Directorate Spotlight: Brittany Williams (Vice Chair for Publications and Scholarship 2016-2017)

Name: Brittany M. Williams

Position on Board: Vice Chair for Publications and Scholarship

Institutions & Job Title: University of Georgia / Career Consultant / Doctoral Student in College Student Affairs Administration

How long on the directorate: I technically joined December 2014, but my term began March 2015

What have been some significant experiences about being engaged/involved in ACPA CASHE?

Seeing everything that helps to make ACPA work has been a critical piece of my growth and development. I find that being a part of a field like ours can lead to the view that someone else can take care of it, or I just need to show up, when in reality we all make the field work the more we engage locally and nationally. CASHE has given me a platform that amplified my voice and allows me to truly wrestle with some of the big ideas and issues facing student affairs and higher education. Few professional associations would have allowed a bright eyed and somewhat idealistic Black woman join and nearly completely change and contribute to a shift in direction(s), but CASHE and ACPA have given me this space and I’m a better professional, student, and person because of it.

What is your vision for the directorate and ACPA at large?

It is my long term personal goal to see ACPA expand as an entity. I think there is quite a bit of work to be done relating to faculty preparedness, development, and publications in particular. In many ways, the lack thereof has led to misbeliefs and mischaracterizations of the organization. I strive to eliminate this perception that ACPA is somehow less serious than other organizations in our field because it takes on a more youthful and innovative appearance rather than stuffy and rigid—I personally believe this has something to do with the fact that ACPA was founded by women, but that’s a story for another day. I say all of this to say I seek to use the scholarship and educative innovation on our directorate as a starting point to engaged contributions of scholars, practitioners, and scholar practitioners across the board.

What are your topical areas of interest (within and outside of ACPA CASHE)?

Within my fulltime position, I do a great deal of career development and planning, a piece that transcends my capacities at the university. As a graduate student and researcher, I am enamored with the experiences of Black women, career development,  first generation college students, the impact of whiteness and white supremacy on white people, and coded language and exclusionary practices in higher education, particularly through the lens of job fit and career pathing.

What do you do in your free time/ outside of work?

What’s free time? Kidding! When not being a doc student and full time career services professional, I go hiking, attend classes at Orange Theory Fitness, volunteer, dabble in makeup, take office selfies (I’m still a millennial—see below), and blog.

Tell us one thing no one in ACPA knows about you?

A large part of my decision to pursue higher education full time, rather than going on to law school, was influenced by a conversation I had with first lady Michelle Obama. ;-)

What is your favorite quote and why?

“Excuses are tools of incompetence that build monuments of nothingness and those who insist upon using them are seldom good at anything else.” I love this quote because it speaks to my mantra in life. Despite the many obstacles I have and will continue to face, I strongly believe in trying multiple ways before making excuses and using the c-word (can’t).

Is there anything else you want to share in your highlight?

To all of our readers out there who are watching but not contributing, know that you matter. I hope that you all will someday join us in whatever capacities make the most sense for you.