Will There Be Food?

There's no place like home for the holidays...except when that home is an empty residence hall. Some of our students can't go home during the winter break season, whether due to travel costs or an unstable home life. But, not all of them can stay on campus either. In the final episode of season 1, we're speaking with Zduy Chu, a residence life professional at Valdosta State University.

We student affairs professionals know better than most that learning continues beyond the classroom. So join me today as we learn what service-learning is and what it isn't, unpack the intersections of social justice issues and service learning, and some student aha moments.

Student veterans are non-traditional students with a different set of needs than their first time in college peers. On today’s episode, we explore what support really looks like for student veterans and their families with Joe Schumacher, Army veteran and Director of Veteran Services at Montana State University.

It's a haunting feeling. Submitting an application, immediately hearing a response, and then... an eerie silence. You got ghosted — professionally ghosted, that is. This week, we interviewed a paranormal investigator — we mean, career specialist Carrie Hawes, to try to learn how to banish the ghosts for good. Get ready for a spooky ride.

Estimates on the number of students who are food insecure on campus vary widely, with some studies reporting as low as 7% and others reporting nearly 50%. What are campuses around the country doing to ensure that their students’ basic needs are met?

When it comes to supporting trans students on campus, access to bathrooms is just the tip of the iceberg. How are you and your colleagues working to affirm and advocate for trans students on your campus? We spoke with Luca Mauer, co-creator of the Teaching Transgender Toolkit, to find out.

Happy World Mental Health Day! While today celebrates the efforts of folx raising awareness of mental health issues around the world, how are we prioritizing mental health for students year-round? This week, we chat with Dr. Erin Robinson about what SA pros can do to help eliminate stigma and normalize the mental health conversations on their campuses.

Student activism transforms with each generation. But for many student affairs professionals, navigating politics while being a representative of an institution can be confusing. On today’s episode we speak with scholar-activist Ashley Gaddy about how SApros can work in solidarity with their students and find the teachable moment.

Religiously-affiliated institutions exist to educate and serve their faith. But they also have an obligation to support their students. What does that mean for LGBTQ students and staff at religious institutions? This week, we chat with Sean Smallwood and Sergio Pérez about creating space and finding your queeritual community on campus.

When your entire industry exists to serve students, where does power come from? In this episode, we chat with Edna Dominguez, AVP of Student Affairs at UT Austin, about her journey to an AVP role, the importance of community, and codeswitching. From not knowing what an AVP was to becoming one herself, Edna shows us what it takes to be a strong leader.

Burn-out in student affairs is a familiar story. Living where you work, dealing with crises, and suffering secondary trauma all work together to push your burn-out boulder past the tipping point. In this episode, we speak with Duane Khan and AJ Guedouar about secondary trauma, burn-out, and how you can manage it before everything gets out of hand.

You’re probably working to make your campus more inclusive to different types of students, and you’re probably even hosting body-positive programs. But are you being fatphobic in your work? Fatphobia is real and pervasive, and it’s affecting your students. This week, we chat with Kacie Otto about how you can shift your mindset and implement changes to support fat students on your campus.

You might be dedicating campus resources to alcohol prevention efforts, but are you putting effort toward supporting students in recovery from addiction? We spoke with Tim Rabolt and Tara Strong to learn more about how institutions can be supportive of students in recovery.

So, we've all been asked the question — what exactly do you do? I don't know about you, but explaining what we do in student affairs can be super awkward. While our titles might say one thing, folks outside our industry might see us as babysitters, party planners, or even glorified grocery shoppers. But your job is so much more than that. Introducing Will There Be Food?, a new podcast by Presence. Starting September 10, host Meg Sunga will interview SAPros across the US to bring you stories and lessons from the field. Subscribe today and we'll deliver new episodes straight to you.