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Mark Your Calendar for October 24th

The Careers in Student Affairs conference will take place at the University of Toledo on Sunday, October 24th, 2021. The Careers in Student Affairs Conference is a low-cost professional conference, designed for undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, and graduate students interested in pursuing graduate studies and careers in Student Affairs. The Careers in Student Affairs Conference offers opportunities to:

• Participate in a Graduate School Fair where you will learn about program options and requirements
• Network with Student Affairs practitioners
• Be motivated to seek a career in Student Affairs
• Meet peers interested in Student Affairs and begin to build relationships
• Discover career tracks in Student Affairs
• Learn from current professionals in Student Affairs

Join the Planning Team

We are seeking conference planning team members to support the 2021 Careers Conference. This would be a volunteer position. Planning team members may be current professionals, graduate or undergraduate students with an interest in furthering, or pursuing, the field of higher education/ student affairs and do not need to be current OCPA members. Chairs are sought for:

• Educational Sessions and Assessment
• Panels and Keynote Speakers
• Graduate School Fair
• Publications & Marketing
• Networking/ Social
• Logistics/Technology
• Attendees/Volunteers

If you are interested in joining our planning team, please fill out the form at this link. Submissions will be taken until 11:59pm on Friday, August 20th, 2021.

For questions or additional information, please contact Jennifer Pietch, Careers In Student Affairs Conference Chair, Housing Manager, The University of Toledo (Jennifer.Pietch@utoledo.edu) or Ashley Metzger, Assistant Careers in Student Affairs Conference Chair, Associate Director for Community Leadership & Involvement, Denison University (metzgerad@denison.edu).

Save the date for the 2022 Annual Conference

OCPA is happy to announce our plans to return to an in-person conference experience in 2022! Be sure to mark your calendars for January 27^th and 28^th 2022 at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Worthington. We are looking forward to an opportunity to bring professionals in our field back together to share innovative ideas, best practices, and comradery. We know professional development and travel budgets are tight, and we hope our regional conference will provide you with the most value for your investment and give you the opportunity to have an in-person conference experience this year.

Call for Annual Conference Committee Members Coming Soon

Our Annual Conference leadership team is hard at work planning for another high-quality conference experience, and they need your help! A call for volunteers to serve on the Annual Conference Planning Committee will go out in early September and will include a variety of ways for you to get involved. Watch for a special announcement and link to express your interest next month!

5 on our mind: Navigating back to campus

1. We're all personally facing an unintended destination just like we were at the height of the pandemic. I wrote about this experience (linked here) earlier in the pandemic (in the wake of campus closures) and it's a fascinating reflection to see how much of this is still (or again) true now.
2. What has it been like to be a student in college during a pandemic? I often wonder what students think or feel about this past year. Check out the Student Voice survey (linked here) to learn more about student’s ambivalent feelings about their college experiences as well as what has worked for them and what hasn’t.
3. We are welcoming a group of second-year students that have an atypical set of institutional knowledge—they may know their faculty members from behind a screen but not be able to find their way to the classroom. Even for folks (students & staff alike) returning physically to campus, this fall will feel different. Read more about the culture shock they (we) are likely to experience in this Inside Higher Ed piece.
4. Now, more than ever, I’m wondering about how we find the balance. In a world where everything has been turned on its head, we have a unique opportunity to improve rather than simply “return to normal.” How do we craft systems and structures to support and empower the people within our organizations? Let’s capitalize on this call to engage in self and communal care. To support that effort, I like some of the resources from the Audre Lorde Project linked here.
5. We are all navigating difficult—personal and organizational situations: When is the risk of being around others worth it and when isn’t it? How can we be intentional about crafting the in-person experiences many of us are craving while maintaining critical public health & personal safety measures? We owe it to ourselves and each other to follow the science, lean into the challenges of navigating the ever-evolving world of COVID, and explore resources like this myth-busting page from the Ohio Department of Health.  

Job Board

• Assistant Director of Student Life at the University of Dayton– Learn more at this link.
• Case Manager at the University of Dayton– Learn more at this link.
• Assistant Director of Learning Communities at the University of Cincinnati – Learn more at this link.
• Multiple positions in Residence Life at Case Western Reserve University– Learn more at this link.
• First Year Experience, Orientation, and Student Engagement Coordinator at Ursuline College– Learn more at this link.
• Community Coordinator at Denison University– Learn more at this link.
• Manager of Student Life at The Ohio State University– Learn more at this link.
• Executive Director, Career Engagement & Professional Development at Wittenberg University– Learn more at this link.

Update Your OCPA Demographic Information 

In an effort to collect additional information to support our Equity & Inclusion efforts and provide content that is specifically relevant to sub-groups of our members, OCPA has updated the member demographic information fields. 
Additionally, you will receive an email message approximately once per month from the OCPA Board Member(s)-At-Large based on these settings. If you wish to update your affiliation/ preferences please log in to your OCPA account at this link and update your responses as indicated below:

Contact Mitch Joseph-Kemplin, Technology Chair / Webmaster & Director of Compliance and Safety, Mount Carmel College of Nursing (mjoseph-kemplin@mccn.edu) with any questions.

Association Finance Updates

Please contact Doug Lisko, Treasurer & Associate Director for Residential Communities & Housing, Denison University (liskod@denison.edu) or Sheri Klatt, Assistant Treasurer & Area Director, Otterbein University (klatt1@otterbein.edu) with any Association finance-related questions.

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