NAPAHE serves presidential assistants (PAs) and other professionals supporting higher education leaders and strengthens our profession through programming, networking, and professional development opportunities that address the broad range of roles fulfilled by our members in service to presidential leadership and those who support higher education's senior leaders. In addition to information generally available to the public, we have a wealth of information available to our members.
Pictured Above: Members of the NAPAHE Board of Directors and various committees at the Annual Summer Planning Meeting, held June 2024 at the University of Houston in Texas.
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NAPAHE Featured Testimonial
One day in late December of 1994, following a meeting in my then role as Assistant VP for Academic Affairs, the President of William Paterson University asked me to lunch and offered me the position of Executive Assistant to the President. As quickly as I accepted, I realized that I hadn’t the slightest idea what someone in such a position actually did. There was no incumbent, so I had literally no one to ask what to do when I first sat down at the desk. Well, no one but NAPAHE. Other presidents in NJ public higher education had assistants and they had formed a State wide group, and through that group I came to know of NAPAHE.
NAPAHE became an invaluable resource in my professional development and I became a faithful attendee and participant at its annual conferences. There, I met people who understood the complexities, nuances and substantive and interpersonal challenges of the role. They had sessions for newcomers, and as I progressed in my position to Chief of Staff, sessions for veterans. We developed a listserv where members could post questions and get quick, candid feedback from others with greater experience and expertise. The learning and the strong camaraderie complemented each other, as I gained knowledge and trust in my colleagues. NAPAHE membership, active engagement and eventually leadership in the organization became one of the most valuable and rewarding elements of my professional life. I urge, in the strongest possible terms, that presidential assistants learn about NAPAHE and make membership and participation a part of your professional portfolio.
Marc Schaeffer, Ed.d, Retired Chief of Staff to the President and Board of Trustees
William Paterson University