Adventures in a Red Vest

Wearing a red volunteer vest, I patiently listened to the conference attendee who needed help connecting her smartphone to the convention center’s internet. With a little trial and error, some cross-linguistic communication, and help from a fellow volunteer, we managed to connect her phone to the conference app, and she was ready to head off to her first session of the NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo.

It was my first year, too, at NAFSA’s big event. Although I had been involved in international education for more than 15 years as an English language instructor and program administrator, I had never worked at an institution with close ties between its intensive English program and its other international education offices. The summer before my first NAFSA conference experience, I had joined Southern Utah University (SUU) as the director of their American Language and Culture Center. At SUU, international education is a collaborative and cross-departmental endeavor with strong support from university leadership. My new SUU colleagues encouraged me to attend the NAFSA conference with them that year. It proved to be a defining moment in my career.

I decided to volunteer at the conference as a way to learn more about the many facets of NAFSA. In addition to working at the help desk, I helped moderate sessions, facilitated poster sessions, and served as a guide in the conference center halls. As part of that volunteer experience, I learned about the NAFSA Academy for International Education, the organization’s yearlong program that coaches international education professionals who are looking to expand their skills and advance their careers. Later that year, I applied to be an Academy trainee and was awarded a NAFSA RISE Fellowship, which provided me and other RISE fellows with additional training and support in conjunction with our Academy experience.

I am so grateful for the RISE Fellowship program and its commitment to developing leaders from a variety of backgrounds.

As a RISE Fellowship cohort, my new friends and I presented at regional and national NAFSA conferences. We supported each other in our career development and encouraged each other to expand our competencies as international education professionals. I am so grateful for the RISE Fellowship program and its commitment to developing leaders from a variety of backgrounds.

‘A Reciprocal Relationship’

Following my Academy and RISE Fellowship experience, I felt compelled to give back to the organization. I volunteered to serve as a coach for the Academy, and the connections I have made with NAFSA leaders and my Academy trainees have expanded my knowledge of the field and strengthened my global ties to talented educators in various branches of the NAFSA family.

I continue to learn new strategies that help me develop proficiency in all 12 of the NAFSA International Education Professional Competencies 2.0. As a coach, I help my trainees develop as professionals, but it is a reciprocal relationship. They teach me about compliance management, recruitment strategies, and institutional comprehensive internationalization. We learn together, and we build a network of support and care. Although we communicate primarily through telecommunicative technologies, the NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo is the place we can gather in person and strengthen those ties.

The Red Vest

At the most recent conference, my professional responsibilities required me to devote most of my time to the expo hall. The excitement of the expo hall is contagious. I am amazed at how representatives of governments and educational institutions are able to transmit the spirit and beauty of their homes to the NAFSA audience in the concrete depths of an exhibition hall. Whether it be the cherry blossoms from Japan, the dark chocolate of Switzerland, or the welcoming smiles and warm greetings from participants from around the world, there were signs all around the expo hall of how NAFSA brings people together who are committed to international cooperation and peacebuilding.   Together with educators from numerous countries, I made positive connections that will positively impact students and institutions across the globe. It was a fruitful event. Yet, every time I passed a red-vested NAFSA volunteer in the expo hall, I felt a pang of regret that I didn’t make time to volunteer at this year’s conference.

In a sense, the red vest I wore as a NAFSA volunteer symbolizes for me the culture of NAFSA: a sense of belonging and purpose through service. When I first donned that red vest, I was, in many ways, a novice in the field. But through cooperation with other NAFSAns, I am becoming a leader in international education while helping others become the same. I am confident that, through programs like the Academy and the RISE Fellowship, newer NAFSAns will receive the training and mentoring from experienced NAFSAns to lead our organization into the future.

In a sense, the red vest I wore as a NAFSA volunteer symbolizes for me the culture of NAFSA: a sense of belonging and purpose through service.

As we intentionally welcome and provide career-expanding opportunities for new NAFSAns from diverse backgrounds, NAFSA will better achieve its goal of promoting international understanding, cooperation, and service. At its core, NAFSA is worldwide service learning, and I am so grateful to learn alongside my international family.  •

Robb McCollum is the director of the American Language & Culture Center at Southern Utah University and a coach for the NAFSA Academy.