Conference on College Men

Masculinities in Higher Education

Overview of Institute

Program Description
Bringing together the most diverse and talented educators in the field of men and masculinities research and practice, the Conference on College Men has become the premier venue to explore and examine issues related to men and masculinities in higher education. As particular populations of college men continue to struggle in their postsecondary transitions and engagement, the Conference on College Men will challenge attendees to critically reflect upon how their own identification and expression of gender influences their work with college and university students while also treating them to the most recent scholarship and services in the field.

Audience

• Student Affairs administrators of all levels, including senior student affairs officers
• Faculty

Conference History

The concept of a professional conference for student affairs administrators focusing on the topic of college men was shepherded within NASPA and ACPA by Dr. Jason Laker, then vice-principal and dean of student affairs at Queen’s University in Ontario and founding chair of the NASPA Men and Masculinities Knowledge Community. The inaugural conference, then titled the Institute on College Males, was hosted by Morehouse College in May 2007. The institute theme was Creating and Achieving Successful Outcomes. The institute included an opening keynote delivered by Dr. Michael Kimmel, SUNY Stony Brook, a general session from Dr. Jason Laker, 15 educational sessions, a panel of scholars and practitioners regarding working with college men, and a closing keynote from Dr. Shaun Harper, University of Pennsylvania.

The success of this first institute led NASPA and ACPA to collaborate on a second program in May 2009 hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Frank Harris, San Diego State University, chaired a planning team composed of both NASPA and ACPA members in selecting major speakers and program proposals. The team decided to officially change the name of the program to the Conference on College Men to more accurately reflect the program structure. The conference theme in 2009 was Engaging College Men: Bridging Scholarship and Practice. The committee selected accepted 20 educational sessions speaking to this theme and focusing on the topics of intersections of identity; recruitment and retention of men; building networks of support for men; facilitating cross-cultural dialogue between men and women; and men at community colleges. The conference featured an opening keynote address from Dr. Linda Sax, UCLA; a panel of Women’s Center Directors moderated by Rachel Wagner, University of Dayton; and a closing keynote address from Dr. Shaun Harper, University of Pennsylvania.

The third Conference on College Men will take place May 22-24, 2011 at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis. The conference planning team thanks Dr. Jason Laker, now Vice President for Student Affairs, and Dr. Tracy Davis, Professor and College Student Personnel Program Coordinator Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Illinois University for giving permission to share the title and borrow from the framework of their publication, Masculinities in Higher Education, in planning for this year’s conference program structure. The book is due out in April 2011 (Routledge Publishing).

Call for Programs

Submission Deadline: January 14, 2011

Submit your proposal here.

The Conference Committee encourages the submission of innovative proposals that address the conference theme of Masculinities in Higher Education, and consider the following issues:

• Theoretical and Historical Foundations
  This area will explore foundational literature, scholars, and conceptual frameworks related to men and masculinities in higher education. It will also explore the historical and overlapping progression of gender studies and student development theory.
• Identity Intersections
  This area will explore how race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, [dis]ability, socioeconomic status, and other facets of identity influence college men’s construction, negotiation, and performance of gender.
• Practical Considerations and Effective Interventions
  This area will explore the practical applications of theory and research related to gender and masculinity programs and services. It will explore evidenced based programs and interventions related to men and masculinities that have proven effective in yielding successful outcomes.

Schedule

View NASPA's dynamic calendar with Conference on College Men concurrent session program titles, abstracts and presenters.

Schedule at a Glance
Sunday, May 22, 2011
3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Registration Open
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Opening Reception

Monday, May 23, 2011
8:00 a.m. Registration Open
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Opening Session: “Who are we in this work?”
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Concurrent Session Block 1 (4 sessions)
12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch on your own
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Roundtable Discussions
2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Afternoon Keynote
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Session Block 2 (4 sessions)
Dinner on your own

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Morning Keynote
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Concurrent Session Block 3 (4 Sessions)
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Concurrent Session Block 4 (4 sessions)
12:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Lunch (provided)
12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Closing Panel

Speakers

May 23, 2011 Afternoon Keynote Address

College Men Without Gender: The Sociohistorical Origins of the Model Gender Majority Myth in American Higher Education

Dr. Frank Harris III, Assistant Professor, Postsecondary Educational Leadership and Student Affairs, San Diego State University, and Research Associate, Center for Urban Education, University of Southern California

Dr. Frank Harris III is an assistant professor of postsecondary educational leadership and student affairs at San Diego State University. His research is broadly focused on student development in higher education and explores questions related to the social construction of gender and race on college campuses, college men and masculinities, and racial/ethnic disparities in college student outcomes. His scholarship has been published in the Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Menís Studies, Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, and a range of other journals and edited books. He is co-editor (with Shaun R. Harper) of College Men and Masculinities: Theory, Research, and Implications for Practice (Jossey-Bass, 2010). Since 2004, he has delivered more than 50 professional conference presentations, research papers, workshops, symposia, and other scholarly addresses. In 2007, Harris received dissertation of the year awards from the American Educational Research Association (Division J) and the Association for Student Judicial Affairs. In 2008, he received an Outstanding Research Award from the American College Personnel Associationís (ACPA) Standing Committee for Men. In 2010 he was named an ACPA Emerging Scholar and received the ACPA Annuit Coeptis Award for early career achievement. Harris was program chair for the ACPA/NASPA 2009 Conference on College Men and currently serves on the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice editorial board.

