by Tim Miller (millertm@gwu.edu)
For the first time in my career, I attended both NASPA and ACPA in the same year. I know there are many perspectives about the two organizations and who belongs where and who each one serves in our field. This is a debate and discussion that will probably go on for years into the future. There is even debate about the value of each organization and I have always wondered about this myself. What I found after attending the two conferences was that both organizations had an equal but very different meaning and value to me.
NASPA provided me with an opportunity to engage with colleagues from both across the country and around the world. The sessions, the relationships, and the opportunities to connect were one of the best parts of the conference for me. I was able to be a part of two presentations: one on food insecurity at private institutions and one focused on what we read in our field. In the food insecurity panel, we discussed the different approaches of three diverse institutions and how each of us managed the issue of food insecurity. In the Open Book Resource session, four colleagues from different universities shared one specific book from our previous year of reading as well as all of the books we had read. We were focused on helping others in the field find and make the time to read and grow through the engagement with written work. In these sessions and throughout the conference, I was able to network with those who attended and make new connections - and friendships - in the field. I found everything I was looking for at NASPA and I am grateful for the experience.
At ACPA, I attended a series of meetings for DCCPA and then engaged fully in the conference. The opening ceremony began in a way that illustrated the values of ACPA through the expression of the strategic imperative, understanding that we were on land that didn’t belong to us, and a focus on inclusion as part of the conference and in our field. This focus maintained itself through the conference and I, for one, was challenged by my own privilege. I connected with several groups of colleagues I hadn’t found at other conferences and built a community of professionals who were different than me. I found everything I was looking for in a conference experience, as well as many that I didn’t know I was looking for at all.
In reflecting on both conferences this year I have come to the following realization: I will continue to attend NASPA because it’s where I fit, but I will also attend ACPA because it’s where I don’t. I hope each of us has the opportunity to find our home in the field but I also hope we remember that we need to engage in spaces that challenge us so we will grow.
Tim Miller is the Associate Dean of Students, overseeing the Center for Student Engagement.
