OCPA 4-year Private Update

Hello colleagues!
My name is Kristen Snyder and I am proud to serve as your OCPA 4-Year Private Institution Member at Large. The OCPA Communications Team is excited to share this new way for our prospective and current members to engage across the state with folks of similar institution service background to make finding and attending professional development opportunities through OCPA. I am thrilled to be connecting with you all and think we have a lot of opportunities to work together to support our students better AND to become our best self professionally through interactions like these. All little about myself, I started my Higher Education journey working as a student liaison in the student organization resource office at the University of Akron in my junior year of undergrad. Through the mentor program offered to student workers, I was able to learn more about the field (and myself) by having weekly meetings with a current graduate student and/or pro-staff member that worked for the Department of Student Life. Upon graduation, I was determined to work for a few years before returning to graduate school to pursue a Master's in Higher Education, but ended up right back in the same department at Akron six months later working as the GA for Undergraduate Student Government. My initial introduction and connection to OCPA was through earning extra credit for one of my classes by presenting at the annual conference and the rest is history. Fast forward five years of membership later and I have had an amazing time serving on the Board in my current role, serving on the conference planning committee, and found my first post-graduate home (of three years) working with two other dedicated members of this organization at Heidelberg University. 

It is no secret that the world of higher education has been hit hard by the pandemic. A lot of budget cuts, department restructuring, COVID testing on campus, and non-existent professional development funds have reorganized our priorities and have challenged us to make due with what we have in our own backyards. This is where messages from me and other Member-at-Large folks come into play. Our hope is that we are able to create and rebuild some connection that was lost or put on hold due to the pandemic and to build up one another by providing great, easy ways to connect and grow in our current role and roles to come all by staying plugged into what OCPA has to offer. So, to kick things off, I want to offer a recap of a great session that was offered at our 2021 Annual Conference entitled "Making Adult Friends is Hard; Professional Associations Can Make it Easier!" I encourage you to share it with any up-and-coming students, grad students, and new professionals you have working with you. It is also an easy reminder that no matter the stage we are in during our careers, new friends can always be made through organizations like OCPA. 
 

I am hoping to hear from you! Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or inquire more about ways to get involved in the organization. Please click on the link below to send me ideas, wants, needs for professional development opportunities, and how I can make future messages engaging and useful for you. Also, if you have any professional development ideas or sessions that are open to the public and would like to partner with OCPA on these, send them my way!

I cannot wait to start relationship-building with you and your institutions. Have a great week!