#SAGeeks - Geeking Out About Talking Politics

The SAGeeks series is all about celebrating the geeky and nerdy sides of all of us working in higher education and student affairs. The series is edited by Jenn Osolinski and Lynne Meyer. Check out our resources page for more geeky goodness.

Politics has always fascinated me. The dynamics that define the polity of our global societies have driven me to learn about the cause and effects that continue to shape our world. Additionally, learning to understand how these decisions may impact future cultures, economics, and social outcomes through calculated thought, excite me to think of what may be.

As much as I geek out about politics, it’s important for me to be aware of my personal political views when I engage in discourse on a college campus. In my role as an educator, I want to encourage exercising the collective people’s voice in political discourse and civic engagement. That’s what the First Amendment is all about. Specifically, I view my role as someone who can empower others through objective exploration and potential outcomes. It is not my job to persuade a conversation in a particular direction. Like the saying goes, “we don’t have to agree with another person, but we should learn to respect the (diverse) opinions of others.” This is that moment to learn.

I truly believe in empowering students to find their voice and define their own successes through personal development, exploration and experiential learning. In relation to politics, this means offering conversations and scenarios that include tools for students to navigate through them. For example, if a polarizing political subject becomes the conversation, the tools may be the pros and cons from multiple sides of the debate. The trick is to instigate civilized dialogue and to ensure the environment remains welcoming, supportive and encouraging to those who participate or may want to. This may require setting guidelines to maintain a positive constructive discussion. You may also have to adjust your level of moderation. And, depending where you may be on campus: a classroom, student club meeting, in the residence hall, or out in the quad, other adjustments may be necessary to ensure a healthy discussion.

What are the goals of talking politics on campus? For me, it’s to help promote awareness of political diversity and encourage political discourse. However, I’ve made sure to never force discourse. I feel it should be a natural occurrence, just like any other conversation. The reason I hope to promote political awareness with students is because we’re talking about their future. We’re talking about my future. According 2008 NY Times exit polls following the presidential election, voters ages 18 to 29 were 18% of the voting electorate. Voters between 30 to 44 years were at 29%. Compare that to 2012 exit polls from the Washington Post, those same age groups were 19% and 27% respectively. According to the 2012 US Census, 18 to 44 year olds made up about 37% of the population. Interestingly, the US Census estimated there were 82.909 million people between 25 to 44 years, which is comparable to the 82.932 million people ages 45 to 64. This is a major chunk of the US population that could have a major voice in the political direction of the United States. But it’s not enough to hold conversations and debates. Actions to carry out voices must also be encouraged.

It is within the realm of actions, that the political will of a majority of the people begins to falter. In helping students become aware of social, political and economic issues, engagement through actions has been the best way, from personal experience, to help students learn how to make change happen. Actions could be to organize voting parties, volunteering for a local or national campaign, writing about issues for the school’s newspaper or a personal blog, or even involvement with an organization that advocates for specific issues that a student may be passionate about. In a way of saying, “it’s not what you say, but how you say it,” that will speak volumes to disrupt for good.

Politics can be an amazing opportunity to learn, connect and build with those around you. In higher education, the opportunities for students to become civically mindful and engaged can compliment a student’s academic experience on many levels. Even some experiences may translate over to experiences outside of politics and outside the classroom. On a personal level, politics in higher education invigorates me to continue my own political passions on the issues I care about, and to learn of other political concerns. Politics can and should be an inviting and enabling environment, and that is what I hope to create if I ever find myself debating the issues. How can you promote healthy political discourse and civic engagement on your campus?

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Hing Potter currently serves as an Admissions Outreach Specialist at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, Washington (30 minutes north of Seattle). Before returning to his hometown, Hing spent time at College of Western Idaho, Boise State University, Bodies In Motion recreation and had a previous stint at Edmonds CC. Outside higher education, his passions include the great outdoors, volunteering and Seattle sports. Connect with Hing on Twitter, Instagram, and on his blog.

