In recent years, the landscape of substance use and recovery on college campuses has witnessed transformative shifts, urging a nuanced approach that combines compassion, education, and empowerment. In a revealing conversation on the "Student Affairs Voices from the Field" podcast, experts Dylan Dunn and Sydney Chifetz from the SAFE Project delve into their experiences and strategies in collegiate harm reduction and recovery, providing invaluable insights for higher education professionals.
Prioritizing Student Autonomy and Education
Dylan and Sydney emphasize the significance of placing students at the forefront of harm reduction efforts. Encouraging students to take charge of their health decisions, the duo highlights the importance of respecting student autonomy. By adopting motivational interviewing techniques and fostering open dialogue, professionals can aid students in discerning their relationship with substances and empower them to make informed choices.
Education emerges as a key pillar in this process. Students often lack essential knowledge about the substances they encounter, making educational initiatives crucial. Clear, unbiased information equips students to navigate their substance use responsibly and safely.
Navigating Stigma and Compliance
Addressing stigma in the context of substance use is paramount. Dylan points out that stigmatizing perceptions create an "us versus them" mentality, hampering open discussions and effective interventions. By cultivating an environment rooted in dignity and understanding, campus professionals can bridge the gap between students and necessary support systems.
Simultaneously, the conversation underscores the challenge of aligning harm reduction strategies with compliance requirements, such as the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. The speakers advocate for an approach that balances legal mandates with empathetic, realistic support mechanisms, ensuring students' holistic well-being and safety.
Leveraging Community and Resources
The SAFE Project team underscores the power of community collaboration. By engaging with partners beyond campus boundaries, colleges can tap into external resources and expertise, enriching their support systems. This collaborative approach not only enhances the available resources but also fosters a sense of belonging and support for students navigating recovery journeys.
Paving the Way Forward
In envisioning the future, Dylan and Sydney advocate for a student affairs approach steeped in curiosity, care, and judgment-free zones. Authentic engagement with students' lived experiences can lead to meaningful change, paving the way for healthier campus environments.
As student affairs professionals, embracing these principles can reshape how campuses address substance use, fostering environments where students feel heard, supported, and empowered to overcome challenges. Through intentional, compassionate actions, higher education institutions can truly become beacons of hope and healing for students in recovery.
TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm doctor Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay voices from the field host. Today on Essay Voices, we bring you an episode that talks about recovery and addiction with college students with two colleagues that are higher ed adjacent working at the SAFE project. Our first guest is Dylan Dunn, hehim. Dylan has dedicated his career to transforming cultures, systems, and programs to empower individuals in recovery and those impacted by addiction and overdose. Throughout his time at Safe Project and in his current professional role as the senior director of Safe Campuses, Dylan has worked with students, faculty, and staff at over 550 campuses and in all 50 states to implement holistic student support, harm reduction and recovery programs, and provide professional development opportunities.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:02]: Prior to his work at the SAFE project, Dylan has served as the collegiate recovery program coordinator at the University of Denver where he developed and launched recovery support, stigma reduction, and naloxone availability programs in the memory of Jonathan Winifield. From this work, Dylan has been the recipient of the 2019 NASPA Now Award for Innovation in the Field of Student Affairs. Before his work at the University of Denver, Dylan was a founding advisor for the recovery support community at Colorado State University as well as a residence hall director, student conduct hearing officer, and case manager. Dylan's work is informed by his experience growing up in rural Ohio, the youngest child of a large family involved in the drug trade, and later through the journey of helping his parent along their recovery journey. Dylan holds a master of science in student affairs in higher education from Colorado State University, as well as a bachelor of arts in philosophy and a bachelor of arts in criminology and criminal justice from The Ohio State University. Our second guest is Sydney Chifetz, Miles per hour, deputy director of Safe Campuses, who brings ten years of experience in global health, collegiate recovery, disease prevention, and health education to the field. Currently, Chifetz builds and oversees Safe Projects student development programs, providing learning, advocacy, and leadership opportunities to students nationwide rooted in equity, empowerment, and public health principles. Before joining SAFE Project in 2022, Trifetz led alcohol and other drug prevention, harm reduction, and recovery programs at Gonzaga University.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:21]: Additionally, she served in the field of global health and education in Southern Brazil and on the Polio Eradication Initiative in Northern Nigeria. Sydney holds a master of public health from Oregon State University and is certified in motivational interviewing, recovery coaching, and ethical public health research. She was the recipient of the Oregon State University twenty eighteen Global Consciousness Award and Gonzaga University's twenty twenty one Outstanding New Student Affairs Professional Award. Welcome to the show, Sydney.
Sydney Chifetz [00:02:47]: Hey, Jill. How are you today?
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:49]: I'm doing great. Thank you so much. And Dylan, welcome.
Dylan Dunn [00:02:51]: Hey. Thanks for having
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:52]: us. This is a bit of an unusual episode for us here at SA Voices because normally we're featuring the voices of student affairs professionals. But today, we're thrilled to bring you both in from the SAFE project, which is a nonprofit organization that works with what I would call student affairs adjacent work. So we're in the health promotion space using student affairs language. And the safe project was founded in November of twenty seventeen by admiral James and Mary Winifield following the loss of their 19 year old son, Jonathan, to an accidental opioid overdose. And this family immediately channeled the grief into action, hoping to save more families from the pain of loss, whether it was seeking treatment, getting answers or understanding the nature of the diseases. They, they knew that they needed to be a different solution to helping other families facing the same journey with substance use disorders. And so therefore SAFE Project was created and they're working towards meaningful action through programs and leading efforts that are unifying, nonpartisan and evidence based.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:45]: SAFE seeks meaningful metrics that are strengthening our independent six lines of operation and ultimately aim to achieve safe communities, campuses, workplaces, and veterans across the nation. So today we're focusing on the campuses element. Why don't we get started with asking you both how you got to your current seat in your work with this nonprofit?
Dylan Dunn [00:04:02]: Sure. So, again, my name is Dylan. I'm the senior director of our campuses team, which is, as you said, one arm of the safe project team. And I am a student affairs professional by trade. I'm a graduate of the CSU SAHE program. And when I was at Colorado State University, that was when Jonathan Munafald passed away. So I was just 40 miles, 50 miles up the road. And when I graduated from CSU after doing collegiate recovery work there while also working in housing, I got hired at University of Denver to start the program in Jonathan's memory.
Dylan Dunn [00:04:29]: And so after a year of working at DU, establishing an collegiate recovery program doing opioid overdose prevention work, I knew it was time for me to go. So I ended up getting hired at Safe Project to help however I could. And then after a a couple months, they realized that I was a student affairs professional, and it would make sense for me to be on the campuses team. And so I've been on the team ever since, and it's been a heck of a journey.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:47]: Sydney, how about you?
