Call for Applications: Serve on the NAPAHE Board of Directors

Published Monday, July 6, 2026

Dear NAPAHE Members,

The NAPAHE Nominating Committee is pleased to invite applications and nominations for service on the NAPAHE Board of Directors. As our association continues to advance its mission of supporting presidential assistants and higher education administrative professionals, we are seeking thoughtful, engaged, and forward-looking leaders who are committed to strengthening our community and helping shape NAPAHE's future.

Board service offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of the association, champion the needs of our members, and collaborate with colleagues from institutions across the country. Whether you are an emerging leader looking to broaden your professional impact or a seasoned member eager to give back to the profession, we encourage you to consider this meaningful opportunity.

About Board Service

Members elected to the Board of Directors play an important role in advancing NAPAHE's mission, strategic priorities, and long-term sustainability.

Key responsibilities and expectations include:

Serving as an ambassador and advocate for NAPAHE and its members.
Providing strategic leadership and governance oversight.
Participating actively in board meetings, committee work, and organizational initiatives.
Supporting the association's commitment to professional development, networking, and member engagement.

Board members:

Must hold a NAPAHE membership in good standing.
Serve a three-year term, with the opportunity to serve a second term in accordance with NAPAHE bylaws.
Attend board meetings held throughout the year, including:
- In-person meetings during the Annual Conference and summer board retreat; and
- Periodic virtual meetings and committee meetings.

Who Should Apply?

The Nominating Committee is seeking a diverse and talented pool of candidates whose experiences and perspectives will strengthen the Board and the association. We welcome applications from members across institution types, career stages, skill sets, geographic regions, and demographic backgrounds.

Apply or Nominate a Colleague

If you know a NAPAHE member whose leadership, experience, and commitment would benefit the association, please encourage them to apply. Self-nominations are also warmly welcomed.

Interested candidates should complete the Board Application:

Click Here to Apply for the NAPAHE Board of Directors

Application Deadline: Friday, October 30, 2026

Applicants may also be asked to provide a current résumé or CV as part of the review process.

The Nominating Committee will carefully review all applications and develop a slate of candidates for election by the membership.

A Call to Lead

NAPAHE's strength has always come from the dedication, expertise, and generosity of its members. Serving on the Board of Directors is an opportunity to help guide the association's next chapter, foster meaningful connections across our profession, and ensure that NAPAHE remains a vibrant and valuable resource for years to come.

I hope you will consider sharing your talents through board service and encourage others to do the same.

With appreciation,

Joanna Carey Cleveland
Chair, Nominating Committee, NAPAHE

Happy Administrative Professionals Week 2026!

Administrative Professionals Week 2026: Five Reminders for Those Who Support Senior Leaders in Higher Education

A Message from Stuart Schmidt

NAPAHE's Executive Director

Each year, Administrative Professionals Week gives organizations across the country an opportunity to recognize the vital work of administrative assistants, executive assistants, chiefs of staff, office managers, receptionists, and support professionals.

At NAPAHE, we believe this week tells the story of our members.

Our community is made up of professionals who support presidents, chancellors, provosts, vice presidents, deans, and governing boards across higher education. You work behind the scenes in roles that demand discretion, judgment, agility, and an extraordinary understanding of institutional culture and leadership dynamics. More often than not, you do this work quietly, without fanfare, and without a desire for recognition.

Administrative Professionals Week is a moment to pause and say what we all know to be true:

Your work matters. Your role matters. And you matter.

Earlier this year, at NAPAHE’s Annual Conference, we reflected on five touchstones that define this profession and guide the work you do every day. As we celebrate Administrative Professionals Week, we return to those five reminders, both as recognition and as affirmation.

Reminder 1: Know Who You Serve

Administrative professionals in higher education are not “just support.” You are strategic partners and trusted advisors.

You anticipate needs before they’re voiced. You stage the right conversations at the right time. You help leaders navigate complex environments where context, timing, and institutional memory matter. Long before decisions are public, your insight and judgment shape outcomes.

Aligning for Impact

Take time to reflect on what keeps your leader up at night. When you align your work with those priorities, you move from task management to institutional impact.