#SAGeeks - A Story About San Diego Comic Con

The SAGeeks series is all about celebrating the geeky and nerdy sides of all of us working in higher education and student affairs. The series is edited by Jenn Osolinski and Lynne Meyer. Check out our resources page for more geeky goodness.

It started on social media.  Ryan McRae posted “anyone interested in free tickets to San Diego Comic Con (SDCC)?  Let me know!”  From that post a dream was realized.  Ryan worked at a university near San Diego.  He had reached out to SDCC for tickets as a prize for a “geek week” of programs he was hosting.  In talking to his contact, they mentioned they wanted to reach out to higher education people because they were trying to develop partnerships.  They were offering free tickets to San Diego Comic Con with very few strings attached.  This was six years ago.  My unofficial motto has always been “if it’s free, it’s me!”  So I contacted his person and was surprised how easy it was to get free Comic-Con tickets for me and my partner (and our two daughters).

As a thank you, our family took Ryan out to dinner at SDCC.  During dinner, Ryan and I discussed how we give presentations all the time.  We could totally do a panel at SDCC and talk about how being a geek works for us in our daily jobs.  After all, Ryan put together geek weeks for his job.  I had also begun to do some research on geek/nerd students myself.  We decided then and there that we were going to attempt a panel for 2011 at SDCC.

I did some research and realized how easy it was and how little work was needed to submit a proposal for SDCC.  I had done things for ACPA, ACUHO-I, WACUHO, etc. and this was so much easier.  Part of it asked who would be on our panel.  I reached out to 3-4 other colleagues who I knew were geeks like Ryan and I.  When I approached them and asked “Hey, would you be willing to be included in a panel proposal for San Diego Comic-Con?” They all basically reacted the same way – no chance this was going to happen, but sure, put my name down.  I submitted the proposal for a panel six months before SDCC.  And then forgot about it.

One night in June (about a month prior to SDCC) I received an email.  Our panel had been accepted!  I couldn’t believe it.  I reached out to our colleagues who all gave me their names and we all were just in shock.  We had a lot of work to do in a short period of time.  

We did our first panel in July of 2011.  We got a corporate sponsor to make us t-shirts.  It was amazing and epic.  We had about 150 people attend our first panel that year.  They lined up an hour before the panel just to hear us.  We were the last panel of the day, so we knew they weren’t waiting for anyone else.  At many regional conferences, 150 people would be a keynote.  For about four of our group, this was the first time they had ever been to SDCC.  Many of us had crossed this off our bucket list.  But what we discovered is how big a need it was.

When coming home to my campus, our VP of Student Affairs asked me about SDCC.  He had no clue.  When I explained attendance was 125,000 and explained our panel, he asked if I would do a training for SA professionals on our campus.  Other staff from our panel found connections across the country and continued building a network.  I encountered a student who attended our panel who was applying for an RA job on his campus because of our encouragement.  We had colleagues who felt freed up to pursue their geek identities on their campuses.  Geek Week programming exploded across the country.

We then took our group (called geekEd.) to ACPA where we received more feedback on just how “freeing” it was to encourage people in their love of pop culture.  We started doing more research, connecting with faculty, and the rest has been history. Since then, our group has had a panel each year.  SDCC is developing a Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians, and we have been a part of it.  Over the past 6 years, Ryan’s generosity and our dream has allowed almost 50-60 professionals and students to attend their first ever SDCC.  In addition, we have promoted a sense of belonging for geeks on our campuses, and campuses across the country. Students tell us how we gave them the freedom to pursue geek weeks, comic conventions, and other programming that speaks to them on their campuses.  We have engaged in social justice work through pop-culture and have opened doors around mental health and support because of our passion/obsessions.   There are so many more stories to tell, but for me, this is where it all began.

