Black Student Affairs/ Higher Education Professional

 The admissions essay is to apply to the NASPA Ujima Institute. The Institute is designed for African American and Black higher education professionals who aspire to senior student affairs officer roles and faculty positions, including the cabinet-level vice president for student affairs positions at colleges and universities. The application requires you to answer the following prompts. Each response should be between 200 and 250 words. The following background information can aid you answering the questions. Work Experience: Work in Career Services. Have worked in higher education for 10 years. Passionate about helping multicultural and first-generation college students succeed in college. Why you want to apply to this particular institution/ program: Interested in gaining leadership skills. Looking forward to connecting with other black student affairs/higher education professionals to increase my leadership skills. Overall information about yourself: skills, talents, your long-term and short-term goals. I aspire to become a higher-level administrator within a higher education setting. Potentially, a director, vp of student affairs, etc. participating in this program would give me the opportunity to develop skills and network with individuals with similar goals. In order to help with the essay, the writer should research issues for black student affairs professionals. The paper does not need an introduction, writer should just answer the following questions 1. How does your racial identity shape your student affairs practice and experience? What other intersecting identities inform how you show up as a student affairs professional? Can include being a woman, middle class, young professional (35) and discuss on they intersect and show-up within the work of a student affairs professional. 2. What are the pressing topics that you would be interested in exploring at the Institute? Please explain why these topics are important to you at this point in your career. Can think about pressing issues within student affairs. For example, thinking about how the rise in student anxiety, depression, judicial incidents, and activism effect student affairs professionals personally and professionally. Also think about How do we as professionals keep things fresh and progressing forward to best serve the students. Also think about managing Team Members at Different Levels and Different Commitments. Also, student retention and success of multicultural and first generation college students. These are just examples, can consider other trends/issues in student affairs. 3. How do you plan to contribute to the African American and Black student affairs community after attending Ujima?