Assistant vice president for student affairs named NASPA-FL state director

Eric Arneson, assistant vice president for student affairs at FIU, has been named director of the Florida chapter of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), the leading association for student affairs professionals.

Eric Arneson, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of NASPA-FL

In his role as state director, Arneson seeks to increase NASPA-FL’s participation in NASPA’s 27 Knowledge Communities, which allow for the exchange of best practices within a specific area of interest such as African American interests, women’s issues or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning (LGBTQA) inclusiveness. He will also lead the chapter in providing the 650 members with information on professional development and networking opportunities, which include conferences, job postings, awards, and scholarships among others.

“Our responsibility is to let people know that these opportunities exist,” said Arneson. “I want to get younger staff members more involved, especially graduate students. I want FIU to be the conduit to help Student Affairs staff not only do their job really well, but also help them get the training and development necessary to be more intentional with programs to better engage students.”

Arneson also notes that Florida has one of the largest state chapters of NASPA and FIU has a growing presence in the student affairs field, with both undergraduates and graduate students. He hopes that continuing to build membership and collaborations between students will lead to further information sharing and networking among colleagues.

Arneson holds a bachelor of science in political science from University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse, a master of arts in college student personnel from Bowling Green State University and a doctorate in higher education from FIU.