In the latest episode of "Student Affairs Voices from the Field," Dr. Jill Creighton sits down live at the NASPA Annual Conference 2026 in Kansas City with Dr. Mike Christakis, Dr. Darby Roberts, and Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black to spotlight the launch of NASPA's new strategic plan. If you are a student affairs professional seeking to understand the direction of our field and NASPA's commitment to its members, this episode is a must-listen. Redefining Strategic Planning – With Purpose and Community This year marks a pivotal moment as NASPA introduces a three-year plan shaped by intentional listening, member engagement, and a forward-thinking approach. Dr. Mike Christakis walks us through the timeline and evolution, highlighting how NASPA paused its planning to let new leadership take root before embarking on a truly inclusive process, engaging members across regions and divisions. The driving force? Ensuring that every voice, from new professionals to seasoned leaders, informs and benefits from the association's direction. Five Strategic Priorities That Put Members First The discussion unpacks NASPA's five strategic pillars: Elevating the Value of Student Affairs: As debates about the relevance of higher education continue, the plan purposefully centers the impact of student affairs and the stories that shape our work. Enhancing Career Pathways and Wellbeing: Retention and growth of professionals—across all stages—receives renewed attention, coupled with a focus on wellbeing that mirrors today's complex campus realities. Providing Timely Advocacy and Resources: With shifting policies impacting each region and institution, NASPA is committed to actionable and relevant support for its diverse membership Strengthening Member Experience and Organizational Resilience: By modernizing technology and financial models, the association aims for seamless connections and equitable opportunities regardless of location or job title Advancing Inclusive and Impactful Governance: Leadership opportunities and transparent processes remain at the forefront, encouraging broader engagement and sustainable growth for the association Why Tune In? This episode is more than an announcement—it's an invitation to be part of NASPA's ongoing story. You'll hear firsthand how assessment, feedback, and continuous improvement shape the plan's "living document" status, and how every member, no matter your involvement level, stands to benefit from the next chapter. Ready to elevate, strengthen, and advance your student affairs journey? Listen now to understand how NASPA's new strategic plan is shaping the future—and how you can be a part of it. 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 education professionals wherever you happen to be. This is Season 14, continuing our conversation on the value of student affairs. I'm Dr. Jill Creighton, she/her/hers, your SA Voices from the Field host. Welcome back to the annual conference 2026 here in Kansas City, Missouri, and it's always my pleasure to sit down with guests in real life. So today we have 3 wonderful folks with us who have been working so hard on NASPA's new strategic plan, which launches this month, March 2026. So our first guest, you heard from before, very proud to have you back, and you are now tied with Kevin Krueger for the most appearances on SA Voices. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:50]: We've got Dr. Mike Christakis, our outgoing board chair. Dr. Mike Christakis [00:00:52]: Wow, thank you, pleasure to be here, Jill. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:54]: Next up, we have first-time guest Dr. Darby Robert. Dr. Darby Roberts [00:00:55]: Howdy, I'm Glad to be here. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:58]: And finally, we have second-time guest Dr. Carnell McConnell-Black. Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:01:02]: Hey, y'all. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:02]: So the three of our guests today have been at the helm of this redefined strategic planning process for NASPA, which is now live on the NASPA website. So Mike, I'm going to start with you. Can you tell us a little bit about how we got here? Why now? Why a new strategic plan? Dr. Mike Christakis [00:01:17]: Great question. So the association had a strategic plan for a period of time, actually leading up to when Dr. Parnell started as president, and the board at that particular time intentionally decided to push off the development of the next strategic plan to allow NASPA's new president to get started. And so when Amelia got into the seat, the board again took up the idea of what a new plan would look like. And that began when Ana González, who's chair, tapped Lincoln Johnson as the at-large member. And that's when the initial development occurred. And then last year in New Orleans, when I assumed the role of chair, is when things really got started and we launched the development, uh, of the plan. And that's where we're at now. Dr. Mike Christakis [00:02:00]: So that process between New Orleans and Kansas City has included serving our members, doing a lot of listening with our members at various convenings, regional convenings, divisional meetings, and the like that really began to help inform what the plan would look like. And that's what has brought us basically a year post-New Orleans to where we are here now in Kansas City. We're in the process of unveiling NASPA's new strategic plan that will take us from 2026 through 2029. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:26]: All right. And we've got, like I said, Carnell and Darby with us today. How did Darby and Carnell get involved in this project for us? Dr. Mike Christakis [00:02:32]: So Darby got engaged because when I became chair-elect, I had the pleasure of appointing an at-large member. And Darby and I had first met actually through our mutual involvement with the assessment, evaluation, and research knowledge community. And so when it dawned on me that the strategic planning process would fall as part of my charge as chair, Darby was one of the first calls I made. I will admit she didn't answer initially, but we finally connected and I shared with her that I wanted her to join the board as an at-large member, specifically to work on the strategic plan as a member of the steering committee in particular. And so that's how Darby Darby Roberts came to be a part of this process. Recently, Carnell was elected as a regional director, and so the representation of our regional directors, I think, was critically important throughout this process. So we invited Carnell as an important and strong voice among our regional leadership to also serve on the steering committee. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:19]: I'll say high five for Region 5, Carnell. Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:03:22]: Region 5! Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:23]: I may be overseas now, but I'm always Region 5 in my heart. So very excited to have you all on here. So I'd love to hear from the two of you, Darby and Carnell. You come on board for this project. It's a daunting thing to say, please redo the strategic plan for NASPA and please lead this process, go. Can you talk about your process of moving forward from this idea to realization? Dr. Darby Roberts [00:03:44]: One of the things I appreciated about this process, it was very purposeful, very timely. We didn't want to rush the process and spend the amount of time we needed to talk about what's our future vision, what's our future mission. And then from there saying, if that's what we believe in and strive for, what are the things that we really want to do for the association and setting up the strategic priorities before getting into how we're actually going to do the strategic plan. And so I think it's been very enlightening to take all the feedback that the membership has given, working with the board, working with the staff to come up with a plan that is a really solid plan for us for the next 3 years. I would also just add the element of our members' experience was a key component. And as you look through all the elements, not just for the current day headwinds that we face within higher education, but also the day-to-day experiences that our colleagues are navigating on their campuses and in the world, that we have the opportunity to focus in on how they themselves are supported through the association. Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:04:41]: I would also just add that the element of our members' experience was a, a key component. And as you look through all the elements, not only just for current day headwinds that we face within higher education, but also the day-to-day experiences that our colleagues are navigating on their campuses and in the world, that we have an opportunity to focus in on how they themselves are supported through the association. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:05]: It's also a very different thing to create a strategic plan for an organization, an association versus our campuses, I always think it's kind of interesting to try to refocus our brains on what do our members need as opposed to what do our students need or our staff need. So how did that play a role in this process? Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black [00:05:20]: Well, I will say as an initial starting point, again, we are thinking about what are the current day challenges, but also thinking about the future and how do we find the intersections of both what we need now and what we need in the future and to be prepared for whatever may come our way. But I think at the heart of it is our members are always, I think through this piece around feedback and getting feedback from the membership, there are clear elements around what's the value of their engagement or their value of being a NASPA member. And when we can focus in o