Sydney Chifetz [00:04:48]: Yeah. So I got started in public health. I was living for a time in Brazil and saw the impacts of infectious diseases there, so decided to get my master's degree and was very fortunate to accept a student a graduate teaching assistantship at Oregon State University where I worked with the collegiate recovery community. I'm a person whose family has been deeply impacted by addiction, so I was grateful for that opportunity while I studied infectious disease and my master's in public health. I graduated and took a position at Gonzaga University where I was a health educator and then later a health promotion specialist. So I no longer work in the field of infectious diseases, and I'm, as you said, higher education or I'm sorry, student affairs adjacent now. But what I liked most kind of shifting into this role is college is such a transformative time for so many folks, and it's a really important time when we think about kind of developing lifelong skills and particularly discerning health behaviors and education, particularly around substance use. It's been a really great opportunity.
Sydney Chifetz [00:05:40]: So when I came about at Safe Project, I love doing this work on a national scale and then also in the work that we do now, empowering students to kind of lead the charge on their own campuses. So a roundabout way, but I got here eventually.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:53]: This work is something that has been important for colleges and universities for the last several decades. I feel like when the opioid epidemic was first becoming part of the consciousness of collegiate prevention work, that was probably about twenty years ago at this point in time, and it was very, very focused on for a while. And that has quieted over time, and I I believe we're starting to see that work kind of come back into the consciousness more than it has in the past. But what are the the top things that you're focusing on right now in the prevention and recovery space for campuses?
Dylan Dunn [00:06:24]: I think it often breaks into two pieces for us. One is collegiate recovery. We do a lot of work with students around recovery, and I'll defer Sydney on that here in a second. But we do a lot of work also with opioid overdose prevention and response. Some of that work is directly with NASPA also. And so we help campuses build the systems, the infrastructure, the readiness, and then find the resources to do things like naloxone distribution and education, naloxone being the drug that folks use to, reverse an overdose. But that is kind of our technical work that we do, I would say, where we're doing a lot of, like, if this, then that, and if this, then that over and over again to help people build these programs. But Sydney does some really great work around empowering students in recovery and helping students be a part of this work.
Dylan Dunn [00:07:02]: So I wanna pass it to her for that.
Sydney Chifetz [00:07:03]: Yeah. So thanks, Dylan. As it pertains to collegiate recovery communities, a lot of our work focuses on ensuring that students are kind of leading the charge there, knowing that they are the ones most impacted and they are really the ones that should be the biggest stakeholder in this work. So we bring on a cohort of fellows each year that do the boots on the ground work and just we provide some of that coaching and guidance as they do the work. A key focus of ours now, as Dylan has said, is the prevention, a lot of harm reduction because that's where the focus of students has been over the past couple years. And then as it pertains to recovery, ensuring that collegiate recovery communities are more inclusive, we've certainly seen a change over time. And what does it mean to identify as a person in recovery? What does a person need to have in order to be part of a collegiate recovery community? And then are some of those barriers that are placed onto these programs ensuring that all students feel like they are part of that and can seek those resources? And then to the point of prevention, we're having these conversations about how can we ensure that our prevention approach focuses on public health so it's much more holistic, shifting away as I'm sure, you know, everybody is now from this just say no message or even just this, like, education is all that folks need to what calls a person to use or overuse alcohol or other drugs? What are the conditions in their life? Whether that's a lack of emotional intelligence or hope healthy coping strategies or, for college students, right, support systems or outlets that they might have. So thinking about holistic health and and taking that public health approach to prevention nowadays.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:38]: That public health approach to prevention, I feel like, has been really strong in higher education in the last several years. And I think one of the things that we struggle with is where should we be focusing our efforts? I think harm reduction related to alcohol has been a primary focus of higher ed administrators for a long time, largely because it's prevalent in the culture of American collegiate society in ways that we don't see in other countries. And then we add in these elements of harm reduction related to cannabis use, harm reduction related to substances that for lack of a better term, come in and out of fashion almost where we see certain substances being more popular in different eras over time than kind of falling by the wayside and new substances coming into the community and things like that. So when we think about the work that you're doing, how do you recommend campuses approach this harm reduction effort knowing that it's not just one substance that we're trying to help students figure out how to reduce their harm against or to stop usage or to do whatever they need to do to help someone else recover.
Dylan Dunn [00:09:38]: We have professionals who talk to us a lot about, like, the new substance on the block. Like, oh, we had we a parent reached out because we heard that some student or somebody got injured by a substance that they'd never heard of before, and the fear of that will then cause a lot of stir. The thing that makes our job easy in those moments is we're not actually chasing the substances anymore. We're chasing the principles of this work so that it's about education. It's about empowerment. It's about making sure that students feel like they have what they need. Yes. Sometimes that is substance dependent, but sometimes making sure they have what they need to navigate their own wants and needs well.
Dylan Dunn [00:10:13]: Sometimes that means they got in trouble and we figure out how do we stop that, or how do we kind of navigate the realities of the world around them. But our goal is to stay principled enough in public health principles and harm reduction principles and all of that so that we can stay balanced. And, like, we're not gonna be so surprised by a new substance that we're kind of knocked off kilter and don't know what to do next. And so it's about us being informed by trends, but not trying to be trendy is the way that I explain it a lot. Because the trendiness makes our job harder because we're always chasing, and we're trying not to do that.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:41]: I like that because what it shows is that the abuse of substances is likely related to other conditions, not necessarily related to whether a substance is most popular at the moment. You mentioned the principles of harm reduction and public health being core to the work. Can you talk a little bit about what those are?
Sydney Chifetz [00:10:57]: Yeah. So a couple that come to mind and particularly pertaining to this conversation, autonomy. So when working with college students, we recognize that these are adults that can and should be making their own decisions, and it's not it is our responsibility to work with them, you know, using some of the principles in motivational interviewing and and public health, right, to understand what are what are these person's desires as we've been talking about? Like, what are the reasons why they're choosing to consume substances at at whatever rate that they are. So really respecting a person's autonomy. Education, there are some students that we work with that don't know some of the basics of particular substances, especially as we've noted, like, there seems to be every couple years or a couple months a new substance in the field, that students are intentionally or unintentionally having relationships with. So education around what is this doing, and then I think working with students to discern what would they like their relationship with that substance to be and and how can they reduce their risk of harm. But I think what I always come back to in the work that we do is that people have choices, and we can work to empower them to make more informed choices. And then if they're going to make a certain choice, the ways that they can reduce their risk of harm.
Sydney Chifetz [00:12:05]: I don't know how much you want me to go into like, this is the casual part, like basic public health principles, basic harm reduction principles. I don't know.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:12]: I think anything that you can share that might be helpful for our audience to narrow their foci into. I know that a lot of our listeners are also graduate students. They love learning theory. We also have, listeners who are teaching in higher ed master's programs, and also a number of professionals who maybe don't go into this work on a day to day basis.
Sydney Chifetz [00:12:30]: So one of the concepts which we use a lot in our work and particularly health promotion professionals are using all the time within a motivational interviewing framework is the idea of stages of change. And so I don't know how prevalent that was as part of the conversation twenty years ago of it's not as easy as, a, just saying no or, b, making a change. Right? Most of us are ambivalent about many aspects of our experience, particularly as it pertains to our health. So working with people to recognize that change can happen, change takes time, and, also, it's about many aspects of our life that sometimes need to change in order for our relationship with alcohol and other drugs to, be changed. So that's one of the things. Dylan, I'm gonna pass it to you.
