APAHE 2016 National Conference: Asserting Our Voices for Equity and Inclusion

Term

Spring 2016

Description

The 2016 APAHE Conference was held on April 07-08 in Oakland, California. This year’s theme was “Asserting Our Voices for Equity and Inclusion.” The conference brought together student affairs professionals from all over the country to celebrate successes in our field and provide a series of workshops and presentations to cultivate and inspire new and aspiring student affairs professionals and reaffirm the mission and explore new possibilities for the profession. Attending the conference, I wanted to learn about new research and promising practices to bring back to my graduate assistantship and network with other student affairs professionals.

Learning Outcomes

1. SWiBAT describe current issues and trends affecting Asian/Pacific Americans in higher education.

2. SWiBAT identify in which ways to support the inclusion of this population.

Assessment Rubric

Evidence

Reflection

I arrived at Oakland with many personal and professional challenges that made me question my ability to lead moving forward, as well as question my self-confidence when interacting with professionals. It was therefore instrumental for me to utilize the natural environment to foster self-reflection. My goal was to find the motivation I needed to finish my last year of school. I attended many sessions that spoke to the model minority myth – that is the belief that Asian students do far better than their minorities counterparts. In looking at the data, there is a reason to believe that we are doing well. However, the disaggregated data says otherwise. What is interesting and empowering at the same that is that very few schools and colleges look at the disaggregated data for their Asian students which leads to many students left out of the equity plan especially among the California Community Colleges.

Many of the sessions I attended encompassed the idea of identifying best practices to support the AAPI community. For example, we discussed many issues revolving the aggregated AAPI data to show that not all communities are performing well as most institutional researches display. My SLO #1 is at a competent rating. Aside from disaggregating the data, we discussed more issues relating to AAPI folks in leadership positions and the concrete ceiling concept for underrepresented communities. These topics definitely spoke to me and I was able to relay information make to Fullerton College to raise awareness among the management staff. Moreover, for SLO #2, I rated myself a competent. Due to my attendance at the conference, I spoke with many leaders in the field and discuss best practices as well as future practices that should be implemented in the profession. I believe these practices will prove most useful in the field in order to identify more specifically which communities will need extra resources and support to address the inequities on campuses..

At the end of the conference, I reflected on my experiences at the conference and came to realize that my goal was accomplished. I wanted to be re-inspired, reinvigorated, and reimagine myself within the field. I came back with a lot of perspective and knowledge in the work of others. I also believe that my determination will lead to my success in being a voice and advocate for the Asian student population. I am especially proud that I can now take the challenges ahead of me and be confident in my abilities to do well, succeed, and help students learn and develop. For the future, I would love to be involved with the planning process of future APAHE National Conferences.

#socialjusticeandadvocacy #education