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Tyler Miller is an avid geek, with passions from Batman, Dr. Who, Stargate, Star Wars, Star Trek, the WWE, and Fantasy Football to name a few.  He is also proud of his geek family, consisting of his wife Kari, and five daughters; Eliana (9), Samara (6), Johana (4), Natana (3), Talyah (11 months).  Tyler has worked in college housing for the past 22 years, and loves the experience working with students and staff in college environments.  He is also the President-Elect for the Western Association of College and University Housing Officers (WACUHO).  

You can connect with Tyler via Twitter, @tmiller1212 or on Facebook.

#SAGeeks - The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The SAGeeks series is all about celebrating the geeky and nerdy sides of all of us working in higher education and student affairs. The series is edited by Jenn Osolinski and Lynne Meyer. Check out our resources page for more geeky goodness.

I'm a geek about pretty much everything - musicals, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Legend of Zelda, astronomy, physics, and a lot of other things. I have been this way since I was a child, obsessing over Pokemon and Sailor Moon. This led to me being a not so popular kid when I was in school. On top of being a geek about the aforementioned things, I was a teacher’s pet to boot and truly enjoyed learning everything I could. I didn’t have many friends, and was constantly bullied, not only for being nerdy, but for being fat. College changed all that - I found friends who had similar interests. College became a place where I began to discover who I truly was as a queer agender person - which ultimately led to me pursuing a career in Student Affairs.

Now, as a new student affairs professional who took a job in a new city after graduation, I struggled to find friends outside of my institution. In a strange twist of fate, my geekiness, in conjunction with my role as a student affairs professional, has helped me find friends, find a personal outlet outside of work, and find a way to let my geekiness shine.

My most recent geek discovery--and now nerdy obsession-- has been the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The first time I attended a live show was with a group of students who were on an outing with the Programming Board (yay discounted extra ticket!). After that first show, I kept going back, and eventually joined the cast. One of the things I love about my cast is our emphasis on equality and social justice themes - from gender and color blind casting for the shadow cast to audience participation lines that calls out racist/sexist/homophobic comments and lines. For me, being on cast is the first time outside of my job where I can be my full authentic self as a queer agender person. It's a place where I'm accepted just as I am, and have built amazing friendships outside of work. More than anything, I’m relieved to have peers outside of work. Beyond a “How’s work going?” conversation, I can unplug, relax, and have fun.

Authenticity is something I value, and I'm open with my students about my secret life as a Rocky Horror cast member. I only mention it if it’s relevant to the conversation, but if they were to ask I wouldn't deny it. My boss even came to support me on my first night playing a character (The Criminologist). It is a lot of fun when my students come to see the show - I don't think I'm the person they would expect to see on cast - and it gives us something unique to share. My cast has become my home outside of my institution and something I wouldn't trade anything in the world for.

So if you are ever in Atlanta on a Friday night - come see me at the Plaza Theater for the midnight show and let me share my nerdiness with you!

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JLP Prince serves as the Director of Community Engagement at Agnes Scott College, a private liberal arts women’s college, in Decatur, GA. They hold a B.A. in Religious and Ethical Studies and minors in International Studies, History, and Communication from Meredith College (Raleigh, NC) and a M.A. in College Student Development from Appalachian State University (Boone, NC).  JLP is a strong advocate of experiential learning within a global context and works so that all students can engage in experiential learning. They are passionate about topics surrounding social justice and equity and enjoy having dialogue around philosophy, intersectionality, and the understanding of difference.  In their free time, (in addition to Rocky Horror!) you'll find JLP hammocking outside, reading a book, singing in Agnes Scott’s Collegiate Chorale, or having a grand adventure.

Movie Review Monday: The Hunting Ground

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

In honor of April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, this week's film is the 2015 documentary, The Hunting Ground, which explores the college administrative culture that has existed for years and propagated an epidemic of sexual assaults between students.

