Warm Holiday Wishes to you as we near the end of the Fall 2022 semester, I can’t help but reflect upon the delights and the challenges we’ve experienced this fall. We started the term with an interim Chancellor and now have our leader in place as the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name Dr. Charles Robinson as our Chancellor. Before serving as Interim Chancellor, Dr. Robinson was Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. For those of us in the Division of Student Affairs, this choice is very much for FOR Students!
First Generation college students are a special group of people at the University of Arkansas. They typically have no family lore around attending college and usually make their own way to higher education through hard work – determined to make a better life for themselves. There are more than 6,000 first generation students here at the U of A and that is worth celebrating. In fact, Monday, Nov. 8 was the National First-Generation Student Day of Celebration around the nation. New Student and Family Programs worked with several groups across the U of A campus and expanded the celebration to a full week. As Chancellor Robinson says in the story – “These first-generation students remind us of our mission to help expand educational opportunities for all who desire to have it.”
Our Q&As in this issue follow along with the main story this issue about celebrating our First-Generation students, as both of our subjects are the first generation in their families to attend college. Eris, who has only one name, is the creative services manager for Student Affairs. She started out at the U of A as a student working in Student Affairs with UA Productions as a graphic designer. Eris now supervises and mentors those undergrad graphic design students working in UA Productions. She loves her job and has a unique perspective as a first-generation staff member. Ivan Anaya from Dalhart, Texas is a Graduate Assistant working with New Student & Family Programs in Student Affairs. Anaya is a first-generation college student who first learned about the student affairs profession as an undergraduate in a small Texas college. He is excited to be studying Higher Education and working with new students and families in his GA position.
The University of Arkansas is promoting #MyPathToSeniorWalk across all social media outlets and in Arkansas News. This hashtag was created to show that a student’s path to graduation and getting their names on Senior Walk is different for every individual. We have a story, which first ran in Arkansas News, about one of our highly engaged students from East Arkansas – Gary Jackson. Jackson has worked with the Volunteer Action Center and the Associated Student Government among his other accomplishments. You’ll also find a nomination link if you know of other students with a #MyPathToSeniorWalk story.
Thanks for reading the December round up of the Student Affairs Bulletin. We will take a break from production of this blog during the semester break and will be back with more stories in February 2023. If you’re interested in more information about anything you see here, or have story ideas, please email Scott Flanagin, executive director of communications at sflanagi@uark.edu