The 2025 DigiCohort is now open. Secure your spot today!

Resources from

From Group Selfies to Public Statements

Digital Strategies for Student Affairs Executives

NASPA 2023

Resources from

From Group Selfies to Public Statements

NASPA 2023

VPSA Naspa - From selfies to public statements
NASPA 2023 LOGO

Session Description

The role of a senior student affairs administrator comes with many hats. Advocate, strategist, selfie expert, and crisis communicator, just to name a few. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, campus executives have been utilizing digital communication tools for many reasons, whether to celebrate a member of the campus or the necessity to make a statement on a local or national issue (Ahlquist, 2020). This session will feature four highly engaged student affairs leaders who are consistently connected with their campuses using social media, but also have communication strategies for the not-so-highlight-reel realities of serving in a public position and how both show up online.

View Session Details Here
NASPA Panelists
NASPA Panelists
NASPA Panelists

Resources

View SLIDE DECK HERE

Subscribe to my newsletter

For the latest on digital engagement and leadership and everywhere they intersect.

Meet the Presenters

Click the presenter image to learn more!
Timothy Miller

Tim Miller

22_3512861 Melissa Shivers, Senior Vice President for Student Life Ohio Union 01/20/2022 Photo by Logan Wallace The Ohio State University

Melissa Shivers

Lamar Hylton

Lamar Hylton

Shea Kidd Brown

Shea Kidd Brown

Dr. Josie Ahlquist

Josie has two decades working in higher education, with the last eight years focused on educating, researching, and writing about building digital communities and the empowerment of digital leadership. Learn more about Josie’s experience and passion, as well as her research, consulting, speaking, publications, and much more!

about josie
Linkedin Twitter Instagram Youtube Facebook

Learn more about how Josie supports Higher Ed Marketing & Communication Leaders

Work with Josie

Tim Miller

Vice President for Student Affairs — James Madison University
He/him

Dr. Miller is the Vice President for Student Affairs at James Madison University and has served in this role since June 1, 2018. He is a Double Duke, having earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice in 1996 and his Master’s Degree in College Student Personnel Administration in 2002 from James Madison University.

He is the proud husband of JMU Alum Jamie Jones Miller and equally proud father to their rescue pup, Duke Dog. While at JMU, Dr. Miller was involved in a range of majors and activities including Greek Life, coaching Women’s Club Soccer, serving as an RA, and working several other jobs in Catering and Summer Conferences. Dr. Miller is incredibly excited to be returning back home to JMU to serve this amazing institution and its students.

Connect with Tim
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin

Melissa Shivers

Senior Vice President for Student Life — The Ohio State University
She/her

Dr. Melissa Shivers is the Senior Vice President for Student Life at The Ohio State University where she serves on the university’s senior administration team and provides leadership and strategic oversight on matters related to the student experience. She has broad leadership responsibility for numerous university operations affecting students outside the classroom, including the residential experience, the Ohio Union and student activities, mental health support, career development, recreational sports, disability services, the Center for Belonging and Social Change, off-campus and commuter student engagement, the student judicial process, and crisis intervention.

She is a proud first-generation college graduate with a BS from Georgia Southern University in Communication Arts, a master’s degree in Education, Counseling and Guidance Services from Clemson and a Doctor of Philosophy, Counseling and Student Personnel Services from the University of Georgia.

Dr. Shivers is passionate about removing barriers to student and staff success, serving her community and contributing to the world in ways that help to ensure the health, safety and security of others.

Connect with Melissa
Linkedin Twitter Instagram

Lamar R. Hylton

Vice President for Student Affairs — James Madison University
He/him

Lamar R. Hylton, Ph.D. first came to Kent State in June 2017, to serve as the dean of students, the university’s primary student advocate. In September 2019, he was charged with leading the university’s Division of Student Affairs as interim vice president. He was named the permanent vice president for student affairs in May 2020 and has the distinction of being the first Black vice president for student affairs in the history of Kent State. Dr. Hylton was elevated to the position of senior vice president in September 2021. 

Dr. Hylton is personally invested in giving back to the students that he serves. He works towards impacting academic achievement, college satisfaction, and student success. He is a product of the Ohio Wesleyan University Upward Bound Program and is a first-generation college graduate three times over.

His dissertation research centers around the impact of student-faculty interactions on the academic achievement and college satisfaction among Black males who attend predominantly White institutions. He credits the Upward Bound program for providing him the introduction to a world of endless possibilities and cultivating the leadership competencies that have helped him succeed in his professional and personal life.

Connect with Lamar
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin

Shea Kidd Brown

Vice President for Campus Life — Wake Forest University
She/her

Originally from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Shea Kidd Brown earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi, a Master of Education in College Student Affairs Administration from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Research from the University of Memphis where her scholarship focused on racial identity development in African American college students.

For fifteen years, Kidd Brown has enjoyed a career in college administration at a number of institutions of higher education in the southeastern region. In January 2022, she joined Wake Forest University as Vice President for Campus Life. Previously, she served as associate vice chancellor for student life and dean of students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Shea has served in faculty, facilitator and presenter roles, is a life member of the Southern Miss Alumni Association, serves on the NODA: Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention Board of Directors, and is a co-lead facilitator for The LeaderShape Institute.

She is mom to Jack Wilson and wife to Ryan Brown who is also in higher education.

Connect with Shea
Twitter Instagram Linkedin

Rebekah Tilley

Assistant Vice President, University of Iowa Center for Advancement

Rebekah Tilley is the assistant vice president of communication and marketing for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA). In that role she supports fundraising and alumni engagement efforts for the university, including its CASE Gold winning Iowa Magazine, and serves UICA in a variety of strategic communication efforts.

Previously she was the director of strategic communication for the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, and the director of communication for the University of Kentucky College of Law. She is a Kentucky native and a proud alum of the University of Kentucky.

Connect with Rebekah
Linkedin

Spark your mission on social media

Sign up for the Digital Leadership Download

The newsletter that brings the latest in digital engagement and leadership right to your inbox

Unsubscribe anytime. Read our Privacy Policy.

Sign up for the Digital Leadership Download

The newsletter that brings the latest in digital engagement and leadership right to your inbox

Unsubscribe anytime. Read our Privacy Policy.