SAAAPA Updates Faculty on Student Leadership Opportunities

By Jennii Stephens
Student Member at Large

SAAAPA’s board of directors is involved in many projects. Several of these may interest PA faculty.

• Leadership Spotlight — Each month, a new student leader is highlighted on the SAAAPA Web site. Students are selected for their outstanding abilities as leaders and their contributions to their communities. Anyone can nominate a student for this honor, or the student can self-nominate. If faculty have students they would like to see highlighted on the SAAAPA website, they should ask students to submit a one page summary describing their accomplishments to me, jenniipa@aol.com. This is a great way to acknowledge individual students and bring recognition to the programs they attend.
• New Student Leadership Positions — Positions arise continually for student leaders; this year alone, five new leadership positions were developed. Running for a position on the student board of directors is one option, in addition to the following positions available to students. Students can indicate an interest either before or at the AAPA annual meeting in New Orleans
  • Student Society Mentoring Program Coordinator — A student leader is responsible for pairing student societies in mentor-protégé relationships.
  • PA Foundation Student Committee Members — Currently, two students are involved in committees within the PA Foundation.
  • National Primary Care Week Liaison — A student is responsible for developing each year’s annual National Primary Care Week activities.
  • PA History Society — A new member has been added to bring a student’s perspective to the recently developed PA History Society.
• HOD/AOR Mentor Program — A House of Delegates (HOD) mentor program is off and running with as many as 30 pairs of experienced and newly appointed delegates. SAAAPA is soliciting students with experience in the Assembly of Representatives (AOR) to mentor newly elected representatives to SAAAPA’s AOR.
  
• PA Program Visits — SAAAPA board members visit student societies that would like to hear more about the student organization. Representatives visit a program, give a brief presentation, and respond to questions. This year’s student board has already visited six PA programs across the nation.
• Student Society Mentoring Program — Newly formed student societies are paired with active, well-established student societies to form mentor-protégé relationships. In this, the program’s first year, 32 student societies are already participating.
• Challenge Bowl — Questions are being solicited to be presented to the students taking part in the Challenge Bowl. Please submit questions to Cyndi Lord, cynthia@aapa.org.

I welcome your questions about SAAAPA or these projects, and I look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!