TPE Virtual is providing the platform for our field to be more. Be more visionary. Be more deliberate. Be more willing to share our narratives, take up space, and reclaim what is often taken advantage of or spoken on without permission. Be more committed to the work. Be more innovative. Be more courageous. Be more willing to understand the importance of developing and engaging with a critical consciousness of our past, present, and future.

We understand the weight that placement events and choices carry and the pressures that come with them. We have also taken notice of the changing landscape of the workforce and job market in our field. That’s why The Placement Exchange will continue to push forward in its effort to create the definitive student affairs job placement experience by going virtual.

Our race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and expression, socio-economic background, age, nationality or national origin, mental and physical ability, political beliefs, education, and career experience coupled with their values, beliefs and personality will all influence the ways in which the words an employer has written on paper will come to life in practice. So, how do we as a profession move uplift narrative sharing as a vital part of the interview and recruitment process and incorporate it ethically with regards to interview bias?

We are living during a radical shift in the landscape of Higher Education. Typically, our industry frames “service to the profession” as a requirement of our membership in the profession. While volunteer work is critical to keeping our profession alive, I would like to shift the narrative to focus on people instead of an abstract industry.

To work in HESA has meant accepting that, to a certain extent, nights and weekends are given to student engagement, programming, residential living and more. However, over the course of the past 22 months we have experienced changes that would make one say that working in this field is not what it used to be, but the work that we do is no less important or necessary. In fact, it may be more needed now than ever. So, how do we as a profession move forward after everything changes?

We are so excited to launch “TPE Talks” this month. What is “TPE Talks?” We’re so glad you asked. “TPE Talks” are monthly opportunities for Higher Education / Student Affairs (HE/SA) personnel to share their thoughts and experiences around certain issues or topics within workforce development. The goal is to bring forward dialogue and ideas about how we move our profession forward as it pertains to job searching, recruiting, retention, and advancement. Each monthly “Talk Topic” includes the opportunity to share with one another via social media and then live via virtual discussions. Read more about December’s Talk Topic…