Dylan Dunn [00:13:13]: The most fun part, I think, about this work as a student affairs professional is that this work is really just student student development theory over and over and over and over again. I think sometimes student affairs professionals will get kind of in our own way thinking that our subject matter expertise is not the specifics of substance use, and therefore, we must defer. I think important deferring is important when it's useful, but so much of our work is empowering students and empowering the development of students as they're in their stage of emerging adulthood, trying to figure out where they are in this world, what rules they wanna follow, what their rules for themselves are. And if we the moment we go into that with students, they're shocked. Like, oh, I thought that was the substance use is exempt from that conversation, I thought. And if we're saying no, like, sub your relationship to substances can be rooted in dignity and can be rooted in empowerment and education and you figuring out what your own approach is gonna be for the rest of your life, suddenly it's so much easier. It's when we wanna be the police in the conversation, which I understand there's reason for that on college campuses. There's plenty of reasons why, but we can both keep campuses safe and keep campuses compliant while also empowering students through the basics of how we know we need to develop students even if that includes substances.
Dylan Dunn [00:14:22]: And we can talk in at length about the role of stigma and all of that and the role of judgment, but I find this work if you let it be simple, it can be simple. And it can be really fun, but we often are afraid to do that, I think.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:32]: I wanna revisit something you mentioned, Sydney, about motivational interviewing being really hot at the moment as a as a style of working with students in the harm reduction conversation. Such an important tool. So if you're listening and you've never heard of motivational interviewing, it's actually a a style of conversation. A lot of people think of motivational interviewing as a counseling technique, but it's not really. It's a way of having a conversation with someone that allows them to elucidate their own thoughts and feelings about a a change that they're thinking about making in their life. There's a good book out there called Motivational Engineering for College Students, something like that. I'll have to go find the type the exact title, but it's a good way to start. And I know when we were using that on the team that I was working with, actually in Colorado as well, we were able to see almost like a a 33% drop in recidivism for students that were having conversations about their alcohol use through the motivational interviewing context when in comparison to students who went through a traditional conduct process.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:25]: So there's so much empowerment available as long as you have the right training and tools to have the conversation. So it's an exciting time. But Dylan, I also wanted to go back to something that you had mentioned around stigma. So let's talk a little bit about stigma in substance use and abuse and what we're seeing with the collegiate environment.
Dylan Dunn [00:15:41]: It's a big question. I think the hard part for our work and for the anybody doing substance use work on campus is we don't get to exempt ourselves from stigma that is off campus because all of our students are bringing with them everything that they've experienced throughout their life and up until this point and then what they expect to see once they leave. And then then there's also this unique stigma that exists exists on campus in in different senses. But in general, I think the bottom line of it all is that when we talk about substances, there tends to be this us versus them conversation that quickly emerges because people are afraid of being in us in this con or they're afraid of being in them in this conversation is a better way to say it. Them being people who use drugs. And so then the way we either bifurcate that or start to outline that depends on the culture of the university. And so there are some campuses where an us is someone who uses alcohol. People on our campus, people may say, our students drink, but they don't do those other things.
Dylan Dunn [00:16:32]: And then when we say we don't do those other things, the kind of mythologies we'll create about why that is or what those other things must be like often are rooted in almost zero reality. They're kind of just like these assumptions that we make about, oh, people use drugs are this way or that way. And, again, we can go through lists and lists of what those stigmatizing beliefs look like, but we spent a lot of time focusing on language when it comes to stigma, but we've also now been breaching a lot of conversations around just underlying beliefs that get us to this defensiveness around substance use out of judgment, not even really about safety, but about judgment and lack of understanding.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:06]: That stigma space is is so interesting because we also are balancing compliance. Right? And so the reality of the conversations that we need to be having on our campuses are what is the prevalence of usage related to some of these substances? How are these substance use situations affecting students' ability to show up every day and do what they need to do to learn in their academic space? How is that impacting their well-being overall? And then on the other side, we have the tension of the Direct Free Schools and Communities Act and the Controlled Substances Act pushing against effectively what is zero tolerance. And so our campus policies always have to be zero tolerance to receive that federal funding. But the way that we respond to those doesn't necessarily have to be that dichotomous. It can be more nuanced. So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about the universities that you're seeing do this work the best or at least, most progressively are aligning with both the demands of what we need to do for compliance alongside what we actually need to do to care for the humanity for our students. And you don't necessarily need to name a university, but wondering what those practices look like in terms of how is this support work coming out and really looking effective.
Sydney Chifetz [00:18:09]: Yeah. So I think a big piece of it is helping universities understand what aspects of the work that they do and the approach that they take is up to them and the work that they do with students and how much of that has guidelines outlined in the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. So a lot of what we see, particularly around conference season, right, is there's always a lot of sessions that talk about what is required of you and what approach can you take as it pertains to, harm reduction, for example, under the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. And a piece of that, right, is so what is required of us? We are required to be drug free. We are required to provide this, this, and this. And what do we have control over? Right? So what are we communicating? What is that style? What do our conduct meetings look like? Right? Are we providing a a space where students can really talk through their experience? And we have all probably been there. Those of us that have done basics in k six or motivational interviewing meetings. Right? Like, when a student comes in and they grasp for the first time that you are there to support them and you are there to hear them out and work with them to figure out what a solution is gonna be to where the university feels comfortable.
Sydney Chifetz [00:19:14]: I feel like I did my job as a whatever, and the universe and the student has kind of tools that they can move forward with. So I think a lot of that is to what extent are we communicating, what is required, but then what extent are we choosing an approach that is on top of that? The word that comes to mind is rigid. Right? Like, can we see the humanity in some of these? Certainly, the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act is meant to protect students, and it is meant to create spaces of learning. And how can we also see the human experience and in what students are experiencing and the approach that we take to that often in whether that's conduct meetings or basics meetings, it can be a lot less rigid. It can be a lot more of, let me hear how this is going for you. And nobody wants to be thrown rules at. But when students understand where is that coming from, it's often that students don't understand the Drug Free Schools and Community Act because we haven't done a good job of outlining to them where is this coming from and why is this important. And then what is my role as a university staff member in not only enforcing this, but also making sure that students feel heard and they have the resources they need, etcetera.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:28]: You've mentioned the board basics a couple of times, so I just wanna clarify what that is for our audience. It stands for brief alcohol screening intervention for college students, and it's a a style of sitting with a student for harm reduction with relationship with alcohol, usually done with visual feedback, such that the student can have a personalized conversation about their own relationship with alcohol, and then the administrator can use that opportunity to use the motivational interviewing style to talk about any changes they wanna make in their relationship with alcohol. It's a really great way of being with students. The the training can be a little bit extensive, but you you pretty much only need to do it once and you pretty much get the hang of of what you're doing. But, Dylan, what did you wanna add?
