidents to ensure efficiency of information sharing and collaboration.
4. Establish a culture of transparency and accountability that allows members to see the value of participating in the knowledge community.

We would like to update you regarding a few of the ways to get involved with AAKC and take advantage of your NASPA member benefits:
 

1. If you have not already done so, you may wish to consider joining AAKC's active listserv: AA Collective. Over 2000 people from around the world subscribe to AA Collective. It is an open listserv that welcomes questions and discussion on any topic related to African American students or professionals. To search the AA Collective archives or join the list, go to:
   http://listserv.naspa.org/read/?forum=aa-collective.
2. Make use of the NASPA website. For members, it offers access to the membership list to contact other student affairs professionals, receive up-to-date information on upcoming NASPA-sponsored and student affairs-related meetings and events, view abstracts and reports from past meetings, and to link to other student affairs sites of interest.  Also, update your profile and be sure to indicate your desire to be a part of the AAKC!
3. Get involved with the AAKC on the national and regional level.
   • National Opportunities include:
     • The Public Policy Committee offers members the opportunity to get engaged with public policy issues impacting African Americans.  The committee produces a quarterly public policy report and organizes webinars on pressing policy of issues of concern to the AAKC and the larger NASPA community.  If you are interested in joining the Public Policy Committee please contact Taris Mullins, tmullins@email.unc.edu.
     • The Special Populations Research Team communicates new research developments in research on special populations (i.e. HBCUs, African Diaspora, International students/institutions, etc.) They coordinate the AAKC’s representation at the Multicultural Institute, as well as, facilitating the publication of AAKC members’ articles on issues impacting special populations.  If you would like to join the Special Populations Research Team please contact Dhanfu Elston at Delston@purduecal.edu.       
   • Regional Opportunities Include:
     • Serve as a regional representative for the African American Knowledge Community. Regional representatives assist with moving the AAKC national agenda forward and lead KC activities within the region. Each region has a leadership team structure similar to the national leadership team. The regional teams work to increase the number of NASPA members who affiliate with AAKC, host AAKC activities at regional and national conferences, and connect African Americans and those interested in the African American experience across the region.
     • Apply for an open AAKC regional representative position in Regions 1, 2, or 4W by contacting the regional KC coordinator. The regional KC coordinator contact can be found on your regional website.
     • Contact your regional rep to find ways to get involved in your region.
4. Stay up to date on the AAKC and items related to African Americans by following the AAKC via social media. Like the AAKC Facebook page for the most recent updates about AAKC activities and to see pictures and commentary about our most recent events.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/NASPA-African-American-Knowledge-Community/187653821276272?ref=ts&fref=ts. Follow the AAKC on Twitter or join the AAKC LinkedIn Group. You can also view our page on the NASPA website for more information.

We are very excited about the upcoming two years of our work with you and the African American Knowledge Community.  We truly believe that knowledge communities are the “gateways to the association.”  Many NASPA leaders have remarked on the rare collegiality of our knowledge community; we are not just a group of individuals with a common interest in African Americans. Many of us have formed lifelong friendships, which we value as highly as the professional networks we have formed through the AAKC. We look forward to your participation as an AAKC member during the 2013-2015 term and beyond.  We welcome your energy, excitement, interest, and ideas.  If you have any feedback for ways to improve our KC or advancing African American issues in the association, please feel free to contact any member of the executive board. 

Please feel free to contact us at any time.

Annice Fisher, AAKC Co-Chair
Khadish O. Franklin, AAKC Co-Chair