Thank you for stopping by to learn more about the Commission for Academic Affairs. Take some time to look through our content and don’t hesitate to share how you’d like to get involved. Use the menu below to jump to a section of interest.
Please contact us at CAA@acpa.nche.edu or connect with the members of our Directorate Body with questions or ideas.
Our Mission
The Commission for Academic Affairs provides outreach, advocacy, and professional development opportunities to individuals in higher education who work in or with academic affairs related areas. Our members connect academic and student development practices to holistically educate students. In addition to working closely with professionals and students in the field, we interact with faculty from all disciplines to promote comprehensive student development.
Our Goals
- To promote best practices in student development throughout the academic affairs setting
- To provide a niche for the interests of academic affairs professionals
- To foster collaborative relationships between academic affairs and student affairs professionals by linking academic practices with student development
- To identify emerging issues within academic affairs and provide members with easy access to information regarding current issues and trends
- To initiate networking opportunities, encourage research, and develop scholarship pertinent to the field.
Commission Info
- Our Commission evolved out of the National Association of Academic Administrators (AcAfAd). The group merged in 1968.
- The Commission has approximately 200 members. Currently there are 12 Directorate members.
- Commission members represent a broad spectrum of professional activities and responsibilities. A number of members work in academic affairs areas such as academic policy administration, program coordination, academic integrity, research supervision, programming for at-risk students, and teaching.
- Some of our commission members have a student affairs functional area as their primary professional role and interest, and we are a secondary area of interest, important to supporting their primary work area.
News & Updates
upcoming events
There are no upcoming events at this time
Meet the Directorate
Ivanna Colon-Alverio Ed.D.
Chair
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
ivanna.colon-alverio@tamucc.edu
Christina Wright-Fields Ph.D.
Co-Chair
Marist College
christina.fields@marist.edu
Chord Sheriffe M.A.
Chair elect
Babson College
s.chord101@gmail.com
T. Lynn Hogan Ph.D.
Vice Chair for Scholarship, Faculty Faculty In Residence
Florida State University
lhogan@admin.fsu.edu
Ceceilia Parnther Ph.D.
Vice Chair Special Projects & Initiatives
Le Moyne College
parnthc@lemoyne.edu
Cathy Carlson Ed.D.
Vice Chair for Membership & Recruitment
Brandeis University
carlsonc@brandeis.edu
Vijaya Persad M.B.A.
Vice Chair for Technology & Communication
UWI-ROYTEC
vijaya.persad@roytec.edu
Katherine Madden Ph.D.
Vice Chair for Webinars
University of Michigan
maddenk@umich.edu
Benjamin Bucklin M.Ed.
Vice Chair for Sponsored Programs
University of Maine at Agusta
benjamin.bucklin
@gmail.com
Vacant
Directorate Member-at-Large
CAA
caa@acpa.nche.edu
Vacant
Vice Chair of Graduate Student Engagement
PAST CHAIRS
Ivanna Colòn-Alverio, Ed.D, (2025-2026), Shetina Jones, Ph.D. (2023-2024), Gloria Howell, Ph.D. (2022-2023)
Virtual Symposium: Meeting Students Where They Are: Reimagining Higher Education Through A Student Needs Lens
Conference Dates: October 21 and 22, 2026
Application Deadline: August 1, 2026 at 11:59pm
Description: Institutions of higher education are navigating increasingly complex student needs shaped by economic pressures, policy shifts, and evolving social contexts. This two-day symposium invites scholar-practitioners, faculty, administrators, and campus partners to share research-informed practices, programs, and policies that center students’ needs and promote student success.
Conference Learning Outcomes
- Understand external forces shaping student performance, including policy, current demands on resources, and others; Explore examples of campus responses to these forces including programming and policy considerations
- Reflect on strategies that individual campuses can use to address today’s student needs
- Learn ways that programs are evaluating and assessing what they see as success, and are collecting data they can use to advocate for important resources
- Connect with other academic professionals and colleagues who are working to address student needs on campus
Session Format: Each session will be 50-minute breakout session. Sessions should be interactive with practical takeaways. If you are interested in submitting for a session, please consider covering one of the following topics:
- Caretaking
- Food Insecurity
- Housing Insecurity
- Campus Safety
- Access to Technology
How to Apply:
In a Word document please provide the following:
- Proposed topic
- Proposed title of session
- Short description of the session (3-5 sentences max)
- Brief explanation of how session aligns with conference learning outcomes
- 1-2 Learning outcomes
- Outline of the session with timing
- Please include explicitly how you plan to engage participants
- Short bio including experiences with proposed topic (100-word limit)
- Contact information including email
Please send the document to Lynn Hogan (lhogan@fsu.edu) by August 1, 2026. Presenters will be notified via email of their proposal acceptance or nonacceptance to the symposium by Friday, August 21, 2026.
Questions can be sent to Lynn Hogan at lhogan@fsu.edu.
Get Involved
Concerned about issues in Academic Affairs? Become a member of The Commission for Academic Affairs of ACPA. Support student learning in higher education by helping to share knowledge of best practices, policies, and programs for academic affairs professionals and the higher education community.
Ready to join?
Joining an Entity through the ACPA Member Portal automatically identifies you as a member of that Entity! You will begin to receive Entity communications through their respective email listserv and have access to any resources they share!
- Login to your ACPA Member Account
- Click on Community Groups (Chatter)
- Click Groups
- Click Active Groups
- Find the entity you want to join and within that group, click +Join
Contact CAA@acpa.nche.edu or connect with the members of our Directorate Body, to learn more about ACPA’s Commission for Academic Affairs.
Any ACPA member can become involved and there are varying levels of involvement:
- Join our listserv (sign up under “my profile” in the ACPA membership area)
- Attend our open business meeting at the annual ACPA convention
- Review conference programs for the annual convention
- Submit a sponsored program proposal for the annual convention
- Host a webinar
- Submit a proposal for a paper to be published on our website
- Tell us how the Commission for Academic Affairs Administrators can help you in your professional journey
caA Awards
The depth and quality of work by student affairs educators, higher education scholars, and faculty colleagues too often goes unrecognized.
Get Involved by recognizing and nominating a colleague, supervisor or supervisee, mentor, or other leader for a CAA Award.
Nominations for the 2026 Awards season is closed!
(1) Coalition-Builder Award
In the spirit of collaboration, this award recognizes an individual who actively seeks out and engages various departmental units across academic, faculty, and student affairs and support, in order to build effective and collaborative working relationships at their institution.
(2) Rising Star Award
This award recognizes an individual new to the field (1-3 years) working in an academic affairs or academic affairs related position, who has already made significant contributions to the association or the profession and demonstrates potential for leadership and continuing service.
(3) M.A.D. (Mentoring and Development) Award
This award honors an individual who has effectively mentored a colleague in an academic affairs or academic affairs related unit and provided them with opportunities to develop as a scholar and professional in the field.
(4) Trailblazing Partner Award
This award recognizes a faculty member or practicing professional who has blazed trails in academic affairs related work and tremendously influenced their institutions or higher education work generally through dynamic leadership and service. *This faculty member or professional MUST have field-specific training or an academic background OUTSIDE OF/OTHER THAN higher education or student affairs/development.*
(5) Exemplary Program Award
This award recognizes a program or initiative that has proven to be instrumental in academic affairs on a particular campus and/or in the field of higher education. The program must exhibit clear mission/goals, innovation, and evidence-based results that indicate the breadth of its impact. The CAA award committee may reach out to the nominator for more detail regarding the nominated program.