I've heard a lot about this film, and have seen that many campuses have shown it to their staff and students. I think this is required viewing for both groups. It thoroughly examines both the experience of students and what context created a system that would make administrators want to blame the victim and side with perpetrators. Pressure from donating alumni, fraternities, athletics, and others to maintain the pristine image of the institution make the "logical" conclusion to sweep sexual assault cases under the rug. The result of this though is students on campuses across the country getting away with a serious crime. Also, the survivors of these assaults feel let down and overlooked by the institutions they've spent valuable time and money to go to, and perhaps have become a passionate member of the community. Often being under served makes these students not want to persist at their institutions simply because they are not the priority. Obviously they should be but this documentary highlights this ugly consequence of a deeper issue at higher ed institutions; that the student experience is hardly the priority for decision makers. It frustrates me seeing this confirm problems I had feared but I hoped weren't true.

This problem is deeply human, it comes from us and it can be solved by us, We can do better helping each other and we can focus on doing the right thing by putting our priorities in check. I see a lot of campuses striving to do better and making good progress. I think the stories of this film and the hard work students and staff have done leading up to now are helping us move in the right direction, but there is still much work to do in helping prevent these horrible acts from happening in the first place. This is raw, powerful, genuine, emotional, important film that I am glad I was able to watch.

You can watch The Hunting Ground right now on Netflix.

Thanks for stopping by.

Digging Deeper into Nerd Masculinity

For a long time I have considered myself a nerd; an avid reader and true academic from an early age. I embraced the term “nerd” more and more during the multiple summers I spent at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth summer programs, where I learned that it was cool to love learning, comic book characters, abstract television shows, and the unique brains of those around me. In my adult years, I have retained many of those endearing qualities that made me such an oddball little kid. This is an important piece of my origin story, because I believe this love of knowledge and asking hard questions led me to Women’s and Gender Studies, and then Higher Education, academic disciplines where I get to constantly question ideological structures and challenge people’s preconceived notions of identity and being. I had the opportunity to take a course in my Masters program titled “Men and Masculinities”, in which I explored the multiple masculinities that exist within our society. Since the course didn’t reference “nerd masculinity” within its material, I chose to write my final research paper on the topic, and uncovered some insightful information. So all of this (and my relationship with the one and only Higher Ed Geek, who eagerly pushed me to write about this topic) is what has brought me to this blog post.   

I’ll preface this by saying that I recognize there is a difference between nerds and geeks, however there are enough similarities between the stereotypes of the two that for the purposes of this blog I will be referring to “nerds” and a generalized “nerd masculinity” for some simplification.

I started with analyzing some research of school-aged children, since those formative years shape who we become as adults (I suggest checking out NERDS; American Nerd; and The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth if you are interested in children’s perceptions of nerd identity). Stereotypically, “nerds” in elementary and high school are social outcasts, these tend to be the students who have a high intellect, a touch of social awkwardness, and those who find comfort in rational thought. What struck me was that high intellect and rational thought are coveted traits in hegemonic masculinity (the traditional norms and standards society has constructed and expects men to act within); however, nerds are assumed to lack desirable physical traits or social or athletic skills which enable them to fit in with hegemonic standards. These traits may carry on into adulthood, and can become defining characteristics of men’s personalities.

Nerd masculinity is confusing; you might be thinking, “If nerds don’t fit into hegemonic standards of masculinity, how could things like Gamergate or hypersexualized comic book characters happen?” What I’ve learned is that specifically because nerds are ostracized by society (women and other men), they have to perform in a hypermasculine way to attempt to be accepted. This of course, is a generalization, but many nerdy men often feel marginalized within our society’s hierarchical structure, and thus feel the need to marginalize others in order to gain back some sense of power. Every social group (think: religion, ethnicity, national status, sexual orientation) has a hierarchal system in which someone gets oppressed.