Dylan Dunn [00:21:05]: The thing that we are often surprised about is the amount of folks who so, obviously, in a student affairs program, you're gonna learn about the drugs free schools and communities act. It's gonna be a part of your education. I mean, I assume, and I I hope so. But I would say we're at a fifty fifty point maybe. I don't have the data behind this, but it seems this way. Like, for example, the NASPA strategies conference that about half of the people doing alcohol and drug work on college campuses don't have a student affairs background. And that's a really cool tool for us to have in this field of the difference of backgrounds and education and all of that. But what it does sometimes when it comes to DFSCA, the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, is we in our presentations a lot, will show the parts of the DFSCA, and a lot of folks in the audience have actually never read the DFSCA.
Dylan Dunn [00:21:44]: And so I encourage everyone who's listening to go and read the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act if you would like because we it is titled the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, but the part and soul of it is that you can't break the law. And it's really that long and that that's as difficult as it is to understand, but it is not breaking the law to do principled legal harm reduction work or to have really meaningful, tactful, direct conversations with students about alcohol and other drugs. And but I think sometimes people will hear the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, and they assume they're gonna be violating it by doing this work directly. And we had there was, someone from the Department of Education, of course, last year that came to NASPA and clarified for everybody that like, fentanyl testing strips, for example. Fentanyl testing strips require us to acknowledge that students may be using drugs, but that is protecting students. And so to there have been schools we've worked with who have said, well, fentanyl testing strips cannot fall off in the DFSCA, but that can't be true. If fentanyl testing strips are legal somewhere and it's also us keeping our students safe, the order of operations there of safety and lawfulness outweigh the stigma of, well, we don't want those students here as often with the underlying messages if we're talking about stigma here. And that's a really hard place.
Dylan Dunn [00:22:50]: We have to navigate that a lot is what I'll say. And often with that, yes, knowledge is power and clarity is power there and just being willing to have the hard conversation.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:57]: So while we're talking about fentanyl testing strips and you previously mentioned Narcan is what most people know it know it as, How are you seeing these two tools being utilized on college campuses effectively to protect students?
Dylan Dunn [00:23:08]: When I was at University of Denver in 2018, I think there were maybe 12 schools in the country who were utilizing naloxone or having naloxone as part of their programming or a tool that was available to students. That as of NASPA strategies this year, I think the data was shared that about half of schools in the across the country have Naloxone available to students. So it's a huge shift in seven years, but it also reflects the importance of the opioid crisis over the past over that time period. But the there are many schools who are doing it really well, and I think all of them that what they have in common is that they both train folks openly, and they train them often. They have naloxone available for distribution so that folks can grab it and take it with them throughout their daily lives, and they also have it available as permanently set on campus like an AED kit, for example, and if they have clarity around their policies. Good Samaritan policies, medical amnesty policies, things like that. As I mentioned earlier, we've worked with NASPA on this problem and this need specifically, and we've created a checklist alongside NASPA and the higher ed center at Ohio State. A checklist of 10 things that campuses should be at least attempting to accomplish in order to say that they are addressing opioid overdose response on their campus.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:10]: Can you tell us the brief version of what those 10 things are?
Dylan Dunn [00:24:12]: There's two halves of it. The first half is what I was just saying. Having naloxone available for an emergency response. The part about that that we focus on is it's not just, oh, we have naloxone in a drawer somewhere. It's that you have it available within five minutes of someone experiencing an overdose. I know on many campuses, a five minute response time is very, very quick. I've also been on campuses where a five minute response time would be seen as unacceptable. And so that's something maybe as a reminder to folks that if someone is experiencing an overdose, they have five minutes or less before this is not reversible.
Dylan Dunn [00:24:42]: And so that's why we use that five minute number. Having naloxone available for distribution for on and off campus emergencies, recurring trainings, having Good Samaritan responsible exemption policies for so that students know they should prioritize response over fearing getting in trouble. Everything below those first ones is very technical and policy and procedure focused, like having policies and procedures for response, for responding to community impacts, for internal tracking, publicly available overviews, so DFSCA stuff there, and then, again, continued tracking and then data sharing with important groups in their community. So it's not meant to be a if you don't have all 10 of these, you're not doing anything. It's more of here are the 10 goals we would set for you if you are intending to keep your students safe if this were to happen.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:23]: You mentioned Good Samaritan medical amnesty policies. I know that there has been a dialogue in higher ed for a while about whether those amnesty policies should include alcohol and other drugs. That has been kind of something that's been circling around, particularly related to the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. Where are you seeing the best practice go?
Sydney Chifetz [00:25:41]: I think something that students were always hyper mindful of when I was directly on campuses is when universities take a different approach to what substances are involved, there's inherent judgment in that. Right? So certain universities that might have a higher fine for cannabis, say, than they have for alcohol or the number of brief motivational interventions is higher for one over another. So what does that do? Right? It increases stigma. It honestly makes students more cautious, not necessarily around how they're partaking in the substance, but how they're interacting with the university. Right? If we if students perceive that the university is more comfortable with them having a relationship with alcohol than them having relationship with cannabis, students are then just gonna gravitate towards one substance over another or get better at hiding use of one substance over another and also not then being forthcoming when it comes to having conversations with professionals on campus that want to have open dialogues with them to help them get to a spot that is more reduced risk of that use. Right? If students are pulled through messaging that they shouldn't be upfront about the substance that they're engaging in, then the health promotion professionals can't do their best work. So I think, right, there are different ways that certain substances impact the body, and there are certainly substances that have different impacts and different, health outcomes to be mindful of. But when we you know, we've seen this throughout time.
Sydney Chifetz [00:27:04]: Right? Illicit drug versus not illicit drug or hard drugs versus whatever. Right? So we are so conditioned to put substances into boxes, and I think a lot of that comes from the stigma of who uses certain substances and then what types of people, quote, unquote, use other sorts of substances. But if we want to take kind of a a holistic approach to it, it is that students are using substances for a certain outcome. And when we put a line in the sand, the consequences of this is going to be different than the consequences of this. What are we saying about substance use? And, ultimately, what are we teaching unconsciously often students to do when they're engaging in certain substances over other other substances.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:42]: That's such an important point and a hard conversation for university administrators to have because you have to have that conversation with yourself first about what are your own biases in this situation and how are those biases creeping into policy, administration of policy, as well as response. I do wanna get down to a little bit of nitty gritty detail as well and just ask, what are we seeing in terms of prevalence on college campuses these days around substance use related to alcohol and other drugs?
Sydney Chifetz [00:28:09]: Yeah. You know, it it really depends on the data and how what timeline we are looking at the data. Right? And so we saw alcohol kinda take a dip in the first periods of the pandemic, and it's kind of spikes back up. We also very much hear about this sober curious movement. Right? So a lot of Gen Z and Generation Alpha are questioning the relationship they want to have with alcohol. I know that the most recent university that I I served at, I engaged in a cannabis research initiative because I was seeing in a lot of my motivational interventions that students were using cannabis at a at a on a daily basis, and yet that was not being reflected in the data that we were seeing. And And I think we can talk for a long time about what sort of students are taking these hour long surveys that we're collecting data from, and are those the type of students that are engaging in daily cannabis practices. Right? But so I definitely think that something that this is not new.
