Program Overview

Higher education provides students with endless possibilities—for exploration, growth, achievement, and preparation for their life’s work. As educators we are committed to helping students pursue the possibilities available and to boldly imagine new ones.

The ACPA Convention in Louisville, a city that embraces possibilities, will offer a diverse and vast curriculum to help us be the best educators possible. Our scholarship and practice will be enhanced through the many possibilities presented for professional renewal, personal inspiration, and engaged dialogue on the critical issues facing our students.

Join us in Louisville as scholars, practitioners, corporate partners, and students will come together to Create Possibilities that advance our collective work with students and the profession.

Critical Issues

The 2012 ACPA Convention Team identified these three critical issues for the Louisville Convention. Program planners are encouraged to develop sessions that further participants’ skills and knowledge in these areas. Additionally, we encourage presenters to consider ACPA/NASPA Professional Competencies (PDF) when developing proposals.

1. High-Impact Practices

In 2008, George Kuh with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) released a document addressing high-impact educational practices for higher education as part of the LEAP initiative. These ten active learning practices are not currently incorporated in systematic ways on many campuses, yet tying our work to the academic mission is critical in the current economy. How are Student Affairs divisions and individual departments working with Academic Affairs to enrich the learning process for our students? How has assessment supported the effectiveness of these initiatives on various campuses? How does Student Affairs contribute to critical thinking, cognitive, and writing skills? What do these practices mean for international students and globalization? How is technology and social media incorporated into these practices?

2. Transitions

Higher education has provided needed attention to some of our students in transition: in-coming first-years, 2- year to 4-year transfers, students with disabilities, and adult education. However, in the ever-changing college landscape, transitions are not limited to just those students. The diversity of students continues to grow and be recognized, but we often “force a square peg into a round hole” when offering current programs and services to new populations. We must continue our work and recognize other students in transition. What are we doing to improve and how are we assessing year-to-year retention to graduation for students? How has the economy affected our students? What are we doing for students transferring from 4-year to 2-year institutions? How are we assisting veterans transitioning from the military to the classroom? How are we addressing the needs of our veterans and new traditional students who may be coming to our institutions because of career changes (internally and externally motivated)? How are we addressing the increasing Latino/a population and the invisibility of Native Americans on many campuses?

3. Civility on Campus

Civility on campus has been and continues to be a hot topic on most campuses. We often allocate considerable resources, including time, proactively and reactively addressing student civility and incivility. What new and innovative approaches have been researched and implemented? How do we continue to confront discrimination against diverse populations at our institutions? How are student violence and the increasing number of institutions that are being required to allow handguns on campus impacting the work we are doing around civility and social justice? How are campuses recognizing and honoring civility on campus? How are social media and virtual communities (Facebook, Twitter, online gaming) impacting civility on campus? Additionally, beyond student issues, we often forget about the incivility that many of us see among staff and faculty. How are we addressing violence and incivility among our peers and colleagues? What resources do we provide when stress relating to budget cuts, political agendas, and personal goals interfere with the student learning process?

ACPA Equity and Inclusion Statement

ACPA - College Student Educators International actively promotes and recognizes principles of fairness, equity, and social justice in relation to, and across intersections of race, age, color, faith, religion, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, social class, economic class, ethnicity, gender identity/expression, and all other identities represented among our diverse membership.

By appreciating the importance of inclusion, we acknowledge that the collective and individual talents, skills, and perspectives of members, constituent groups, and partners foster a culture of belonging, collaborative practice, innovation, and mutual respect. ACPA seeks to empower and engage professionals, scholars, and partners in actions that productively contribute to accomplishing the goals of our association.