Dr. NerdLove has a great article about these toxic notions of masculinity that enable this system of domination and oppression to work in our society. He defines it as a specific narrative about the ways men should act: “emotionally repressed, thuggishly violent, sexually aggressive”. Because toxic masculinity has seeped into every crevice of society, including popular culture and the media, even men who aren’t seen as highly masculine still subconsciously engage in hypermasculine behavior. This is cyclical—nerds are inherently oppressed within the hierarchy of hegemonic masculinity, so they seek out alternative spaces and create their own hierarchy by attempting to emulate behavior that will hopefully gain them more privilege within the hegemonic power structure.

As in all other masculinities, nerd masculinity cannot be understood as a simple blanket identity. There are definitely subtle variations of nerd masculinity that either embrace, or push away from, specific practices of hegemonic masculinity. While nerd culture is not the perfect alternative to hegemonic masculinity, it is certainly becoming absorbed and more accepted by popular culture (read: Marvel and DC movies are dominating the box office, board game sales are steadily increasing, and did anyone see how much Star Wars advertising there was?). Nerd culture is revolutionizing this technological age we live in, and the once ridiculed interests and hobbies of nerds and geeks are becoming popular and in high demand.

While there are still some downsides to nerd culture, including the sexual objectification of women (like women being groped and photographed without their consent at Comic Con, and the few women who are even represented in comics often have ridiculous body shapes and are in in ridiculous poses), as more men begin speaking out against this behavior, and as more women continue joining the nerd ranks, this behavior can and will readily change. Nerd culture has the potential to be a diverse and inclusive environment; just think of all the different characters, superpowers, magical lands, and origin stories that exist across its many different genres. Nerd culture also creates a space for imagination, fun, and creativity, which people of all ages deserve to have access to. Those who embrace nerd masculinity has the ability to subvert hegemonic masculinity and fight the good fight, they just first have to become conscious about what they are standing against.   

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Jennifer Osolinski is a New Jersey native completing her last semester in the University of Maine’s Student Development in Higher Education Masters program. Jenn’s passions are academic advising, feminism, and social justice. She spends her free time looking at puppies on the internet, trying new recipes, and watching a myriad of TV shows and movies. You can follow her on Twitter: @Jenn_Oso

Movie Review Monday: Dear White People

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 2014 film, Dear White People, written and directed by Justin Simien.

The story of the movie takes a comedic yet poignant look at an ensemble of college students dealing with privilege, race, and identity. It takes place at the fictional Ivy League institution, Winchester University, and builds toward a black face party that mimics recent real world events.

This is a great film for several reasons. It address very real and important concerns, and it does it in a palatable, fun way that doesn't take away from the relevance and takeaways. It delves into the deep identity issues that can be experienced by college students, especially students of color (mainly black students). There is so much pressure coming from different sides, saying who we should or shouldn't be and how we are supposed to act. This is even more severe for black students, since they're in environments that are typically built for their white counterparts, and they don't feel as heard, respected, or supported. The types of discussions that happen in the movie are ones that I feel like I have seen pretty much verbatim.

I think especially for folks who are college students, or work with college students, this can be a very important and necessary viewing. You can better understand your peers or the students you serve respectively. On top of that, it is at the very least an engaging film about coming of age and figuring who we want to be. I'll also give some kudos to the ensemble cast of this film. Everyone delivers in their roles and all of the characters interact in neat ways.

You can check out Dear White People streaming right now on Hulu and Amazon Prime Instant Video.

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: A Place at the Table

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 2012 documentary, A Place at the Table.

The movie follows the personal stories of a handful of Americans who, like millions of others in this country, experience food insecurity on a regular basis. They have periods of time where they don't know where their next meal is coming from, if it comes at all. They go hungry in a country where this more than enough food. Often, the food they do get, is not adequate nutrition for them to thrive, especially the children who need it most.

