Next “AVP Reads” Discussion Scheduled for November 4: Specialized Housing Opportunities & Challenges

AVP Reads is the online common reading group started in 2014 by NASPA’s AVP Steering Committee.  This is an AVP-exclusive* opportunity to build community, foster networking, and energize ourselves and colleagues by sharing discussion and reflection on current literature and events in the world of student affairs and beyond.

The next AVP Reads session is scheduled for Friday, November 4, 2016, 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET.  The reading for the session is “What One College Learned from Creating Housing for Recovering Addicts” by Arielle Martinez.  You can access an e-version of the article from the August 31, 2016 Chronicle of Higher Education by clicking here.  This article will be our springboard into a discussion about how our institutions are creating specialized housing opportunities on campus and the challenges and opportunities therein related to other campus groups.   It focuses on The College of New Jersey’s program in response to a New Jersey law.

Some of the issues and question we will be considering on November 4:

• The article raises the challenge of how to identify recovering addicts and creating a community for any students that choose to live substance free.
• How can we as student affairs professionals address the stigma of recovery housing, or any other specialized housing that can be seen as requiring students to “out” themselves?
• What lessons from this new program can we learn to apply to our own campuses?  What barriers are we facing regarding specialized housing or other specific programs on our campuses?

The November 4 discussion will be co-facilitated by Angela Lauer Chong, The College of New Jersey, and Eric Grospitch, Washburn University.  They will get the conversation started and will also count on you to ask questions and offer your perspectives about this critically important student affairs role on our campuses.  We’ll also have representatives from The College of New Jersey on the call for the discussion.

Join us on Friday, November 4, from 12:00-1:00pm ET for this AVP-exclusive opportunity!  To register for the discussion, please click here.

*This opportunity is appropriate for assistant and associate vice presidents for student affairs and other “number twos” (e.g., deans of students) who report to the most senior student affairs officer on campus.