Before joining the faculty at San Diego State, Harris spent nearly 10 years as a student affairs educator and college administrator working in the areas of student affairs administration, student crisis support and advocacy, new student orientation programs, multicultural student affairs, academic advising, and enrollment services. His most recent administrative appointment was at the University of Southern California as Associate Director of the Center for Urban Education.

Harris earned a bachelorís degree in Communication Studies from Loyola Marymount University, a masterís degree in Speech Communication from California State University Northridge, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education from the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education.

May 24, 2011 Morning Keynote Address

Dr. Susan Marine, Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Student Life and Director of the Harvard College Women's Center

For the past 17 years, Susan has held a variety of leadership roles in higher education gender equity and has special expertise in violence prevention, leadership development, women's empowerment, and support of LGBT students.

Susan founded the Harvard University Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response in 2003, and the Harvard College Women's Center in 2006. She served as NASPA National Co-Chair of the Women in Student Affairs Knowledge Community from 2009-2011. She also serves on the National Board of the Take Back the Night Foundation, and has received awards for outstanding service from The Network/La Red: Ending Abuse in Lesbian, Bisexual Women's, and Transgender Communities and The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

Susan's academic work has focused on the intersectionality of feminism, transgender men's identity development, and institutional history and identity. Her dissertation, entitled Navigating Discourses of Discomfort: Women's College Student Affairs Administrators and Transgender Students, was supported by a research grant from the NASPA Foundation, as well as a dissertation grant from the Myra Sadker Foundation. Susan's current projects include authoring an ASHE Monograph entitled Queering the Campus: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in Higher Education and editing a handbook for colleges endeavoring to create optimal support structures for transgender students.

Susan holds an M.A. In College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University and a PhD in Higher Education from Boston College, where she teaches as an adjunct instructor. She is an avid yogi and practitioner of Vipassana meditation, and lives in Waltham, Massachusetts with her wife Karen.

May 24, 2011 Closing Panel

The conference will conclude with a panel of scholars and practitioners who will discuss masculinities in higher education and implications for work on campus.

Dr. Jason Laker, Vice President for Student Affairs, San Jose State University (Moderator)

Dr. Jason Laker is the Vice President for Student Affairs at San JosÈ State University, and Professor within the Connie L. Lurie College of Education.  He has chaired ACPA's Standing Committee for Men and was the Founding Chair of NASPA's Men and Masculinities Knowledge Community.  He is a frequent presenter, consultant, and writer on the subject of men's issues and development, including the upcoming texbook (with Dr. Tracy Davis), Masculinities in Higher Education, to be released in April by Routledge; and Canadian Perspectives on Men and Masculinities, due out in November from Oxford University Press.

Dr. Tracy Davis,  Professor and College Student Personnel Program Coordinator Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies, Western Illinois University

Dr.Tracy Davis is a Professor in the Department of Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Illinois University where he also coordinates the College Student Personnel Program. He also serves as Director of the newly established Center for the Study of Masculinities and Men's Development.  He has published widely regarding men's development, sexual assault prevention and social justice.  For example, Dr. Davis co-authored the book "Developing Social Justice Allies" and his next book, co-edited with Jason Laker, is entitled "Masculinities in Higher Education: Theoretical and Practical Considerations". His sexual assault prevention research has won numerous awards including both the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) and NASPA outstanding dissertation award. Tracy was also selected to the inaugural class of ACPA Emerging Scholars in 1999 and has received the SCM Outstanding Research Award and the Commission on Student Development Assessment's Outstanding Assessment Article award. He was also selected to receive the ACPA Annuit Coeptis award for Senior Scholars and the SCM Harry Canon Outstanding Professional in 2006. He is a frequent presenter, speaker and consultant on college campuses. Most importantly, he remains wildly unfinished.

Dr. Shaun Harper, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

Prior to his appointment at University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education in 2007, Dr. Harper was an assistant professor and research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Penn State University. He also formerly served as an assistant professor and executive director of the Doctor of Education Program at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Harper received the 2005 Emerging Scholar Award and the 2006 Annuit Coeptis Award for early career achievement, both from the American College Personnel Association. He was also awarded the 2004 NASPA Dissertation of the Year Award. In September 2007, Dr. Harper was featured on the cover of Diverse Issues in Higher Education for his National Black Male College Achievement Study, the largest-ever empirical research study on Black male undergraduates. The National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics gave him its 2008 Outstanding Contribution to Research Award.

