New NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program at CU Boulder

As a way to increase the number of historically under-represented professionals in student affairs, several colleagues in Student Affairs have created a NUFP cohort program. The NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program was started by NASPA in 1989 and has grown nationwide to dozens of university campuses since then. Several CU Boulder Student Affairs employees are NUFP alumni, including Akirah Bradley and Jimmy McLeod. The NUFP Advisory Team that coordinates the program at CU includes Jimmy McLeod, Ann Herrmann, Adam Beaver, Colin Spaulding, Jasimine Evans, and Victor Hernandez.

Last summer, we hosted two interns. Christy Martinez from California State Fullerton and Isabel Villalobos-Galeana from San Diego State University. They shadowed staff and gained experience in Housing & Dining, Career Services, the Center for Student Involvement, and the Cultural Unity & Engagement Center. Both Christy and Isabel are entering their first year in graduate school in Student Affairs / Higher Ed at DU and CSU respectively. They told us their experience at CU Boulder was so positive and inspiring, that they wanted to return to Colorado to pursue graduate school!

The current CU Boulder NUFP cohort includes: Magnolia Landa-Posas, Robert DeMata, Ben Nguyen, Jesús Ramos, and Bre Huizar. Jesús will be interning at the Univ of Vermont this summer. Bre will be interning at Trinity Univ in San Antonio. Robert will be interning at San Diego State University, and then he heads to DU to start his Higher Ed graduate program.

NUFP students meet monthly to gain exposure to student development theories, understand the perspectives and experiences of the advisory team, enhance their professional development and explore their budding passion for student affairs. They also meet with their NUFP mentor no less than twice per month for personal mentorship.  

We are thrilled that the program has taken off and we appreciate the support of Christina Gonzales, Akirah Bradley, and Lisa Severy in funding this program.

We will be inviting applications for next year’s NUFP intern cohort in September. If you are interested in learning more about the program, please contact Ann.Herrmann@colorado.edu or Jimmy.McLeod@colorado.edu (Co-Chairs).