 |
College Student Personnel Association
of New York State |
History of CSPA
The
College Student Personnel Association of New York State, Inc. was originally
founded as the New York State College Personnel Association (NYSCPA) in 1967 and
chartered as a state Division of the American College Personnel Association in
1968. Dr. Daniel Bratton
served as the first president of the new organization.
In 1977 another professional organization was founded, Student Personnel
Association of New York State (SPA-NYS). Mike
D’Attilio served as the initial president of this organization.
Mike also served as president of CSPA later on and holds the distinction
of being the only individual to serve twice as president over the history of the
organizations. In the fall of 1980
discussions were begun on the possibility of merging these two professional
organizations into one entity. After
a series of meetings and a vote of both memberships the merger was approved and
CSPA-NYS was born in July of 1981. Dr.
Carl Glenister served as the first president of CSPA, after winning a coin toss
with Dr. Patrick Smith. The coin
toss occurred on the grounds of
Silver
Bay
.
Also in 1981, NYS-CPA made the decision to disaffiliate from the New York
State Personnel and Guidance Association (NYSPGA).
The membership of the NYS-CPA felt that the interests of Student Affairs
professionals were not being adequately addressed by the PGA organization.
This sounds familiar to the arguments that were used ten years later when
ACPA decided to disaffiliate from the American Counseling Association.
Within all of this change the one constant was the retention of the State
Division Charter from ACPA. In
addition to being one of the most active of the ACPA state divisions, it is one
of the two oldest. CSPA has been
consistently recognized for its involvement with ACPA. The organization was
recognized as the Outstanding State Divisions National Award for Membership,
Recruitment & Retention in 1983. In
addition, the Association was Awarded the Innovative Program Award in 2001 for
the Chief Student Affairs Officers Symposium and in 2002 for the Student
Leadership Conference. CSPA was also
named Outstanding ACPA State Division for 1986 & 1988, and once again in
1998! Four of our Presidents have
been recognized by ACPA as Outstanding State Leaders, Dr. Pat Smith, Madison
Boyce, Christine Strong (2001), and
Dennis McDonald
(2002).
A professional development conference is held during the fall of each
year. The first conference was held
at
Ithaca
College
in 1981 with a total
of 60 people in attendance. In 1982,
386 professionals and students attended the first conference held at
Silver
Bay
and a tradition was
born.
Silver
Bay
has been the location
of the conference every other year between 1983 and 2003.
CSPA-NYS has a rich heritage and a legacy that continues to be lived today
through its executive board, its regional coordinators, but most of all through
its members. We have much for which
to be proud!
Mission Statement
The College Student Personnel Association of New York State, Inc. is committed
to advancing the knowledge, and personal and professional development of a
diverse group of student affairs educators on public and independent Colleges
and Universities through state and regional involvement. People engaged in
or preparing for student affairs careers are encouraged to actively participate
in CSPA-NYS.
