Our History
The Graduate Students and New Professionals Community of Practice (GSNPCoP) was created as a standing committee part of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) in 1988 through the work of 1987’s Graduate Student Member-at-Large, Anne Eskridge. The purpose of this standing committee was to create a system of support for graduate students and new professionals in ACPA by recognizing the need to have affordable convention registration, housing options, as well as programs and events focused on graduate students. In 2011, a committee was created and tasked with evaluating the structure of the Standing Committee. After a thorough review recommendations were made to adapt the structure. The committee also made the recommendation to create formal documentation for historical and transition purposes.
The Standing Committee matured to a more defined Directorate structure with positions and requisite skills defined. Communication with the Standing Committee constituency was improved by an improved newsletter, including regular versions made available online through the ACPA homepage. Leadership training was improved, and greater encouragement was given to graduate students and new professionals to become involved with the Directorate and programs of the Standing Committee. The “inverted funnel model” of leadership development through the Standing Committee was introduced. The goal was to enable graduate students and new professionals to move in to the Standing Committee up through the Directorate and on to positions of great responsibility within the Association.
In 2015, the Standing Committee transitioned to be a Coalition. The change represented several positive advances the Standing Committee was able to accomplish for the support of graduate students and new professionals within the field of student affairs. Coalitions, as defined by ACPA, are unique entities in that they represent and act as advocates for the social identities of the ACPA membership. Unlike the ACPA’s Commissions, which represent what we do, the Coalitions represent who we are. While working as a Coalition, Graduate Students and New Professionals helped emphasized the importance of partnership and collaboration and helped make our entity group more inclusive to the entirety of our membership.
After conversations with ACPA in 2017, it was decided that being a Coalition was not the best place for Graduate Student and New Professionals. Shortly after, Communities of Practices were established, and one Community of Practice was established for Mid-Level Professionals. ACPA defines Communities of Practice as a way to “represent and focus on the unique needs of professionals at various points within their career. Communities of Practice recognize the importance of community, conversation, and collaboration among professionals spanning functional areas and identities, yet sharing positional-related experiences.” In the summer of that same year, the Coalition officially changed its name to the Graduate Students and New Professionals Community of Practice.