Strategic, Administrative, Operations, and Executive Advisory Roles Steering Committee

NASPA Strategic, Administrative, Operations, and Executive Advisory Roles Steering Committee

NASPA's Strategic, Administrative, Operations, and Executive Advisory Roles Steering Committee works to ensure that individuals who hold a Chief of Staff, Special Assistant to the VPSA, or a similar role have access to relevant programming during regional and national events.1

The Steering Committee strives to encourage excellence in these senior leadership positions through professional development, knowledge creation and sharing, networking opportunities, and recognition. 

Steering Committee Membership

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Brian Richardson

Member

Senior Advisor to Vice Provost of Student Life
Indiana University-Bloomington

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Lesley-Ann Brown-Henderson

Member

Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff
Northwestern University

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Melanie Ciotoli

Member

Chief of Staff to the VP and Executive Director, Organizational Excellence
Cornell University

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Carson Lonett

Member

Executive Advisor to VP for Student Affairs
James Madison University

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James Parker

Member

Chief of Staff & Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives
Loyola Marymount University

Jennifer Rau

Member

Assistant Vice President & Ombudsperson
University of Miami

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Pete Smith

Chair

Chief of Staff
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Upcoming Events

Virtual Session: Navigating the Relationship with Your Principal

Whether you are new to the Strategic Principal Advisor role or have served for years, navigating the relationship with your principal is the foundation of your success. Come talk with other strategic advisors to share and learn tips on how best to develop, foster, and maximize your relationship with your principal. This session will have a mixture of large group and small group discussions. Join us as we learn from each other. 

This virtual session will be on Thursday, April 18 at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Free for NASPA members! Register here.

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The NASPA's Strategic, Administrative, Operations, and Executive Advisory Roles Steering Committee has a listserv that allows student affairs professionals to ask questions, request information, and share effective practices. Sign up using the form below:


1. Administrators who serve in roles that their institutions call "chiefs of staff" are the target audience for this leadership group. Several years ago, NASPA ceased using the term “chief” as part of its nomenclature, including the names of constituent groups. For example, NASPA’s initiatives for the highest ranking student affairs officer on campus now refer to “vice presidents of student affairs” rather than “chief student affairs officers.” Outside of Native American contexts, the term “chief” has been used in offensive and derogatory ways, especially toward Indigenous men. While the phrase “chief of staff” may currently be most accessible to you and others in similar roles, NASPA will not use this phrase in the naming of the new leadership group designed to support those serving in these roles.