A Place at the Table explores the stories of hungry families in heartbreaking detail, as well as the political climate that created this current situation. Part of the problem is inadequate government programs to help supplement low-income families get enough food, as well as the core problem of income equality and stagnant wages. The documentary is helped along by the likes of actor Jeff Bridges, a longtime hunger advocate as well as experts in several different careers who are working to end food insecurity. The issue is complex and simple at the same time and it has numerous consequences, such as childhood obesity, a lack of childhood engagement with education, and an overburdening of charities to treat the symptoms of the problem.

I've reviewed other documentaries that connect well to this societal issue, like Food, Inc, and Inequality for All. There are others on Netflix as well if you want to explore this issue, but it is something where a lot of lip-service gets given out, but little is actually done to solve the problem. The problem is only increasing over time, so something needs to be done on a federal level to fight hunger.

Check out the film's website for more info, and do what you can to help end food insecurity in your communities (donate food, advocate for food assistance programs, vote for minimum wage increases, and support your local farmers' markets).

You can check out A Place at the Table streaming right now on Netflix.

Thanks for stopping by.

Movie Review Monday: Pump

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie is the 2014 documentary, Pump, directed by Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell and narrated by Jason Bateman.

Pump explores the story of our nation's addiction to oil as a fuel source, and how it is killing our planet, ruining our economy, and generally needs to be put behind us for smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable fuels.

I enjoyed how this film gave a historical context to the issue, as well as some economic correlations to the toxic nature oil has since it is so deeply ingrained in our society. The fluctuations in oil supplies and prices have a powerful impact on American lives, and we don't have much choice about using it or not, which puts forth obvious problems.

I also liked that the documentary also provides solutions backed up by instances of it working elsewhere. Things such as bio fuels and biomass (which are awesome), electric cars (super cool), and flex vehicles (a simply effective solution) all hold promise for alleviating our reliance on oil and even more so foreign fuel sources that are dirty, expensive, and limited.

Our addiction to oil is a huge societal issue. It has ramifications as a social justice issue in terms of access to jobs, wealth, ease of transportation, and huge environmental impacts with climate change affecting us more each day. We need cleaner, cheaper, and more renewable sources to power our world.

It will take time to dismantle the oil industry on a global scale. A lot of progress has been made, but we still have a lot of work to do. We can get there a lot of different ways, which is nice, so that each country, city, community, can make it work for them. I look forward to the day where the chaos and detrimental effects of a global oil economy are history.

You can stream Pump on Netflix right now. Check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Seeing Is Believing: Pop Culture, Representation, and Higher Education

I am a huge media consumer. From books to music to television to movies to web series, I am transfixed by entertainment. My habits border on addiction and often distract me from more academic pursuits. This piece is an attempt to mind meld both my passion for media and my passion for student affairs. Let's hope it comes out more like a hybrid striped rose than Frankenstein's monster.

Staying up to date on what is popular is a hobby for me. I always check the trending sections on Facebook and Twitter as well as entertainment magazines. As a woman of color it has been of interest to me how representation, particularly in television, has changed lately and the trends are reflecting that. We have seen many characters bring the variety American life to the screen in the past few years. There are two critically acclaimed shows, Orange Is The New Black and Transparent that focus and feature on the lives of transgender people. The biggest show runner in Hollywood is a black woman who heads up three hit shows with diverse casts ranging in ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and more. Shows like Blackish, The Fosters, and Fresh Off The Boat explore family life in ways that we haven't seen in years or maybe ever. Television is starting to try to reflect our society. Of course, it is by no means perfect and the majority of what is created is targeted at a certain demographic of viewers. The simple truth is that our media is still run by men and white men at that and they are the ones deciding who and what we see. However, we are taking a turn for the better and I only hope that this will continue until it is no longer a trend, but everyday reality on our screens.

