Introduction

IV-West,

Welcome to my first blog post as your new Vice President for Region IV-West. It is an exciting time to be a member of NASPA as we explore the unification of our organization with ACPA. More on that to come in future postings, but trust that I will do my best to keep you as informed as possible and provide you information related to what's happening and how you can share your thoughts.

IV-West has a rich history of involvement, from graduate students to Vice Presidents, and has produced more than its fair share of Pillars of the Profession, many of which I am blessed to have been able to call my NASPA mentors. This is exactly what I hope that my time as your RVP can help provide for all of you. NASPA is about sitting at a table in Omaha with Dr. Diana Doyle, at that time the RVP-Elect (now President of Arapahoe Community College) and saying, "I want to get involved," then being given the opportunity to work with the likes of Prakash Mathew, Cheryl Lovell and Christine Schneikart-Luebbe. It's about starting to share thoughts with Knowledge Community colleagues, presenting at a conference, or grabbing coffee with a mentor in Santa Fe and being challenged to keep priorities in focus as we try to advance our careers.

Over time, we have heard, "NASPA is its members," and I have to say that is true for me. NASPA is truly my second family, and I look forward to the opportunity to connect with you all in this process.

You can contact me in many ways, and I will do my best to respond quickly. You can e-mail me at ivwestrvp@gmail.com, follow or direct message me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/ericgrospitch, or you can hit me up on Facebook.

As Ken Stoner used to say to us at the University of Kansas, we have reached "critical speed": we either take off, or we crash - and I don't plan on crashing. I hope you will join me on this amazing ride.

Eric