Stony Brook’s Division of Student Affairs was recognized with three silver awards from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) this January. Every year, NASPA highlights distinguished student affairs programs for “contributions and impact on the field,” according to their website.
Career Communities, Far Beyond Campus, and the Center for Civic Justice were the programs recognized.
“I am so proud of the Division of Student Affairs and Stony Brook for being recognized on the national level for their outstanding work,” said Dr. Richard Gatteau, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students. “We strive to be at the forefront of new and innovative ideas that help our students achieve success.”
Career Center’s Career Communities was launched at the start of the 2017-18 school year to provide opportunities for students built around networking and experience rather than majors. The program won the award for Careers, Academic Advising and Support, which aims to highlight “innovative initiatives” that “address(es) a critical need” according to the NASPA website.
Nikki Barnett, Director of Career Development, spoke to how Career Communities can create a more individualized approach for students seeking a career.
“We did a lot of work to help reconfigure how we are meeting student needs,” said Barnett. “It’s not just the exploring, it’s students being able to engage in their experiences.”
Office of Commuter Student Services and Off-Campus Living’s Far Beyond Campus: Off-Campus Living Initiatives, which involves educating students about off-campus housing and offering opportunities for students to contribute positively to their community, won the Off-Campus, Commuter, Non-traditional, Graduate, and Professional award. This award addresses the off-campus living accommodations given to students “at off-campus locations or in the community, students who do not live on campus, non-traditional aged students, non-traditional format for studies, graduate and professional students.”
“There are a lot of parties invested in the work that we’re doing,” said Emily Snyder, Associate Director of Commuter Student Services and Off-Campus Living.
Snyder highlighted the contributions of Stony Brook Athletics, Student Engagement, the fire marshals, University Police, members of the administration and Community Relations. “There’s this combined effort to make this program successful,” she added.
Center for Civic Justice provides a platform for empowered and active students to “positively contribute to the betterment of their communities through awareness, advocacy and action.” The Center was selected for the Civic Learning, Democratic Engagement, Service-Learning, and Community Service award. The award seeks to promote “the education of students for engaged citizenship through democratic participation in their communities, respect and appreciation of diversity, applied learning, and social responsibility.”
“We are incredibly proud of our students at the Center for Civic Justice who are fully committed to fostering a positive civic learning and democratic engagement experience on campus,” said Steven Adelson, Co-Director of the Center for Civic Justice. “This national recognition is a testament to their passion for and dedication to their community, and they are just getting started.”
This is not the first distinction Stony Brook’s Student Affairs has received recently. Several of its programs were recognized as Outstanding Student Affairs Programs by the State University of New York (SUNY).
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