Reminder 2: You're a Trusted Advisor

You may support a president, chancellor, provost, vice president, dean, or board—but in reality, you serve something much bigger.

You serve an office, an institution, and ultimately the students and communities whose lives are shaped by higher education leadership. Knowing who you serve means understanding your leader’s priorities, pressures, communication style, and decision‑making rhythm—and translating those insights into clarity and execution.

Building Trust

Trust is built through consistency, clear communication, thoughtful preparation, and the ability to offer perspective when it’s most needed. Your voice matters, even when it’s offered quietly.

Reminder 3: Keep Your Secrets Secret

Confidentiality is not simply a responsibility of the role—it is the foundation of your credibility.

You hold sensitive information, early drafts, difficult conversations, and moments of uncertainty. Leaders trust you because you protect that trust. In many ways, your influence comes not from formal authority, but from the confidence others have in your discretion and integrity.

Making Space

Your professionalism creates safe spaces for leadership to be honest, reflective, and effective. That work is invisible, although essential.

Reminder 4: Have a Life Outside of Your Role

This profession is service‑oriented by nature. Many administrative professionals spend their days absorbing urgency, solving problems, and supporting others—and it can be easy to put yourself last.

Administrative Professionals Week is also a reminder that sustainable excellence requires boundaries. Rest, renewal, relationships, and interests outside of work are not indulgences: they are necessities.

Creating Balance

Protect moments that refill your cup. A rested, supported professional is better equipped to think strategically and lead with clarity.

Reminder 5: You're Not Alone

Supporting senior leaders can feel isolating. That is why NAPAHE exists.

NAPAHE is a professional home for those who lead from behind the scenes, a community built by and for administrative professionals in higher education. Through conferences, webinars, affinity groups, discussion boards, and peer connections, NAPAHE provides spaces to ask honest questions, share best practices, and support one another through the complexities of the work.

Building Your Network

Your network is an asset. Engage with it. Lean on it. And if you’re new to NAPAHE (or are considering joining), know that there is a place for you here.

Administrative Professionals Week is not just about appreciation: it’s about recognition of a profession that quietly anchors our institutions every day. The work you do enables leaders to lead, institutions to function, and missions to move forward.

At NAPAHE, we are committed to supporting you through community-building, professional development, connection, and advocacy, not only this week, but throughout the year.

To our members: thank you for your expertise, integrity, and commitment to higher education.

To those considering joining us: you belong here.

Happy Administrative Professionals Week.

Don't Miss Our Administrative Professionals Week Webinar

Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at 11:30 AM Central Time

Join NAPAHE and AAC&U for a special virtual program hosted in recognition of Administrative Professionals Day. This collaborative webinar honors the vital leadership, expertise, and care administrative professionals bring to higher education—often under intense pressure and behind the scenes.

Designed for professionals navigating confidential, fast-paced, and complex leadership environments, this session explores how building strong professional communities can reduce isolation, amplify leadership impact, and sustain energy. Experienced higher education leaders will share practical strategies for fostering collaborative teams, supporting well-being and self-care, and intentionally building networks of support both within institutions and across higher education.

Celebrate Administrative Professionals Day by investing in connection, leadership, and community. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn alongside peers from across the nation and gain actionable insights that support both your humanity and your institution’s mission. This event is complimentary and open to current and prospective NAPAHE members.

NAPAHE Announces Recipients of the 2026 Distinguished Service Award

NAPAHE Announces Recipients of the 2026 Distinguished Service Award

Honoring Dr. Melissa A. Maszczak and Steve Frieder for Extraordinary Contributions to the Profession
March 12, 2026 | San Antonio, Texas

The National Association of Presidential Assistants in Higher Education (NAPAHE) proudly announced the recipients of its 2026 Distinguished Service Award during the 39th Annual National Conference & Business Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. This year, the association honored two former board members—Dr. Melissa A. Maszczak and Steve Frieder—whose exceptional leadership, service, and commitment have strengthened both NAPAHE and the broader higher education community.

First established in 2003, NAPAHE’s Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals whose personal and professional contributions have meaningfully enhanced the organization’s presence, growth, and impact within the field. Both recipients exemplify the award’s purpose through their sustained dedication, exemplary leadership, and unwavering support for higher education professionals across the country.

