SIUE’s Snipes and Hall Plan to Broaden Scope and Impact of CSPA Program
In five years, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Education, Health and Human Behavior’s College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA) program will be one of the premiere social justice-based programs in the country.
This is only part of the vision and goal that CSPA Program Co-Directors J.T. Snipes, PhD, assistant professor, and Candace Hall, EdD, lecturer, are working toward. Snipes and Hall were re-elected the end of April to serve as CSPA program directors.
“We have the capacity to create a unique program that centers social justice throughout our program and equips students to do the same” said Hall.
“I’m interested in building learning communities animated by social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion,” added Snipes. “We want to prepare students to become student affairs practitioners, dedicated to making their universities thriving learning communities. This work began under our previous program director, and we are looking to expand it.”
“I envision a stronger connection between our program and student affairs,” shared Hall. “We are training students to go into the field as practitioners. Therefore, it is imperative to be collaborative with our campus partners in training our students. I’ve been strategizing ways students can network with our campus partners beyond practicum placements and graduate assistantships.”
One important change in the program is the addition of a capstone course that includes students’ portfolio defense, according to Snipes.
“The portfolio helps students connect theory to practice,” he said. “Our goal is to create practitioners who will be changemakers on campus and in the larger community.”
“This is such an exciting time for our program,” shared Hall. “We have support from our department chair (Tianlong Yu, EdD) and Dean Robin Hughes to think creatively about how we train students and engage with them inside and outside of the classroom. We are on the brink of building an amazing program that many will want to be a part of now and in the future.”
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CSPA Program Co-Directors J.T. Snipes, PhD, assistant professor, and Candace Hall, EdD, lecturer.