Sydney Chifetz [00:29:01]: Right? But the use of alcohol twenty years ago, blacking out was an unintended consequence of alcohol use. And now in certain circles and in certain communities, we are hearing that blacking out is the goal. We can have long conversations about boards or blackout rage gallons or whatever that were a hot topic, particularly among higher ed administrators to be discussing a couple years ago. Right? But the ways that students are engaging in alcohol and what the outcomes that they would like to be look different now. And then there are also emerging pockets of students saying alcohol isn't serving it's not the substance that I want to be using, or I don't wanna be using substances. Right? So that's a really beautiful movement that has spiked up and students being really steadfast in their in their view of that. And I think in many of the universities that I've served at and the situationally, this is in the Pacific Northwest, but cannabis use. Like, cannabis is something that can use more easily on campus, particularly in certain pockets of the country culturally.
Sydney Chifetz [00:30:03]: Alcohol might look down upon, but cannabis is perceived as this way that we can be more creative and be more authentic. And and I'm not applying judgment to that at all, but I am saying that when we take this approach of comparing the ways that students used to use alcohol to what they might be using now, I, for one, have looked a lot at the cannabis rates and and talking to students about what is your experience, particularly post pandemic? Why are students using cannabis? What does this mean? Are they self medicating to an extent? Are they using it as a tool for connection? But I do think that's something that I have seen become much more normalized, not just this, I use cannabis on a Saturday night to hang out with my friends to, no, I I wake up and I use cannabis because it helps me do x, y, or z better, and I need it also in order to fall asleep. And then also, why not just go home in the middle of the day too to get a little bit of a serotonin spike? So that's something that I've been observing over time.
Dylan Dunn [00:30:58]: We see in the data that some of us may have never ever seen this coming until legalization was happening, but cannabis and alcohol are starting to culturally line up more as alcohol rates are beginning to fall, I think, most significantly for the first time in my lifetime. Alcohol is kind of the thing that never changed. We would just do our best to navigate it. I think we are seeing that change as of recently, but that change is being then replaced or influenced by cannabis. Students grew up seeing the outcomes of alcohol use, and they were not thrilled. But they have not seen that with cannabis, so why that would make more sense. The other thing that has to do with our work is most schools will see opioid use as declining. It was never more than two and a half, 3%, but it is still declining.
Dylan Dunn [00:31:37]: The challenge with that is we are seeing often cocaine use rates are increasing, and even, like, methamphetamine rates are either the same or increasing around the country. Why I bring that up is that we often hear administrators go point at the opioid rates declining and be really excited that that means overdose response can relax. The problem is fentanyl, most often the cause of overdose, is found in pills and powders. And so it's anytime we're having conversations around cocaine as a powder or any sort of pill, whether it's especially or and only if it's illicit as what we're talking about here, illicit pills. So counterfeit pills, press pills, those are likely to cause opioid overdose even if they're not intended to be used as opioids. That's a distinction that I know can be tricky for, many of us who don't do this work every day, but fentanyl is found throughout the drug supply. And so if pills, powders are being used, pills and or powders are being used, we still need to be thoughtful about opioid overdose response because that's where and when it happens.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:31]: Then that is using that that pill may not know that there's fentanyl present in that medication as well. So as we look at the whole picture here, most student affairs professionals don't interact with harm reduction on a day to day basis as part of their work, but we all work with the same students. So if I am a student affairs professional, what should I be looking for or thinking about as I interact with the student population that I'm serving, in order to equip myself to have either a difficult conversation or make a referral?
Dylan Dunn [00:33:01]: I love the question because I think the answer is a bit more maybe interesting than some folks are expecting. And because for me, the tools you need are curiosity and care. The I it's that often then offsets this look for students whose eyes look a certain way or who are acting a certain way. In my experience, both on and off campus, students people use substances for reasons. And those reasons, we can dig into those and understand those, and especially college students are using for very simple reasons either to belong or to cope in some way. And so if you understand that a student is going through something difficult, there's never a wrong time to ask, how are you dealing with that? The challenge is do they perceive you as someone who would be nonjudgmental? And so folks on campus who are doing alcohol and other drug work well often are seen as the cool staff or the, like, the folks on campus that students can really trust as long as the university has set them up to be that way. Some campuses require, quote, unquote, the cool staff to hide in corners because they don't want them to be known because then that would maybe send a a message that that is okay to participate in substance using behaviors rather than it's okay to have people on our staff who are equipped and well skilled in helping students navigate the challenges of life. There's, like, those kind of stigma based and culturally based reframes that I think are really important.
Dylan Dunn [00:34:11]: But I know Sydney used to do far more direct services work on campus than I was doing since I was doing more, again, housing and things like that.
Sydney Chifetz [00:34:17]: I think to your point, Dylan, first and foremost is listening to your students. And I think sometimes the mistake that offices of health promotion make is the students that we're listening to aren't the students that have the experiences that we can best learn from. So I think listening to students, listening to students that come in through the conduct process, listening to our student interns. And we want the student interns that know the vibe on campus. Right? So that we can have an understanding of what's truly happening and also those cultural shifts, the trend shifts as are happening. We don't wanna be, this has been happening on our campus for a year, and we weren't listening to understand it as it started to emerge. So I think listening to students. Second is taking a reality based approach to the work that we do.
Sydney Chifetz [00:35:02]: And I think most of us are doing this now. Right? But we can pretend like something isn't happening, or we can apply judgment to something and and not talk about it upfront, or we can recognize that there are some humans that are going to partake in certain substances and certain behaviors. And what approach should we take to ensure that these folks are reducing their risk of harm if they're choosing to engage in a certain behavior, have the education that they need so that they can make informed decisions, have the resources that they do decide, you know, this isn't working for me anymore, or I'm ready to make a change that might be more sustainable. Right? So using reality based education, reality based approaches to how we're doing the work now. And then I think as it pertains to directly working with students, just not dancing around it. Right? It's okay to point out to students, hey, friend. Here's what I've noticed. Or, like, hey, do you mind if I'm real with you for a second? And I think if we could take judgment out of that conversation, but really point out to folks like, hey, here's what I've noticed.
Sydney Chifetz [00:36:04]: I'm just checking in. Is everything okay? Or, hey, You used to, I don't know, come to my office once a week, and now I I only see you every couple months. Is everything okay? Or, you know, I think it's also okay too when we see students what is an appropriate way of pointing out to a student, like, kinda takes one to know one. When a student would show up to my office and have, like, they had clearly been partaking in a substance that day, how can I without judgment, but also point out, like, hey? And not calling a student out, but, like, making there are ways that you can point something out without making it a very serious, like, hey. I noticed that you're showing up to this k six, so basics but applied to cannabis. I know that you're showing up to this k six conversation under the influence of cannabis. No. But, hey.
Sydney Chifetz [00:36:47]: I'm noticing that some of the students show up to my office under the influence of cannabis. Why do you think that is? Right? So you can kinda pull students into the conversation, but also make students aware that you are not unaware of what's happening. But also, I would so much rather be the type of person on campus that has the approach of, like, whatever's going on, whatever state you're in or or wherever you're at, come on by my office, and we'll figure it out together, especially if you don't know where to turn rather than let me stay away at this time because I'm fear of judgment, fear of consequences, whatever.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:20]: Any other thoughts for student affairs professionals on working through any challenges that they might be having on their campus related to substance overdose or learning about health promotion practices themselves or anything else in this topic that you think that might be interesting or valuable?
