Two WIU CSP Students Excel Through National Student Affairs Organization
MACOMB/Moline, IL – Two Western Illinois University graduate students in College Student Personnel (CSP) are advancing through the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), one of the professional organizations designed to help them excel in
Austin Quarles
their future careers and in leadership.
Ian Clark, of Macomb, and Austin Quarles, of Glen Allen, VA, are both students in the CSP student affairs track at WIU.
Clark received his bachelor’s degree in communication from WIU and is one of the participants in NASPA’s Graduate Assistant Program (GAP), which is made up of graduate students from across the country. The goal of GAP is to initiate leadership among graduate students and Clark is one of only a handful of graduate assistants participating in NASPA’s Region IV.
“As part of the GAP cohort, it is my responsibility to educate schools in the region about NASPA programs, welcome new NASPA members and help spread the word about NASPA initiatives,” said Clark. “I think it is important to get, and stay involved with great organizations like NASPA because it not only helps you in networking, but it also helps you to stay abreast of the latest and greatest in your field. As student affairs professionals, we always want to learn and grow to help our students grow, so what a better way to do that than to get your hands dirty at the ground level.”
Ian Clark
Quarles was recently chosen as a NASPA Region IV-East Graduate Student Rising Star for the state of Illinois. She was nominated for the award by WIU Assistant Professor Laila McCloud.
“I try to stay involved with many of the different associations related to higher education, mostly through webinars and conferences,” said Quarles. “It’s a great way to plug into the professional community at-large. This field will always be bigger than the single institution that I work at, so staying involved gives me access to countless resources and new ways of thinking so I can best serve students.”
Quarles also recently won the Outstanding Graduate Practitioner Award from the Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers (GLACUHO), a regional student affairs association.
NASPA is the largest association for student affairs professionals, with over 15,000 members at 2,100 institutions.
For more information about WIU’s College Student Personnel program, visit wiu.edu/csp.