Dr. Susan Marine, Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Student Life and Director of the Harvard College Women's Center

For the past 17 years, Susan has held a variety of leadership roles in higher education gender equity and has special expertise in violence prevention, leadership development, women's empowerment, and support of LGBT students.

Susan founded the Harvard University Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response in 2003, and the Harvard College Women's Center in 2006. She served as NASPA National Co-Chair of the Women in Student Affairs Knowledge Community from 2009-2011. She also serves on the National Board of the Take Back the Night Foundation, and has received awards for outstanding service from The Network/La Red: Ending Abuse in Lesbian, Bisexual Women's, and Transgender Communities and The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

Rachel Wagner, Assistant Director, Residence Life, University of Dayton

Rachel Wagner is currently an Assistant Director in Housing and Residence Life at the University of Dayton and is a doctoral candidate in the Social Justice Education program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  Rachel has presented on men and masculinities, anti-racist and social justice education at a number of campuses and national conferences.  She has trained Anytown facilitators for the National Coalition on Community and Justice and consulted with the Anti-Defamation League for their Making Diversity Count continuing education course for K-12 teachers.  Her research interests include male gender identity and the influence of masculinity performance on diversity related outcomes.  Rachel co-chaired the Knowledge Community on Men and Masculinities for the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators from 2006-2009. Her most recent publications address the intersection of gender and ability and the costs of fostering men's identity development for women administrators.

Registration

Early Bird Registration — Deadline, Friday, April 25, 2011

Regular Registration after April 25, 2011

Register online or download the registration form.

Hotel

The conference hotel is the University Place Conference Center & Hotel. The hotel is conveniently located across the street from the IUPUI Campus Center, where all of your sessions will be held. The institute rate is $119 per night for single rooms and $139.00 for doubles (excluding a 17% guestroom tax).

The hotel rate will be honored until Friday, April 28, 2011. You can book your reservation by calling 1-800-627-2700 (select option 1).

Please mention the Conference on College Men when calling to make your reservation in order to receive the special rate.

Transportation

Indianapolis is serviced by the Indianapolis International Airport (IND). Several major airlines are available, including American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, US Airways and United Airlines, among others.

Information on ground transportation can be found here.

Taxi service to/from the airport is approximately $25.

Indiana University-Purdue University (IUPUI)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is one of the top five “up and coming” American universities that U.S. News and World Report says people should be watching, and the 8th best public college in the Midwest according to Forbes; home of nationally-ranked programs in nursing, public and environmental affairs, law, and health; and a campus renowned for service learning and civic engagement.

IUPUI is Indiana’s premier urban university, with 20 schools and academic units which grant degrees in more than 200 programs from both Indiana University and Purdue University. Its location within blocks of downtown Indianapolis facilitates advancement of research and teaching, and presents unique opportunities for internships, partnerships, community engagement, and more.

IUPUI enrolls more than 30,000 students representing all 50 states and 122 countries. Join us, and see how IUPUI is where IMPACT is made.

Indianapolis, Indiana — Raising the game!

As you land in Indianapolis, the first thing you’ll notice is the airport. And not just in that “now-where-did-they-put-the-baggage-carousel-this-time” way. As the first new international airport in America designed and built after 9/11, Indianapolis International Airport was rated #1 (on everything from security to baggage claim) by travelers in a J.D. Power & Associates poll.

One 15-minute cab ride later, the second notable sight you’ll encounter is your downtown hotel. Indianapolis has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as having the nation’s #1 hotel value — as well as what an Expedia® Insiders’ Select™ poll recently named as the nation’s best hotel.

Attire

The attire for the Conference is business casual.

Payment and Cancellation Policy

Registrations can be paid by check, VISA, MasterCard, or American Express. All fees must be prepaid. Purchase Orders are not accepted. Refunds will be given for cancellations, received in writing at ACPA by May 1, 2011 less a $55 processing fee. After May 1, there are no refunds. ACPA reserves the right to charge a service fee of $20 for returned checks. A processing fee of $20 per registration will be charged for credit cards declined or to change payment methods after the initial payment is processed. Registrations are non-transferable. The institute may be cancelled or postponed due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. In this case, the fees will be fully refunded; however, ACPA will not be responsible for other additional costs, charges or expenses, including cancellation/change charges assessed by airlines and/or travel agencies.

Sponsors

NASPA, ACPA, Men and Masculinities Knowledge Community, Standing Committee for Men

Questions?

Contact Vernon A. Wall, Director of Educational Programs and Publications at ACPA, 1.202.835.2272 or Joey DeSanto, NASPA, at 1.202.265.7500 or jdesanto@naspa.org.