Honoring Dr. Melissa A. Maszczak

A member of NAPAHE since 2015, Dr. Melissa A. Maszczak has played a pivotal role in shaping the organization’s development over the past decade. During her two terms on the NAPAHE Board, concluding in 2024, she held several key leadership positions, including:

Board Secretary
Chair, Professional Development Committee, where she founded NAPAHE’s peer mentoring program
Chair, Membership Committee, helping drive membership revenues to 130% of the budgeted goal
Member of the Nominating Committee and the Executive Director Search Committee

Beyond her board service, Dr. Maszczak is widely recognized for her ethical, courageous, and creative leadership. Her distinguished career, spanning service as Assistant to the President, Executive Assistant to the President, and Secretary to the Board of Trustees at Thomas Edison State University, continues today in her role as Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Leadership and Governance.

In accepting the award, Dr. Maszczak reflected on the often-invisible but deeply impactful work of presidential assistants and board professionals:

“To be recognized by a community that has shaped my professional life—and my heart—for so many years is both humbling and profoundly meaningful. Our work happens behind the scenes… holding institutions steady during moments of uncertainty and helping leaders succeed so our campuses can thrive.”

She emphasized the collective nature of service within NAPAHE:

“This award affirms that this work matters. That you matter. NAPAHE has been my classroom, my support system, my sounding board, and often my sanity. Whatever contributions I have made were only possible because of the extraordinary people in this room.”

Dr. Maszczak concluded by dedicating the honor to the profession itself:

“This award belongs to the professionals who translate vision into action, who protect process and people simultaneously, and who do the invisible labor that makes visible leadership possible.”

Honoring Steve Frieder

The second Distinguished Service Award was presented to Steve Frieder, a respected leader whose influence has long shaped NAPAHE’s mission and whose mentorship and strategic insight have supported countless colleagues in higher education. Steve currently serves as the Senior Advisor to the President of Marquette University.

Frieder’s long-standing service to NAPAHE includes his tenure on the Board of Directors, where his contributions to organizational strategy, leadership development, and community building left a lasting imprint. Widely admired for his professionalism and integrity, he is known across the profession as a steady, trusted voice, especially during moments of institutional change.

During the ceremony, Frieder was introduced by longtime colleague and fellow NAPAHE Board Member Heather Fehn, who described him as her “North Star”:

“Steve became the bridge—providing the stability the Board and the institution needed during a period of profound transition. Whether it's a crisis of magnitude or simply a tough day, Steve is the person I rely on to be on the other end of the phone with sound guidance and, most importantly, integrity.”

Frieder’s nomination included praise from colleagues across the country, citing his exemplary mentorship, leadership, and commitment to the values that define NAPAHE.

In his remarks, Frieder reflected on his journey within the profession and the importance of finding one’s voice:

“It has been a pleasure to be a small part of NAPAHE’s success. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing NAPAHE grow to meet the needs of all of us who support leaders in higher education.”

Addressing the next generation of professionals, he offered heartfelt advice:

“For too long in my career, I was afraid to share my counsel with leaders I perceived to be more important than me. My advice is not to be afraid. We are professionals with experience and wisdom. Don’t be afraid to share your counsel with leaders at your institution.”

Celebrating Service, Leadership, and the NAPAHE Community

NAPAHE Executive Director Stuart J. Schmidt praised both honorees for their profound influence on the association:

“Melissa and Steve exemplify the spirit and purpose of the Distinguished Service Award. Their leadership, mentorship, and dedication have shaped not only NAPAHE’s growth, but also the careers and confidence of colleagues across our profession.”

The 2026 Distinguished Service Awards honor not only the remarkable achievements of Dr. Maszczak and Mr. Frieder, but also the essential, often unseen work of presidential assistants, board professionals, and higher education leaders whose service strengthens institutions nationwide.

NAPAHE congratulates both recipients for their extraordinary contributions and extends its gratitude for their continued impact on the profession.

For More information on NAPAHE's Awards and Grants, click the link below.

Learn More

National Association of Presidential Assistants in Higher Education

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