Don Stansberry, Old Dominion University's vice president for student engagement and enrollment services (SEES), was recognized with the Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) Region III NUPF Champion Award for his contributions to the field of student affairs.
NASPA, a national organization, will present Stansberry with the Region III Champion Award during the Region III Summer Symposium in Charleston, South Carolina, in June. This award is presented to individuals who made significant contributions to NASPA's Undergraduate Fellows Program (NUFP), which aims to increase the number of historically disenfranchised and underrepresented professionals in student affairs and higher education.
NUFP's mission is executed through mentorship and Stansberry was recognized as a champion for students who need it most: individuals from low-income backgrounds, underrepresented minorities and first-generation students. Stansberry built ODU's NUFP program, encouraged SEES staff to act as mentors and served on the national advisory board. He is the NASPA NUFP chairperson.
In a nomination submitted for the award, ODU Student Government Association President Deondre Wise noted Stansberry is "always making sure that students' best interests are his priority." Wise wrote that he would not be a NUFP Fellow without Stansberry's guidance. Many other students have benefited from his mentorship, as well, Wise said.
Stansberry credits his success to a strong, collaborative working environment at ODU and his engagement with motivated student affairs professionals through his professional networks.
"For me, both Old Dominion University and NASPA are supportive communities that work together to support students," he said. "We are able to develop and implement programs at ODU and beyond, like NUFP, that support and challenge students to achieve personal and academic success."
With more than 20 years in leadership roles at ODU, Stansberry leads the areas of student engagement, student success, enrollment services and institutional research. He was named interim vice president of SEES in July 2019 and was appointed to the role on a permanent basis in December 2020.
Stansberry, who was elected president the Southern Association of College Student Affairs in December, has earned numerous honors. Among them are the 2016 Joe Buck Service Award from SACSA; the 2019 AVP/Senior Level Student Affairs Professional Award from Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education - NASPA Region III; the 2020 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award from Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education - NASPA Region III; and the 2020 Dynamic Senior Student Affairs Officer Newcomer Award from the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU).
