Leadership Exchange

Public Policy Division Sets New Course
BY KANDY MINK SALAS

The NASPA Public Policy Division was created nearly 15 years ago to focus on emerging public policy issues, policy development, and governmental advocacy for colleges and universities as well as students. Over the past few years, several new issues have emerged, giving rise to renewed discussion about the purpose and focus of the Public Policy Division. Questions raised include: What is the role of NASPA in commenting on or influencing state-related public policy in addition to national public policy? What role should the division play in educating NASPA members about how to become skilled public policy advocates for their colleges or universities? In addition to being reactive, how proactive does NASPA want to be with regard to changes in public policy?

In recent months, much discussion about the purpose and
role of the Public Policy Division has occurred. During the
same time period, various leadership teams have been working
on the 2011–14 NASPA Strategic Plan, which addresses many
of the issues that the division has been discussing. What does
this mean for NASPA’s leadership in the public policy arena?
The NASPA Strategic Plan outlines four specific objectives in
support of the overall goal to “lead advocacy efforts that shape
The first objective is to “assert NASPA’s leader-
ship role in critical issues of public policy regard-
ing higher education.” As Public Policy Division
members and NASPA national leaders do our work,
address all of the objectives, and continue to provide
leadership in this critical area, we must also promote
NASPA’s role in shaping public policy in the student
affairs arena.

The second objective is to “define, adopt, and communicate a public stance on critical policy issues in higher education.” For years, NASPA has done a very good job of reacting to proposed legislation, participating in consortia and partnerships to respond to upcoming public policy issues, and interpreting new and existing legislation for our members. These functions are vitally important and will continue. However, it is time for NASPA to be bold and to provide “out-in-front” leadership on national and, perhaps even, state policy issues. Given our diverse membership, this objective will be challenging and will require collaboration and consensus building.

The third objective is to “build capacity among membership in order to effectively influence public policy.” Many student affairs professionals lack knowledge about how public policy is created, how to work with government relations colleagues on campus, how to educate elected officials, or how to access state and federal government resources to enhance our work.

As a profession, we have not emphasized this skill set in our preparation programs. As an association, we can offer more programs to improve the knowledge base among mid-level and senior-level staff in this area.

The fourth objective is to “track state and regional issues
that might significantly affect students, practitioners, and/or
campuses.” State laws are varied, constantly changing,
Over the next several months, this column will address each
strategic plan objective in greater depth. We will provide guid-
ance for members, outline educational plans for regional and
national conferences and other venues, and request feedback
from all members regarding the direction we will take as
NASPA continues to build its capacity as a leader in the public
policy arena. This is an exciting time for NASPA, and we look
forward to working together to provide leadership on critical
public policy issues facing higher education. LE

Kandy Mink Salas is the associate vice president for student affairs at California State University, Fullerton, and the Region VI Public Policy Division Representative.