Nerd out with NIRSA President Dr. Erin Patchett

Hello NIRSA family! At the start of this month, I had the honor of beginning my term as your NIRSA President.*

*For those who are not aware, when members are elected to the Presidential Track of the NIRSA Board of Directors, we serve as President Elect in the first year, President Designee in the second year, and as NIRSA President in our final year.

One of my first responsibilities in this role as NIRSA President was to prepare and facilitate a virtual retreat for the 2024-2025 NIRSA Board of Directors. The retreat took place earlier this month and we had a great time learning, team building, and intention setting over the two plus days. One of the retreat’s facilitators put together a playlist for us comprised of one song contributed by each board member.

Each member of the NIRSA Board was asked to pick a song that we could listen to repeatedly if we ever found ourselves stranded on a deserted island. I can attest that in addition to being tremendous volunteer leaders who are passionate advocates for collegiate recreation, your current volunteer NIRSA Board has diverse and excellent taste in music that will almost certainly influence my Spotify Wrapped list this year.

Do you know what is just as cool and inspirational as music? Research! (No arguments are currently being accepted on this claim.)

I’m looking forward to connecting with you monthly, in my NIRSA President’s Notes blog, where I will take the opportunity to share current research that has the potential to positively inform and influence our work as collegiate recreation professionals. My goal is to highlight—in 500 words or fewer—findings from important research projects, and to share how you might implement promising practices that apply the latest discoveries of today’s scholars.

I also hope to regularly share some tips and tricks for engaging with the Recreational Sports Journal, a tremendous resource which we all get access to as current members of NIRSA.

While conducting research may not be for everyone, applying research to elevate our practice absolutely can be for everyone! I hope to convince you of this over the coming year. If I don’t, there is always next year (#growthmindset).

I sincerely hope you will all join me this year on our nerdy adventure. And, if you are a practitioner who wants to share some examples of how you have put research into practice, reach out to me. I’d love to share your experiences with our peers in campus recreation and beyond.