Dylan Dunn [00:37:35]: Not to I mean, yes, to plug ourselves. I think Sydney and I both in our campuses team, we're always available. Like, our jobs at the end of the day, if we had do nothing else, is to make sure that student affairs professionals and folks on campus don't feel like they're doing this work alone. And so if someone is sitting in their office, they're the only person in their health promotion office who's doing this work, and they're just not sure where to turn, often, yes, Google can be helpful. But often, you're gonna find less information less helpful information just by googling something than you would by asking a peer and then engaging in a dialogue with them. And both Sydney and I are available. Our calendars are available to folks. We'll share our website at the end.
Dylan Dunn [00:38:09]: But, yeah, we're here to make sure that folks feel like they can have the real conversation with peers in the field first as opposed to using a student as the first time you've had this conversation well. Or if you're not sure if your supervisor is the best person to have this conversation with, I understand. I know what that's like. And so if we wanna have conversations together first, we're available for that. We're more than glad to do it. And just I was thinking as Sydney was speaking of we are very intentional and purposeful in student affairs about being reflective practitioners. And the best way to do that often is to get out of our own heads. And we have some tools to use at SAFE to help people do that, but just look for good podcasts or books.
Dylan Dunn [00:38:44]: We can recommend them maybe in the description or something later. But there are so many great opportunities to engage with the experience of people who do use drugs or have used drugs or in recovery or not. And understanding those perspectives colors our experience as professionals so much more vibrantly than just trying to stop something. I say a lot, you can't do it, don't. And so rather than being the person who's trying to help people to stop doing something, what if I have another option for them? What if I have a more deep conversation with them? Then would you please stop? You're causing problems. But I know that takes effort, and it's hard to, do when all of us are often overworked and underpaid, truthfully. And so I know how that feels, but a lot of a lot there. But, Sydney, you may have some, extra stuff too.
Sydney Chifetz [00:39:23]: No. Dylan, I think to your point, like, obviously, we are always here and eager to have conversations with folks and help them understand how does this relate to what others in the country might be seeing. I also think that something that excites me the most is where the ways that we get to engage with students. Some of the students that we have as part of our fellowship now are some of the brightest people that I get to have conversations with right now, and they are very much leading the charge. So I think, like, it when we're, as Dylan said, overworked and underpaid on campus, we tend to kind of put our head down and go at it alone without recognizing that there are students on our campus that are very passionate. They want to help, but they need to be engaged in a way that's gonna work for them. Right? So we're not tokenizing their experience, but we are walking alongside them as we're figuring this out. Dylan's gonna laugh at this, but I am a big proponent of focus groups on campus.
Sydney Chifetz [00:40:13]: Right? I think we get so much data from really wonderful surveys, and how often are those occurring, how long do they take students to take, and therefore, who is taking them sorts of thing. And we could just get better at talking to our students. Some of the best, data, quote, unquote, that I had at my previous institution was, hey. I'll give you a $15 DoorDash gift card, and I recognize that that takes resources that some universities might have or not have. But I'll give you $15 at DoorDash. If you come and talk to me for an hour, I'm gonna ask you four questions. I'm not gonna write down your contact information unless you wanna be involved with me, but I just wanna hear authentically your thoughts on this. Because I think students, so often we are conditioned to talk to our supervisor.
Sydney Chifetz [00:40:55]: We're conditioned to talk to one of the listening sessions that multiple institutions are having. And that is great for what is happening kind of upper level or at the national level. But so often, it's what is the culture of our campus? What is the culture of this particular community? What have our students chosen to do about it? How normalized is x, y, or z? So bringing the right students in that want to be part of the solution with us and asking them their authentic, hey. What's really going on? And if I wanna be the best in service to you all as a health promotion professional as possible, what approach do I need to take? Recognizing, right, that there are certain aspects of my role, and as we talked about with the Drugs Free Skills and Communities Act, that I can or cannot do. But what am I missing here, or what is impacting you the most, or what is your why? Our students aren't just gravitating towards substances for no reason. There is a why. And can we get deeper as to of what are other ways that we can bring in other campus professionals to ensure that their mental health needs are being met on campus and they're not having to wait a month for an appointment, or disability access is well staffed and well resourced, and they all have safe and stable places to live and x, y, and z. Right? So working with students to take a much more holistic approach.
Dylan Dunn [00:42:07]: It's indeed said that I would laugh at the focus groups thing. I wanna point out why that is for folks because I don't know a single person who got into student affairs because they didn't wanna hear what students had to say or they didn't find that valuable when they were a student to be heard and seen by a professional. Many of us had changed their lives, had changed the entire trajectory of our lives to be seen and heard by someone who we perceive to be there for us on a college campus. And yet when we work with professionals, I understand that focus groups take time and they take effort, but the amount of folks that we get in these deep conversations with pause and go, have you actually talked to students about this? And the answer is most often no. We're I think and that comes often, at least in the way I perceive it as as professionals, we're almost afraid to be seen as naive or afraid to be seen as wrong. But when you're working with students, sometimes that's the best thing you can do is say, help me understand this. I am just a person who hasn't been in college for ten, fifteen, twenty years. I wanna understand your experience.
Dylan Dunn [00:42:56]: I want you to be the expert in this room right now. But for some reason, a lot of us as we do this work and it gets buried by the bureaucracy of it and the daily work of it, we lose touch with the student experience. And I think that's something that, again, we laugh about because it's the reason so much of it so many of us do this work, but it's sometimes the first thing that gets thrown to the wayside.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:43:14]: We're gonna transition now to talking about our theme questions for the season. Again, we're talking about the past, present, and future of student affairs. And, because you're adjacent, we'll shift it just a little bit. But what's one component of the history of the student affairs profession that you think should be carried forward or alternatively let go of? And you could focus this more on health promotion if that's more useful.
Sydney Chifetz [00:43:34]: I think the first thing that comes to mind, and I have convinced myself that this no longer happens, and then you talk to folks that this might still be a part of their practice. So it's kind of this idea of, like, if we can just bestow knowledge onto students, they will do different. Right? Or that we are the keepers of good resources or we are the keepers of good behaviors and that we can then teach students how to do these things. These are the principles of what I think most health promotion practitioners are using nowadays, but it doesn't come from me. It doesn't come from me, the university staff member. It comes from the student, and it is just my job to help them understand that and utilize it in an appropriate way. But it's obviously not just saying no, that we're gonna get ourselves out of this overdose crisis or get ourselves out of this place that we're at where students would rather engage in life under the influence of something or or feel the need to engage in life under the influence of something. And often, it's not just that students don't know, and it's not that we need to be the ones to enlighten students to this.
