FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2018
Seattle, WA
Dr. Denzil J. Suite, Vice President for Student Life at the University of Washington, has been elected as the next Board Chair of NASPA, the world’s leading association for student affairs professionals. Dr. Suite, who previously served as a Member-at-Large on the NASPA Board of Directors, began his term as Chair-Elect on March 7, 2018, following the organization’s annual meeting in Philadelphia, Pa. He will serve as Board Chair-Elect until March 2019 at which time he will serve as Board Chair until March 2020. He said of his appointment, “I am honored to continue my service to the Association and am thankful for the opportunity.”
Established in 1918 and founded in 1919, NASPA is comprised of over 15,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries, and 8 U.S. Territories. It is dedicated to the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession.
For over 25 years, Dr. Suite has been an active member of NASPA, volunteering, presenting workshops and planning regional and national conferences; he has also served on both the NASPA Foundation Board. In recognition of his service to the organization and its membership, he has been awarded several of its highest honors, including the Outstanding New Professional Award, the Region V Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Performance as a Dean/Vice President; and has recently been named a Pillar of the Profession.
“Being elected to serve as Board Chair is deeply meaningful to me,” commented Suite. “At each step of my career, NASPA has been there to support me, and I view this as my opportunity to give back to the profession through service to our members.”
During his term as Board Chair, Dr. Suite’s primary goals include:
- Supporting NASPA’s public policy efforts, creating avenues for members to register concerns with their representative lawmakers, and ensuring the membership is quickly informed about pending legislation.
- Encouraging the expansion and strengthening of global collaborations, and bringing NASPA’s commitment to social justice to scale on a global level through these partnerships.
- Addressing the challenges of a shrinking resource pool by enhancing and expanding resource sharing and trainings on such topics as fundraising strategy and grant writing to enable members to ensure their critical programs and services remain strong, impactful, and responsive to the needs of our changing student populations.
- Leading a thoughtful and engaged assessment of undergraduate and graduate students entering the field of student affairs in order to support institutional course correction when it comes to meeting the evolving needs of younger professionals who are entering the field.
Dr. Suite joined the University of Washington in July 2013, and currently leads a dedicated team of professionals in the Division of Student Life in creating and maintaining a healthy campus environment through services, programs and collaborative learning experiences beyond the classroom. Prior to joining the UW, he served as Associate Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of Southern California, and during his 25+ years working in student affairs, also has held positions of responsibility at UC Berkeley, Cal State L.A. and UC Santa Cruz. Suite has been the recipient of numerous awards from national, local and student organizations. In addition to his professional responsibilities and leadership roles at the University of Washington and at NASPA, he also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Lingnan Foundation which is dedicated to enhancing liberal learning through teaching, research, and engagement between China and the United States.
More information about NASPA can be found at www.naspa.org.