Seeing is so very important, especially in the media. It is where we get a lot of our information and education. It is where we learn about other cultures and experiences we may not have access to. It is those views that help shape how we view ourselves and how we view others. When there is no one like you in the common places to look your view of yourself can become skewed. I know that I connect better with stories and characters that reflect aspects of myself whether it be my ethnicity, my gender, or my hobbies. When you can see yourself in the characters on your television screen it helps to affirm all sorts of possibilities. When characters that look like you or identity as you do are doctors or business people or just fully formed complex humans you have an easier time conceiving that these are things that you can achieve, that you can be. When I see characters like Cookie from Empire, and Maxine Shaw from Living Single, I get so much LIFE. This feeling of belonging and believing made me think about how I could apply this to my work.

I do a lot of program planning in my organizations, from academic panels to Disney themed socials, and one thing that has stood out to me is that students are more engaged in the work my groups and I do when they feel represented whether physically or in terms of interests. Diversity in programming and presentations is so important to students, just like it is to media consumers. The programs on campuses need to reflect their communities. I have helped curate a Nerd Girl Panel for the past two years of Geek Week at Rutgers University. With the help of advisors we were able to gather an amazing group of women from a bunch of nerdy fields from film to social justice bloggers to librarians to Buzzfeed authors. We had women of different ethnic backgrounds, sexualities and experiences. It was amazing to see the way students of all different backgrounds, genders, sexes, and interests interacted with the panelists and spoke about how wonderful it was to see themselves in the speakers we brought. Our programming has to reflect our students and their interests, not just in the entertainment we provide, but in the academic and networking areas as well. Students can only thrive when you affirm that they can achieve anything by showing them real life examples. Seeing truly is believing.

What is the Value of National Student Affairs Conferences?

ACPA

Conference Registration = $600 (less if done earlier, $450 for early bird)

ACPA Membership = $93-149 (2013-14 Membership Rates from ACPA)

NASPA

Conference Registration = $480 (less if done earlier, $430 for early bird)

NASPA Membership = $75-242

Hotel = $200/night (average for Tampa, higher for New Orleans)

Airfare = $200-700 (depends on several variables)

Total (average, estimated) = $1,900 cost per conference + food, parking, taxis, and misc. items

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I'll be honest, I thought this would be a lot higher. While it could be a tad higher depending on individual variables, and food could also be a huge expense, I envisioned costs being much higher (and they most likely will be especially for ACPA in Montreal next year). With that being said, a lot of folks are not going to be able to just drop this sort of money on a conference without any sort of assistance. Many of us are going to have our own homes and families to keep afloat and a national student affairs conference (which has had dwindling returns and value in my opinion) just will not make the cut when there are plenty of cheaper (or free) and better professional development options out there. This goes too for the webinars I've seen out there for student affairs folks. Why are they so expensive? Is it assumed multiple people are sitting in on one registration? Isn't it just someone doing a presentation virtually? It seems absurd to me that it needs to cost professionals hundreds of dollars for at times just an hour presentation.

I'm very grateful to be able to have had the support of my institution to go to a national conference. This is a rarity though (especially to have most everything covered) and not to be assumed to be available to most folks. I presented at ACPA and appear to be one of a few in my Student Life office going to any conferences this year. I'm not competing for this funding with anyone so I haven't had to valiantly prove why I deserve to go.

I think what this high cost results in is an insular, privileged, select group of people that can afford conferences or are lucky enough to have their institution support them. This ends up with us having the usual suspects at conferences and leaving a lot of other amazing professionals out of the inner circles. It comes across as clique-y and oft-putting for people from the outside. What these conferences always do best is bring people together but it isn't doing too well at that if it is the same cohort of people coming together all the time. We need more voices included in these discussions. This will add value and return on investment for sessions, committees, and the entire experience when there is more diversity of perspective from different institutions and people from different backgrounds.

I've been wanting to capture my thoughts on this for a while now. I gave it a fair amount of consideration before posting and I appreciate any insight from others who may have planned conferences or just have something to share. I think this is a valid discourse to have so I felt it important to put forth my thoughts here. We need to do better to bring people in for these opportunities to move our profession forward. It seems like we all could really use it.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.