Office of Student Affairs 2008-2009 Annual Report
Jamia L. Obbs, OSA Coordinator
Traci Lewis, Student Advisor
The purpose of the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) is to promote the interests and share the concerns of the students in NABSW by serving as a link between student members and NABSW. OSA provides support to student chapters, educational support to individual student members through scholarships, and encourages the development of student chapters. Creating networking opportunities for students, we endeavor to develop programs and other initiatives that will aid in the educational, individual, collective and social development of African American students thereby producing effective social work leaders in the future. The mission of OSA is to provide a forum for NABSW student members to learn, identify with other African Americans by serving as advocates, and protect and affect positive change in the Black Community.
OSA will acknowledge the recipients of the Cenie "Jomo" Williams Tuition Scholarship, Dr. Joyce Beckett Scholarship, Emma and Meloid Allgood Scholarship and the Selena Danette Brown Book Scholarships at the 2009 National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Congratulations to each scholarship recipient. We hope for continued success in their future educational endeavors!
The Office of Student Affairs has connected students to each other utilizing various means of communication, including the OSA Communications Room at www.nabswstudentaffairs.blogspot.com, the NABSW OSA FACEBOOK site and the Harambee Vision newsletter. Several new and returning chapters are currently in active status with NABSW. This has aided in the increase in membership for the organization as a whole. The student handbook has been approved for dissemination at the 2009 conference so that student chapters are aided in their journey with NABSW and will also be made available via the member's only section at www.nabsw.org. OSA officers connected with their student chapter counterparts by offering quarterly conferences to mentor and offer support.
Nationwide, student chapters were encouraged to conduct activities in their communities centered on the area of Family Violence and accepted the call by volunteering at agencies that serve/aid those affected by Family Violence. As a culmination of those local efforts/events, these chapters will serve those affected by Family Violence in the conference host city at The Center for Women and Children. Students will be educated surrounding issues of Family Violence, take a tour of the center, and then serve those in need by following a well-planned day of organized service. Students will also have the opportunity to support the agency from their home cities if unable to attend the NABSW National conference by sending donations needed to serve the women and children at the service site in Louisville.
In the spirit of Sankofa, OSA continues to make efforts to connect student members to professional members utilizing the OSA Transition Process. Working in collaboration with the National Membership Co-Chairs, It is the goal of OSA to transition every student member to a local chapter upon graduation.
OSA supported NABSW in many areas including fund development by unveiling an online NABSW store full of great NABSW items at www.cafepress.com/osanabsw. OSA voter education and registration efforts were successful as 1072 new voters were registered by students for the historic 2008 elections. Students have pre-registered for the national conference, where they will be actively participating. OSA has scheduled a student meeting, a leadership roundtable, a symposium, socials and elections and candidate trainings to aid and support students during the national conference. Students will volunteer in many areas of service as needed.
The National Student Advisor continues to have consistent contact with potential and returning student chapter advisors offering assistance, support and information as they journey to joining or returning to the NABSW family. The new Student Chapter Advisor Manual and an online PowerPoint training presentation for new student chapter Advisors has been developed and approved. They will soon be available in the members only section of the NABSW webpage. All advisors will receive an electronic copy of the manual. The online training will be mandatory for new advisors to assist them in becoming familiar with the history, policies and procedures of OSA and NABSW. Collaboration continues with the membership committee to work on developing a mechanism to gather contact information for all student chapter advisors so they can be invited to quarterly advisor meetings. Work continues on the development of the National Student Advisor Manual; and encouraging a mentoring relationship between the National Executive Board and their OSA counterparts.