The 2017 NASPA AVP Institute

January 2017 will mark NASPA’s fourth annual AVP Institute. I am honored to serve as this year’s faculty director and look forward to joining exceptional leaders in beautiful Tampa, Florida. The Institute mission is to develop excellence in the “number twos” in divisions of Student Affairs. Throughout the next several weeks, NASPA will post blogs from Institute faculty and past participants to highlight reflections and offer insights into the upcoming program.

After the conclusion of each Institute, the faculty reflect on session presentations and review evaluations to continually improve the experience for future years. This year the faculty will offer two pre-Institute sessions for those that would like to share a learning environment with AVPs with similar tenures. One session will focus on AVPs with tenure of under one year. I have been honored to co-lead this session the past three years. We will not only focus on fundamental aspects of the role but also make space for new AVPs to connect and form a crucial professional network. The second session will focus on those that self-identify as experiences AVPs. While extending your professional network will occur, faculty will offer content that will challenge participants to think in no ways.

Over the course of the subsequent days, the Institute combines concurrent and featured sessions to deliver content. The faculty works to offer a balance between topical based (e.g. closing the opportunity gap) and personal development (e.g. VPSA-AVP relationship) sessions. Our tradition is to offer these sessions in a variety of modalities to ensure all participants may engage in their best learning.

A tradition of the AVP Institute that will also continue is the ability of participants to meet with individually with faculty. Before arriving in Tampa, you will have access to faculty profiles and the ability to set a time to meet with a faculty member that may address your most pressing professional need. As you can see, the Institute offers a variety of sessions with a level of choice as well as individual meeting opportunities to ensure each participant leaves the Institute with their expectations exceeded.

When I was a first year AVP, I was desperate to find a cohort of colleagues that I could learn from and grow with during this stage of my career. The NASPA Annual Meeting offered a session that planted the seed of many years of AVP programming regionally and nationally. This Institute is an important part of a larger set of AVP related opportunities for your professional development. I encourage you to engage in the work of the AVP Steering Committee before and after you join us at the Institute.

The faculty began discussing the 2017 AVP Institute in the spring. I cannot be more excited for our participants to learn from them and bring their perspectives into the room. Whether you have been an AVP since July 1^st or fifteen years, we hope you will join us in Florida. The Institute will be held from January 19-21, 2017 at The Westin Tampa Harbour Island. For more information and to register, please visit www.naspa.org/events/2017avp.