SMU Junior Dedeepya Chinnam, member of the RLSH Research Team, has been selected as a NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program (NUFP) fellow!
“I found out about the NASPA Program through Dr. Dustin Grabsch while we were applying to present in NASPA Annual Conference,” Dedeepya said. “Dustin spoke about his experiences with the program and the influence it had on his current career trajectory. Along with the large circle of like-minded people I would be able to meet, the number of opportunities to learn within academia was appealing to me.”
The NUFP is a program that allows students to “increase the number of historically disenfranchised and underrepresented professionals in student affairs and higher education” and “have opportunities for scholarships, on-campus mentorship, and professional development events.”
As a fellow, Dedeepya will have access to NUFP national and regional conferences and the ability to participate in semi-structured learning experiences within the Division of Student Affairs at SMU.
“I hope to be able to attend workshops and training programs within the community to learn more about various areas of student affairs and understand the interrelationships and transferability within the student affairs sphere,” Dedeepya said. “I would like to hopefully attend the leadership program offered for NASPA Fellows and interact with people from various backgrounds with a shared focus of equitability and student success.”
Dedeepya also hopes to join the summer internship program offered within NASPA.
Fellows and mentors apply to the program as a pair. Residence Life & Student Housing (RLSH) Director of Academic Initiatives, Dr. Dustin Grabsch, will be Dedeepya’s mentor for the program. Congratulations to Dedeepya Chinnam!