Sydney Chifetz [00:44:34]: It's that the students already have what they need within them, and it's our job to help them to kinda pull that pull that out a little bit. What do you you have the choice here. You are an adult, and I know it feels right now as an 18, 19, 20 year old, like, everyone is telling you what to do and what box you need to fit in. But outside of the four years or however long you're in an institution of higher education, you have autonomy and you get to live your life the way you want to. And so if we can start instilling those practices and getting students aware that they have choice, they have autonomy, and it is also a responsibility to how do we care for ourselves, how do we care for our community. And and so I think if we can as we're working with students and institutions of learning, how can we get them to already start thinking about this rather than we need to protect our students while they're here? It's like, no. We can educate students on, yes, what is the BAC of certain substances. Right? And that is important, but it's also empowering students to know that they are in the driver's seat of their experience, and we are all here to help and guide them when it makes sense for us to do so while they're on campus.
Dylan Dunn [00:45:39]: The phrase en loco parentis that a lot of us learn and navigate all day long on, college campuses of we're here to serve in place of the parent. That, I think, is actually a really interesting history and also something that needs to change. Because what we have to if we're that is our job legally is to be in place of the parent. We have to also understand what parenting looks like right now in The United States and what our students are bringing in with them or not bringing with them in terms of parental relationships or the conversation students have or have not had about substances coming into campuses. And so if we are when we hear the word parent, what do we think of? I could think of my experience of we don't talk about that here or we ignore the hard stuff. But what I would like that to mean is we talk about the hard things and we really prepare ourselves for a sustainable life and that beautiful relationship that it can be. And so I that has always been a good both reframe and accountability piece for me is what do I want my job as in place of the parent to mean and be direct about that with yourself and be reflective about it.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:34]: Looking at the present, what's happening in the field right now that's going well for student affairs slash health promotion?
Dylan Dunn [00:46:40]: And so I work mostly with our professionals at the at the at the moment, professionals that reach out to us. There's a lot of care, I will say. And there has always been care in the field, but there maybe the older I get or the more I work with just professionals, the more I am gaining an appreciation for how much staff care and how much of an opportunity that is. And I so I know, especially in today's age of threats to higher education and budgeting and all of that, how hard how easy it can be to be, like, nihilistic and cynical about all of this. But we we need to continue to do is just care and care for each other also as professionals and reach out and connect and not burnout is gonna be the enemy of the next rev of higher education. It already has been. There's a reason that we always speak joke or whether the data still shows us or not that the average student affairs professional stays for five years. I would like to see us really continue to dig into that because I think the care and the compassion has always been there, but I see it.
Dylan Dunn [00:47:29]: It feels different now. It feels more realistic as opposed to just sunshine and rainbows. It feels like it feels more like what I would like to see love look like within four students.
Sydney Chifetz [00:47:38]: I think for me, it's realness. So I don't know if this is coming post pandemic or just the place that we're all at now. But I think from what I've seen, folks are much more willing and comfortable having the tough conversations. So not only with folks in their office, not only with students, but also with administrators of this is what's actually happening. And we see this a lot, right, because of the work that we do with overdose. You can't sugarcoat the overdose prices. You have to be real in how we're talking about it because we need people to take us seriously. Right? And so I think seeing that happen and being much more real with the circumstances that we're in.
Sydney Chifetz [00:48:14]: But I think with that too is authenticity. So folks just being more authentic about what their experience is, whether that's folks in recovery being more authentic with that and and sharing their experience more broadly. And then I think to Dylan's point is that idea of community. I know that belonging is the biggest buzzword in 2024, '20 '20 '5, whatever, with student affairs. But I think we understand the importance of community, not only for student affairs professionals. Right? Because it can feel like we are in the trenches together, but also for students because they're having a much more similar experience than I think sometimes they recognize. But if nobody's talking about the fact that many students are feeling the same way, and obviously, all of our lived experiences is different, but it's when they start to talk about their experiences, they recognize they have more in common than they don't have in common. So I think the authenticity that is being increasingly brought into these conversations, the willingness to say the hard but real thing, and then also the community that is not only evident of staff members on campus and doing this work together, but also that we are kind of upholding within the student community, recognizing that they can and should be there for each other and and help each other out and, you know, that this experience is not we can convince ourselves that we are going through this experience alone when in reality, most college students are having similar thoughts or similar challenges.
Sydney Chifetz [00:49:36]: Right? Recognizing that they happen in very different ways. But it's when we talk about them and we can see that we are not different, we are not isolated, that this is sometimes a very normal part of the human experience that we just need a way and words to be able to talk about it.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:49:50]: And finally, looking towards the future, in an ideal world, what does the field need to be doing to thrive towards the future?
Sydney Chifetz [00:49:55]: Okay. Yeah. Two things come to mind for me. First thing is a judgment free zone, and I know that we say we do that well sometimes. And I wanna acknowledge that to be human, it's to have judgmental thoughts, but we have control over the way that we let those thoughts impact our actions and and what it is that we choose to say out loud. So I think if we can recognize if we can see the humanity in this situation, the best thing I ever did for working with students is kind of settle into, like, if I can see the humanness in the student that I am working with, I can then fully understand why they are choosing to make the decisions they are choosing to. So I think if we can slip into compassion and putting ourselves in students' shoes over judgment, a, And then, b, in a perfect world, resources. So I think there is so much resource scarcity happening on campuses, either because that's a problem for the campus as a whole or the way that it's being distributed.
Sydney Chifetz [00:50:53]: And I think that students are very attuned to that as well. And I know that I am preaching to the choir because most student affairs professionals are hyper aware of this. But I worked in an institution where we had a wonderful and very successful basketball team, and yet students were waiting three weeks, four weeks for a counseling appointment. And students were very aware of that. Staff was very aware of that. And I recognize that there is no button that I can push to fix that. But I do think that in an ideal world, the resources are more equitable, and they're also provided to along with that line of thinking and equity, what do our students need now, and who needs that first? And how are we gonna take a public health and equity minded approach to getting our students what they need, when they need it, and how they need it?
Dylan Dunn [00:51:38]: I think there's two parts of, like, a pragmatic answer to this for me, and one is that campuses realize we're we've never been doing this alone. We've only ever chosen to do it alone with, like, town and gown relationships, for example. If you are a land grant school and you don't see yourself working with the community around you, that's a problem. So I think, like, as we do this work, I don't mean to just, like, throw shade there, but we often are working with big state entities or big community entities who are just waiting to give universities resources and support, but they felt shut out for a long time. I felt like they've been not trusted or the university sees themselves as separate from the community around them. And I both see it as an admission of higher education and student affairs to be really beautiful stewards of the community campus relationship because our students are impacting the community. The community is impacting us. Just because we can pretend that's not a thing doesn't mean that we should, even though it's hard.
Dylan Dunn [00:52:25]: And that requires a lot of hard conversations and a lot of hard collaborations. But some of the most beautiful parts of my work have been bridging those gaps in a really cool way that I would like to see the field utilized more often because there are some really brilliant people across the street from your campus that you don't know yet. And it'd be really great if you did.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:52:42]: It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:52:48]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world, and there are a ton of things happening in NASPA. Well, it was a great annual conference, overwhelming in some ways, but always exciting to be able to see all of our student affairs friends at the conference. And I know that I personally left very inspired and motivated to go back to my campus to put things into action and to look at what we are doing and what we can do to be able to impact our students in so many different ways. That being said, there's still a ton of things that are coming up even after the conference. First and foremost, there is a webinar coming up on April 29 from the policy division of NASPA entitled Policy Insights for Higher Education in the First one hundred Days. At this webinar, you can join public policy leaders for a discussion centered on federal policy updates, implications for student affairs professionals, and reflections on how to move forward in the current policy environment. Panelists will share perspectives on how student affairs professionals can stay up to date on federal and state policy changes and discuss ways they can advocate for both their institution and the field more broadly.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:53:57]: This will be an important webinar to be able to stay in the know about all of the changing dynamics that are surrounding our campuses today and how those will impact our students. So I highly encourage you to sign up to be able to get even more information about this. Go to learning.NASPA.org to register today. The twenty twenty five NASPA virtual conference is coming up April, and this is an amazing opportunity for you to be able to delve into professional development that is professional development that will be at your fingertips and available to anyone on your campus. With over 70 sessions spread across three dynamic days, whether you're looking to enhance, whether you're looking to enhance your professional skills, discover innovative strategies, or connect with peers, these sessions are designed to inspire and empower you. Also, with every session being recorded, you can catch up on anything that you miss and continue your professional development throughout the year. All of the recordings are available for three hundred and sixty five days. So your registration includes full access to both live and on demand content.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:55:05]: Even if you attended the NASPA annual conference, the virtual conference will have additional rate professional development that will allow for you and other colleagues to be able to professional development that will allow for you and other colleagues to be able to learn throughout the year. I highly encourage you to check this conference out for yourself at learning.NASPA.org. Another professional development event that is coming up is the nineteenth annual Manasa and NASPA conference. That's happening April coming up is the nineteenth annual Manassa NASPA conference that's happening April 27 through April 30 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Manassa NASPA conference provides student affairs practitioners with the knowledge and skills to effectively address and support college students. At this conference, the Manassa area, which is the Middle East, North Africa, and South, and NYU Abu Dhabi, invites you to the nineteenth annual Manassa NASPA conference that's going to be held that's going to be held in The United Arab Emirates on Sunday, April 27 through Wednesday, April 30. This three day conference is an opportunity to connect with colleagues regionally and abroad, and its theme is Beyond Borders, Exploring Global and Local Perspectives on Student Experience. It is not too late to register for this conference to attend and be able to learn from your global colleagues and be able to learn and grow with them at this amazing learning opportunity.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:56:22]: You can find out more on the NASPA website. Every spring, it's a great time to be able to go into your NASPA profile and make sure that your profile is up to date. It is important to make sure that as you are thinking about your own professional development, you're also updating your profile to allow for you to be able to stay in the know of what's happening in the association, but also to allow for you to be able to get involved in a way that makes sense for you. Updating your profile is very easy. By just going to NASPA.org and clicking on my NASPA, you can log in and then you can first edit your profile. By editing your profile, you can make sure that all of your information is accurate. You can also then look at my NASPA engagement under my profile and look at what divisions and groups, journals, and knowledge communities that you want to stay connected with. Just like just like your role at your institution may change over time, your interests in the field may change over time.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:57:27]: So I always encourage people to go back in and make sure that what is here is up to date. Once you have added things in, click save to make sure that you are getting the information that you want, and you will start to hear from knowledge communities, groups, etcetera, about ways to get involved. There are definite other ways to be able to step up that volunteering. If you want to be able to do that, you can go to volunteer central on the NASPA website to be able to raise your hand to be able to raise your hand and get even more information about ways in which you can volunteer your time to be able to impact the association and the profession. I highly encourage you to take some time to be able to look at that today and try and find a new way, be able to get engaged on a new level. Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with the knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:58:45]: And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself, where do you fit. Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that. Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:40]: Chris, thank you so much for keeping us informed on what's going on in and around NASPA. And we are now back with our lightning round. I've got seven questions for you both to answer in ninety seconds. Ready to go?
Sydney Chifetz [00:59:52]: Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Jill Creighton [00:59:53]: Okay. Question one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?
Sydney Chifetz [00:59:58]: Oh my goodness. Selfishly, I think, like, some Grateful Dead, maybe? I don't know. Some good friend of the devil? Come on. Everyone would like that.
Dylan Dunn [01:00:06]: This is so bad. The first thing that came to mind, which I have not heard this song in a decade, is Survivor by Destiny Strong.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:11]: Number two, when you were five years old, what did you wanna be when you grew up?
Sydney Chifetz [01:00:14]: An artist. I was creative.
Dylan Dunn [01:00:16]: Yep. A comic book artist for me.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:18]: Number three, who's your most influential professional mentor?
Sydney Chifetz [01:00:21]: You know, probably a epidemiology professor I had in grad school. The way that he empowered us as as people doing the work and taught us about diseases, but also apply that to the world, doctor Bethel was a really cool professor.
Dylan Dunn [01:00:33]: Mine is actually outside of this field of student affairs, which is MJ Jorgensen, who is a director of statewide addiction work here in Colorado.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:00:39]: Number four, your essential higher education read.
Sydney Chifetz [01:00:42]: Yeah. So actually, Jill, it's the book that you were referencing earlier, which is Basics Alcohol Program, the brief alcohol screening and intervention for college students. That book tells you everything you need to know about how to host those meetings, but also what are the fundamentals of motivational interviewing. And I think applied to the work, it not only teaches you how to have basics meetings, but also how to treat students, how to treat humans sort of thing.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:01:02]: And
Dylan Dunn [01:01:02]: mine is The Invisible Leader by Zach Mercurio.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:01:05]: Number five, the best TV show you've been binging lately.
Sydney Chifetz [01:01:07]: I am late to this, but I just started watching Severance, and it's been pretty good. Spooky, but good.
Dylan Dunn [01:01:13]: I'm rewatching Breaking Bad right now.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:01:14]: Number six, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in the last year.
Sydney Chifetz [01:01:18]: Definitely Science Versus. It's really cool. It's all about science. Give it a look see because it's awesome, but Science Versus.
Dylan Dunn [01:01:25]: Armchair expert because I'm one of those people, I guess.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:01:27]: And finally, number seven. Any shout outs you'd like to give, personal or professional?
Sydney Chifetz [01:01:31]: I think I had a really great supervisor at my previous role, Jenna Parisi. She was really cool and and really passionate about doing basics work and really empowered me to kind of step into the role of running the programs exactly how I wanted to run them. So I'll shout out Jenna. Jody
Dylan Dunn [01:01:43]: Donovan was a mentor of mine at Colorado State University. She's still there, and she's still kicking butt and taking names and doing great things. But she inspired me a lot, in the student affairs program there.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:01:52]: Been a wonderful conversation with you both today. I know I learned a lot from you. And if any of our listeners would like to connect with you or the Safe Project after this episode airs, how can they find you?
Dylan Dunn [01:02:00]: Our website is, www.safeproject.us, and we're on the campus' page. So feel free to reach out via that.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:02:06]: Thank you both so much for sharing your voices with us today.
Sydney Chifetz [01:02:09]: Thanks, Jill.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:02:11]: Thank you. This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at essayvoices@NASPA.org or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show, and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community.
Dr. Jill Creighton [01:02:51]: This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill Creighton. That's me. Produced and audio engineered by Dr. Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.
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